Countdown

The countdown is becoming real. The Gorse Fox went up into the loft to retrieve the suitcases, today. This triggered a number of searches - wash bags, neck pillows, compression socks and so forth. In turn this triggered a trip to Chi to replenish lost items.

Spookily, one of the Gorse Fox's good friends (from Starfleet) flew out to BKK yesterday, but it doesn't look as if our paths will cross as he will be travelling on to Malaysia and Singapore. Now we just need Indonesia to extinguish the forest fires (or the wind to blow in the right direction).

Noon Image: 31 Oct 2015

Life on the edge

It started wet; very wet. Over the course of the morning things dried up and the sun even tried to make an appearance. For the end of October it is still very mild at 16C.

Morning was spent on various domestic activities and some minor admin. The afternoon saw the Gorse Fox head off to the barber to have is long, flowing locks trimmed.

Yep, all in all, an adrenalin filled day.

Noon Image: 30 Oct 2015

Visitation

Thursdays always start with shopping. Not the sort that needs shoes and coats and bags, but the sort that knock on the door at 10:00 and hands over the weekly shop. So it was today, but after the 320 miles covered yesterday, the thought of a quiet day was quite appealing.

While talking with Blade yesterday, the Gorse Fox got onto the subject of writing programs. This triggered a thought, so this morning, the Gorse Fox sat down and wrote down his (previously unwritten) rules of programming. This done, he sent them off to Blade - it was, after all, his Birthday today.

Urban-Cub arrived mid-morning. She has a few days off and dropped in for a few hours. It is alway nice to see her and hear all the latest news about Gatwick. She stayed for lunch, but the Gorse Fox had to leave soon after in order to take the Silver Vixen's broomstick for its first annual service. Needless to say, it got a clean bill of health.

Noon Image: 29 Oct 2015

Noon Image: 28 Oct 2015

Get set...

The e-tickets and accommodation vouchers for the forthcoming holiday have arrived. The countdown is on.

Meanwhile, the Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen are going to meet up with Gorse Fox's sister and Trevor for the farewell service for Trevor's mum who completed her journey a couple of weeks ago.

Bonding

The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen went to the cinema. It was time to see the new Bond film, SPECTRE. As usual it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, and this Bond film was top notch. The Daniel Craig films are all so much more grown-up than previous incarnations and he has a simmering menace that suits the role.

Noon Image: 27 Oct 2015

Noise

Though we were warned, the noise still irritates. The neighbours had complained that the quality of the road surface at the end of the Crescent wasn't up to scratch and there were patches where services were laid after the initial surfacing work. The developer agreed that this was unacceptable and this morning a load of heavy equipment and jackhammers have turned up and the end of the road is being ripped up and re-laid. The Gorse Fox is sure it will look lovely when complete, but it's very noisy at the moment.

Assessed

Well, in a fit of efficiency Starfleet responded with the Gorse Fox's P11D and to compound said efficiency the Gorse Fox has completed and submitted his tax return. This must be the earliest it has ever been submitted.

Feeling righteous.

Meanwhile, a blog reader has been along to see the Gorse Fox and offer a new home to his bike. Hopefully he will get far more use out of it than the Gorse Fox will.

A gently 35-40 minutes on the running machine (at walking pace) this morning has confirmed that the Gorse Fox's knee has still not recovered sufficiently to attempt any football this week. Some more gentle exercise thought the week is planned.

Taxing times

The Gorse Fox has returned to his tax form. A brief call to the HMRC helpline provided the guidance that Gorse Fox required. (They seem to get a lot of criticism, but every time Gorse Fox has had to call them he has been dealt with promptly and efficiently... no complaints from this quarter). The problem then expanded to Starfleet. It was clear that there was form missing. Gorse Fox had to track that down. A call to Pensions, then a call to Payroll, then a call to the EU Payroll help desk, then finally he was instructed to send an email to the P11D department id... Gorse Fox had no idea there was a P11D department! Anyway, job done and he now awaits the form.

Meanwhile the Gorse Fox was looking at some outside lights. he has a couple, and thought he might get a couple more. He looked on the website - the particular model he wanted worked out at £18.50. He thought he'd sleep on it. A couple of days later he got one of his regular emails from the supplier. The email contained a voucher for a 20% discount. Gorse Fox returned to website. This would be a good deal.

