Well, I’m sitting here at the computer wondering which of the myriad of impending tasks I can reasonably procrastinate, evade, avoid or delay, but sooner or later I'm going to have to get up and fix something.
The recent storms were from unusual directions, and so have uprooted several trees. There are others in the area, many having taken down fences and walls, blocked roads and threatened structures. I’ve forgotten, as always, to take photos of the various stages. Once the bulk of the trees are reduced to logs, there’s a lot of brash, or maybe they are sneddings, I can never remember.
Looking out of the window I can see heaps of disassembled tree in the form of logs awaiting splitting for firewood and those branches of a suitable size that Fiona can processing with a chipper into heaps of useful mulch. Larger branches can be turned into short logs but many are not ideal for firewood, either not big enough for timber or too big for our chipper.I could hire a heavy duty chipper, but they burn petrol or diesel which I avoid when possible. Unless I can think of a use for the middle sized stuff it’ll either burn when dry enough or become ‘habitat’ heaps for the local wildlife to utilise. The second is a better option but I do have quite a few brash heaps of that sort developed over several years of fallen, diseased or occasionally awkwardly placed trees, and some, like larch, take a long time to break down. In previous storms a few were leaning over the house in a threatening manner and I couldn’t move the house, so they had to go. The lack of spring activity like buds, leaves and cones indicated they were failing or dead. The previous owner had a liking for Leylandii ( Leyland cypress I think) and Larch and planted them rather too close together. 40 or 50 years later some are dying and some don’t have big enough roots to be safe. The soil here is quite thin having been scraped off in the last ice-age and Scotland generally has a display of up-ended shallow root plates after a storm.Leylandii and Larch are not ideal firewood but given a bit longer to season they burn well enough. Obviously that produces carbon dioxide and smoke, but it does protect against power-cuts, which while less frequent do still happen. Most modern heating requires some electricity to pump the hot water or air around but I hope to fill the gap with power from the EV batteries when the technology and my finances meet. At the moment I can get 3kW from the MG, but I must find out how to supplement the house batteries with the car. There has been a significant reduction in my petrol use apart from the EV which runs entirely on renewable energy as I convert the portable equipment to battery. The chainsaws, cement mixer and grass trimmer are now electric and the batteries last long enough for the job, so the remaining petrol device is the pressure washer. I shall have to sell the Midges, which sadly have been motionless for too long, mostly from not having enough time to finish or drive, although I’ve been putting it off in the hope that I can convert them to battery. That will also require time and money but might be entertaining enough to warrant the effort. The village did have a power-cut recently. I can’t remember why but suspect it was a tree damaging a power-line. The effect was somewhat erratic in that we were ‘dark’ for a few hours but a villager and her immediate neighbours was without power for several days. Probably a tree next-door but complicated by a power line short circuit. Apparently in the high winds the wires crossed and the insulation burned off. As far as I can tell a few noticed the event but nobody thought to mention it to Scottish Power. That might have been because of the unbelievably opaque helpline system. I noticed that because SP had sent me a cheque compensating for the inconvenience. Sadly they had put the wrong first name on the cheque and it took me several tries to contact a human. Nobody seems to know who Anthony Hewlett is. While taking a picture of the tree damage I noticed that the road menders had finally filled the pot-hole at the end of our road, although the term ‘road’ might be a little generous. I don’t know how long it will last, they tend to chuck a shovel full of tar infused gravel in, and pat it with a shovel. Generally they last a couple of weeks, but it is flat at the moment. Indoors for a moment recently I was searching for spare cable release for the reclining chair, one having snapped after a couple of decades, and in the process found several other things that had disappeared including my claw. Not as dramatic as Wolverine’s but very useful for getting knots and clumps out of the cat’s fur as she moults. For some reason Button and her recently deceased mother are/were very poor at removing their own knots, so I made this a while ago. It seems it doesn’t look as threatening as a cat brush, in fact I suspect the cat thinks they are a natural part of my ’paw’ and might even remind Button of when her mother would groom her.
A cable release was found after I had installed the one from my side of the chair into Fiona's. Unfortunately the failed cable was too badly worn to fix. I have made them from modified bicycle brake cables but this one was beyond repair so some new ones are ordered. I rarely use my side but Fiona uses hers regularly. We’ve been using this two seat sofa since we moved into the Manse so I think we will have to replace it eventually, but it should be good for a year or two more.
