Half term DIY

Last week was half term for us and our plan was to lay a new floor in the front room. However D & J spent most of last weekend in bed with a sore throat and flu like symptoms, so we were not certain how we would progress. However, by mid week, although still poorly, we had enough energy to be up and about, and knowing that if we didn't do it this week, it probably wouldn't happen until Easter, we went ahead anyway.

Dad (GT) and Mum (GM) were going to come and help on Friday, but we were ill we gave them the option of avoiding our illness.

(I now know that doing DIY on top of man flu is probably not the best idea, all aches are magnified, one night I woke up in agony with toothache in my shoulder - I was reminded of Dad overdoing it on DIY when I was a lad, and needing hot baths and deep heat cream... ach well, like Father like son... you can't sit around waiting for perfect conditions I guess).

M had spent some time finding a good deal on some Vinyl flooring on the internet. In the end she settled on an embossed Jakarta Oak effect, which actually looks fairly convincing.

The first roll arrived (4m x 3.5m) but it had got damaged in transit. A small hole had been ripped out of it about 50cm in from the edge, no chance that this bit would be cut off as excess. So with only 3 days to go before we planned to start we had to send it back and order a new one. The company was very very good about it. They arranged pick up, and drop off of the new one very quickly - we told them on the Tuesday, and by Thursday morning it had arrived.

Taking advice on how to lay the floor from the company, we also bought some plywood to cover our existing floor. 5 sheets 8' x 4' was enough, and cost about £9 each from a local timber merchant.

The biggest issue was emptying the front room. The rest of the house became chaos. We had books up the stairs, armchairs in the kitchen, shelves on the landing... and the sofa tipped on end in the front room to minimise footprint.

The old carpet now covers an area of weeds and couch grass out the back, so hopefully everything underneath will die off.

Those of you at our house before may remember that the previous owners had plasterboarded over the fireplace and then built a hearth and put a fire surround with mantlepiece where the fire should be. The fake hearth had always been a 'waste of space' to us, so we walloped it out with a sledgehammer and discovered why they had put it there.

Underneath was the real hearth, only, it wasn't flat, part of it was raised, and other parts the bricks must have eroded years ago. Oh dear. Well, nothing for it now, we had to press on, so pausing to gain inspiration on how to proceed M and D both came independently to the same conclusion. Postcrete. Hanson Postcrete is a very quick setting concrete/cement for, you guessed it, fence posts. We happened to have a couple of bags in the shed and so mixed most of one bag in a nearly broken trug M used for laundry (now she can have a new one). Then, with our trusty plaster trowelly thing D pressed and smoothed it into the uneven surface of the original hearth, thus reducing the undulations to a tolerable level. When it was set we finished off by packing the area with card to smooth the undulations further.

Back to the plywood, we decided to to a decent job or not at all. So, off came all the skirting boards first. Taking the skirtings off first has several advantages we found. Adding plywood and vinyl would of course raise the floor level and so we would need to add beading or something anyway to hide the edge of the new floor, it also means you can paint them while off the wall. giving you a much neater finish in the end.

D started off fitting the plywood, and worked out a nifty technique for cutting it to fit uneven walls. Our house has character you see. No right angles for us. Then about 1 million nails later they were all in place. Of course near the original hearth we couldn't nail into concrete, so we had to be very thorough near the edge of the hearth. It looked better already.

Then we decided to paint the walls as well. It wasn't part of the original plan, but having got as far as we had, ripping off skirtings and laying plywood, we thought, now is our chance to do it.
So, off to Focus to get some paint. We decided we wanted light. The old paint was terracotta. So this time we went with an off white in the Focus 'World of Colour' range called 'Placid'... and then matt brilliant white for all the woodwork.

We did coat 1 on Thursday night, and then coat 2 on Friday morning.

We had actually run out of places around the house to put things, so one shelf of DVDs above the electric cupboard can't be done right now. M will finish off that painting while E is in school. Also the inside of the front door.

We also painted all the skirtings (while off the wall) in matt white ready for them to be returned after the vinyl was down.

On Saturday it was vinyl day. This is where YouTube can be very handy. A short spell of searching and I found a 10 minute video of a guy in the US fitting a vinyl floor in a kitchen, and talking through the process. Hoorah, now I know what to expect. I also know I need to get some hook blades for my 'stanley' knife (so back to focus again - I also get some more Rawl Plugs and fabric tape - interestingly the focus 'Payless' brand are made by Rawl, you can see the logo embossed on them).

In the video the guy has done some filling between his plywood sheets, but my gaps aren't that big, so I used fabric tape along each join.

Then we thoroughly sweep and hoover the plywood. We can't have any 3D dirt underneath the vinyl or you will see the bumps, if too big they might also tear through in the end. We need the dust gone as much as possible so the adhesive will stick.

Then we move the sofa into the kitchen doorway - now no one can get in or out until the vinyl is down.

We unroll, spread it up the walls, align it, and then get cutting. We learned from a different video that we should use fabric tape at the end of each cut to stop it tearing further until the fitting is all over and it is stuck down. Good tip.