Wrong!

The return visit to the website showed the price had risen to £24.50. This, the Gorse Fox thought, was a wind up. He will not be getting of the lights.

Noon Image: 26 Oct 2015

Overcome

The Gorse Fox woke up, he was a man on a mission. Shower and breakfast done, he got the bike out and put it up on the stocks. It was time for a good clean, covered, as it was, with sawdust. It took quite a while getting into all the nooks and crannies, but it looks pretty good now. The Gorse Fox also pumped up the tyres, and was delighted to find they held the air (no punctures or perishing of the inner tube).

That done, it was time to frighten the car. Out came the pressure washer and the shampoo and soon we had a nice sparkly clean car sitting on the drive.

What next?

Ah ha! Income Tax Self Assessment. The Gorse Fox thought that, for a change, he would try and get it done nice and early. That's where things went a bit wrong. He got most of the form complete, but then realised that 2014-15 included several months before he had retired. He had completed the form incorrectly (but fortunately had not submitted it). He went back to the start. He filled in details of his Starfleet employment - but then couldn't find where to enter the bit about being retired, taking a pension, but not a State pension (he's too young for that still). The help lines were closed, being Sunday, so this will have to wait until tomorrow... or later in the year.

Noon Image: 25 Oct 2015

Quiet day

It has been quiet. The Silver Vixen has gone to stay with Betty Rubble for the weekend. That has left Jasper in charge, and the Gorse Fox around to feed him. The Gorse Fox had to pop into Chi to change some of yesterday's purchases, but that was soon done... despite the dreadful traffic on the Chi by-pass.

Not really much else to report.

Noon Image: 24 Oct 2015

Wry Smile

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen had a super evening with the neighbours, yesterday. We all went to the local Indian Restaurant, Zeera Lounge, and were very well looked after. The meal was a great success and the overall bill was extremely reasonable.

Today we had to head in to Chi. Thi Silver Vixen had a a check-up at the optician, and the Gorse Fox had bits of shopping to do. This proved to be very well-timed. AT Clarks, there was a 50% discount on several ranges of shoes - which just happened to coincide with the Gorse Fox's taste, and in Mark & Spencer there was 205 discount voucher that made serious inroads in the Gorse Fox's annual buying blitz. The only problem was that one of the items he picked up will need to be returned as it was sleeveless when he wanted short-sleeved.

Oh, yes, and why the wry smile? Well the Gorse Fox had to buy some more trousers. It seems he has lost a further couple of inches... and is now back into a 34in waist. That must be the first time in 20 years!

Meanwhile, a blog reader has expressed interest in the bike... so Gorse Fox is awaiting contact to see if we have a match.

Noon Image: 23 Oct 2015

Updates

Well the Macs have all wanted to update themselves today... and the the Gorse Fox turned on the Silver Vixen's laptop, that too wanted to install updates. This has slowed up the Gorse Fox's weekly admin, but as there was nothing else on the agenda, it wasn't really a problem.

Foreign currency for the holiday has been ordered... the countdown continues.

Looking forward to the Sonning Supper Club later.

Noon Image: 22 Oct 2015

Clean and dry

The Gorse Fox was not able to play football. The knee is still a bit too tender and whilst he can move about without problems, he wasn't going to chance football and a flare-up. This had its advantages as he stayed at home in the dry and avoided the soaking that his teammates underwent.

The Gorse Fox made use of the time and set to work descaling the coffee maker and cleaning the ovens. The main problem that he faced was that, whilst he could remove the door of the main oven, he couldn't find any way of removing the door to the combi-oven. The problem with that was that because of the height, it was very difficult to get to the back of the device.

Admin and scanning correspondence prior to shredding this afternoon.

Noon Image: 21 Oct 2015

Twist and Shout

Well that didn't go to plan.

The Gorse Fox headed off to Worthing for the football. It was nice to see all the old crew for the first time in several weeks. There were also a number of new chaps that Gorse Fox will get to know over the weeks. There were enough for 4 teams of 6 and so we kicked off a mini tournament-styled set of matches. That's when the plan changed. After about 7 minutes, the Gorse Fox intercepted a ball just as it was being kicked. This twisted his ankle and his knee. The ankle soon settled , but the knee is a bit tender. With the holiday on the horizon, he decided not to push things and sat out the rest of the games.

