Steps

As a rule, the Gorse Fox covers about 5500 to 6500 steps per hour in his walking football games. Today the teams were split and the Gorse Fox took one look and realised they teams were seriously unbalanced. Our 'yellow' team had only two really mobile players and one of them was in goal. The orange team had the best goalkeeper and three very mobile strikers. The Gorse Fox was in for a hard game. We went ahead briefly, when the Gorse Fox scored a goal from his first kick... but it was all down hill after that and we ended up on the wrong end of 14 goals. The Gorse Fox did, however cover 8,900 steps in the hour - so it turned out to be really good exercise (if somewhat frustrating).

Back home he retired to the garage to address the end-grain issues of the shelf. He is now waiting while the filler sets up before sanding it back with a very fine grit paper, then re-painting.

On duty again

The Gorse Fox went back out to the garage. He had thought through the next steps of the floating shelf and was eager to get back to work. The shelf would have a hole in it to allow for cables and plugs to be fed from below. This needed to be cut and then then the top and bottom fixed to the frame. Next the edges were attached and we had the basic shelf ready for sanding and priming.

Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete wanted to do some shopping in Chichester so we were going to look after baby Ellie for a while. She was, of course, a delight and grandpa and nana took turns to watch over her, soothe her, feed her, and change her (though some of those turns fell squarely on nana!)

During the evening the Gorse Fox thought more about the floating shelf. He concluded that the finish of some of the cut edges needed further attention and that the cable hole needed lining. The upshot of this is that there is more work to do in order to complete this first shelf. As there are several further shelves that need to be built, this is very much a prototype, but even still, it needs to be right.

X-Y- Z

In mathematics and engineering, positions within three dimensions are often referred to by coordinates that are measures against the x, y, and z axes. The Gorse Fox knows this. Indeed he has used this many times over the years when programming drawing and engineering tools. He introduced computer aided design and numerical control software to British Aerospace back in the 70's and had the second installation in to whole of the UK (after Pressed Steel Fisher) of the CADAM tool that was so widely used in aerospace and motor manufacture.

Why is this relevant, you may ask. Well, the Gorse Fox started to build the floating shelves. He was eager to use his new jig, but there was much preparatory work to complete first. Eventually everything was measured out, the wall brace was cut, dados were let in to accommodate the "fingers" that would support the shelf. The jig allowed the pocket holes to be cut and then the dados were glued and the fingers inserted and screwed in. This is where the Gorse Fox should have remembered the X-Y, and Z. He actually only remembered X and Y. He concentrated on getting the fingers absolutely square to the brace (the horizontal plane), but forgot to check they were also square in the vertical plane. They were not. By the time he noticed the glue had set up and the shelf support could only be used for scrap - otherwise any shelf would have looked twisted.

The Gorse Fox made some templates and jigs. He started again. This time he used the jigs to keep the components square in both the horizontal and vertical axis. A precious lesson had been taken on board.

Work will continue tomorrow!

On Duty

Thursday has started with the usual admin whilst the Silver Vixen headed over to Urban Cub to baby-sit Ellie while Urban-Cub went to get her hair cut. Once Ocado had delivered and the Gorse Fox had put everything away he headed off to join in the grand parent duties.

Baby Ellie was quiet when the Gorse Fox arrived, but soon woke and started to be a little fractious. This corresponded with and inbound call from Cousteau-Cub. Ellie was handed to the Gorse Fox and the phone was handed to the Silver Vixen. The Gorse Fox started to pace up and down to try and sooth her, and the Silver Vixen chatted with Cousteau-Cub.

We stayed on until late afternoon, then headed home (stopping at the Chinese take-away en route). While we had been out, the nice man from Amazon had delivered the Gorse Fox's new jig. Fortunately, Two Hats had been home and taken the delivery. As the evening TV flickered in the corner, the Gorse Fox read the instructions for the jig and started to think about tomorrow's sawdust stories.

Wood

It was very cold over night. Even Jasper decided that his early morning stroll should be cut short. The weather is due to warm up again for the rest of the week.

