Weekend debrief

[guest7]

I was confined to quarters on Saturday as SWMBO went to work and left me in charge of my lads. However, by early evening my daughter had also arrived. Then Simon Morgan turned up on his trusty DR650.

Simon was down in Cardiff to get some bike work done, but that was for the Sunday so on Saturday night I invited a mutual friend of ours over and I cooked up a nice (if I say so myself) pot roast chicken.

The three of us lads downed a few beers, a bottle of wine over dinner and then we decamped to my local pub. A pleasant time was had by all, but a mid-evening switch to Guiness took its toll. When we got back to the house, I excused myself and went to the toilet, where I promptly fell asleep.

Sunday morning was heralded by SWMBO waking me up to nag me about something. I decided to let her live for now and beat a retreat to the kitchen to raise some scoff. During the course of cooking full rations the phone rang and it was Jethro saying that he was ready for Simon's bike, I mumbled a reply and said we'd be with him shortly. Once I'd hung up I thought it best to wake Simon up. We'd made the schoolboy error of C***ing up the arrangements and then sleeping through it anyway.

With some scoff devoured we pushed the bike around to the garage that Jethro had borrowed for the day. This was about 500 yards from me so no distress or fatigue was caused.

Simon had asked Jethro to fully service his bike and give it a good once-over prior to this wednesday's departure for the Elefant rally. He had also asked me to fit some of my famous 'Sheldonian Safety Shin Shields'^TM. Jethro did sterling work on the bike and I eventually managed to fit some plastic leg shields to the crash bars. Simon and I went for the widest option first with the thought that it would be easy to narrow them down if it affected the handling too much.

Simon left my place late on Sunday afternoon and not too long later I called him in Reading to check how the shields had performed. He reported no handling problems and that his knees had dry patches on them despite having ridden home in the rain. The shields are not primarily to stop the rain, they work very well when you are riding in very cold temperatures. Any restriction in wind blast raises the comfort level a significant amount and these shields cover from his feet to his knees. Given his route for the two rallies he is riding to (in Germany and Austria), he needs as much comfort as he can get.

Sunday evening was spent chilling out and then the almost obigatory falling asleep in the bath whilst reading Rumpole.

GC

[Steve Lake]

Well, with so much rain (god knows what you guys in the west are doing, swimming i should imagine!) here in the east, most activity has been indoors, had a cursory look over the frame and other bits Andy230 dropped off, made notes of bits i need to convert into roadgoing cafe'd srx400....on the face of it I should have nearly everything in stock....just a few extra hours in the day should crack it.
Bluddy rats in the loft....so up there setting traps (can't use poison, the smell of decaying rats in the loft is not something i don't wish to repeat)....traps in the hens run...told neighbours each side to sort out their rats (well, they keep horses, so it's inevitable)
sodding woodburner was failing to run properly, so swept chimbly, much better now, so SWMBO happy and warm again...
looked at the 20 tons of wood we have accumulated, and wondered where i'm going to put the rest (at least another 20t!) when i collect it.....I think the long term plan for a woodstore/workshop outbuilding will have to be brought forward.....small question of the dosh will have to be overcome SWMBO had a brilliant idea......flog one of the bikes.......she has a point.....didn't agree with her out loud though...well you wouldn't would you
finished off the weekend by watching 'The ultimate bourne collection' which #1 son dropped round on saturday....and i really enjoyed them...much to my suprise...all 3 dvd's, feet up, bottle of sovy yong plonk.....

pip pip

[guest7]

Did I get that right - you're planning on stocking 40 ton of wood for burning?

Blimey. How long will that last?
GC

[themoudie]

Aye GC,

It's called living in the sticks!

Consumption depends upon whether its hardwood or softwood, how long its been seasoned (1year for soft, 2 years+ for hard), how big the stove is, what sort of draw you have on the lumb and how profligate is your wife with the stoking?

I managed a good tonne of Sitka spruce at the weekend, carted, cut to length, split and stacked. Should last 2 weeks if we are lucky, 10 days if it gets cold. Need to increase the 'leg lag' and put some more down in the roof. 200mm minimum.

SteveL, you get it delivered ready split or as it dropped? May I ask how much a tonne?

My regards, Bill.

[Steffan]

Did I get that right - you're planning on stocking 40 ton of wood for burning?

Blimey. How long will that last?
GC

Not as long as you might think! We have a wood burner and no central heating and we get through a couple of big baskets a night (Hard wood). I put a roof on the woodshed this autumn; used bitumen felt and a some clouts the previous occupant had left  . As it turns out they weren't enough as the wind had ripped it to shreds and we are back to using wet (rain) wood again 
I am working on the wife to let me have a handy sized trailer and a chainsaw but no success as yet.