Once home he returned to the theme of garage clearance. The body of the saw need to be stowed away safely. A bit of thinking was needed, as was a survey of options. Eventually, the Gorse Fox came up wit the ideal solution and after a bit of shifting and a bit of drilling the saw was securely hanging from hooks on the wall.

As part of the same exercise the Gorse Fox spoke with his neighbour. He had expressed interest in the spare wood, left over from the screens. That only took a few minutes to transfer to his garage. Now if the Gorse Fox could just get rid of the bike, the lawn mower, and the strimmer the garage would be all set.

Mark from the company who built the Orangery (Outside Interests) came along this afternoon to take some photos of the finished project.

Noon Image: 20 Oct 2015

Clear

Well it took four trips, but it's clear.

The Gorse Fox was on a mission. He was determined to make inroads on the garage and clear some of the mountains of off-cuts and sawdust. At first he started looking at the off-cuts and deciding some were worthy of keeping for re-use, but after a while decided that was daft. He still has plenty of unused wood that can be saved.

It took two boot-loads of loose wood to get the pile down to a size that could be accommodated by a dumpy-bag (that the Gorse fox could actually lift). The third trip saw the detritus cleared and the garage was beginning to become visible. A switch to the Silver Vixen's car meant that the old garden chairs could also go... and now the Gorse Fox is pleased to say that he can put the car away in the garage once more.

He still want to find a way of stowing his saw on the wall, safely. That's a project for another day.

Noon Image: 19 Oct 2015

Action!

Well, briefly, anyway.

The Gorse Fox was back to his Sunday morning football. It's only two weeks but he's been using different muscles and he found that it was hard going today. Having said that it was a good game. We were being well beaten in the first half (when we were one man short) but started to pul it back towards the break. In the second half (with even numbers on the teams) we pulled away and scored about a dozen goals, conceding only one. The Gorse Fox did his bit, scoring several, making several, and stopping many.

The afternoon has been very lazy. We've been sitting in the Orangery, the Silver Vixen has been knitting and the Gorse Fox has been "relaxing". In the background, the Sonos has been playing a playlist of excellent music.

Lamb shanks for supper... 10 minutes and counting.

Noon Image: 18 Oct 2015

Timber and admin

That sort of sums up the day.

The Silver Vixen disappeared off to meet up with a friend in Littlehampton for the day. This left the Gorse Fox and Jasper the Cat at home, though clearly Jasper was in charge. The Gorse Fox spent a significant portion of the day working on his admin backlog. This is now back under control. The admin extended to some pre-vacation checks - is the currency card up-to-date? how is loaded by SMS? how is loaded by Smartphone App? how much currency should be ordered? and so forth.

That done, the Gorse Fox loaded the boot of the car with timber off-cuts in order to take them to the recycling centre. Interrupted as he started, he managed to provide a wheel-barrow load to his neighbour, who has a wood-burning fire in the house. There are many more car-loads (or wheel-barrow loads, if necessary). They can wait until after the week-end.

Noon Image: 17 Oct 2015

More than planned

Well after a morning of admin, the Gorse Fox realises that there is quite a backlog. He has hardly made a dent in the pile. He'll get it cleared over the next few days. No panic.

Meanwhile we are awaiting the arrival of the Silver Vixen's cousin (Rick Wakeman) and Sue. It'll be nice to see them and it will, no doubt be and excuse for a good curry and lot of chat.

Noon Image: 16 Oct 2015

C'est Finis

The Gorse Fox is pleased to confirm that the deck is now oiled and the gap round the skirt has all been back-filled with Cotswold stone. He seems to have spent more time on his knees in the last week that he did when he was in the monastery... thank goodness for knee pads.

It will be nice to get down to some admin tomorrow. (Gorse Fox can't believe he just said that).

Clearing all the off-cuts from the garage can wait, as can deciding on what to do with the spare wood. It would be nice to get the garage clear enough for the car again... but at the moment that looks like a long way off.