It was still a bit chilly when we started our football, but things soon warmed up as we got into the game. It was only 5-a-side today on the bigger pitches - so it was hard work. Indeed, by the end it was 5-v-4 as one of our team came over dizzy and had to leave the pitch. Despite this we managed to win 7-5, and the Gorse Fox was pleased to get on the score sheet.

The Gorse Fox got a call from Cousteau-cub while driving home. It was only a short chat, but it's always nice to hear from her. Hopefully we'll get time for a longer chat tomorrow.

Back home he headed off to B&Q and bought the wood for the floating shelves he has been planning.  (First thing, he also ordered a pocket-hole jig from At the nice man from the Amazon - that should arrive tomorrow). With the car loaded he dropped into Pizza Hut for their take-away lunchtime buffet. £5 saw deal that allowed the Gorse Fox to load up a box of salad from the salad bar, and select 4 slices of pizza. Seemed like a deal!

Floating

The morning started cold but bright. It was only just above freezing, but the sun soon took charge and by the time the Gorse Fox started his football, it was really quite pleasant.

Today's games were fun but success was limited. Six games played, two wins, one draw and three losses. Despite that the Gorse Fox felt that he played well and certainly stopped a lot of certain goals. Checking his step count for the two hours he had exceeded his usual count by over a 1000 steps so must have been covering a lot of ground.

Back home the Silver Vixen was taking care of domestic stuff so that she's free for Pilates tomorrow and to babysit on Thursday. Meanwhile the Gorse Fox has been drawing on Sketchup and now has  the design for some floating shelves filed away. These will have to wait for a few days as the Gorse Fox keeps thinking of small refinements that can be made to improve the design. As usual, these might be considered over-engineered, but the GF believes that things should be built to last! (Note, we already have several IKEA floating shelves but the Gorse Fox thinks they are too flimsy and that they do not sit properly - they maybe simple, but the design is poor - which is unusual for IKEA; these will all be replaced).

So quiet

Another lovely start to the day, though it had clouded over by later in the day.

The Silver Vixen had an appointment at the local hospital so the Gorse Fox went along with her. We are always so impressed by the local cottage hospital. They seem to deal with most things other than A&E, but always seem to have time to provide the care that's needed and the staff all seem so incredibly friendly. The Consultant we saw was a charming man who reminded us of a neighbour we had when living back in Broom. Softly spoken, oozing charm and humour, yet still attentive and concerned with the patient. 10 out of 10 from us.

Leaving there we popped in to B&Q as the Gorse Fox wanted to check on some wood supplies for a small project he has in mind. With that sorted Costa beckoned for a late morning coffee.

Back home this afternoon, the Silver Vixen has had a long chat with Urban-Cub on the phone and the Gorse Fox has spent some time on the family tree. This was quite successful as he has managed to find some additional information for the Silver Vixen's cousin and that should help her with her family research. Additionally he has managed to find the Silver Vixen's 7th and 8th great grandparents on her maternal side.

Now that we have baby Ellie in the family, the Gorse Fox needs to start considering Pistol Pete's family and fold them into the tree. A complete new avenue of research is always fun!

In the Pink

It was a bright and sunny start to Sunday.

The Gorse Fox had football so made his way across to meet up with "the lads". We split into two random teams and got under way. It was hard works as the other team was made up predominantly of strikers The Gorse Fox did his best in defence but we were 4-2 down by half time. The Gorse Fox did score one of the goals but it wasn't enough - by the end we had lost 7-3. It was a good run out and the Gorse Fox was quite pleased with the way he had played.

Back home the message came in from the Sonning Crew... should we meet up. It would have been churlish to refuse, so we all set off and headed down to the Pink Pub. We spent a couple of hours chatting and joking. Some drink may have been taken. It was a lovely way to spend Sunday lunchtime.

Back home we watched the Cup Semi-final and had a generally quiet afternoon and evening.

Conversion

It was a bright start, though the forecast is for a drop in temperatures over the next few days. The Silver Vixen took the Jasper shift this morning so the Gorse Fox had a lie-in until eight... most refreshing.