We used a spray adhesive the vinyl company sent to do the sticking. And we used block of wood wrapped in a fluffy towel to smooth it down from centre to edges (as shown in video).

Funnily, the vinyl fitting and sticking was the fastest part of the whole thing. Less than an hour easily.

Then the furniture started coming back, and we started putting skirtings back.
We will do the finishing touches this coming week. But for now, enjoy the result, we are...

The Hols begin...

The last few weeks have been busy, and Dad is finally on "holiday".

We have blitzed the front room, removed the Guinea Pigs and transported them into a nice new hutch outside, built by Dad and J from scrap wood and chicken wire. We thought they were attracting flies inside, and managed to slay in excess of 1000 houseflies using fly paper and an electric swatter from poundland.

Though on talking to colleagues at work, it may not have been the Guinea Pigs at all, as there seems to be a housefly-festation going round. But as you can see flypaper really does work - how very 19th century of us.

Today we put up E's climbing frame in the newly arranged front room (on account of the garden being either slabs (too painful if he falls off) or - at the moment - jungle.


As a holiday project Dad is building a simple CMS system suitable for a school Intranet (inspired by Fronter but aiming to be simpler to use).

Snowmen

Dan and E build snowmen, and explore the snowy garden.

Snow's Different in the Day

Birds perch atop a snow covered chimney.

No washing out on our road today.

Snow can make the world very black and white, but there is always some colour.

Snow's Back

Having a day off during half term and went into town with the boys. We walked back and just as we were getting home it started snowing. It is still snowing now at 9:30pm. Maybe we can go sledging this weekend.

Pheasant slain in high speed collision (oh, and our windscreen smashed too)

The following took place between 1pm and 2pm on Sunday 27th December 2009.

You know when life slows down, something is happening, it is happening quickly, but it seems to be going slowly... well that's how it was. Either that or the (now deceased) pheasant was gliding slowly across the dual-carriageway, and instead of flapping to gain altitude just kept getting lower and lower until it met our windscreen at 70mph - because it looked like that too. Either way it was all over in seconds. Not time enough to change lanes or slow sharply and safely - just WHAM!

Then a spray of fine glass (like 'white' glitter I thought afterwards) dusting front seat passengers, the seats and dashboard. The rear view mirror flying and striking J on the elbow. The sudden loss of visibility, and I am trying to make out a dual-carriageway, at high speed, with surrounding traffic, through the fragments of glass that were still big enough to see through. The shouts of alarm, dismay, from the passengers. I am thinking it's a good job we are in the left hand lane. I am indicating left as I slow the car. Then hazard lights as we pull over on to the verge (the hard shoulder is way too narrow).

Then questions, concern, but I am thinking we need to get out, this is not a safe place to wait in the car. So out we get, we climb the embankment, and wait high above the traffic, in the ice, and wind.

We are cold, but we are alive, and unharmed, and safe.

I phone Dad, and says he will drive out to pick up M and the kids.

I phone the RAC, but the phone cuts out. Signal? Phone probs? I try again, they are in high demand (according to the recorded message) and I am put in a queue. All the time I am wondering if the phone battery or credit will last as long as the queue lasts - 0800 numbers are not free for mobile phones. We wait. I listen to the repeated message and funky music. L is getting cold so M wraps him in her cardy. We wait some more, and pace about at the top of the embankment. Still in the RAC phone queue - surely they will pick up now. But they don't. As we wait we are clearly an object of interest for passing motorists. The oncoming carriageway is full of turning heads. But still no human operator from the RAC.

Then the phone cuts out. What!? Why? Signal? The RAC? I don't know. All I know is that the screen shows my call was over 27 minutes long before it cut out. I still hadn't got through to a human operator. The whole time standing at the top of a freezing embankment by the side of a dual-carriageway. I am cross and frustrated.

Then Dad arrives. M and the kids get inside with some things from the car.

I no longer expect to be able to get through to the RAC, I don't know if I have enough credit or battery to survive another phone queue that might take longer than the fruitless 27 minutes I have already waited. I make a snap decision. I will drive the car back to Dads. M protests, thinks I will not be safe. But I am more concerned about being stopped by a copper, and yet see no other option given the experience so far. This is not weather for waiting around without proper outdoor clothes - you don't mess with hypothermia. I follow behind Dad, we go gently. In hindsight, a tow rope and sign would have made it that little bit less risky, but not much. There is enough screen for me to see through if I sit further forward than normal and we make it back without problems.

The mixtures life throws at us are often interesting. This time a mix of gladness that the people are well and unhurt, annoyance at the lack of RAC, crossness at the 'stupid pheasant', the recall of the impact, the 'if only we went straight on instead of left'. Then acceptance. The things that matter most are still with us. Gratitude that things were not worse. Gratitude for parents that love and care, and go out of their way and the extra mile to help.

2 hours later, and sitting in the warm, I realise that if I had got through to the RAC I would probably only just be getting picked up by an overworked recovery van, and very very cold. Not sure what 2 hours in an icy wind, with only a suit jacket for an overcoat would do to a man - nothing good I am sure. Perhaps it was better the way it turned out.

