New for this year. Plant pot radiator grill protector.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
40th Anniversary
Saturday was a mechanical day. My car is just coming up to 60,000 miles run so it is time again for a service. Holiday are coming up too so it is wise to get the car ready for the extra mileage. It only takes me 45 minutes to change the oil, filter, air filter and spark plugs. I topped up the coolant and checked the handbrake.
Degsy has been sounding a bit out of tune. I decided that I would reset the timing. Given I knew this day would come. The weather was fine and I had set aside time for the job. I remember the process from my younger days when this was I had to do all the time on both my bikes and cars. I found the timing marks which were on the flywheel. The marks are viewed through a little access plate which is buried at the back of the engine. It took a bit to find it and to get the plate open. The next job was to set the timing mark on the flywheel. To do that you have to turn the engine over until the timing mark on the flywheel lines up with a pointer on the access cover whilst cylinder one is approaching top dead centre. Land Rover were considerate in supplying a starting handle with which to spin the engine. The problem is the handle is at he front of the engine and the marks are at the back with the radiator and bodywork in the way. even the manual say to get a friend to spot the mark or turn the engine. I only had H to hand so she had to spot the mark. We only had to have two or three goes to get the marks spot on. You cannot crank the engine backwards so if you miss the mark you have to round again. Once the marks were lined up it was a simple job the set the points. I loosened the distributor and set the dwell angle. Bolted it up again and turn the ignition key. Vroom, it started. Now I know how to do the job I should be able to do quite quickly next time. I noticed that the distributor cap transfer bars are burned as is the rotor cap so I should get a new ones.
I fitted a flip up step on the near side for H to able get in and out more easily. I had to drill a couple of holes for bolts but it went on without much trouble. I also fitted the rear reflectors, a MOT requirement. I was done by early afternoon. I had a sandwich and a brew a went to see the Bees.
There is trouble at the bees. The queen is not laying and I am not sure what to do. Wait for the Queen is get mated on buy in a new laying Queen? I will have to think about this but I have to decided upon a course of action very soon.
On the way back from the bees I went to the lottie and dug up a row of spuds. They look really good if a little large for earlies. H was on the her way out for a evening do so I popped home to say goodbye and have a brew. I went back to the lottie a continued weeding. The birds were very untidy when eating their seeds during the winter so now I have wheat growing on my path. I had a general weed. New Stu came down so I we had a chat about Degsy. I was noting that the tyres were the noisiest in the world. Stu agreed. He could tell it was me 200 yards away just from noise off the tyres. He remember a friend of his might have some road bais tyres that might fit. A few minutes and a phone call later I was the owner of four newish tyres and two wheel for £20. I was to collect them the following day.
It started raining so I went home H was out for the evening and Miss L was at friends. I drew a bath and flopped into it for an hour. Nothing to do and I switched off my brain and just relaxed for the first time in weeks. I had to collect Miss L from her friends house so had to get dried and dressed. I went in Degsy. It fairly flew along. So much so the tyres were smelling as they overheated. Lucky I have got some spares coming. Miss L and I had a nice evening watching TV and chatting.
Next morning a had a few things to do but waited until H came home since Miss L was having a lie in. I loaded up Degsy with seed trays in readiness for a trip to the lottie later in the day. H and I went out to a garden centre in Newton Regis. H needed a brew but the tea room which normally has a organist tinkling the ivories had a stand in Saxophonist who was playing by numbers. We got what we went for a tottled back through the lanes to home. Another brew and judging that the showers would miss me, I went to the lottie. I got a couple of trays a seedling planted before the showers came in. New Stu had turned up to drop off some wood for his borders. I followed him home to get the tyres. The tyres were a major result. Part worn yes but with plenty of tread. Two of the tyres were on good wheels as well!. I want to paint the white to smarten Degsy up. He has two cream wheels and two black. I could easily put the two new wheels straight on the have the new tyres put on the existing white wheels which would give me four white wheels I am looking for. That gives me a spare to put on the bonnet and on for the garage.
Tomorrow, 20th July, is the 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon. I think I remember stay up to see it on TV. I am not sure I did, I was only eight and I have been to sleep a few times since then. I do remember seeing the grainy pictures at school and we have seen the iconic footage many times since. I have just started reading Buzz Aldrin's autobiography, Magnificent Desolation. It was an amazing feat of endeavour. More amazing when you think they flew with the state of the art computer with only 74k of memory and a 2 megabit processor. Modern mobile phones, never mind the laptops, have much more computer power than the Apollo 11 rocket. However they did have a back up.............a slide rule.
All in all a restful weekend. Only two weeks to my summer holiday.
Degsy has been sounding a bit out of tune. I decided that I would reset the timing. Given I knew this day would come. The weather was fine and I had set aside time for the job. I remember the process from my younger days when this was I had to do all the time on both my bikes and cars. I found the timing marks which were on the flywheel. The marks are viewed through a little access plate which is buried at the back of the engine. It took a bit to find it and to get the plate open. The next job was to set the timing mark on the flywheel. To do that you have to turn the engine over until the timing mark on the flywheel lines up with a pointer on the access cover whilst cylinder one is approaching top dead centre. Land Rover were considerate in supplying a starting handle with which to spin the engine. The problem is the handle is at he front of the engine and the marks are at the back with the radiator and bodywork in the way. even the manual say to get a friend to spot the mark or turn the engine. I only had H to hand so she had to spot the mark. We only had to have two or three goes to get the marks spot on. You cannot crank the engine backwards so if you miss the mark you have to round again. Once the marks were lined up it was a simple job the set the points. I loosened the distributor and set the dwell angle. Bolted it up again and turn the ignition key. Vroom, it started. Now I know how to do the job I should be able to do quite quickly next time. I noticed that the distributor cap transfer bars are burned as is the rotor cap so I should get a new ones.