The Gorse Fox spent the morning on a major conversion. He was converting what had been his workshop for the past few weeks, back into a garage for his car. It took a few hours and several trips to the local tip. The local tip had clearly become  the place to be. The Gorse Fox was queued back onto the dual carriageway trying to gain access. Never mind, he didn't have to wait too long and once the car was empty it was clear that progress was really being made.

As planned, the temporary work bench stacked up against the wall and much of the other accumulated detritus from the garage found its way into the second car load for the tip. The car, emptied, has now been vacuumed and put away.

Feeling rather smug; though perfectly aware it will all have to be converted back when he starts on the next project.

Designing

The Silver Vixen wants a corner unit for the living room. This needs to nestle in the corner behind the TV and fit it with the rest of the furniture. We have asked in places such as Oak Furnitureland, but have found nothing that fits the bill.

The Gorse Fox fired up Sketchup and started his design with a list of what features are required and what would be nice. Then the drawing started... and stalled, and restarted, and stalled. The basic outline and dimensions of the finished unit are easy enough, but much of the construction is dependent on the widths of the wood, and the depths of the shelves.

The Gorse Fox started researching suppliers of (solid) light oak boards. This took longer than expected, and when the prices became clear, it also became imperative that the design was spot-on. There was no room for mistakes when the underlying fabric is so expensive. Having found potential suppliers of the boards, the Gorse Fox then spent some time researching the best wood glue for edge-joining boards to create the full width of the unit.

There is further research needed, namely a supplier of suitable glass for the shelves, and a suitable source for some internal lighting.

He will then ready to return to drawing the construction plans.

What more photos?

The Gorse Fox has just found another crate of photos tucked in the corner beneath his desk. Looking at the contents, these have not yet been scanned! Clearly he still has thousands of photos to scan and file.

Domestic God

The Gorse Fox is clearly a domestic god.

Eschewing the early morning TV (at least until after the election) he got started earlier. First there was some ironing to wade through, then as he was about to start on the week's accounts, Ocado turned up with the shopping.

Shopping packed away, the Gorse Fox downloaded all the previous week's transactions ready to do the accounts... but the Silver Vixen wanted to hit Chichester for some pet food, some cat litter, and some new bedding. We pottered in and sorted out the cat's stuff before wandering in to John Lewis for the bedding. Once sorted, we each had a voucher for coffee and a cake, so made our way to the restaurant before wandering off to browse.

On the way home we stopped at the Pet Food Warehouse. We looked for the recommended cat food and found something we thought might match the vet's suggestion. We decided to ask advice at the counter and were lucky to find a woman hovering nearby who happened to be a rep for the company. She was able to answer our questions and to give us some good clear advice. Serendipitous, eh?

Finally back home, the Gorse Fox has now completed the accounts. Normality has resumed.

Music

It was a cold but bright start to the day. Barely a cloud littered the sky - though some hight cloud formed by late afternoon. The Gorse Fox started the day in a clumsy frame of mind. Clumsiness is one of his pet hates - and particularly when it his own. He managed to drop the glass cover for his big sauté pan, while cooking breakfast. It hit the floor and though the toughened glass survived, the handle was broken. This seems like a job for some superglue... or failing that, a replacement lid. Doh!

Football was on the agenda. As usual we all met up at Worthing and formed into the oranges or the yellows. This week saw the Gorse Fox playing for the oranges. Cruncher John was back for a few days - if the Gorse Fox had known, he might have worn body armour. As it was, it was another player that got crunched this week and had to sit out the last 10 minutes or so, nursing a bruised rib. Overall, and despite Cruncher, it was enjoyable as usual, and though we lost 3-1, the Gorse Fox feels that he played particularly well, so isn't too disappointed.

Back home the Silver Vixen was getting ready to go out with her Pilates group for afternoon tea. They are celebrating the 60th birthday of their instructor. The Gorse Fox isn't sure whether Worthing is quite ready for this... but he did see some police riot vans heading that way along the A259.

Meanwhile the Gorse Fox did a bit of shopping then spent the afternoon listening to music. One of the pleasures of Amazon Music (like Spotify or Deezer) is the availability of a wide selection of playlists across all genres and featuring music that you may not otherwise have heard.

