Little more than 30 hours until the polling stations open

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

And for the first time ever, I shall be voting tactically this election.

We’re in a new constituency because of boundary changes, but our previous MP is running in our constituency again. In years he’s done nothing for (most of) the people of this area and I want him and his paymasters out. They’ve done enough damage. Frankly at this point I’d not trust them to run a bath, let alone a country. I’ve heard all the arguments against the other parties though they’re not arguments really, are they? More like five year-olds bickering in the playground. Right now we need some grown-ups in charge who aren’t too busy trying to stab each other in the back to have time to try to improve the lives of the “average joe”. So I shall vote for whoever seems most likely to remove them. I’m really not keen to vote for someone on the basis of who they aren’t, but this time around, needs must.

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What is it with weeds this year?

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

Last weekend I finished weeding the veggie plot beds (though the strawberry, raspberry and flower beds still need doing) for the fourth time this year. And there were so many! My compost bins are about 5′ (1.5m) square and I added at least 2′ (60cm) of material to one just with the weeds. They just seem to keep growing. I’ve never had such a problem since before I went no dig. I suspect that some of it is down to more “blown-in” seeds surviving through the Winter and the fact that I ran out of woodchip so wasn’t able to put as much (sometimes none) on the paths as I would normally. I wonder if some are being brought in by “nocturnal visitors”, too. There are definitely some weeds that I’ve not seen here before.

Hopefully I can now have a break for a while and restrict myself to picking out the occasional weed as I’m walking around the beds planting or harvesting. It would be nice.

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Memory Lane, 28th August 2023: Damsons and plums

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

Freshly picked…

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A brace of Transits

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

We have two Ford Transits in the workshop this week, similar yet different. It’s going to be interesting working on them side-by-side.

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Second van to leave the workshop

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

This time, a long wheelbase VW Crafter that may possibly have been some sort of emergency vehicle in a past life. I believe this was for a customer who wanted to use it to take a bicycle with him.

Out of shot at the back is a full-width bed with a central crawl-space below it giving access to the electrical gear, a diesel heater and water heater. On the driver’s side there’s then a shower and bench and a floor mounted-table, whilst just inside the door there’s a fridge with a hob over it and a sink. On the end of the kitchen unit are all the switches for the electrics plus an auxiliary power socket (“cigarette lighter”) and a USB charger outlet. There’s plenty of overhead storage above the bed on the passenger side.

I’m personally unconvinced of the merits of having a shower in a camper van though it’s not the first one I’ve seen and I guess if you’re going to get hot and sweaty and/or muddy riding a bicycle then there’s more of a case for having one.

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Memory Lane, August 2023: Cabbage for everyone

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

Later in the year I picked an even heavier one, but at the time this was a record for me…

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Getting close with the compost toilet

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

Now it’s in situ, I grabbed some scrap timber and 15mm hexa ply from the waste bin at work and today made the “throne” for the compost toilet. Hopefully I have sufficient left over to make some doors and perhaps even a little “splashback” around the top. Then I just need a toilet seat to allow me to get the size and position of the hole over the bucket correct and it is effectively usable.

There are still a few jobs needing to be done — completing the windows, a little of the boarding to be done and some trim around the roof as well as a lock for the door but at that point I think I could declare the project complete.

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Testing the solar wax melter

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

I’m afraid the photos here really aren’t that great, mostly because the melter needs to face the Sun as much as possible, but what we have is the tray full of “crumbled” comb, mostly from old brood frames. I’m told this works better than leaving the frames intact. As allegedly does washing the remnants first, but I couldn’t be bothered to wait for that.

So, I cut/broke the comb out of the frames and put it into a large plastic bag in the freezer. After a day or two I crushed the frozen comb and then packed it into the melting tray.

Once the Sun was hot enough, wax started to drip out.

I’m only going to claim a qualified success though. The spout isn’t working well and I’ve temporarily bodged a foil version in behind it made from a few layers of kitchen foil. Once I get my hands on a foil food tray I’ll make one from that instead. Otherwise it does seem to be very effective. What a shame then that suitable weather for using it seems so rare this year 🙁

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Fun moving the compost toilet

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

When I designed and started building the compost toilet, my intention was that it should sit comfortably on the pallet forks I have for my compact tractor so I could move it around. I’ve now reached the stage of wanting to move it so I can finally finish it off and it is indeed possible to slip the forks underneath, lift it up and drive.

Unfortunately, quite where you drive is rather less under control. Despite the 60kg of weights on the front, the toilet very neatly counterbalances the tractor and the front wheels float, barely touching the ground, meaning steering is impossible.

It did try steering using the independent brakes on the rear wheels, but it’s a bit hairy when the front end is in the air 😀

So, instead I have bodged the Mark 1 Dunny Dragger: a pair of 4″ gateposts, some wheelbarrow wheels, 20mm conduit and a few other bits put together to make a trailer to shift it to what will probably now be its final resting place at the edge of the veggie plot where I can finish it and at last start using it.

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Memory Lane, 28th August 2023: Huge tomatoes!

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

These are all Amish Paste. Not the largest I’ve ever grown, but certainly right up there.

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