I fitted a flip up step on the near side for H to able get in and out more easily. I had to drill a couple of holes for bolts but it went on without much trouble. I also fitted the rear reflectors, a MOT requirement. I was done by early afternoon. I had a sandwich and a brew a went to see the Bees.
There is trouble at the bees. The queen is not laying and I am not sure what to do. Wait for the Queen is get mated on buy in a new laying Queen? I will have to think about this but I have to decided upon a course of action very soon.
On the way back from the bees I went to the lottie and dug up a row of spuds. They look really good if a little large for earlies. H was on the her way out for a evening do so I popped home to say goodbye and have a brew. I went back to the lottie a continued weeding. The birds were very untidy when eating their seeds during the winter so now I have wheat growing on my path. I had a general weed. New Stu came down so I we had a chat about Degsy. I was noting that the tyres were the noisiest in the world. Stu agreed. He could tell it was me 200 yards away just from noise off the tyres. He remember a friend of his might have some road bais tyres that might fit. A few minutes and a phone call later I was the owner of four newish tyres and two wheel for £20. I was to collect them the following day.
It started raining so I went home H was out for the evening and Miss L was at friends. I drew a bath and flopped into it for an hour. Nothing to do and I switched off my brain and just relaxed for the first time in weeks. I had to collect Miss L from her friends house so had to get dried and dressed. I went in Degsy. It fairly flew along. So much so the tyres were smelling as they overheated. Lucky I have got some spares coming. Miss L and I had a nice evening watching TV and chatting.
Next morning a had a few things to do but waited until H came home since Miss L was having a lie in. I loaded up Degsy with seed trays in readiness for a trip to the lottie later in the day. H and I went out to a garden centre in Newton Regis. H needed a brew but the tea room which normally has a organist tinkling the ivories had a stand in Saxophonist who was playing by numbers. We got what we went for a tottled back through the lanes to home. Another brew and judging that the showers would miss me, I went to the lottie. I got a couple of trays a seedling planted before the showers came in. New Stu had turned up to drop off some wood for his borders. I followed him home to get the tyres. The tyres were a major result. Part worn yes but with plenty of tread. Two of the tyres were on good wheels as well!. I want to paint the white to smarten Degsy up. He has two cream wheels and two black. I could easily put the two new wheels straight on the have the new tyres put on the existing white wheels which would give me four white wheels I am looking for. That gives me a spare to put on the bonnet and on for the garage.
Tomorrow, 20th July, is the 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon. I think I remember stay up to see it on TV. I am not sure I did, I was only eight and I have been to sleep a few times since then. I do remember seeing the grainy pictures at school and we have seen the iconic footage many times since. I have just started reading Buzz Aldrin's autobiography, Magnificent Desolation. It was an amazing feat of endeavour. More amazing when you think they flew with the state of the art computer with only 74k of memory and a 2 megabit processor. Modern mobile phones, never mind the laptops, have much more computer power than the Apollo 11 rocket. However they did have a back up.............a slide rule.
All in all a restful weekend. Only two weeks to my summer holiday.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Outting to Wragby
The big deal for this weekend was a trip out the Wragby near Lincoln. Wragby is the home of Thornes. Click HERE for the website. They are the premier manufacturer of beehives and beekeeping equipment. The event was their summer sale. I was advised to get there early. It was supposed to open at 9am. I got there at 8.30 and was about fiftyth in the queue. By the time the gates were opened the queue was half way down the street. There was nervous chatter from the waiting crowd. When the door opened to the warehouse it all went quiet as folk concentrated on the getting though the door. Once into the warehouse it was a free for all. Thorne's had five pallets stacked chest height with flat pack brood boxes and and the same of supers. Within ten minutes of opening up the ten pallets were empty. However all that happened was that folks created stacks of there selections all over the floor so now all the walkways are blocked with anxious looking people protecting there piles of goodies. People were buying forty and fifty hives at a time. It was a feeding frenzy.
The one thing I went for was an extractor. There was only four available. I spotted them on the top of the racking. I squeezed through the crowd and managed to reach up for one. I got my hand on it so it was mine. It was worth the trip since the extractor was brand new and less than half price. I got some frames and foundation as well. Having paid for them an stacked them in the car and went back for a sandwich and a brew from the refreshment tent, then made my way home.
When I got home a put together the hives I got during the week. They are got a good as the Thornes but they are cheaper. The extra job I had to do was paint the hives with wood stain to waterproof them. The sun was hot on my back as I worked in the back garden. I had to keep an eye on the time as Miss L and I had to go to Steve for his start of summer BBQ. H had gone to for a her sister's for a charity do in Hathersage. Steve asked me to make some Elderflower champagne. Something went wrong and it ended up as a bitter syrup. Instead I took a couple of bottles of cider. I think it went down well enough.