That's a Turn Up

Tuesday after a Bank Holiday saw a surprisingly good turn out at football. The Gorse Fox was expecting some to cry-off with sore heads having celebrated Brighton & Hove Albion's promotion to the Premiership. Yet no, all the usual crew were there and we had three games followed by a change or personnel and then three further games. The first hour saw the Gorse Fox (in Red this week) draw two games and win one. It was nice to play at the back with another experienced defender and we almost managed a complete shut out. In the second hour, again playing in red, we weren't so good. Two of the five players in the team were not very mobile and not very able on the ball. We lost all three of those games, but the Gorse Fox can at least console himself that he scored a lovely goal in the last game.

Back in the car he heard that the PM had called for a General Election. This was a surprise, but will no doubt trigger eight weeks of vitriol, bile, and intolerance as all and sundry decide to engage in "reasoned debate" by insulting each other and each other's followers. The Gorse Fox suspects he will have to stop watching TV News coverage until its all over (for the sake of his sanity).

Surplus

The Gorse Fox had a considerable amount of wood left over when he built the deck. It has been stacked by the garage for the past 18 months. Pistol Pete, meanwhile, is in need of some wood to brace (or rebuild) his shed. Now that they have the bigger car, it seemed like a good opportunity for the Gorse Fox's surplus to become Pistol Pete's timber trove.

So it was that Pistol Pete and Urban Cub came to visit with baby Ellie. Ellie was duly paraded round to see Tinkerbell and Two Hats, while Pistol Pete and the Gorse Fox cut the wood to manageable lengths and loaded his car. It didn't take too long, but the Gorse Fox was pleased he had recharged the batteries for the circular saw the other day.

We also took the opportunity to carry the desk tidy up to the Gorse Fox's study.

He must say, he's rather pleased with the finished result and will, no doubt, load the various cubby holes in the next few days. You'd think it was designed to fit!

Out and About

We popped across to see Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete. It was a lovely day, though there was a nip in the breeze. After Elli had been fed, we headed down to the front in LA.

There were plenty of people about, making the most of the long weekend and strolling in the sunshine.

We had parked near the iconic cafe to the east end of the promenade and walked towards the mouth of the River Arun and in towards town.

Some hardy individuals were actually playing in the sea. With the chilly wind, that took some real nerve... though the Gorse Fox suspects he would have done it when he was a young boy.

The funfair was busy and the tinkle of children's laughter and screams as they plunged down the log flume filled the air.

Turning up the side of the River, we headed towards town and admired the boats moored along the river banks. One huge cruiser was in a dreadful state of repair - it was such a shame as it  had clearly been a significant vessel in the past... and was, no doubt, costing a lot to keep moored in a prime spot on the river.

We stopped at the 'Look and Sea Centre'. It was time for a hot drink and a slice of cake. We found a sheltered corner out on the patio and sat and watched the world go by.

Eventually, we stirred and made our way back to the car. Ellie had woken by this point and was clearly ready for another feed. Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to get back to the house and settle her down. Whilst Pistol Pete and the Gorse Fox watched the Sunday afternoon football, Urban-Cub and the Silver Vixen prepared a fine roast dinner.

A perfect day, again.

Mr Shifter

The Gorse Fox has just ventured in to the garage to move the finished desk tidy indoors and up to the study. This is when he realised he can't lift it. He will have to wait until he can get some help as it is too large (though not excessively heavy) to be lifted by a single person.

Pah!

Happy Easter

Liturgically, Easter is a time of renewal and, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the first major holiday of Spring. At this time of geo-political tension, of division, and of so much hatred - the Gorse Fox extends his wishes and prayers for all; he wishes you contentment, understanding, patience and tolerance.

Getting on with things

The last couple of DIY projects have interrupted the Gorse Fox's normal schedule. Knowing today would involve some long waits whilst paint was drying the Gorse Fox resolved to catch up on some admin.

First on the agenda was to get the first top coat on the desk tidy. This didn't go very smoothly as the sprayer seemed to splatter whenever he started it up. This would all require sanding back once dry and then re-coating.

