Spherical Balls!

No not that sort - but three dimensional objects to use for a mosaic exercise.

This weeks mosaic lesson was on how to create a design on a three dimensional object - we had a clay flower pot and a polystyrene ball to cover.

As part of covering the flowerpot we had to provide a plate of some sort to break and use as some of the covering tile work. If there was a small design on the plate, it could be cut out and used on the flower pot. Not too easy as it was a crude hammer job to start off with and then the finishing cutting could begin.

Of course being mostly flat the pieces from the plate could not be to big as they would stand proud of the curved surface, shame I did not realise that before nearly finishing!

Grouting this next week will be very interesting, lots of sticky out edges to make neat (hopefully) Still I departed from my usual line everything up properly approach that I have been doing and left big gaps between the pieces and a random layout.

Our other challenge was to cover a spherical surface with tiles or beads- this time it needs to look neat or it will truly be a mess.

We started the lesson by looking at the mosaics from last week, sorting our pieces of now fired glazed ceramic  and learning the new techniques.

We had all been to enthusiastic with the clear silicone adhesive to stick our last weeks glass pieces, so all the gaps were filled with the adhesive and no room for the grout.  The solution, pick out the excess rubbery adhesive with a dentists tooth pick. Luckily we could take this away and work on it at home( and very tedious it was to)

Then it was back to the concrete slab we made and a chance to remove the sand from what is now the top surface of the piece and grout the article. Then they were wrapped again to continue curing for another week.

As usual I was a bit behind some of the others and only just started the first row of the ball - you have to start at the circumference , which on these balls is easy as there is a mould join line all the way around.

As soon as the lesson was finished it was off to Birchanger to meet up with some of my ex colleagues as one of them was leaving the company. As they had been there since about 12-15ish  and I couldn't get there before 1pm, it was a short greeting and meeting time, as they, unlike me, had the pressures of work to drive them back to the office and calls or other tasks to get back to.

I definitely don't miss that aspect. However there may be a little, or not so little task for me to help with , so I should see them again soon one way or the other.

Over the weekend, worked on the ball again to make it ready for grouting as below

Blast from the Past!

It is funny what a simple reminder from the past can do to conjure up memories.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from an ex work colleague from the 1980's/1990's telling me his daughter had found in an old box in storage a video tape labelled, caution X-rated film- with my name on the label. Naturally she was curious about it's content.
The e- mail was copied to the POKS group which was an acronym for Pride of Kent Society - a loose association of colleagues and ex colleagues derived from the days we all worked in West London and a local pub was called The Kent, and they served Fullers London Pride beer, which we imbibed sometimes.

The video in question was from an outward bound team building week in Betwys Y Coed in Wales  in the late 1980's and as part of the team building we carried out certain tasks one of which was to make a video. We were given two expensive video tape cameras, of the over the shoulder size, and no instructions, so we had to figure out how they worked as well as make a film.
The problem was that if you stopped the recording and then started again, the camera re- wound the tape a fraction and the last part of the previous shot was lost. One of our scenes involved a dramatic rescue from the river but the pesky camera kept cutting off part of the shot. One of the team had to plunge in to the river 6 times before we got a good shot of the rescue.

As it was March the river was very cold, so once on the dry land he stripped off all his clothes ( he was a bit of an exhibitionist) and this was caught on film- so it was kept on the video.

This video when complete was circulated around the team for them to take home to show the family/partners etc when we returned, and I was the guardian of the tape- as it turned out is stayed in one place since then and as we all went different ways it was forgotten about.

Of course these days the video presents a problem, many of us will have gone to DVD or Blue Ray players and probably got rid of the video tape equipment - so one of the team will get it transferred hopefully- it will be strange to see what we were like about 20+ years ago.

We did all sorts of things that were given as challenges, some by the course leaders and some as individuals challenges within the team set by the teams themselves. Such as  bursting in on the local village school and taking over a class ( the teacher was very flexible and let us do it -  would we get arrested these days?) and a story reading session ensued.

One night we had to sleep on the top of Moel Shabod, a small mountain, in just survival bags, no tents, and were woken up by a herd of sheep that were a bit annoyed that we were on their grazing patch- this was before dawn, so we had the lovely view as we came down off the mountain of the sun rising and driving off the mist in the valley, as we walked down for a great and welcome cooked breakfast.

It was a very memorable week in many ways.

Mowing strip

We created a new lawn which earlier in the year to rejuvenate the front garden after house extension work last year.
A neighbour suggested putting a mowing strip around the garden edge to define the lawn edge and make it easy to mow the lawn to the edge as well.
Good idea we thought.