Weekend? What weekend. I have forgotten what my bikes look like. Which is probably a good thing as if I took them out they would sink out of view in the mud. Took the family walking on Cors Caron * Sunday PM, board walk and old railway line - a bit tame really.

Steffan
*tregaron bog - source of the Teifi river

[squirrelciv]

Jobs, jobs and more jobs  but did get out in the shed to start on pannier rack #2  Need more gas for my braizing torch which brought proceedings to a halt as did not knowing excactly how things were going to go together Sure I'll figure it out in time for the annual

[Steve Lake]

'Tis true #1, and thats just my share! #1 Son gets the other half! (but managed to convince me that i should store it all, and he can come and collect what he needs on a monthly basis)

The origin of this bounty Bill, is via # sons neighbour, who is groundsman for an old peoples home a few miles up the road (closed at present, and under new management, with over a £1m quid being spent on enlargement/redevelopment...planners said a whole load of trees had to be removed, probably 30+ beech, ash, yew, apple, oak, elder, chestnut. most green a few dead, all mature)


we have had to fell and cut into transportable lengths (kept us busy every saturday since september)
I am now cutting into lengths for my woodburner ("18. then splitting, and stacking for next and future years)

As my woodburner is our main source of heating now, I am, as Steffan says, using a lot more wood than in previous years.....if it's good dry hardwood, then about a full wheelbarrow per 2 to 2 1/2 days
not so much in sept/oct or march/april.....so....my 20t will last approx 2-3 years...it's a constant job finding wood, getting it back here and storing it, ideally working 2 to 3 years ahead of burning (if its green wood). Shan't be wanting to be doing this in 10 years time.....not sure what i'll do then..

I do grow some of my own fuel, but not sufficient for my current consumption....and I also supplement my wood stock with window and door frames 'skipped' by the guys who work next door to my place of work, these blokes make and fit double glazing, plastic facias etc, all the stuff they take out comes back to the skip....it's bluddy criminal the stuff they bung out....I have 15 lovely old hardwood external doors stacked up beside the garage....I just couldn't let them go down the tip...god knows what I'm going to do with them.....ideas on a postcard please..
pip pip

[themoudie]

Aye SteveL,

Look after the yew and apple if you can, note the prices on Fleabay! Although I'm sure the hobby turnery squad are a plenty, in your neck of the woods. I rescued a whole yew tree from a bonfire last winter, seasoning nicely in the back of the lean to. Beware of the elder, never did make much heat and if you were Manx you'd left it where it stood. Small people live in them!!!! The Chestnut if it's Sweet, can lie dormant and only char. Had masses of it when I worked at Buccleuch, felled during WWII, hellish to split and then wouldn't make a gnat break sweat, though you'd lost buckets splitting it!

Old doors, Fleabay or the bijou renovators of the N. Norfolk coast. Skip raking is a favourite of mine as are 'new developements'. Offer to remove pallets and all wood offcuts, you'll be snowed under, providing you can bear to burn bits of 150x50 and hardwood facings, rather than see them as 'useful'!

Softwood firewood is making about £10-00m cube at roadside and hardwood about £25-00m cube up here. The price is rising steadily and people are making a career from it now! After 2 years seasoning hardwood is making £80-00m cube loaded into your trailer! Coal at £80-00tonne delivered, is better value and higher calorific value. Supply and demand.

Lang may your lumb reek.

Regards, Bill.

[Steve Lake]

yo bill,
I wood turn myself, thats why i didn't mention the wallnut....which is carefully stacked under the lathe  , not sure about the yew.....never tried turning it.....nor burning it....and I did offer up an apology to the tree spirits before felling the Elder, and true, it's not the best source of heat, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say ..

pip pip

[themoudie]

Aye SteveL,

Used for making those 'arty' mushroom ornaments, spill holders, propelling pencil barrels etc. Anything small diameter if the wood has 'shakes' and needs to be taken to small dimensions.

Have a look at this URL: http://www.hollytreewoodcrafts.co.uk/

Keep you guessing for ages!

As for the walnut, very nice, did you get the root as well? I've dug them out for the burl in the grain, spectaculor and worth a good bit if the right stuff.

My regards, Bill.

[guest27]

Any long straight bits of yew can be split down for bow staves - if it is not good when split can still be turned and or burned - nice yew bows are -- eeeeek how much!!

Sweet chestnut - should be split and used for fences etc in the garden - lasts almost as long as cedar does - timnber for the woodstore?

Big roots can be made into real nice seats.

Love wood mmmmmmm

R

[Steve Lake]

the chestnut is 'Horse'...
we left a few stumps in, and carved them into seats with the chainsaw.....judging by how long the staff leave the olduns outside and unattended in the summer...the'll probably get shoots growing through their b...s!