Back indoors, whilst waiting for the paint to dry, the Gorse Fox got stuck in to the last few weeks accounts. Clearly there has been a change to the Money Dashboard aggregator that he uses and this meant that he had some fiddling about to do before everything was correctly accounted for. Once downloaded and cross-referenced in the spreadsheet, the Gorse Fox could start work on the small pile of documents that, whilst dealt with, had not been scanned and filed yet. Once that was done, and the backups triggered, the shredder could go into overdrive and dispose of all the paper.

The Silver Vixen spent the morning Spring cleaning the Orangery - which is now looking spic and span. We had a light lunch then the Gorse Fox headed out to the garage. The splattered paint spots were sanded back and the sprayer test fired to clear any blobs... and then the final coat was applied to the desk tidy.

Nearly Done

That's another little project nearly done.

The desk tidy is assembled and the Gorse Fox has made up some edging strips to cover the raw ends of the MDF carcase. Edging has been cut and attached, sanded, filled, re-sanded, and primed.

There's nothing else the Gorse Fox can do today - he must wait for everything to dry before putting on the finishing coat(s).

(He would point out that this photo is taken from the side that will be hidden and flush to the wall).

Old Designs

The Gorse Fox decided to make the most of the fact the garage was empty and his tools were easily available.

A couple of years ago he designed what he called a "desk tidy". It isn't really for the desk though. This unit is designed to sit on a feature in the corner of the study that squares off the diagonal that would be caused by the staircase below. The unit is designed to contain a number of cubby-holes that are designed to house "Really Useful Boxes".

The wood was purchased a couple of years ago and was even had a coat of primer applied. All the Gorse Fox had to do was mark up the various cuts and the rebates and get started. It was fairly easy and with glue and the nailer was soon prepared and assembled. A coat of undercoat was applied with the spray-gun and then the Gorse Fox cleared up and left it all to dry overnight. Very satisfactory.

Meanwhile, the Silver Vixen has been filling up the new cabinet in the family room.

The Gorse Fox isn't quite sure what has come over him!

More Exercise

A bit cooler and greyer this morning, but at least it was dry. The Silver Vixen didn't have Pilates today because of the Easter break; the Gorse Fox, however, had football as usual.

It seemed a very evenly matched game, but the Gorse Fox ended up on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline. Our team seemed to have most of the chances, but squandered the opportunities. The other team managed to capitalise on the few dances they had. Never mind, it was a good game and the Gorse Fox was pleased with the way he played.

Back home he has been filing the rapidly expanding collection of photos that has formed over the past two weeks, since Ellie was born. If he doesn't get on top of this early on, it will become a huge chore later. He's also been looking a PhotoBox as a possible way of getting some digital prints and having them dispatched to Beloved Aunt in Canada.

Exercise

A gorgeous start to the day filled the Gorse Fox with anticipation for the morning's football. He arrived at the sports centre early - and that was a good job. There is a limit of 32 players - and we had reached that limit with time to spare. Several late-comers had to just stand and watch.

The games were enjoyable - though the Gorse Fox lost 5 out of 6 games, and only managed a draw in the other game. He was pleased, however, to score a very fine goal.

After showering (in stone cold water) he headed back to Urban-Cub's to see Ellie. Along with the Silver Vixen we were on baby-sitting duty whilst Urban-Cub went to pick up her new car. The Peugeot 308 (coupe) that she had was clearly impractical when transporting Ellie, her stuff, and Scrumpy the dog. She has now switched cars and got a Peugeot 5008 which was very impressive. It is a 5/7 seater and will provide plenty of room for the family.

What a Perfect Day

Again, the weather was gorgeous.

The Gorse Fox started the morning with some serious tidying up in the garage. Then, some last checking of the paintwork on the cabinet. Satisfied, he made another coffee and with the Silver Vixen sat out on the patio to enjoy the warm sun and the general feeling of contentment.

Finally stirring there were a few adjustments to be considered and one meant that he needed some different screws - the ones currently in use were too big and were causing the cabinet doors not to close properly. A quick trip to B&Q and a box of 3mm x 25mm screws and all was well.

