ok ..... here we go
14-3-2020we're not that far from shops in a few directions - 20-30 min.s, but see no point in trekking every few days /week ... when we're there
(well me actually - I do our shops usually-Pam hates it) I 'hit it' ... and really fill up ... but as said every two/three weeks ... leave it as long as poss.
Milk tends to be the one thing that 'drives' me out for supplies .. 3 gallons'll usually stretch two and a half+ weeks and can 'top up' from the little garage shop in the village - at twice the price!!
two freezers (and a third that I could / might
switch on today) will store a LOT to keep us provisioned for a good month plus ... Might sneak into town 'bout half eight
tonight, when the rest of the world's in the pub / watching the box and 'top up' ... late night opening is great ... real quiet usually, but run the risk of shelves being depleted ....... we're ok really for a couple of weeks, but by that time the tish may well have deepened considerably, so better to try a top up now
... in this JIT world, when the supply chain starts to break down, then the crap'll hit the fan
17-3-2020
Well after consulting friends in Aber Saturday evening .... it didn't happen
... the locusts had stripped everywhere bare - completely !!
so left it 'til last night (16th)....
my usual hour-ish shopping foray took me 3.5 hrs, involved three supermarkets instead of the usual one and failed to get anything in the way of raw fish or chicken - we don't eat a lot of
red meat these days - occasional beef, but very occasional, so looks like we might be going veggie for a while !! ... once what we already have, runs out !!
might try again in a week or so, but we ain't gonna starve for several weeks
Got back at ten last night and Pam very apologetic for leaving it to me ... I'd told her to stay home ... much quicker without her bemoaning my 'methodolgy' of grabbing all the heavy shite first, at the bottom of the trolley, then whizzing round for all the light stuff .... was a case of grab what was there last night ... and re-plan menus/meals on the hoof, to suit available 'stores'/provisions!
did OK though and was surprised to find some items aplenty, oddly??
was more stock in piles on pallets in the aisles than on the shelves in Morrisons last night ..... and they shut at 10 pm ... staff're earning their corn ATM for sure
BIL's missus is blind and shops on line with Tesco .. every week ..... can't get a delivery for over three weeks
lots of local eateries/foody places offering meals delivered at very reasonable prices ... ... pub down the bottom of our lane doing his menu, just about everything on there, six quid delivered, within the locality ... might take him up on the odd meal .. his grub's always been good
big question is ......... WTF are they shopping ??????
would imagine the guy down the road's has regular suppliers .... privateer, but runs B&B and a bunk-house ... he's always full, so would have standing orders with suppliers, I'd guess ..... full to empty overnight'd be some C change ... always crammed with walkers 365
Talking to a relative of a lad who used to work for me last night in the supermarket .. he and his wife run a guest house ... have had a grands-worth of bookings cancelled next few weeks .... and all of May's full house gone too .. they 'let' six double rooms and it's their income !!
20-3-2020
" Corona virus? .... WTF is that? ... Just lob another block on dad " 
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200315_01_02_05_Pro_zpslav7qcfp.jpgI'm a firm believer in re-incarnation .... and if you lead a good life in this one, as a reward, you come back as a pampered house cat life don't get much better .. full bellies and a Morso to warm yer toes by
we've actually had a dry day today .. all day and no wind to speak of, just a nippy breeze ... gave me a chance to sort this out ...... wind blew it to bits one night .
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200320_13_28_23_Pro_zpsu2pgpuml.jpgthink we may need a new one .... it might go back together, but not without a lot of ferkin' about ... can I really be arsed
see what a 14 footer is tomorrow?
catches the wind real bad where it is though
problem with a steel one is the 14ft span .. have already had it mooted by SWMBO ... would have to give it some careful thought to prevent sag
new wooden one's about a hundred quid .. job done .... we'll see
21-3-2020Drema had an airing today ...... first time in a while ... started first flick ...... Auto throttle playing up though ... no Standby or Low
setting .. had to run her in Med. (2000+rpm) ...... can't for the life of me see HTF the
actuator functions
...
hyd cylinder pulling a
cable, but damned if I can work out how it discerns how much to pull it, determined by whichever switch I press ???? and we're only talking maybe 20mm of throw/travel in total ???? ... it may have to come to bits and see what's up ??
gonna end up with a manual cable otherwise, but the auto shutdown is very nice
cleaned out the last corner of the wood shed this morning ... it usually lasts us a winter, but Vicki's had a fair bit out of there this winter ... and Josh usually leaves with a fair pile in his boot too, so hasn't seen us through like it usually does, so .......
