and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

I think there were but the deathwatch beetles ate them all...

There's millions of flight holes, the oak seems to be holding up to it but the loft/upstairs (upladder?) floor looks like pine and it's finished (and covered with hay - treacherous)

I'm not sure what sort of sealant is available here, I'm told sod all but, as I've been told lots of rubbish in the past, I'd better check. Not sure how good the concrete floor is in the pigsty but the previous owner chainsawed a big hole in the other end to drive his tractor in, which promptly sank through the floor.

The main rot seems to be near ground level






Above the pigsty seems a bit weak too, as it's single course.


Below that the walls are a foot thick (pig door:)




Btw I've found the key!

Which would still work if the door hadn't dropped...

[Welly]

mmm, you could spent a *lot* of time on it if you wanted or just fix the worst bits and see how it goes over a few years.

Ideally you'd need to grind out the mortar in the brickwork and repoint it, and there's an art in itself; doing it so that rainwater doesn't run into the bricks.

[Welly]

Someone I know who bought a Family Toyoyo Verso common rail Diesel and never shut up about how brilliant Toyota's were has now told me it's knackered.

Turbo and injector failure on a 2011 car, now more or less a scrapper.

[steve_earwig]

I knew there was a reason (or 20) I didn't buy a diesel...

I'll have to see what my builder says, I suspect it'll be rendered (there's a machine...). I'm presently on the scum for an old window (because uPVC just wouldn't look right) No joy yet but there's still time.

Thunderstorms, heavy rain, sunshine, showers.... Bleedin' weather. I've been taking stuff out of the shed and trying to find somewhere to stash it all. Oddly there seems to be more in there now than when I started I've just puled down the shelving I made in the corner, I lined it with polythene to stop any drippies getting to my stuff. Took out the shelves, took out the frame, "ear, why's it all black up there? Why's it all bulging??" Sploosh! A load of dirty water full of cat guano, old hay, sawdust and an ant's nest on me head. Am I having fun yet? I need a shower...

[steve_earwig]

Do not read this post if you are of a sensitive disposition!

So yesterday I carried on regardless. Right up to the point where I found where the cover off one of my sawbenches went - it was part of a rat's next under the bench In there with the hay and shredded plastic bags. This is what you get if the doors don't quite reach the ground. Oh, and if the walls are full of holes, plus a thin skim of concrete over a dirt floor. Nice. I guess this goes with the two mummified rats I found.

Vile.

This morning I've pulled out the Flymos and the bikes, I'll probably stash these up at my gaff. I also sorted out the huge collection of flowerpots that seem to have accumulated over the years. Lunchtime came and I was getting ready to go and pick up Max (his turn to cook) when I scratched an itch on my back - "this don't feel quite right". A spot with something sticking out of it? I got t'wife to have a look and she couldn't make it out either, said it looked like a huge blackhead. She tried squeezing it to no avail, then she got some tweezers and pulled the "head" off of it. She couldn't make out what it was, neither could I even with a magnifying glass, so I got my jeweller's eyepiece and, yes, there it was with it's legs wriggling about, a tiny tick

Not my first , that was a couple ago, and I doubt it'll be my last. And at least it wasn't in the same region as the first one, that was on my, erm...


For lunch Max did a Chinese, nice it was too

[Doggy]

Ouch! Not had that particular pleasure as yet, (or ticked that box as it were).
My bro reckons that there cleaning fluid you use before solvent welding pvc pipe together kills them in seconds, (mind you he's not tried it on a hooman bean, so it could sting a bit).

[steve_earwig]

My dad used to put (probably still does) petrol on them on the dogs, they never complained... I've taken dozens off the cats and dogs here, I always just pull the buggers off with a twist and check for wiggley legs, never had any problems.

[Welly]

Eww, I've not even seen a tick yet

If you have (had?) a top hats nest they would need a regular supply of food? that's how I understand Mice anyway - who like Bird food and some shelter.