Granddaughter Ellie turned up late in the morning with Urban-Cub in tow.

It was lovely to see them as it had been over a week since the last time, due to the Silver Vixen's cold. Miss Ellie was her usual gorgeous self, and after the Silver Vixen had fed her, the Gorse Fox took over and walked her up and down for and hour or so... just proving that the experience gained with Cousteau-Cub and Urban-Cub has come back into use and Miss Ellie was soon asleep.

Late in the afternoon we took Ellie across to meet Old Bill and Lady Penelope (unfortunately Tinkerbell and Two Hats were out). It gave the Gorse Fox an opportunity to ask Old Bill for a hand carrying the (heavy new) cabinet into the family room.

By tea time the cabinet was installed in the family room and ready to be loaded.

The Gorse Fox is pleased with the final product - though may make a few final tweaks.

Phone

The Gorse Fox is not known for his use of the telephone. He finds telephones interesting, but always has trouble thinking of things to say or questions to ask. It's probably a man-thing, or maybe a by product of the endless hours spent on teleconference calls achieving absolutely nothing when he was still working.

Despite this, the afternoon has been punctuated with joy as Cousteau-Cub phoned for a chat and the Gorse Fox noted it is only 60 days until she is back here for a visit. After that he called Beloved Aunt in Canada. She has been quite unwell, but is clearly rallying. We had a lovely chat and it was a chance for her to catch up on all of the news regarding Urban-Cub and Ellie.

Overcoat

No it's not cold. In fact it's gorgeous today.

After the frustration of this morning, the Gorse Fox has sanded back the paint runs (again) and adjusted the spray once more. This time the finish was satisfactory. The Gorse Fox went round touch up the odd spot with a brush and now is sitting watching paint dry. (Well, strictly speaking he's not watching it... but he is waiting for it).

Paint Frustration

It has been a frustrating morning. The football was cancelled as we couldn't gather enough players. Then the Gorse Fox decided to return to the painting of the cabinet. Carefully he sanded down the blemishes and runs from yesterday. He poured the paint into the reservoir and watered it down (as instructed in the accompanying manual) and he was ready to go.

The top of the unit was sprayed and looked perfect. Then he moved on to the insides and the sides, then finally the doors. Despite winding back the paint volume setting, and spraying from slightly further away, he has managed to develop some runs in the paint again. He is not happy as this means that he can't progress until this is dry, sanded back, then repainted.

Hubris

Well the Gorse Fox should have kept quiet.

He returned to the paint sprayer for one final coat. He had not realised he was almost at the end of the paint reservoir and the spray gun started to splutter, or to flood the surface. As he was spraying white onto white, this was not immediately obvious. He now has had to call it a day to allow the paint to dry overnight - then he can return to it and sand the various splutter-marks and slight runs that have formed.

On a positive note, the spray gun cleans up very easily (though that could be because the Gorse Fox is using water based paints).

Nearly finished

Foggy start soon gave way to lovely sunshine. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed in to Chichester to select the finish-coat paint for the cabinet. B&Q , the Gorse Fox noticed, didn't have the "chalk paint" that we had wanted - Homebase, however, did. It didn't take took long to find, and there was a very helpful assistant who discussed the relative merits of using such a paint in a spray gun. Our collective conclusion was that it was worth a try, but would require some watering down.

Back home, the Gorse Fox set to work with the finest grit sandpaper to create a key in the primer/undercoat, then went through looking for any last blemishes that would require attention. Finally, a wipe down to remove any dust and he was ready to start painting. The paint turned out to be less viscous than he was expecting, but still he added a little water to ensure a good mist from the spray gun.

As he writes this, he is waiting for the first coat to dry and is very satisfied with the results so far. He will give a second coat later or tomorrow, depending how quickly this coat dries.

Let us Spray

The Gorse Fox has loaded the paint spray gun and laid down the first primer/undercoat. It is clear that there is a skill to this. A skill that the Gorse Fox has yet to acquire.