The next morning I had to do the trailer run. After having tipped the trailer I dropped back to the house to make breakfast for Miss L and I. We had pancakes and bacon. I had too many pancakes as usual. I went back to the lottie with the express mission to weed the carrot patch. I put on my knee pads and set to. I had my radio on, the sun was not too hot and there was a nice breeze. It was easy work loosening the soil and pulling the weeds by the handful. I was able to work round the Parsnips but not the Carrots, They had been out completed by the weeds. I put four wheel barrows of weeds into the compost bins. The key thing is to get the weeds before they set seed. I harvetsed some Cabbage, Broad Beans and Beetroot. H was back from her outing but I still had to do the Bees.
I looked through the boxes but had trouble finding the queen in one of the boxes but there were a lot of queen cells, which was a worry. I resolved to go back on Wednesday lunchtime to check again. When I got home H was sleepy. She had had a poor night at the Youth Hostel so went to bed for a nap. I went over to Mo's and watered the Tomatoes. Later we sat down to a nice diner and commiserated with Miss L as her boyfriend has gone on holiday for a week. It brought to an end a busy weekend.
The one thing I went for was an extractor. There was only four available. I spotted them on the top of the racking. I squeezed through the crowd and managed to reach up for one. I got my hand on it so it was mine. It was worth the trip since the extractor was brand new and less than half price. I got some frames and foundation as well. Having paid for them an stacked them in the car and went back for a sandwich and a brew from the refreshment tent, then made my way home.
When I got home a put together the hives I got during the week. They are got a good as the Thornes but they are cheaper. The extra job I had to do was paint the hives with wood stain to waterproof them. The sun was hot on my back as I worked in the back garden. I had to keep an eye on the time as Miss L and I had to go to Steve for his start of summer BBQ. H had gone to for a her sister's for a charity do in Hathersage. Steve asked me to make some Elderflower champagne. Something went wrong and it ended up as a bitter syrup. Instead I took a couple of bottles of cider. I think it went down well enough.
The next morning I had to do the trailer run. After having tipped the trailer I dropped back to the house to make breakfast for Miss L and I. We had pancakes and bacon. I had too many pancakes as usual. I went back to the lottie with the express mission to weed the carrot patch. I put on my knee pads and set to. I had my radio on, the sun was not too hot and there was a nice breeze. It was easy work loosening the soil and pulling the weeds by the handful. I was able to work round the Parsnips but not the Carrots, They had been out completed by the weeds. I put four wheel barrows of weeds into the compost bins. The key thing is to get the weeds before they set seed. I harvetsed some Cabbage, Broad Beans and Beetroot. H was back from her outing but I still had to do the Bees.
I looked through the boxes but had trouble finding the queen in one of the boxes but there were a lot of queen cells, which was a worry. I resolved to go back on Wednesday lunchtime to check again. When I got home H was sleepy. She had had a poor night at the Youth Hostel so went to bed for a nap. I went over to Mo's and watered the Tomatoes. Later we sat down to a nice diner and commiserated with Miss L as her boyfriend has gone on holiday for a week. It brought to an end a busy weekend.
Monday, July 06, 2009
"If you understand me"
I took the night off on Thursday and truddled down to the lottie. Steve was there, I had a couple of bottles of lager with me so we sat, sipped a couple of bottles whilst we picked over his Redcurrrant bushes and watched the night slowly draw in.
The watering at Mo's continues. It is too hot in the greenhouse despite having all the windows and doors open, so some of the flowers have been dropping off. No flowers, no fruit. Still, there are lots of toms starting to fruit. The Red Alerts are doing very well. I will be eating them soon. It was another busy weekend. Saturday morning ritual. Poo trailer, allotmenting and Bees. The allotment is a bit weedy. I tidied up the area we dug the volunteer spuds from last weekend and raked it out. It is ready for the five trays of brassicas I have at home. I cleaned up six barrows of assorted weeds but mainly Chickweed. It had not set seed so I was able to bung it all in the compost bin. I had to start the third bin to accommodate all the green stuff. Onions are looking good as are the spuds. The down pours during the week were very handy. The vines are taking hold although one white and one red vine look badly checked. I have some lovely looking Cabbages. Still plenty of weeding to do.
I dropped the trailer off along with some Cabbage and Broad Beans off to Angie and Chris. A thank you for the manure. Then onto the Bees. I have been worrying about them. Both Hives swarmed. The Bees must have read the manual and right on cue the new Queen has been mated and has started laying. The quieter of the two hives will probably not produce a surplus of honey this year but the other one might. I decided not to use smoke on the Bees, which is the prescribed method of calming them down, whilst the hive is investigated. I find it just upsets them. Much better to just be gentle and smooth. I do get the odd bee that pings off the veil but generally there is just a mellow buzz. When I finished the bees I made a brew and had a sit in the shade of the Degsy just looking out into fields with their slight haze of red from the Poppies growing amongst the ripening wheat. Brain idling was finished along with the last of the Tea.
