well last Thursday morning I decided before getting much further with the soiling and blending in that the one small 'rock' that i was forever avoiding with the mower ought to come out the
ground, as I was not gonna have enough
cover over it ...... 'rock' be ****ed ... !!!!!
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_12_25_21_Pro_zpsdgxb2hb6.jpgwas half a road .....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_12_30_51_Pro_zps0gyzbrcq.jpgwith no chance of getting mechanical handling anywhere near it
.... it had to have it .... with a sledge
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_13_29_16_Pro_zpswdieafk0.jpglot of the smaller stuff went back in there ... had to get filled with summat ... the bigger stuff's retaining a lot of it at the end .... and is nicely buried too. Would like to meet the tw*t that buried that lump of road there ..... if they'd only gotten it flatter ..... anyway
.... it''s coming along, after yet another
bucket load yesterday afternoon ..... after I'd recovered from wielding said sledge ...
'spirit's willing, but yon flesh ain't what it used to be'
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_19_29_52_Pro_zpsau6ghoyv.jpgfind some suitable stone to finish off/cap what's retaining the far end and
''Bob's yer uncle'' .... bit more lawn to mow
.. after it's settled and either been seeded or turfed
obviously the guy with the miller weren't available that day -- hence the tango with the tarmac ..... but he was friday morning ..... if I really wanted a Bridgy, this 'un'd do very nicely .... that said ..... I was high bidder on it ATM, but expected it to go for a lot more, unless I was intended to have it
.... if it dropped in my lap, it'd do for now, 'til I can lay hands on summat better, with a 40mm quill ..... it'd be bought at a level that'd sell on nicely, or not get had
... I had a figure at which I was out and know what they make for a move on, if it landed. ..... still gutted about last year's near miss with the Ajaxs and that Lion a few weeks ago .... summat'll pop up ....
had been inquiring after a very tidy Semco, 'til I realised it didn't tilt/nod and the turret didn't swivel .... guy had taken some very carefully composed pix - dealer who'd probably dropped one, when he acquired it ... very nice, but essentially just a vertical miller, with a
ram head.
...... lawn massacred yet again yesterday evening ..... before it rained Friday
.... jury's still out on that one ?
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_12_43_32_Pro_zpspfn5a8lk.jpgview off the top of a box
'Sposed to have been dry again on the saturday and TBF, didn't had a lot last friday, so yon channel got extended some more after I'd found some stone to edge yon lawn extension with, ready to finish that edge off with a bit more soil. ... got a home for anything left over too, so I can get the channel finished off down to join my drainage system just to the left of the
black shed ...
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190516_12_40_44_Pro_zpswvjx3eus.jpga.n.other unusual view of that,.... off a box top
had a gander an' was still top bid, on the miller, with a way to go ...... hmmm! .... interesting ... someone else ran me up pretty swiftly earlier, but well below where I'd go to on it .... and if it went it went .... if it came it'd make a stop gap for now
Ebay really pisses me off ..... looked at the bidding history ... I was top bid and it was the same as a.n.other bidder, but mine was the earlier auto bid, so I was top bid ..... upped the limit a few quid and bugger me ALTHOUGH I am top bid the bastards increased the top bid, which was mine anyway .. did however mean anyone else was gonna have to top that amount ... plus my upper max. ....... then I was out I thought .... 'bout where I valued it, for summat that doesn't really tick all the boxes for me
Well I was out ...... if anyone fancied a tidy bridgeport, I'd eyeballed it and it's tidy with a reasonable tooling
cab too .... taper just wasn't what I wanted, at R8 .... drilling much more than 20 mm'll load it significantly ... bloody good miller though
this came up early saturday .... no idea 'who's' it was ... never seen one like it before .... looks to be #3 MT taper, from the extra pix the seller sent me .... 'twas a bit of a beast for 3MT .... old, but SOLID
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/s-l1600%206_zpst7uxv0xe.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/scans%202/s-l1600%202%201_zpszqdemd8y.jpgwas In Stafford and a grand to own it ..... hell of a 'ram' on it
looked like a scrappy/recycler's yard ..
Clarkson autolock
collet chuck, but no drive keys so not ISO30 ... only leaves MT .... which was a lot more common decades ago .... which is what this looks to be ....
guessing 50s/early 60s looking at it, 'praps older ....... it was bloody solid and could even be 4MT looking at the pic .... never seen a 4 though, usually 2 or 3
as for yon Bridgeport .... of the opinion I was run up about 500+, quid from where I jumped in at 700 quid ....
whoever was doing the running for him, ended up with it, when I left him to it at £1270 .....
I'd either get a phone call saying the bidder has dropped out or he'd relist it ....
watched and bid on too many ebay auctions not to be able to spot when I'm being played/run up ..
and have to admit to having done it a few times myself for friends .... the art is knowing when to stop
so .... back to the
'gardening' having gotten the soil as far as I could with 4 bucketfuls = 60 barrow loads, I needed some edge retention .... enter one yankee crossing sleeper 10 ft x 12" x 7" ... and bloody heavy .... had to crank up the 'Drema to extricate it from a pile of stuff.
having gotten it onto a sack
truck and down the patch ...... I was knackered so recruited the
wheel barrow for the final 60% of the journey
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190518_16_25_20_Pro_zpshjtcxw1u.jpgwas fine 'til i hit these .......
