Tuesday 26 September 2017

Denbigh Castle

A couple of busy weekend days talking with the bees, as it's coming to the end of the season, and things need to be wrapped up (figuratively at the moment, and literally in the near future) for them to be set for the winter.

Yesterday, though, we made two trips to the tip, clearing out rubbish from the preservatory and the debris from the bathroom re-fit, and also picked all the apples from the old trees in the orchard. They're only really fit for juicing, which we'll need to get to as soon as we can.

Today was a bit different; we travelled over to Wales to visit Denbigh Castle.


The triple-towered gatehouse, which is considered a Wonder of Wales (© Ian 2017)



The inner bailey (© Ian 2017)



A rare example of a medieval basin (© Ian 2017)



The best example of a postern gate I've seen: defended by towers, a pair of drawbridges, and a long enfilladed approach, but allowing access directly to hunting trails  (© Ian 2017)



Looking up from the Goblin Hole, a deep well brought into the defense of the castle by the outer wall. This is 54 steps below the wall walk level  (© Ian 2017)



Looking down towards the Goblin Hole from where the walls meet the Goblin Tower (© Ian 2017)



Out from the walls at the salient (© Ian 2017)

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Cabinets

Plenty of progress on the downstairs bathroom this weekend! The new floor has gone down (the left over oak from the kitchen; I knew I had hung on to the last two packs for seven years for a reason), and looks really good. It should also be warm, as it's over a foil-based underfloor insulation layer. We then spent a day sorting out plumbing, and installed the units (basin unit, cupboard, and toilet concealed cistern), which all went relatively smoothly, and with only a short patch of frustration caused by a missing O-ring in a cistern fitting I hadn't noticed. That replaced, everything appears to be leak-free.

Tuesday 12 September 2017

Plaster and Windows

The downstairs bathroom renovation is going really well. On Saturday afternoon, while Liz plastered the back wall of the preservatory, I took the remaining tiles off the floor and walls. That meant that Liz could replaster (Sunday and Monday), and we could put SFUF floor insulation down, ready to lay the floor next weekend. In between, we checked the beehives, and on Monday went on a trip to St Helen's to collect the new double glazed uPVC windows for the workshop. Which are now fitted!


Last few floor tiles to go (© Ian 2017)



Old single glazed windows. Turns out they weren't secured in the aperture other than by mortar...which had mostly deteriorated (© Ian 2017)



New windows...some expanding foam tidying may ensue (© Ian 2017)



Replastered, window reveals fitted, and floor insulation down (© Ian 2017)

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Bathroom

Saturday was mostly spent peering inside beehives, and counting bees (answer: lots, broadly). They're definitely slowing down, now, for the end of the season. To help prepare the hives for that, I've prototyped a beehive cosy, which, once tested and refined, I'll be making a set of, to help keep them warm, and also protect the hives from woodpeckers (who correctly a wooden structure containing insects that are highly nutritious, and sometimes attempt to break and enter).

We managed, also, to finish painting the window frames, which is a job we came to a bit late, this year (as in, in August), but went really quickly. We've even managed to get a couple of coats on the new windows in the gable end of the preservatory, and everything's looking much smarter. However, we're struggling to get the bike shelter roof/lid painted—the primer isn't priming very effectively. Further effort will be applied.

In the garden, the lawn's been mown, which sets of the late-summer garden much better, and we pruned the apple walk's trees. There are several, now, that have reached the apex, which is great, and the structure is really obvious now. There are even a few dozen apples to pick.

Today, we got on to a job that's long been awaited, and started work re-fitting our downstairs toilet. First out were the green/brown suite (vintage 1978), which have been much disliked by us for each of the eight years we've been here. Astonishing, therefore, that it's taken us so long to get to doing this room. (In truth, it's been too useful as a room with a sink for mixing plaster and washing paint brushes: now that those jobs are mostly done seems time for the re-fit.)


The 1978 suite (© Ian 2017)

The suite came out remarkably easily, actually—I was expecting a bit of a battle—with only slight difficulty with the basin's pipes.



It is gone! (© Ian 2017)


I could then set about removing the tiles. They've been easy enough, too, with SDS chisel. There's some making-good needed around the window, and some of the plasterwork is inevitably damaged.


Radiator off wall, tiles gone (© Ian 2017)

Next is the floor (you can see I've started), which I ran out of time for before we had to load up and get the debris to the tip. The floor won't be quite as easy, but there you go: I hope once I get started, I can get the chisel under them. Once they're up, I can figure out what to do: might need a levelling screed if we re-tile the floor, but if we decide to put wood down, it'll just need a ply base. Decisions, decisions.

Friday 1 September 2017

Late Summer

Just a few photos from this week.







All &copy Ian 2017