He was smart enough to switch to his old glasses so that if they got misted it wouldn't matter - he was also careful enough to get a face mask to protect him from airborne spray. He even created a protective tent by hanging dust sheets from the garage door runners creating a cocoon round the cabinet. All very clever, but when it cam to actually laying down the paint it has proved a bit challenging and blotchy so far. He had always planned for several coats so is not too concerned as yet... but of course there's a delay whilst each coat dries.

The Gorse Fox has made use of the delay to have some lunch and to book a restaurant for a Starfleet and customers VMUG Old Gits get together. Hopefully we should be able to get a quorum on the date selected and have a good old chin-wag.

Reminder

Note to the Gorse Fox - when ordering from Mr Amazon, do check the quantities. The Gorse Fox wanted two magnetic catches... and looked them up on the aforementioned website. Catch was found, and quantity changed to 2.

A package was delivered. It seemed heavy. The Gorse Fox opened the package to find the two packets contains the magnetic catches... along with eleven further catches in each package. The Gorse Fox failed to notice that the packets contained 12 catches each. Doh!

Dust

The whole day has been spent in the garage. The doors for the cabinet were finished and mounted. The knobs were fitted and the drawer fronts were cut to size and fitted. The Gorse Fox then went berserk with the sander and prepared all the surfaces for painting.

The rest of the time has been spent clearing up and vacuuming the sawdust from every surface. That took significantly longer than the Gorse Fox would have liked, but at least it's done and the room is relatively dust free. He suspects that there may be a requirement to go round with the vacuum again in the morning before he sets to work on the paint.

The plan is to use the spray gun that the nice Mr Amazon is meant to be delivering today. A couple of coats of primer/undercoat with appropriate sanding in between should provide a good background for the planned chalk paint to key into.

Spray

It was a chilly start to the day and Jasper had the Gorse Fox up and about before 06:30. Chilly it may have been, but it was crystal clear and as the sun took hold the temperatures rose and it remained cloudless most of the day.

Wednesday means football so the Gorse Fox headed across to Worthing for his usual game. Today he was playing for the yellows... and lost. He covered a lot of ground as the team were hampered by two players who are less mobile than most. The trouble is that his usual accurate passing had evaporated. He could not have hit a barn door from 10 yards. (Fortunately, there were no barn doors on the pitch). He defended well, but made little contribution to the team's attack. The Gorse Fox thinks the final score was 6-3 but may have missed a goal or two on one side or t'other.

Back home he sat down with the Silver Vixen for a bite of lunch then headed to Screwfix for some water based primer/undercoat and a rebate bit for the router. The rebate bit was used for the doors of the new cabinet and made a fine job of creating the rebate. A 6mm sheet of MDF was cut to size the corners rounded to fit the corners of the rebate (the Blessed Norm Abram tends to square off the corners of the rebate and use square panel, but the gorse Fox allowed pragmatism to overcome technique in this case). Glued and pinned it was soon in place and the Gorse Fox moved on to the second door. Similarly it was soon ready and the Gorse Fox cut the raised panels that would adorn the "fields" in the doors. A healthy coat of glue and some block to hold them in the right position and they were soon weighted down and left to cure. Nothing else could be done today - though there's some final fitting and sanding on the agenda for tomorrow.

You may observe there have been no staged photos of the cabinet as the Gorse Fox has progressed. This is because it looks rather naff at present and won't really come together for a decent shot until painted.

The Gorse Fox has been giving the final finish a lot of thought. He has decided that the only way he is likely to finish that matches the existing units is to use a spray gun. Several hours were spent reviewing spray gun techniques on YouTube and our friend Mr Amazon was pressed into service to deliver an electric spray gun tomorrow. Not much else can be done today... so it's time to take a glass of wine out on to the deck and soak up some rays. (Retirement can be such a chore).

Unhinged

Progress has continued and now the Gorse Fox has finished building the door rails and stile and constructing the main frame of each door. They now sit in the garage, clamped and waiting for the glue to set up. The interior panels for each door still need to be cut and fitted.

The Gorse Fox has also tried out the paint that the Silver Vixen had recommended. That has been tried out on some of the plywood and some of the strip wood. Let's see how the paint dries and whether it will be suitable for the finished unit (and whether it may need a primer coat - even though the instructions claim none is required).