Just returned from Wickes with 130 driveway style blocks and some sharp sand to bed them in.

Using the ancient trailer (that has been on various camping holidays in the past when our children were children and not adults,  has had three paint makeovers to match various car colours, and has had all the wooden sides replaced and extended upwards once, and had "new" rubber indespension units fitted about 20 years ago) I managed to get them back home without mishap.

Looking up lawn edging / mowing strip on the InterWeb I came across a helpful guide at www.pavingexpert.com/edging4.htm which shows how easy it is to do.

I will do this bit by bit as other projects allow- such as the lean to shed.

Once started on the roof replacement, I decided to replace the cladding. I had used some thin cladding about 8 tears ago as thicker was more costly, but it was a false economy really. The cladding shrank and warped, so let water in at times, and it looked poor. So off to my local hardware store to buy new cladding. They had slightly fewer lengths of T&G wood than I needed, but I bought all they had. So assuming they would have more, went back after a few days to find the stock had not been replenished.
As I had used up all I bought, I tried searching other sources, a local timber merchants was closed on Saturday afternoon so can't ask them until Monday.

The Wickes I went to has something similar, but not in long enough lengths, so went back to original hardware store and asked if they were getting more in- "try later next week" came the not very reassuring reply.

Oh well. will keep looking and hope one of the possibilities comes off.

Apprentice piece and garden update

Having been very busy over the last two years before retirement the mosaic hobby I started took second or even third place to other tasks, especially last year when the house extension was built.

Last week attended the first of a one morning a week mosaic/craft course lasting 6/7 weeks (depending on the speed of the person in producing the finished articles)

Last week involved cutting up shapes from a clay sheet to be used in a future project, and making a small mosaic piece. The subject was compulsory, it had to be a heart on a wall tile base.

We all had different skills and knowledge, so some completed the preliminary design and some, like me, had to finish off at home.
The picture below shows the mosaic at the point of taking it home.

A week later allowing for an interruption to re-roof the lean to shed at the rear of the garage due to UV induced plastic fatigue, you can see the finished article.

I could tell I was a bit short on practice as I had difficulty cutting tiles in to even squares to fill in the background area.

This week it was glazing the pieces of bisque fired clay so that they could be fired again to produce a transparent glaze seal so the pieces could be used later.
Also a chance to use marble tiles al la roman mosaics using the reverse method, tiles are laid face down and using a frame to act as a mould, concrete is poured over the back of the tiles so that when released and turned over, the image can be seen.

Also a quick and cheerful small reverse mosaic using colourful small glass tiles and clear silicon adhesive to be stuck on to a glass pane, again when turned over the final image is revealed.

We have moved forward on planting up the raised beds.
The potatoes planted for a hopeful Christmas crop have shoots just peeping above the soil level. once grown a bit and before any frost, they will be earthed up progressivly so they occupy a bed of their own. We found at the local nursery, overwintering peas- initially it looked like a dozen or so, but once tipped out of the plastic tray they turned out to be nearer three dozen little pea plants. These have gone in staggard rows about six inches apart and are sharing with the rhubard plants.

Meanwhile the slugs or snails managed to eat all but a few brassica plants, so new ones were acquired and are firmly under a mesh covered cloche with slug pellets around them ( no birds or other animals should be able to get to them as the ends of the cloches are firmly sealed and the mesh pegged down.)
They are sharing the bed with the leeks and chives.

This leaves one last bed that will have dwarf french beans and also broad beans sown from seed to overwinter for next years crop - the planting is imminent..

Hotter update

Well, discovered yesterday that draining the central heating system also turns the boiler off- DoH!

I should have figured that out beforehand- it was only when E said that she had to re-adjust the manual shower to get more warmth that the penny dropped - The low water level detector had shut it down.

So hastily turning off the power to boiler and pump I switched the "Water Otter"  (immersion heater) on to give us hot water. Luckily both washing machine and dishwasher are cold fill only.

Today started to fill the system again, spanners, hose for emergency system drainage etc. to hand in case of leaks. I was pleasantly surprised that neither radiator sprung leaks- considering there were nine new joints per radiator that could have leaked, I was lucky.

Will restart the boiler today and hope no damage was done.
Addendum 14th Sept. Phew- boiler had a secondary overheat trip switch which needed re-setting and off it went, heating side Pump tested as well to check for air blockage, needed bleeding then nice hot radiators emerged!

Next job, replace a leaking fitting in the caravan water syetem, new piece arrived yesterday.