One device I have had to replace or repair a few times is the tap splitter or manifold which directs water to the various garden sprinklers, hoses and irrigation systems. The last two frosts caught me out as I wasn’t expecting -4ºC twice in a week. The one in the farm polytunnel was OK but a push-fit right angle fitting was damaged there and the one on our garden burst because I’d turned it back on thinking Spring had arrived. Expect the unexpected. A particularly annoying expression. The farm workshop, a converted mobile home, is almost ready for presentation to the public (Sunday 23rd March) where there will be a demonstration of safe working practices and small woodworking tasks. I shall be wearing gloves to cover the small scars I have accumulated over the years, but happily still have the original set of fingers. My part in this has been the wiring, doors and some of the flooring. Re the wiring, nothing has gone bang yet and, yes, it has been checked by a qualified electrician. We now have heating, lighting (LED of course) a kettle and daylight operated outside lights. Being a farm it can get very dark in winter. Other projects recently include a cat-flap into a part of the attic that was previously cat-blocked. This way she has access to all the spaces that the wildlife might access. We heard some scrabbling above us a few weeks ago when we knew where the cat was, so it had to be squirrels, bats, mice, rats or random inquisitive birds. All of the above have been noticed in the neighbourhood, but the odds favoured mice. All has been quiet since the cat-flap was installed and I took the opportunity to floor the newly accessible part, which gave me somewhere more convenient to put the Christmas tree and decorations. A recent visit to the opticians uncovered a small anomaly in my right eye. There’s no indication that it is more than a random variation of tissue construction, but the system promptly set off a chain of events including blood tests, kidney, liver and various other possible causes. Nothing has shown up apart from a raised blood pressure. Nothing dramatic, but a daily pill, amlodipine I think, has been added to my routine and a series of pressure tests ensued to determine the result. Fortunately we have a domestic blood pressure cuff and a finger stall so we can keep an eye on things. The old mercury manometer and stethoscope has been superseded and I notice that my not-very-smart watch gives me pulse rate and blood saturation. I can see why people think they are constantly being monitored by arcane, extra-terrestrial and electronic governmental agencies. Certainly my details, stats and other information is flying all over the web. I’m not going to worry about it until AI gets clever enough to watch all of us all the time, and probably not then. I do cover the camera on my computer when not using it. It still feels a bit paranoid. Like everybody I periodically get emails threatening to expose my dirtiest secrets gleaned from the camera, although they never offer proof. The cat may be a spy though, as I notice she brushes away the sight blocker regularly and dances on the keyboard (although I don’t think it involves coded messages). One of the weather damage effects was a frost on the chicken-wire fruit cage. It isn’t for fruit or chickens particularly, although what Fiona uses it for is outside my remit. However, the hoar-frost gave a surface just strong enough to hold the light dusting of snow that followed and then the heavier snow to settle on that, and then it built up until the weight and the wind crushed the cage, as seen left. The new fruit cage has sturdy fence post corners and new chicken wire mesh. It should keep the wildlife out and let the wind blow through. A slabbed floor should make things less slippery than the old recycled Lino/carpet and bits of railway sleeper. I’ll need to level the slabs once they have settled. I should have settled them before building the cage, but lacked the patience. The remaining weather related damage repairs are re-instating the fences and re-settling the soil lifted by the root plates. One bonus of the storms was a neighbour’s rather over-grown hedge lost several tree tops. I don’t think the previous occupants ever expected it to grow so tall, and because the trees were rather close together they were too weak for the storm. Over the years they have produced a tall dark green screen and blocked our westerly view of the moor. He had the lot cut down to about 6 feet so we have our view back after a decade. I then realised that the section of the ‘enlightened’ garden needed a bit of tidying and removed two dead trees and quite a lot of brash, so the garden is much lighter, as is the living-room. The picture with the 3 trees and a fence may not look brighter, but it certainly isThe dead and dying trees were larch which means I swap the gutter blocking needles for largely dried firewood.
While I was getting the chicken wire and fence posts from the local supplier. I added a bit of lumber for Fiona’s trampoline steps and started building an easier access point. The lower step was made from a gate that my parents had left over when they sold off a part of their property. It may look a bit slipshod at the moment but I'll not be able to finish it before finishing the newsletter. The gate became redundant 30 years ago in West Meon but the wood is oak and was still sound, but the tree that fell on it damaged the structure beyond reasonable repair. As I said at the time, It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
Three of the downed trees were blocking the light to the garden and the solar panels. The house with the chimney is only visible with the tree lying on its side to the left. It’ll take a couple of years to season but the wood will restock the wood-store for a while and give me some exercise in the meantime. On the subject of exercise I’m hoping to get a circuit training routine going in one of the refurbished farm barns. One that I thought would do is now destined to be for heavier wood work than is suitable in the repurposed mobile home, so I’m still looking for an exercise room. On the upside I think I can get the church doors a new home in the new heavy wood work area. This on the right is one of the five I salvaged a few years back. It still has a key and good brass hinges in it. Carrying it around is probably not the best exercise though, so I’ll get a trailer for that.
The various developments on the farm will allow me to change my focus. I was thinking some woodwork lessons might help. Until now my constructions were functional rather than beautiful, which is fine for garage roofs but awkward looking for decorative pieces, (I’ve never built a dove-tail joint in anger,) this could be a new era, or at worst, some bespoke kindling. Changing hobbies and interests means I will be retiring from the car club magazine shortly. I had intended to keep on until autumn 2025, the 10 year mark, but the Midge owners are getting older, as are the Midges, so there has been less activity from the originals and as most people now use the internet through mobile phones, magazine format is less legible. I think most of the cars are still running, but few of the new owners have written for the magazine or communicated with the club, so rather than writing most of it myself, as well as composing the actual issue, I think a natural end has arrived. The Facebook page still seems active so the club will continue. Sadly although we here are all fit and well, we have lost Harry, Lindy's husband. A sudden heart attack. A reminder to all of us to appreciate friends and relations.
Best to all, have a good summer.
Jim
23/03/2025