Benched

Normally, being Tuesday morning, the Gorse Fox would be playing football. He has benched himself.

Having got the last components for the kitchen cabinet, however, he wants to crack on with that. So it is that he has spent the morning making and fitting the mouldings for the plinth. That done he's stopped for a coffee whilst preparing to start on making the doors.

Gentle Progress

Monday started with a trip. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed across to Portsmouth, this was where the nearest Homebase was, which had the hinges in stock that Gorse Fox needed for the cabinet. We took the opportunity whilst there, to look in Babies R Us for the car seat fitting required for the baby's "travel system" - but they didn't have it. They were able, however, to show that it wasn't needed for occasional use and the particular seat that Urban Cub has can be fitted in the car as it is. That was good news as it took the pressure off for now.

Back home the Gorse Fox went back into the garage. A bit of sanding first, then some edging was cut for one of the shelves. Finally, the plinth was cut and fitted then the blemishes left by the nailer were filled. That was it for today - but progress was satisfactory. The Gorse Fox spent some time clearing up so that he has less clutter as he moves around in there. The pile of sawdust is becoming quite impressive.

There was still the problem of the moulding that crowns the plinth. The Gorse Fox returned to B&Q. They clearly didn't have one that matched, but sometimes these moulding can be created by matching up two mouldings that resemble different aspects of the finished item. No such luck. The Gorse Fox concluded he would have to try and form the moulding himself, so selected some suitable wood and some router bits that should (might) enable him to create the exact shape he's trying to copy. That's and exercise for another day, however.

Family

Sunday morning, so it must be football. The Gorse Fox joined up with the "lads" and we split into our usual yellows and oranges - the Gorse Fox being an orange for the day. By half time we were 4-1 down and needed a bit of a re-org for the second half. A few people were repositioned and slowly we fought back. By the end, we were 6-5 ahead. It had been a good game, though a bit busy with 7-a-side.

The Gorse Fox headed home, dropped his kit and collected the Silver Vixen, heading straight back out. We were meeting with J&T at The Gribble Inn for lunch. Though they were busy we managed to get a parking spot and our reserved table was ready for us as we arrived. Lunch was excellent as usual - everyone, except the Gorse Fox, had the roast dinner (beef or lamb) - the Gorse Fox went for the very excellent Gribble burger.

From The Gribble, we all headed across to see Urban-Cub, Pistol Pete, and baby Ellie. It was clearly time she met her great Aunt!

We spent a lovely couple of hours with them, though Ellie managed to sleep through the whole event, only waking long enough to say goodbye as we left.

It was good to hear that Urban-Cub had managed to have a video chat with Cousteau-Cub earlier. It's a shame, however, that Ellie still isn't talking and able to chat with her Aunt in Thailand.

Moulding

The weather was forecast to be showery. The forecast was wrong. It was really quite a lovely day. The Gorse Fox made the most of a clear schedule and disappeared into the garage. It had been a couple off weeks since he last did any work on the new unit for the family room.

He started by filling in some of the blemishes in the surface (caused by the nailer), then while that was setting up, he returned to the laptop to search for the hinges that he would need. Eventually he found a set in the Homebase website. Nothing goes smoothy, however, and there was only one pair at the local store. The nearest store with two set was in Portsmouth and the Gorse Fox didn't fancy going there on a Saturday morning. That could wait. The Gorse Fox did, however, manage to find the correct door knobs from Screwfix. By now, the filler had set up and the Gorse Fox was able to go and start sanding the unit. Once that was done the Gorse Fox used the band saw to rip the moulding to the correct width and formed the moulding round the top of the unit. Once fitted, there was a bit more filling to do and then the Gorse Fox was done for the day. There wasn't't a great deal more that could be done without the hinges... or without a significant clear up in the garage (and that can wait!)

We popped round to see Urban Cub, Pistol Pete, and baby Ellie during the afternoon. It is clear that they are all very relaxed and beginning to drop into a routine. This makes things a lot easier for them and there is an air of contentment in the home. Even Scrumpy, the dog, is settled and sees it as his job to protect the new addition to the family.