The car stays at Mum and Dad's that night, and Dad drops us all home.

Twas Christmas day in the workhouse...

...and snow was raining fast, while a bare footed boy with clogs on, stood sitting on the grass.

We had a nice relaxing Christmas Day. Opened our pressies, ate some food (even though Dad prepped it), napped, ate some more food, stayed up late and so forth.

Here E enjoys his new Marble Run:

Summer, summer, summer ti-ime, summertime...

This summer has been one of labour, skiving, sitting out, more labour and more skiving.

First uncle N came round to help us clear the ground behind the chicken coop ready to move the sheds later. You would not believe the rubbish we found buried there, old carpet, old clothes from the 1980s old cushions. Nasty. Interesting how nature found a way to bury it beneath a few inches of dirt over the last couple of decades. This is how fossilisation begins I think.



Then a few days later Grandpa T and Grandma M came round at the beginning to help us put a fence and gate in our backyard, so that young L would not escape when playing outside.

Then Dad laid 30 slabs extending the yard area to 24 feet long, thus creating a suitable hard play area for the youngest boy for his outdoor toys, sandpit etc...

Then some of the fellas from the local EQ helped us dismantle and move the sheds to the far end of the garden behind the chicken coop. Thus widening the available play space.

Dad still has to move a 5ft high pile of logs to behind the coop, and then cut down the remaining brambles. Then we can rotovate, level and lay turf.

Meanwhile, we play outside a lot more now...


"A spade-ful of sand? A delicious refreshing snack!"




(P.S. If you are wondering why there are few - if any - pics of M and J, they do not like having their photo taken.)

Half Term

This half term we decided to go to Lincoln, and take in some history. Lincoln is such a nice old city, Dad has fond memories from going there to uni, and wanted to share the sites with the family.

Lije apparently mid grizzle.

J, he always loves being forced to have his photo taken. It's his favourite thing (not).

Lincoln Cathederal.

Dad and Lije chopsing on some food. Real Lincolnshire sausage meat, in Lincoln. Yum.

Bounce!

Well we finally did it. M has been hanging on to a pot of money to buy a trampoline for the boys and we finally got round to buying one (8ft, with enclosure, and folds away by winding a handle).

Anyway, more importantly, it's great fun, and just watching Lije's face and hearing his giggles is well worth the money.

Return of the J

For the last 3 days J has been at Deacon's Camp, at the Church owned campground in Norfolk. Dad drove him, a friend from another ward (KB) and Nathan on Thursday and collected him today.

He had a great time, including falling in the lake twice (one of the times being when his canoe capsized). A 2 Km run was also part of the activity (impressive I thought). But I will let J fill you in on the details tomorrow. Right now he needs to get clean.

Move Along There, Nothing to See

We were slightly suprised, on our little trip to Nottingham, to run into a full size Space Marine asking for our credentials - "are we human". It was touch and go for a moment, but thankfully, since we are from the 21st century, and he was from the 41st Millenium, it turned out that we were more human than he was. Before the squad had a chance to "persuade" us to join the Chapter, we swiftly legged it into the museum...


...Which was in fact "Warhammer World" at the Games Workshop HQ in the UK. J's latest interest is collecting Eldar minatures for the Warhammer 40,000 strategy game.

Concerned that overzealous Eldar may try to take control of the house, Dad has decided that a squad of Salamander Space Marines are needed to repel any invasion, and defend the human race.

On the other hand, it could just be a great way to spend quality time together playing big, complicated, chess.

At lunch time we met up with Chris, who works here and scoffed food in Bugmans. Chris kindly lent his expertise in selecting an appropriate squad of marines and giving advice on the paints I would need. He then showed us the new miniatures gallery before having to shoot off back to work.

There are some very talented miniatures painters out there, that is all I can say.

Sunny Hunstanton - Part 3

And just so you can really feel like you were there...



Click and drag in the picture to view all 360 degrees.

Sunny Hunstanton - Part 2

And here it is. Photographic proof that anyone who changed their mind about coming missed a great day! (Erm, is that what this is evidence for? - the Ed.)

Using the brolly as a portable wind-break, we battled our way up the beach.

It's your classic rock pool setup. The kind you only ever come across in junior school text books. Pity it was too cold to enjoy them properly - but we did our best. (These would make lovely cooling pools on a hot day - makes note of location for future).

Sunny Hunstanton

"Oh we do like to be beside the seaside..." and in typical English style that means in all weathers. The stake trip to Hunstanton yesterday was great, even though it was cold, rained a bit, then a lot, then blew us all dry again at the end.

Determined not to miss out just because of some poxy weather, J and I, (after sheltering in Tesco and the Coach during the worst weather) decided to get some Fish & Chips, then walk along the top of the cliff.

Other family members will remember the pointy roofed cafe on the clifftop that sold Italian Ice Cream. Well it is still there, so in spite of the weather, and with a nod to tradition, we bought some.

After that we went down below the cliff and walked back to the "new end" along the beach. The best way to get blown dry after all the rain.

Some photos to follow in next post.