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200321_12_57_25_Pro_zpsctwrfvkz.jpghad to extricate a boxful this morning .... after I'd moved me
roller and pallet of stone out the way
dropped the forks off after and hung the bag
lifter on the QH to sling said box under and carried it down to the wood shed
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200321_13_28_52_Pro_zps4tgrfkns.jpgseem to have gotten out the habit of taking pix ... all I took this morning ..... took longer to 'unpack' yon box, than it did to get it out and down there
anyway .... plenty of burnables down there now ... 'til Vicki wants some more
Hopefully not going to need it for much longer, but we ain't out the woods yet, on the weather front and did not want to get caught out by the white stuff .. be sod's law .. MT wood shed and a foot or more of white shite
23-3-2020Been a beautiful day here .... chilly breeze, but
blue sky and sunshine all day ... boss wanted an extension lead this morning ... clean a
car .. this is how it comes back
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200322_13_46_04_Pro_zpsnwxayk7o.jpgdone a few odds and sods jobs and then spent a great deal of time hunting for a throttle cable .. for the 'Drema .. tick over, or virtually full bollox yesterday, is not how I like to run her (try operating a duck at tick over Knew I had a couple here ...some where ??
failed to find the one I was looking for .. but did find a 'second best'
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200322_19_17_45_Pro_zpsmmbsi7fq.jpgNeeded some TLC .... and the cable re-attaching internally, as it'd eaten the original, but was a pleasant surprise to find it a simple job, once I'd dismantled it
very nicely made .... would recommend these ....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200322_19_02_55_Pro_zpstfmuqnev.jpgGod knows how old this is ... but I've probably had it 20 years ...
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200322_19_10_37_Pro_zpsktspjb8h.jpgtotally strip-able, multi positional stops and multi positional
lever ... VERY clever design
'Sposed to be nice again tomorrow, so once I've had me hamster juice and 'the streets have aired' will have a look at installing said item.
Always had at the back of my mind having to 'go manual' on the 'Drema's throttle ... leccytronics're fine while they'm functional .... and I do like the auto idle on her ... but no box of lectrickery lasts for ever and it'd seem to be 'time' on hers
I'll see if it's 'fixable' ..... but need to suss just HTF it converts four different electrical 'button settings' to a multi-positional
ram stroke, to pull the throttle cable, just a smidge, each time a different button is pressed ... it's less than 20mm travel, all told, from tick over to full chat, with only two wires feeding it a signal ??????? ... ATM I really can not see how the hell it does it?
anyone have any ideas ... I'll try and put some pix up of said techy cylinder ............... but i need some decent
control of Mr Deutz's FL4 'til I can get a suss on it
As for the other cable, I was originally searching for **** knows where i've got that stashed away ..... it'll turn up sometime, but damned if I can recall where it is and certainly didn't trip over it today
PS
just found Bristow Controls on't 'net ...
https://www.directindustry.com/prod/cablecraft-motion-control-13999.html#product-item_1193409looks just like JakieB's hand throttle ...... wasn't the one I was looking for .. but'll do for now .... had been considering summat along those lines for a while, but as said ... would be/need some sort of techy linkages
the 'Drema's tricky tech however has now determined an alternate is required
24-3-2020never any mistaking a Monday in Druidville ....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200323_11_48_37_Pro_zpssbvn71nq.jpgjust hope next Monday's the same ...... need a delivery between now and then ... they seem to have forgotten me this month
spent the rest of the day working out how to route that cable ........ and then how to terminate said cable in the engine bay to marry up to the FL4's pump control
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200323_18_47_07_Pro_zps5xhrrjjw.jpgmore on that one tomorrow ............ could've done with another 6" of length on't cable really .... see if this works first, then maybe see if I can get a longer Bowden inner/outer from somewhere
24-3-2020all gates locked and post box moved to far end of the drive
My treatment pharmacy delivery people tell me there shouldn't be any issues - ATM - but it's made in the USA
As for the fettling .... been trying me hand today
throttle lever persuaded into spot .. out the way ..