The next jobs was Degsy's tow hook or rather the step. I decided to fit a step to get into the back to motor. It is a big step up and I figure I will probably rupture myself if I try to cart a super of honey or trays of spuds into the back of the motor. I got the step from the suppliers a couple of weeks ago. The step has a bar with two holes that line up with the bolts of the tow hook. So all you have to do is undo the bolts holding on the hook, slip the step bracket up to the blots and nip it all up again. I knew this was going to be easier said than done. First I had to find a supplier of replacement bolts for the hook. The current bolts would be too short with the extra thickness of the step bracket. I also knew that I would probably wreck the bolts getting them out. I had put a spanner on the bolts during the week and could not move them. A trip out to Breedon to the caravan shop solved that problem. Just the right nuts and bolts for a couple of quid. I had guessed that the hook was held on by nuts and bolts. Some perverse hook fitter put the nuts on the inside of the hook bracket so you could not get a good purchase on the nut. I dribbled on plenty of WD40 and 3 in 1 oil and had a go at loosening the nuts, no chance. About 40 minutes of oiling and cajoling managed to get the nuts to come free. This released the tow hook assembly. Now I had the threaded ends the bolts sticking out the bracket. More oil. I gave the studs an optimistic rap with the hammer. The blows resounded through Degsy like a drum. More oil. I got the sockets and spanners out to try to spin the bolt and work it out of the drop plate. The drop plate is the lump of plate steel that has the tow hook on one end the and is bolted to Degsy are the other end. No joy. More oil. I decided that if a cut the bolt heads off I might be able to drift out the bolt shaft. Aching arms, two hacksaw blades and several skinned knuckles later the bolt heads were on the floor. Because of the awkward location of the bolts some of the bolt head still on the bolt. A very bad scenario. I got the angle grinder out and went to town on the remaining metal. I was lying on my back under Degsy, sparks shooting everywhere and dirt falling all over me from the underside of Degsy, oh and did I mention it was at least 27C. Lovely. Job done I packed away the grinder, no doubt to the relief of the neighbours. I rapped the bolts again but nothing. More oil and more hammering. Nothing, no movement at all. I the idea crept into my head that the bolt might actually be a screwed rod with nuts on both ends. So no amount of hammering would draw the "bolt". It was tea time, I was hungry and my patience was wearing thin.
H had dropped Miss L off to a party and was staying over. H and I had Tea and got the chiminia going in the back garden and lit loads of T-lights, opened a bottle of something red and just had a chat, sat by the pond as the night drew in. Then it came to me as I pondered. What I need is a big set of mole grips, better yet a set of 24" Stilsons [a type of adjustable wrench for round objects]. My Stilson went to good home along tome ago. It was too late in the day to do anything about it. Tomorrow 10am at Massey's they will have the tool.
Massey's did have the very tool. I got a stud extractor as well in case the Stilson did not work. Back home by 10.30 so everyone in the street sound be up. If they weren't, they so would be. More oil on the bolt. I tackled the left bolt first as there was room to swing the wrench. The wrench just chewed up the threads and would not budge. Then I drilled a hole in the bolt end, inserted the extractor gave it an good turn and "ping" the tool snapped. Now I had a bolt with a tool steel core. Bugger. More oil and some Tea. About this time H went out to collect Miss L and reminded me that we had a BBQ to go to at 3pm. Double bugger. More oil. I set about the right bolt. Slowly but surely the bolt turned,very slowly and making a terrible squealing noise which resonated through the body work. More oil and more turning. Then it just went loose and the bolt came out with a gentle pull with my fingers. It was a bolt just with 30 years of corrosion. Removing this bolt released some pressure on the spacer plate. More oil, tapping and oil and wiggling to get the spacer off. Still the left stud remained. At least I knew it was a smooth bolt shank and not a screwed rod. More oil and a brew. Whilst drinking my brew I pondered the bolt and idly whacked it with the hammer. This time the noise was different. I looked at the back of the drop plate and found that he bolt had moved, perhaps only a millimeter but it moved. More oil. I decided to take Degsy up the fields where I could give the bolt a good hiding without worrying about the noise I was going to make. I threw everything in the back of Degsy and set off for Willesley Woodside. I found a spot. More oil on the bolt and then gave the bolt half a dozen good blows. That was it, the studs moved quarter of an inch. More oil and then hammered from the other side of the plate. Another two more passes and the stud was getting really loose. Then I got the stud I had moved from right side hole and used it as a drift to finally remove the left stud completely. Job done. It had only taken four hours spread over two days!
When I got home it was a five minute job to put the bolts through the tow hook, spacer and drop plate. Then offer up the step bracket to the rear of the drop plate and spin on the crimp washer and nut. Nip the nuts finger tight, check the step was level and nip the nuts up good and tight. I took the precaution of Copperslipping the bolt shafts so when I need to get the bolts out they should come away a lot easier. I had a tidy up and parked the cars by the time H got back. H could see I was properly pleased with myself. I had a few minutes to go over to Mo's and water the Toms. That done I got myself showered, shaved and dressed ready for the BBQ.
The venue was in Osgathorpe. A friend of H invited us. When we got there we found it was H, Miss L and me, Kim and George [the hosts] and another couple. Kim had made enough food for fifty. Kim is Chinese and spent a lot of time in America although you would not know from her heavy accent, Hubby George is a big bluff fellow with a strange mid-Atlantic accent. He made his money in building machines that make jet engines. Interesting bloke but completely nuts. As he tucked into the wine his stories got taller and his language fruitier. The ladies drifted away leaving me and Chris [bloke from the other couple] with George. He had this strange affliction that he finished every other sentence with "if you understand me". Chris and I were in quiet hysterics as his shaggy dog story meandered to a inconclusive end, punctuated with "if you understand me" and an intense look at either one of us.