Noon Image: 15 Oct 2015

Final stretch

Another brilliant October day. Clear skies, and, in the sun quite warm. In fact the Gorse Fox was working in a short-sleeved t-shirt for much of the day.

Progress was a little slower than planned. Only because there was more outstanding from yesterday than Gorse Fox had remembered. Finally, the last of the boards was finessed into position and fixed in place. Then the Gorse Fox had to finish off the skirt round the outside of the deck. This was fairly straightforward, except where the water feature ran parallel to the deck. The boards for that stretch needed to be ripped lengthwise. At first the big jigsaw was pressed into service, but this just would not cut straight in the damp wood. The big handheld circular saw was needed. It made very short work of the boards and soon the last part of the skirt was being fitted in place.

Gorse Fox still needs to oil the deck, and hopes tomorrow will remain dry until that is done. After that, we will need to get some of the Cotswold stone chipping to back fill the void round the deck... and, of course, clear the garage.

On another topic, the voucher for our car hire in Thailand arrived today. It's good that we are on the count-down.

Noon Image: 14 Oct 2015

Fine tuning

It was a chilly start and there was cold north-easterly blowing. Having said that, our garden is fairly sheltered when the wind is from that direction.

The Gorse Fox, as planned, moved onto the verandah deck and started the fine tuning and fixing of the deck boards. It took a little longer than planned, but it all looks good now that is finished. Once that was done, the Gorse Fox started on the utility deck. This proved to be frustrating. As Gorse Fox moved across from the corner it was going ok until one of the boards turned out to be bowed. This had caused a ripple effect in the other boards, and one the bowed board was replaced, the remaining boards no longer fitted. This has meant some judicious cutting, and will mean some further work in the morning.

The Gorse Fox ordered some decking oil yesterday. Amazon said this was likely to take 3 days, even though it was ordered through "Prime". Well, they were somewhat pessimistic. It turned up at lunchtime today. That's a result, and now, once the fine tuning is finished, he can get on with the finish (hopefully before we get any rain).

Noon Image: 13 Oct 2015

Fixing it

It was another glorious October day. Gin-clear skies, and initially quite chilly. Once the sun took hold, it was pleasantly warm (as long as you stayed out of the breeze).

After a scheduled trip to the dentist, the Gorse Fox got back to work on the deck. Today was devoted to the fine tuning of the dining deck, and the fixing of the deck boards. It was tedious and repetitive work but turned out well.

Urban-cub came to visit when she had finished her shift at Gatwick. It was nice to see her and gave the Gorse Fox an excuse to have the afternoon off (it was, after all, getting a bit cool out there). The verandah deck will have to get the fine-tune and fixing treatment tomorrow.

We got text message from the Gorse Fox's sister. Clearly, the family is going through some stressful times at present, with her Mother-in-Law very unwell and in hospital. They are scheduled to go off to New York at the end of the week - but this is now in question. Our thoughts are with them.

Noon Image: 12 Oct 2015

Triple decker

Being Sunday, the Gorse Fox has tried his best to keep the noise to an absolute minimum. The garage doors were kept closed whilst the saw was operating, and he tried not to utter any expletives when finding that he had not quite trimmed enough of the odd board here or there.

Progress was good and by the time he stopped for some lunch, the verandah deck was boarded and half of the dining deck was done. An hour or so later, the dining deck was complete.

Now, as before, these boards are cut to size and fitted, but not yet fixed down.

There is much work to be done still. Levelling up, inserting noggins where some shorter boards are not fully supported, and finally there is a decorative skirt to cut and fix all the way round. Nevertheless, the bulk of the work is done, and the Silver Vixen says she is very happy with the outcome. The Gorse Fox is chuffed.

Noon Image: 11 Oct 2015

Collection

The Gorse Fox's collection of sawdust is something to behold. The smell of cut wood and pine forests seems to suffuse the neighbourhood.

The Gorse Fox got cracking first thing. It was a bit too early for power tools, but he could at least start to lay things out. Our neighbour, from next door, came in to lend a hand with some of the measuring and squaring off. Soon the decorative boundary was pinned in place and the Gorse Fox could start on boarding the utility deck. This was long and heavy work. Some of the 4.8m lengths of Scandinavian redwood were quite heavy and it was necessary to manhandle them onto the saw, the reverse out, spin the wood end-to-end, and cut the opposing end to length. It was four o'clock before the Gorse Fox finished. (That was just the utility deck). The boards are all in place, but not screwed down - though at least they have not been screwed up, either!