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_14_33_36_Pro_zpsw9c5qpy0.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_14_33_43_Pro_zpsj5rla9qf.jpgtook some juggling into spot
Ajax got a bit of an airing
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_13_23_26_Pro_zpstblnndfz.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_13_23_31_Pro_zpsdcwybdcb.jpgcreating a capture / mount for the Bowden's outer .....
....... and inner
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_14_37_45_Pro_zpshiryw8vr.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_15_06_06_Pro_zpsxqo2w1yx.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_15_06_48_Pro_zpsketd80ma.jpgthen it was time to create an end ...
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_16_04_54_Pro_zpst3zguklo.jpgbit of pisser, having to drag the Caddy out for a couple of quick flashes ...... but had to be done .... would've liked some grub screws, instead of the SHCS,s but didn't have/couldn't find any so these got lopped down and lightly drilled the end of the
thread to
grip the cable, like a grubby would
getting the lengths right was a tad tedious, but got there and it got installed
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_16_15_55_Pro_zpsichipr9g.jpgbelieve it or not that is full travel .. plus about 6mm ... not a lot of movement at all ... can see how little the auto throttle's ram needs to move to give four differing settings AND tickover ...... must be one techy lil' actuator/ sensed ram !!
left its cable attached to it and secured the flying end in the engine bay, so's it can't get up to 'no good' .... will extricate it from its hiding place when I'm feeling enthused [a] .. about looking at it and .. ..when I'm feeling enthused enough to get at the little sod ... it's not exactly easily gotten at .... engine bay belly plate off job, looks to be the easiest access
found this, this morning ....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200324_15_00_47_Pro_zpsp4avwjia.jpgon the floor 'bout 10 ft from the 'Drema's
door .... sure as **** wasn't there last night when I packed up ... and have no 'kin idea WTF it has come from ? .. can only conclude we had unwanted visitors last night, but couldn't see anything out of place ??... apart from the appearance of the above ???
it's certainly nothing to do with me ... don't recognise it at all ... and I could not have missed it ... first thing I noticed this morning !!
May have to sleep with one eye open tonight .......... an' a couple of barrels hanging out the bedroom
window ... ALL my gates are locked and I've not sent out any invitations for nocturnal visitors .... so's they'm fair game as far as I'm concerned .... BANG!!
25-3-2020self isolating ........ on the mower
first cut of the season ..... had a job to get it out the bag .. was so well packed in
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/1_zpsezsgufgs.png
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/2_zpsyb8mxs9x.png
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Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200325_15_54_10_Pro_zpss96hle57.jpgbeen a glorious day ... so lucky to be able to enjoy it ......... aside from the mowing of course ... after all the rain it's such a great change
Oh and Sparty made an appearance for half of it, after the mower'd woken him up .... slowed proceedings a tad, with him on me lap .
it sure as hell grew late last year, for sure ...
ground was almost too wet to mow when I did the last cut of '19 .... certainly pretty bloody wet all around us here .. lawn not so bad, but beside the drive's gonna need another week of this sun and some wind, 'fore it can get the Dane let loose on it .
Was in the field above the lawn Monday sorting out a lamb that'd managed to get the wrong side of the fence from mum .. and the ground was like a bog
we are very lucky living here .. and know it. Perfect self isolation spot
spent seven years looking for our forever / last home ... looked at some great places with either shit access/pig farm next door/no views/etc./etc. .... this ticked all the boxes, bar the outbuildings ... it didn't have any .... but we compromised .... and creating somewhere to put one has kept me occupied for a while.
That and all the other things that needed doing here
our barn, pre-conversion
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200228_14_25_44_Pro.jpg%20crop_zps8prsufin.jpgand last year
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/DJI_0126.JPG%20crop_zpsfvmu2wrm.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/DJI_0121_zpsudfs4ree.jpg26-3-2020so ....... remember this .....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200320_13_28_23_Pro_zpsu2pgpuml.jpgtook it apart/removed it the other day and spent an hour or so this morning re-assembling it 'fore the boss an' 'her assistant' gave it a couple of coats to freshen it up
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200326_13_35_41_Pro_zpsrg4idojz.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/WP_20200326_13_46_30_Pro_zpsuwxmqd2n.jpg
....... 