Miss L has was very impressed with the house. A sweeping curved stairs in the hall. Five double bedrooms, each with en-suite. A huge kitchen and a separate dining room. It had a huge granny flat on the side, built out over the double, double garage. The living room was the size of a small ballroom and decorated in a Chinese/American style. Beautifully made pieces of furniture including a Bar and high back stools made from Camphour wood, big vases with floral displays and a black carpet with Chinese symbols in gold. The crowning piece, for Miss L, was the Dolby surround sound projector TV hooked up to Sky. Miss L was delighted as she had all to herself until we all came inside to shelter from the wind. They live on a hillside, a good view but windy. We got away at 8pm, George had lost the use of his legs by this time but not his tongue "if you understand me".
The watering at Mo's continues. It is too hot in the greenhouse despite having all the windows and doors open, so some of the flowers have been dropping off. No flowers, no fruit. Still, there are lots of toms starting to fruit. The Red Alerts are doing very well. I will be eating them soon. It was another busy weekend. Saturday morning ritual. Poo trailer, allotmenting and Bees. The allotment is a bit weedy. I tidied up the area we dug the volunteer spuds from last weekend and raked it out. It is ready for the five trays of brassicas I have at home. I cleaned up six barrows of assorted weeds but mainly Chickweed. It had not set seed so I was able to bung it all in the compost bin. I had to start the third bin to accommodate all the green stuff. Onions are looking good as are the spuds. The down pours during the week were very handy. The vines are taking hold although one white and one red vine look badly checked. I have some lovely looking Cabbages. Still plenty of weeding to do.
I dropped the trailer off along with some Cabbage and Broad Beans off to Angie and Chris. A thank you for the manure. Then onto the Bees. I have been worrying about them. Both Hives swarmed. The Bees must have read the manual and right on cue the new Queen has been mated and has started laying. The quieter of the two hives will probably not produce a surplus of honey this year but the other one might. I decided not to use smoke on the Bees, which is the prescribed method of calming them down, whilst the hive is investigated. I find it just upsets them. Much better to just be gentle and smooth. I do get the odd bee that pings off the veil but generally there is just a mellow buzz. When I finished the bees I made a brew and had a sit in the shade of the Degsy just looking out into fields with their slight haze of red from the Poppies growing amongst the ripening wheat. Brain idling was finished along with the last of the Tea.
The next jobs was Degsy's tow hook or rather the step. I decided to fit a step to get into the back to motor. It is a big step up and I figure I will probably rupture myself if I try to cart a super of honey or trays of spuds into the back of the motor. I got the step from the suppliers a couple of weeks ago. The step has a bar with two holes that line up with the bolts of the tow hook. So all you have to do is undo the bolts holding on the hook, slip the step bracket up to the blots and nip it all up again. I knew this was going to be easier said than done. First I had to find a supplier of replacement bolts for the hook. The current bolts would be too short with the extra thickness of the step bracket. I also knew that I would probably wreck the bolts getting them out. I had put a spanner on the bolts during the week and could not move them. A trip out to Breedon to the caravan shop solved that problem. Just the right nuts and bolts for a couple of quid. I had guessed that the hook was held on by nuts and bolts. Some perverse hook fitter put the nuts on the inside of the hook bracket so you could not get a good purchase on the nut. I dribbled on plenty of WD40 and 3 in 1 oil and had a go at loosening the nuts, no chance. About 40 minutes of oiling and cajoling managed to get the nuts to come free. This released the tow hook assembly. Now I had the threaded ends the bolts sticking out the bracket. More oil. I gave the studs an optimistic rap with the hammer. The blows resounded through Degsy like a drum. More oil. I got the sockets and spanners out to try to spin the bolt and work it out of the drop plate. The drop plate is the lump of plate steel that has the tow hook on one end the and is bolted to Degsy are the other end. No joy. More oil. I decided that if a cut the bolt heads off I might be able to drift out the bolt shaft. Aching arms, two hacksaw blades and several skinned knuckles later the bolt heads were on the floor. Because of the awkward location of the bolts some of the bolt head still on the bolt. A very bad scenario. I got the angle grinder out and went to town on the remaining metal. I was lying on my back under Degsy, sparks shooting everywhere and dirt falling all over me from the underside of Degsy, oh and did I mention it was at least 27C. Lovely. Job done I packed away the grinder, no doubt to the relief of the neighbours. I rapped the bolts again but nothing. More oil and more hammering. Nothing, no movement at all. I the idea crept into my head that the bolt might actually be a screwed rod with nuts on both ends. So no amount of hammering would draw the "bolt". It was tea time, I was hungry and my patience was wearing thin.
H had dropped Miss L off to a party and was staying over. H and I had Tea and got the chiminia going in the back garden and lit loads of T-lights, opened a bottle of something red and just had a chat, sat by the pond as the night drew in. Then it came to me as I pondered. What I need is a big set of mole grips, better yet a set of 24" Stilsons [a type of adjustable wrench for round objects]. My Stilson went to good home along tome ago. It was too late in the day to do anything about it. Tomorrow 10am at Massey's they will have the tool.