Meanwhile, in the real world, the Silver Vixen has been out for the day. She and our neighbour had caught the coach to take them to the Ally Pally for a Sewing and Knitting Show. As the Gorse Fox writes, she still isn't back, but he can see that the coach is on the M25.

Noon Image: 10 Oct 2015

You've been framed

Well, that was a day!

The Gorse Fox started at about nine o'clock, and with a 30 minute break for lunch, worked through until after five. Some late design changes, to provide addition support for the diagonal boards, meant that the original cutting list was no longer valid. This meant that the Gorse Fox had to measure and cut the ribs on-the-fly. This was time consuming, but it came together well.

This stage of the decking project is complete. We now have a complete sub-frame. Tomorrow will see the Gorse Fox starting on the decking itself. He has no idea how long this will take, but at least it's a bit more straight-forward.

Noon Image: 9 Oct 2015

RIbs

Progress continues. Firstly, the spine of the utility was finished, then the Gorse Fox put down the landscaping fabric under the dining deck. That was an awkward task. Though the day had been totally still, as soon as he started to unreal the fabric, a breeze picked up and insisted that the fabric should actually be used as a kite, or a sail.

The Gorse Fox spread himself out across the black sail and hammered pegs into the corners. For every two pegs hammered in, one would hit a stone and refuse to go any further. It was going to be a test of patience. Eventually it was down, but then the Gorse Fox had to recheck that the deck was square (lifting the corners may have knocked it out of kilter).

The Gorse Fox then started to cut the ribs for the deck. It took a bit of fiddling about (and a couple of cutting errors). Once done, and errors corrected, the ribs were fitted. That was good morning's work.

After lunch the Gorse Fox decided that he would get all of the rest of the landscape fabric down. At this point the Silver Vixen's ears pricked up. Fabric! That's her domain. She got changed and came out to help with the measuring and cutting, and the fitting of the fabric under the frame. (She didn't pin it or stitch it, however).

Once that was complete, it seemed like a good point at which to call it a day.

Tomorrow's plan is to prepare and cut the ribs for the veranda deck... and then see how much progress can be made on the utility deck. The Gorse Fox has a degree of momentum, and the piles of wood on the front driveway are slowly disappearing (though there are huge mounds of sawdust forming in the garage).

Noon Image: 8 Oct 2015

Framed

The Gorse Fox has spent the day working on the decking project. As described yesterday, the Gorse Fox started with a trip to Screwfix and then got started on the framing of the verandah deck. This took most of the morning, but eventually it was done and the diagonals were checked to ensure it was square.

The ledger boards were then fitted to the west wall of the Orangery and the south wall of the garage. Then Gorse Fox laid out the frame for the final module (the utility deck). A couple of hours later the basic from was complete (and square). By then it was approaching four-thirty and it was starting to spit with rain. This seemed like a good hint to pack it in for the day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be as productive. The plan is to complete the spine of the utility deck, then having laid the landscaping fabric, start on fitting the joists (ribs) of the frames.

Noon Image: 7 Oct 2015

Wet

The Gorse Fox has spent much of the day dodging showers. Despite the interruptions he has managed to get the first module of the deck framed and squared off (this is known as the dining deck). The second module is underway, but several torrential cloudbursts put paid to his enthusiasm. In the end he called it a day and came in for a hot shower.

Plan for tomorrow is a quick trip to Screwfix. The Gorse Fox has decided that the way he was trying to blind-fix the outer joists to the posts is not practical. As a result, Plan B, requires some 140mm screws, which do not currently sit within his collection. Armed with said screws the posts will be fitted to the ledger board of the second module (the verandah deck, as the Gorse Fox has christened it). Then the rest of the second module will be framed out.

Noon Image: 6 Oct 2015

Decking Project

The Gorse Fox was ready. The deck sub-frame design was stuck to the window, the joists all identified, and the cutting list was printed and displayed below.