Thursday sees me off to a new mosaics/ceramics course which I booked back in May- time flies!

Hotter still.

Over the weekend I  purchased two replacement radiators and new valves for two cold areas in the house, one in the bathroom and one in a now larger hall since the house extension was built.

The bathroom on cold wintery nights can get cold quickly as it is partly in the roof space, i.e. in a dormer window situation, and there is only a layer of plasterboard to prevent heat loss. I did put loft insulation at the back of the plasterboard and that helped, plus loft insulation under the bath as well which helped again. However, you could be sitting in the bath and below the waterline was nice and toasty, but above that the air could get distinctly chilly with goose bumps on the arms.

The new entrance had a radiator in it, but was not giving out enough heat to keep a reasonable temperature.

Having drained the water from the system, I proceeded to remove the radiators, take off the old wall hangers and replace with the new ones and hang the radaitors in position.

I thought I would be clever and buy double radiators to replace the single ones. However this gave two problems, one, the fittings did not line up with the old pipework on either radiator as they were wider , and two, the entrance hall door bangs on the new radiator which is thicker than the old one so the door does not open absolutly wide as it should.

"We" decided we could live with the door not quite opening, but I had to go back to the DIY store and buy extra fittings to try and line the old pipe up with the new radiator by making an "S" shaped  joint assembly. This meant I had to dig out my old gas brazing kit and try and remember how to solder to get a waterproof joint. The first one I forgot to coat with flux so that two of the three solder areas were fine, but the third leaked when I pressure tested it (hose pipe and a removable cap over the assembley to fill with water under pressure.)

The next four fittings ( a pair per radiator) went OK once I remembered the flux!

I am joining the pipework today and waiting until tomorrow to start re-filling the system with water again. Hopefully by fitting new valves etc. I should have a leak proof system, but just in case I want to make sure that it is daytime in case an emergency dash is needed back to the DIY store.

More news anon!

"Slogin"

On our recent caravan holiday break we came across a really bounteous discovery of a blackthorn tree, absolutely loaded with sloe berries- more than we have ever seen in one place.

In a lane only used by golfers and caravan owners there were blackberries and sloe berries , the former were eaten with local cooking apples and the latter picked to turn in to sloe gin (or "slogin" as it is known in our household.) or maybe sloe vodka.
I fancy also fermenting some of the sloes as I understand that also makes a grand drink when mixed with higher strength alcohol.

The picking of sloes, which would normally take me some time to do locally to my own house, took mere minutes in this case. I only had to brave a guard of stinging nettles and avoid being tangled in bindweed as well, and I had probably a kilo of berries.

As I finished picking I thanked the tree for its bounty and left plenty for other pickers, feathered, furred or not, to enjoy.

Back home now, so Plan A) sloe gin is about to commence, Plan B) the fermenting of some sloes will follow, and if enough sloes are left, Plan C) sloe vodka!

This break was near the sea and Rosie's first experience of the seaside.

On her lead she was a bit wary of the water lapping at her feet, but once we were on a permitted dog beach and let her off, she charged in and attacked the sea at high speed, before running out and bounding round to go back and bite it again.

She liked running after stones thrown for her, but did not like the sand in her mouth and kept dipping her head in to rock pools to rinse it out!

As Rosie is a Springer Spaniel and Staffordshire cross, she can accelerate rapidly and dash off at high speed, so we made sure she was in a safe area, free from other dogs and people,  so that she could run freely and not interfere with others.

Back at home, we carried on planting up the raised beds, the green manure that was dug in, has completely disappeared in to the soil apart from a few harder mustard stalks, so it was easy to work with.
Two rhubarb crowns went in, one a rescued crown from a nearly dead plant- this is the granddaughter of one we bought and grew about 25 years ago, and has been moved from Buckinghamshire to Perth and Kinross and now to here- it was down to a spindly root, the rest had rotted away due to competition from shrubs and weeds.

 It was a prolific plant in the past with giant sticks of sweet and tender "fruit" but the original name has long been forgotten by us, we also bought a new plant just in case the rescued one did not survive, luckily both are OK so we have two varieties to choose from next season.

Also planted are some potatoes hopefully to be eaten at Christmas- they will need some TLC as it gets colder.

Some leaks and a divided clump of chives have gone in - unfortunately the brassica plants have succumbed to slugs/caterpillars when we were away, so we will have to obtain some more plants and make sure they are better protected in future.

I am determined to sow some autumn hardy vegetables, so will be doing that very soon- I think carrots can be successfully grown and their are others that grow quickly as well- so here's hoping!