Massey's did have the very tool. I got a stud extractor as well in case the Stilson did not work. Back home by 10.30 so everyone in the street sound be up. If they weren't, they so would be. More oil on the bolt. I tackled the left bolt first as there was room to swing the wrench. The wrench just chewed up the threads and would not budge. Then I drilled a hole in the bolt end, inserted the extractor gave it an good turn and "ping" the tool snapped. Now I had a bolt with a tool steel core. Bugger. More oil and some Tea. About this time H went out to collect Miss L and reminded me that we had a BBQ to go to at 3pm. Double bugger. More oil. I set about the right bolt. Slowly but surely the bolt turned,very slowly and making a terrible squealing noise which resonated through the body work. More oil and more turning. Then it just went loose and the bolt came out with a gentle pull with my fingers. It was a bolt just with 30 years of corrosion. Removing this bolt released some pressure on the spacer plate. More oil, tapping and oil and wiggling to get the spacer off. Still the left stud remained. At least I knew it was a smooth bolt shank and not a screwed rod. More oil and a brew. Whilst drinking my brew I pondered the bolt and idly whacked it with the hammer. This time the noise was different. I looked at the back of the drop plate and found that he bolt had moved, perhaps only a millimeter but it moved. More oil. I decided to take Degsy up the fields where I could give the bolt a good hiding without worrying about the noise I was going to make. I threw everything in the back of Degsy and set off for Willesley Woodside. I found a spot. More oil on the bolt and then gave the bolt half a dozen good blows. That was it, the studs moved quarter of an inch. More oil and then hammered from the other side of the plate. Another two more passes and the stud was getting really loose. Then I got the stud I had moved from right side hole and used it as a drift to finally remove the left stud completely. Job done. It had only taken four hours spread over two days!
When I got home it was a five minute job to put the bolts through the tow hook, spacer and drop plate. Then offer up the step bracket to the rear of the drop plate and spin on the crimp washer and nut. Nip the nuts finger tight, check the step was level and nip the nuts up good and tight. I took the precaution of Copperslipping the bolt shafts so when I need to get the bolts out they should come away a lot easier. I had a tidy up and parked the cars by the time H got back. H could see I was properly pleased with myself. I had a few minutes to go over to Mo's and water the Toms. That done I got myself showered, shaved and dressed ready for the BBQ.
The venue was in Osgathorpe. A friend of H invited us. When we got there we found it was H, Miss L and me, Kim and George [the hosts] and another couple. Kim had made enough food for fifty. Kim is Chinese and spent a lot of time in America although you would not know from her heavy accent, Hubby George is a big bluff fellow with a strange mid-Atlantic accent. He made his money in building machines that make jet engines. Interesting bloke but completely nuts. As he tucked into the wine his stories got taller and his language fruitier. The ladies drifted away leaving me and Chris [bloke from the other couple] with George. He had this strange affliction that he finished every other sentence with "if you understand me". Chris and I were in quiet hysterics as his shaggy dog story meandered to a inconclusive end, punctuated with "if you understand me" and an intense look at either one of us.
Miss L has was very impressed with the house. A sweeping curved stairs in the hall. Five double bedrooms, each with en-suite. A huge kitchen and a separate dining room. It had a huge granny flat on the side, built out over the double, double garage. The living room was the size of a small ballroom and decorated in a Chinese/American style. Beautifully made pieces of furniture including a Bar and high back stools made from Camphour wood, big vases with floral displays and a black carpet with Chinese symbols in gold. The crowning piece, for Miss L, was the Dolby surround sound projector TV hooked up to Sky. Miss L was delighted as she had all to herself until we all came inside to shelter from the wind. They live on a hillside, a good view but windy. We got away at 8pm, George had lost the use of his legs by this time but not his tongue "if you understand me".
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Degsy
We got a new member of the family at the weekend. Degsy, a 1981, 88inch, 2 1/4litre petrol Land Rover. Miss L provided the name "Degsy". I said to a Landy owner that I know that I did not want a project just something with a long MOT that started on the key. When he stopped laughing he explained by just owning a Landy you have a project on your hands.
As predicted the "project" began by fixing the unblinking front indicator. In the best traditions of Land Rovers, giving the indicator bulb a wiggle fixed the problem. Did I mention that I have had to buy a few bits to make it comfy. New seats and inertia reel seat belts, a couple of wiper blades and lens for some of the lights, oh, and a mirror. Sounds like the project has begun.
As predicted the "project" began by fixing the unblinking front indicator. In the best traditions of Land Rovers, giving the indicator bulb a wiggle fixed the problem. Did I mention that I have had to buy a few bits to make it comfy. New seats and inertia reel seat belts, a couple of wiper blades and lens for some of the lights, oh, and a mirror. Sounds like the project has begun.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Busier still
I forgot to say that last week I had to do the Lottie meeting and follow up with the minutes, I had to go to Harrogate to see clients on Monday. I had lunch in Harrogate wandering round Harlow Carr because it is just across the road from one of my clients offices. I took a long detour to Manchester to see my Mum and Dad. Dad been out of hospital for a few weeks now and is beginning to perk up. We chatted for a few hours. I passed over the swag. I had had to take some frames out of the hives and one of them was full of honey. I roughly extracted the honey from the frames and filtered it. I got a jar and a half. Jean had the smaller and Dad the larger one. Then home. I arranged that I would go on to Tuesday morning to see a motor I have been pursuing. It car checked out so we shook hands on it and arranged to pick it up this weekend [27th June] brother Al's birthday, coincidentally. I missed fencing for the first time in ages, I was knackered. I am very busy at work and had to go to London on Friday for an all day seminar. It was good but tiring.