You're supposed to shoot Rats with an air riffle, or borrow a Jack Russel. Or both.

[steve_earwig]

top hats

There's all sorts of livestock here, chickens both sides, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, all the rats need to do is get into the food stores. Besides, we had rats around the house I grew up in and there was damn all there.

Never seen a tick? I must take a picture... These are the buggers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_ricinus

The vets usually come around each year with a tray of blue sweeties for the rats (which we politely decline because of our pets). Jack russells are a rare beast here, our dogs have had a few though. No air rifles locally, our stupid neighbour had one but we grassed him up to the cops for shooting our cats with it and it got confiscated. And he got arrested, hur hur.

[Welly]

I meant I've not seen a tick 'in the flesh' as it were (see what I did there?)

I have to smile when you write about the stuff where you live, it's so different to the UK but in a nice way. A recent survey suggested that Mr & Mrs Average living and working in the UK in a typical Family home in a typical Town and with 2.4 Kids were largely unhappy; too much time spent at work and not enough money to enjoy leisure time either.

I know you keep yourself very busy with maintenance duties but it must be so much better than the UK alternative. Do you ever travel to those picturesque coastal towns and sip a nice Coffee watching the world go by?

[Bailes1992]

I have the offer of a 1 owner, 16k, FMDSH, garaged poverty spec Ford KA on an 08 plate. It's completely rot free and absolutely immaculate in every way for £1000. Can even pay for it in chunks over the next year or two.

I'm considering buying it, dowsing it in ACF-50 and throwing it in the back of the garage for a couple of years.

Thoughts?

[steve_earwig]

Is Ka ever going to be worth money? It took Mk1 Escorts what, 30 years? Can you sit on it for that long? Or were you planning on using it after that time?

I meant I've not seen a tick 'in the flesh' as it were (see what I did there?)

I've seen far too many

I have to smile when you write about the stuff where you live, it's so different to the UK but in a nice way. A recent survey suggested that Mr & Mrs Average living and working in the UK in a typical Family home in a typical Town and with 2.4 Kids were largely unhappy; too much time spent at work and not enough money to enjoy leisure time either.

A lot of people here are quite close to poverty, Max has an invalidity pension (PTSD) which amounts to a massive 130 pounds a month, Goran has recently switched jobs, he was headhunted, and now earns a massive 800 pounds a month. Most things are more expensive here than in GB, exept for houses (too many empty ones) and people (i.e. wages, labour etc.). And don't get me started on the cost of bureaucracy, there are thousands of useless idiots sitting in offices across the country all adding to the price of anything you try to do, so something simple that costs a few quids in GB (e.g. getting your shed added to the town plan because long ago somebody couldn't be bothered) costs thousands They don't even give you the form to fill out, you have to go to a shop and buy it!

I know you keep yourself very busy with maintenance duties but it must be so much better than the UK alternative.

A lot of things we take for granted in GB just don't exist here, so I have to fathom out how the locals do it

Do you ever travel to those picturesque coastal towns and sip a nice Coffee watching the world go by?

I've done it but the prices in the touristy spots are mental, plus there's too many tourists and it's too damn hot on the coast. At the end of the day I'd rather be at home

[caprixpack]

Spending money in the daily.

[steve_earwig]

The pigsty is empty! Finally...








Floorboards from inside

They were massivly heavy, even half rotten, so I think I know what they started out as. Now they're not even firewood

The bare floor

Might do for a skateboard park...

Inevitably


Also, as it's big bin day tomorrow, I ripped a load of plastic sheeting off the ceiling and half a cat skeleton fall on me. I'm trying to be "ah, poor wee feller, I'll give him a proper burial" and not "OK MY FECKING GOD! EURGH! I NEED A BLEACH SHOWER STAT!" about it.

On a lighter note, have some flowers, with bonus TWPB lurkage.

[Welly]

Were those planks from the Mary Rose?

Can't see why they were laid as flooring? unless I'm missing something.

Cat skeleton is gross