Thumbs were twiddling... the timber was still in transit.

The phone rang. It was the delivery driver. He was in the area, but couldn't find us on his map. The Gorse Fox gave him instructions. Three minutes later he was pulling up outside.

The Gorse Fox was expecting him to deposit the timber on the pavement and assumed he would spend the rest of the afternoon moving it round onto the drive.

Fortunately the truck had a Hilift crane and was able to lift both bundles of timber and place them straight onto the driveway. That was a result.

Well that is one and three quarter tonnes of timber. The Gorse Fox has to turn this into a pile of sawdust, offcuts, and (somehow) a deck.

The Gorse Fox got started. The first ledger board was cut, and the first boundary beams sized and cut.

The ledger board was levelled, screwed, checked, unscrewed, re-levelled, re-screwed and prepared for fixing to the wall. Progress... but slow progress.

Noon Image: 5 Oct 2015

Tick, tick, tick

The Gorse Fox is still waiting for the arrival of the timber. As it's pouring with rain at the moment, he isn't too disappointed that it hasn't turned up, yet. Trouble is that he is eager to get started.

Test again

The Gorse Fox has tried a new blog app for his Kindle Fire. This was the one missing app.

Goal

The Gorse Fox is between project phases so made the most of the opportunity to play some football. It was a strenuous 5-a-side. The Gorse Fox's team was the weaker which made the work a lot harder. The Gorse Fox did manage to score several goals, and stopped quite a few, but still ended up on the losing side.

Thinking of the next phase of the project, the Gorse Fox had find some spacers tat would holder the ledger board away from the house and allow water to drain down between the house and the new deck. The recommendation is 10mm. Finding 10mm spacers with an internal diameter of 12mm is a challenge. The solution was simple, and suggested by a neighbour. The Gorse Fox bought some 15mm copper pipe and cut it into 10mm lengths. Voila, we have spacers.

Now we just await the delivery of the wood tomorrow.

Noon Image: 4 Oct 2015

Testing

It is a long time since the GF has tried posting from his Android phone. He thought it sensible to remind himself how it works, hence this post.

Noon Image: 3 Oct 2015

Sawdust

Travis Perkins arrived just after seven a.m., there would be no hanging around for the Gorse Fox today. Four 150x47 at 3.6m and five 125x47 at 3.6m. Girding his loins, the Gorse Fox headed out into the bright morning sunshine and started up the workshop vacuum and the saw. The four cross beams were cut to size and shaped, and 3 temporary bearers were screwed in position on the uprights. The beams were offered up, and holes drilled from side to side. Coach bolts were hammered through and tightened. Voila, the beams were fixed.

Next the joists were cut to size and the ends shaped. These had to be notched to fit over the beams. The Gorse Fox clamped them together and marked up the cuts. Then he had to use the hand-held circular saw. A series of parallel cuts were made and a storm of sawdust was created. The Gorse Fox was covered from head to foot. This was time to dust down and get lunch.

After lunch, the notches were hammered out and the joists positioned. It didn't take too long to get it finished by then. The Gorse Fox had just got down from fitting the last screw when the Silver Vixen got home, so timed it to perfection.

The screens are finished, and the pergola is finished. The Gorse Fox has a quiet weekend planned, then Monday sees the arrival of the wood for the deck. (Hence the carefully framed photos, not showing the void where the deck will be).

Noon Image: 2 Oct 2015

Screened

The Gorse Fox made a prompt start. The screens started yesterday were extended downwards (after we had decided that they needed more depth). Then, new slats were cut, ends sealed and holes drilled. The next two screens were underway. This did require a trip to Screwfix, however, as the design change had pushed the Gorse Fox beyond the contents of a single box of screws. Whilst out, he stopped at Travis Perkins and ordered the wood required for the pergola. Hopefully, this will arrive tomorrow morning and the Gorse Fox can get the pergola finished over the weekend.

Once back home, it didn't take long to complete the last of the screens.

The man from Amazon arrived with our new hose cassette. This was fitted and tested. Such progress! The Gorse Fox isn't sure what's come over him. He is, however, worried about the sheer volume of wood due to arrive on Monday - and where it will go.

Noon Image: 1 Oct 2015