Saturday was the big day for which I had been waiting months. I have managed to track down a Series III Land Rover for money I was prepared to pay. It is a bit scruffy but then it was first registered in 1981! It has a full MOT good tyres, starts first time [touch wood] has various new parts and not much rust. It is marine blue with cream hard top. Miss L and I got up early to get he train from Burton to Shrewsbury via Birmingham. We got to Shrewsbury without a hitch Peter picked us up and ran us out to Llansilin where the landy was stored.
The ride home was an adventure. I said I would see Peter back at his house but what with Shrewsbury having a festival, learning how to drive a car that weighs over two tons and has drum brakes to stop with and needs double de-clutching I got disoriented and could not find Peter's house. I gave up after an hour and chugged back to Moira. 40 mph is the max speed. Not only the max speed but also the brakes can manage to haul it up if the brake pedal is stamped on from 40. The noise of the off road tyres drumming on the road is colossal above 30mph. Miss L and I had too have a break and found a nice gastro-pub near Telford, The Wicketeers. After a short break and food we set off again. I had got the hang of steering and changing up and down gears. You just have to watch out for "modern" cars cutting into the space you have left for stopping and then they jump on their brakes. More than one eager driver had to dodge back out of the space i.e. my braking zone, when two tons of Landy blotted out the sun in the back window of their car. I was not being mean just doing best I could with what I had. One thing is for sure people hear you coming and the smart ones get out of the way.
We got home in one piece having covered 100 miles without incidented, if a little deaf and a little poorer. The Land Rover has been christened "Degsy"by Miss L. I had enough time to do the poo run before I had to be home to meet Jim & Soo and get ready for a party. Casandra's boy is 21 and was having a party. He is a Star Wars nut so Sandra aranged for Jim, Soo and a friend, Stuart, to do a guest appearance. They all belong to a Stars War society [apologies if a got it wrong] but they do charity events as characters from Start Wars [I got that bit right]. Jim and Stuart are Imperial Stormtroopers and Sue is a Imperial Officer. They have all the kit including voice boxes which gives an extra element. Alex was detained by the "Stormies" and read his citation before been permitted to continue the party. The Stormies stayed around for pictures. It was completely out of the blue for everyone, Casandra had not told anyone. Click HERE for 99th Garrison website. The party began to wind down so home again. H was away at the 40 anniversary do for the Open University so missed the trooping.
Because we had not over indulged we were up at a respectable time on Sunday. I made the full English. Over breakfast Sue was daft enough to ask what I had in store for them until H turn up. H was schedule to be home about midday. Bees and lottie anyone? We all piled into my car, not Degsy, and went off to see the bees. It was quite a dull morning. I parked the car next to coppice and we walked the half mile across through the tunnels to the apiary. We gave the bees a good coat of looking at and had a walk round the meadow, then it was back to the car. Stuart was interested in having a look at the lottie. We trundled over there and had the place to ourselves, more of less. I go the fork and spade out of the car along with the baskets and proceeded to dig up the remaining "weed" potatoes. I was wrecked after took rows even with Sue helping. so Jim and Stuart finished off the remainder, it was getting hot by now. We bagged three shopping basket worth of earlies and I got the cabbage patch cleared. We came home to find H had got back early. Unfortunately Stuart had to go so we sent him off a with load of spuds, a bottle of Cider and a bottle of Elderflower syrup. H made dinner for us all and we had a very pleasant afternoon.
I forgot the mention a little adventure. Jim did not miss Degsy sitting on the drive. Eventually curiosity got the better of him we went for a poke about the motor. Jim said he had never driven a land rover so I remedied that straight away. I got Degsy off the drive, pointing the right direction and handed it over to Jim. I jumped in the passenger side. Shall we say it was a revelation. We did a circuit of the district and when we came back Jim was very pleased that car manufacturing has moved on enormously since 1981 in Solihull. You laugh alot in Degsy, from fear, survival or happiness I am not sure which but any car you drive after a old land rover feels like a Bentley.
Saturday was the big day for which I had been waiting months. I have managed to track down a Series III Land Rover for money I was prepared to pay. It is a bit scruffy but then it was first registered in 1981! It has a full MOT good tyres, starts first time [touch wood] has various new parts and not much rust. It is marine blue with cream hard top. Miss L and I got up early to get he train from Burton to Shrewsbury via Birmingham. We got to Shrewsbury without a hitch Peter picked us up and ran us out to Llansilin where the landy was stored.
The ride home was an adventure. I said I would see Peter back at his house but what with Shrewsbury having a festival, learning how to drive a car that weighs over two tons and has drum brakes to stop with and needs double de-clutching I got disoriented and could not find Peter's house. I gave up after an hour and chugged back to Moira. 40 mph is the max speed. Not only the max speed but also the brakes can manage to haul it up if the brake pedal is stamped on from 40. The noise of the off road tyres drumming on the road is colossal above 30mph. Miss L and I had too have a break and found a nice gastro-pub near Telford, The Wicketeers. After a short break and food we set off again. I had got the hang of steering and changing up and down gears. You just have to watch out for "modern" cars cutting into the space you have left for stopping and then they jump on their brakes. More than one eager driver had to dodge back out of the space i.e. my braking zone, when two tons of Landy blotted out the sun in the back window of their car. I was not being mean just doing best I could with what I had. One thing is for sure people hear you coming and the smart ones get out of the way.
