Another very busy weekend at N2F. Things that didn’t make the cut for this week’s write-up are;
- The slow and steady clear out of “hedge-row treasures” through FB marketplace.
- The surface water accumulator has been emptied of sludge.
- The septic tank has been reburied.
- There have been a lot of bonfires.
- FINALLY getting the second toilet working on the, erm, fourth attempt.
Grown-up tree work
After years of neglect, many trees at N2F are now out of control. Yes, I have a chainsaw and I know how to cut down a tree, but there’s a huge amount of work involved. For example;
This lovely-looking Christmas tree, or that’s possibly how it started, was so tall I couldn’t even get the top into the picture. But it had become so large as to be pulling down two barns. It was also in striking distance of the house, if it ever did fall.
Unfortunately, this meant a little trimming to size. And in a single afternoon, some grown-ups who really knew what they were doing managed to take a little off the top.
And turn the trunk of the Christmas tree into the Jenga edition. It’s a shame that only Fir, Llandi, and Sycamore were brought down, as they’re not much use for an indoor wood-burning stove.
The smaller sticks were put through an awesome little tracked chipper. With one massive downside, all the shredded fir makes the whole farm smell like Christmas.
After three full trailer loads of chips, the bottom yard is starting to fill up. But at least the Marston grain trailer got a little work out.
While the trees that needed help are now all taken care of, the whole farm is littered with some rather impressive-sized sticks!
I haven’t had the bill yet, but the guys from Caddis are my go-to when I need tree work done by a grown-up. Having worked with them for more than five years, I can strongly recommend them if you need tree work in Cheshire.
Workshop Door
As the nights grow shorter and temperatures drop, there has been a slight shift in focus to the workshop. While I can never get it fully air-tight and ‘warm’, there are things I can do to step the hurricanes that frequently blow through.
Two weeks ago, I tackled the windows, or those holes that were once windows. This week I tackled the door issue. The workshop has a lovely, great big set of vehicle doors, but that’s it. Slightly excessive to open a hole big enough to drive a (mini)bus through just to let me in.
My solution to this excessive opening quandary is a second-hand UPVC door. At £35 locally, there seemed little point in trying to make a ‘nice’ wooden door.
Out with the big grinder, and a suitable hole was opened up and appropriately reinforced, ready for the door to drop in.
And a few hours later, I have a pedestrian door to the workshop that should eliminate the need always to open the main vehicle door. Although this back entrance may have only been available for two days, it is already my go-to route into the workshop.
Megashed 2.0 Update
Work on Megashed 2.0 is progressing at a steady pace. I need to be moved in within the next five weeks so that work on the house can really start. That means I need to construct a little over one side per week.
While out shopping for the workshop door, I also picked up some windows for the Megashed build.
Having the physical windows means I can get the framing just right for the far wall. Much easier than trying to move studs in a clad wall to fit a free window. That didn’t go so well last time.
All fixed together, and the ‘Ikea’ wall is lined with a breather membrane to keep the weather out. I also had a small helper for this bit, which sped things up, surprisingly.
A few battens were used to create an air gap, and reclaimed sheets were fitted to the outside of the wall. I should have measured the 7-foot sheets rather than assuming they were 8-foot. Oops.
A bit of a tug from the wifey and her massive yellow tool, and the wall came up in a controlled manner. I still have no idea how we got the wood-clad walls of Megashed 1.0 raised, but this was much easier.
And there we have it, the first wall raised. No, this isn’t the final framework, and I haven’t forgotten the noggins or the holes for the windows. These will come in time.
Pig Fencing
And finally, for this week’s update, the pig fencing. We’re on t-minus four weeks for the arrival of the piglets, and their new home is progressing slowly.
A late evening saw the 12′ gate installed on the railway sleeper posts that were dropped in last week. This felt like another farm bingo card moment, ‘hung my first field gate’.
Next up are struts for the strainers. I don’t always miss the nails in old wood, but when I do avoid hitting them, you can put a piece of paper between the saw and the metal and get it stuck! So jammy.
A bit of a learning curve this fencing lark. I can certainly see better ways of getting the struts into the right places, but slowly and carefully, they all went in.
Barbed wire is the most expensive type of wire I have ever purchased. Absolutely mental price, and it’s sharp too. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture of the fence all tensioned up before it went dark this evening. Sorry.
Oh, and I didn’t like the position of the far gate post that we put in last week. Well, we put it in without measuring. Then put it back in, but left too much of a gap. This week, it came out for the third time. I put it far enough from the other post that it could actually close, then post-created the damn thing into the ground!
And that’s your lot for this week. I don’t have any plans for next week yet, but I suspect it might involve more framing and fencing. And digging, and fires and maybe moving all the bloody logs.
Until next time
N2F