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190518_16_25_33_Pro_zpspd5pb9fe.jpgand it made a break for freedom .... only just kept up with it !!!!!
anyway .... wrestled it into place, sussed it for size and then bedded it onto a good stiff mortar mix .....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190519_16_29_45_Pro_zpscuwqxx7w.jpgin anticipation of bucket no 5's contents .....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190522_12_58_01_Pro_zpsocwqnc8i.jpgyon drainage channel was progressing quietly ....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190522_17_40_50_Pro_zpswyhs9zxm.jpg.... takes time to dig it on the angle, get it into the 7 footer, drop the VA-r off ... move said 7 footer down to be emptied ....
barrow it all to spot and then start all over again, once i've gotten the VA-r back on !!! 7 th time that day, on and off ...
no 6 sat waiting it's turn on the patch wed.s afternoon ...
Pam's keep fit/circuits night so she disappeared at 4.30 and i spent an hour re-shuffling a few pallets
... again and a couple of buckets ...
that Hill's jaw gripped and picked this up no sweat ..
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190522_16_21_54_Pro_zpszwmifz8h.jpgthen it was time for yet more mowing ....
did the side of the drive Tuesday night - lawn again wed.s night and swept the previous nights mowings from the Dane, off the side of the drive with the Countax's sweeper / collector
finished just as Pam returned in time for a late tea.
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190522_18_58_50_Pro_zpszst6xjnt.jpglawn extension looking OK ... now to suss the last bit of it
for the first time ever, yesterday, I had to drop a
union off on the VA-r to make a connection to the dipper ... (
mental note to self )---- don't leave it parked directly in the midday sun .... no way were the FF QCs gonna budge .... one to remember, ... even though I always drop the
pressure off the lines, before disconnecting it, but it was so warm yesterday the VA-r was very hot to the touch, after sitting in the sun for a couple of hours
Bucketful no six went down yesterday .... don't often see one of these out yer kitchen window
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_14_41_20_Pro_zpsvpovy6cj.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_14_06_17_Pro_zpsgfwnmm1r.jpg
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_14_06_33_Pro_zpshxfwbkxl.jpgless walking, with the barrows, from this point for a.n.other location needing some dirt ..... got the 'lawn extension' topped off with some 'riddled' stuff ....
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_17_41_17_Pro_zpsmtm6iz2s.jpgtook me bloody ages, but worth the effort ... all I have to do now is have stern words with the cats .. stop 'em digging it back up
these guys suddenly appeared from behind the treeline in quick succession ..... only just managed to get me phone out to catch the last one as he sped away ...
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_14_21_08_Pro_zpswadbbs7o.jpgchasing his mates who'd been over a few seconds earlier
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_14_21_16_Pro%20RINGED_zpsjww81q28.jpgnot quite 'nap of the earth', but they weren't far off it and when they passed Pam, up at her cuz's place a few seconds later, up the valley they were heading up, she was above them, looking down on 'em
had two of these Ospreys come over on the same route yesterday, playing 'silly buggers' with the deck - they were bloody low ... too slow with the phone yesterday for a pic
[youtube][url="https://youtu.be/hUNJTAybCQQ"]https://youtu.be/hUNJTAybCQQ[/url][/youtube]
didn't know they folded up like that
have had Chinooks over the house before now, so low you'd think they were gonna land on the lawn ..... seem to use our roof ridge as a reference for NOE flying .. them and the Herc.s
Unusual to see the patch devoid of a big yeller fing
Originalets URL: https://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/v8druid/my%20bucket%202/WP_20190523_15_11_22_Pro_zpsu4dhpiel.jpgwas supposed to be doin' the last twenty feet of me drainage channel today, -- needed to avoid hitting me 70mm
cable ducting and two water pipes already in there part way up the patch ... (can just see the duct coil, bottom right, above) ... or I will be PO-ed .... then I'd better get on to me stone man for an eight wheeler's worth and get it filled back up
that was yesterday's plan
didn't happen that way today though .... been a looong day.
Pam's oldest cuz, who's been real unwell for several weeks, following yet more treatment for cancer, has not had a good day.
Although his brother has been doing his best to care for him, together with a lot of input and visits from pam and I ... plus the attentions of the local district nurses and carers from one of the cancer support charities, decided today that he needed to go into a hospice for more
intensive care .... and to give his brother,
et al some relief from the responsibilities of it all. Sorting that today has been pretty
intense, but we managed it and he now has 24/7 care ... and his bro. who is mid 70s can have some rest, physically at least.
TBH I can't see Ken coming home again sadly.
.... thought it was smoke to start with, but mist hanging in a shallow valley the other side of that ridge 
... well 2 minutes to find 95% of it and the rest looking for the tail that'd snapped off, necessitating a new one 
... the drive end was right ... but the flight was too long over all 
..... whilst the maintenance guy and Simon were still pondering HTF I'd arrived at the 230mm 
apparently
and it's worked well 