We got home in one piece having covered 100 miles without incidented, if a little deaf and a little poorer. The Land Rover has been christened "Degsy"by Miss L. I had enough time to do the poo run before I had to be home to meet Jim & Soo and get ready for a party. Casandra's boy is 21 and was having a party. He is a Star Wars nut so Sandra aranged for Jim, Soo and a friend, Stuart, to do a guest appearance. They all belong to a Stars War society [apologies if a got it wrong] but they do charity events as characters from Start Wars [I got that bit right]. Jim and Stuart are Imperial Stormtroopers and Sue is a Imperial Officer. They have all the kit including voice boxes which gives an extra element. Alex was detained by the "Stormies" and read his citation before been permitted to continue the party. The Stormies stayed around for pictures. It was completely out of the blue for everyone, Casandra had not told anyone. Click HERE for 99th Garrison website. The party began to wind down so home again. H was away at the 40 anniversary do for the Open University so missed the trooping.
Because we had not over indulged we were up at a respectable time on Sunday. I made the full English. Over breakfast Sue was daft enough to ask what I had in store for them until H turn up. H was schedule to be home about midday. Bees and lottie anyone? We all piled into my car, not Degsy, and went off to see the bees. It was quite a dull morning. I parked the car next to coppice and we walked the half mile across through the tunnels to the apiary. We gave the bees a good coat of looking at and had a walk round the meadow, then it was back to the car. Stuart was interested in having a look at the lottie. We trundled over there and had the place to ourselves, more of less. I go the fork and spade out of the car along with the baskets and proceeded to dig up the remaining "weed" potatoes. I was wrecked after took rows even with Sue helping. so Jim and Stuart finished off the remainder, it was getting hot by now. We bagged three shopping basket worth of earlies and I got the cabbage patch cleared. We came home to find H had got back early. Unfortunately Stuart had to go so we sent him off a with load of spuds, a bottle of Cider and a bottle of Elderflower syrup. H made dinner for us all and we had a very pleasant afternoon.
I forgot the mention a little adventure. Jim did not miss Degsy sitting on the drive. Eventually curiosity got the better of him we went for a poke about the motor. Jim said he had never driven a land rover so I remedied that straight away. I got Degsy off the drive, pointing the right direction and handed it over to Jim. I jumped in the passenger side. Shall we say it was a revelation. We did a circuit of the district and when we came back Jim was very pleased that car manufacturing has moved on enormously since 1981 in Solihull. You laugh alot in Degsy, from fear, survival or happiness I am not sure which but any car you drive after a old land rover feels like a Bentley.
On the run
Life has been very busy recently and at the same time the clock has ticked by very slowly. Go back three weekends and I cannot think what I did. I think it rained. I did the trailer run for sure. I did look at the bees. I watered Mo's greenhouse a couple of times through the week.
The next weekend it was Miss L's 17th birthday. I organised to do a job each evening to get ready for the party on the Sunday. One of the jobs was to plant out the bedding plants that have been growing at Mo's. Another evening it was tidying up the back garden. Do the weeding and cutting back the Willow revealed loads of Strawberries. The Blackcurrant have been devastated by greenfly but the leaves started growing back. I had to do the poo run and sorted out the bees. Whilst at the lottie I did a bit of weeding. The "weeds" were spuds that I had missed harvesting last year. I treated them as earlies. The weeding cleared the way for more brassicas. Jean and Peter came over for the party. I got home not long after they arrived. We had a pleasant afternoon together wandering round Repton at the open gardens event. Very interesting. We also managed to get tea and cake. Once home and tea [the evening meal] had been taken, Peter and I took the dog for a stroll to the Railway. And then we had a long walk back but softened by the few pints of Guinness.
Sunday was the day of the party. We had breakfast quite early. Peter and I made ourselves scarce whilst H, Jean and Miss L got the food and house ready. Peter and I went to have a look at the historic railway at Snarestone and then took a look at the bees. We got home in time for a brew and to get smartened up. We had lots of folks come and it was a very pleasant afternoon.
The next weekend it was Miss L's 17th birthday. I organised to do a job each evening to get ready for the party on the Sunday. One of the jobs was to plant out the bedding plants that have been growing at Mo's. Another evening it was tidying up the back garden. Do the weeding and cutting back the Willow revealed loads of Strawberries. The Blackcurrant have been devastated by greenfly but the leaves started growing back. I had to do the poo run and sorted out the bees. Whilst at the lottie I did a bit of weeding. The "weeds" were spuds that I had missed harvesting last year. I treated them as earlies. The weeding cleared the way for more brassicas. Jean and Peter came over for the party. I got home not long after they arrived. We had a pleasant afternoon together wandering round Repton at the open gardens event. Very interesting. We also managed to get tea and cake. Once home and tea [the evening meal] had been taken, Peter and I took the dog for a stroll to the Railway. And then we had a long walk back but softened by the few pints of Guinness.
Sunday was the day of the party. We had breakfast quite early. Peter and I made ourselves scarce whilst H, Jean and Miss L got the food and house ready. Peter and I went to have a look at the historic railway at Snarestone and then took a look at the bees. We got home in time for a brew and to get smartened up. We had lots of folks come and it was a very pleasant afternoon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)