29.10.2022 Not all gravel is equal.

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 Saturday 29th 50F/10C. Up at 6.00. I keep hearing a roaring sound in the early morning. It sounds like muffled,  heavy rain on the roof but it isn't raining. Or strong winds. Again, there is no wind. It may be tinnitus but doesn't sound like the sound of blood pulsing in my [deaf] left ear.

 I need to get busy on the house again. It feels as if I have begun to drift. I need to set goals to achieve. At the moment I am hampered by all the boxes and "stuff" on the floor in every space. None of it lends itself to stacking. I ought to have completed the entrance hall floor by now. Lay self levelling compound followed by tiles. I have mislaid my old mains drill. So I can't power mix the compound. At least, that is my excuse. 

 I am very disappointed in how the compost covered parking area has softened up in recent rain. No matter how gentle I am with the car it cuts deep grooves. I am having to reverse the 100m down my own drive. Just to avoid causing more damage. It is a shame because the sewn grass is doing very well. If I add gravel to the surface it will wreck the mower. 

 It needs to be sharp gravel too. There is no sharp gravel available locally. It is all washed prehistoric river gravel. Round and slippery in all sizes. Like ball bearings! With zero bedding power if I fill the potholes in the main drive. The self stabilising gravel is far too soft and uses the same, round gravel mix.

 Fine, asphalt road scrapings have proved the best drive surface so far. It stank in sunshine at first and looked very black. Now it has filled in with grass, gravel [and weeds] it is much more gentle on the eye. I can easily mow over it where it grows greenery in the middle of the drive. Where the car tires can't run. The individual pieces lock together well and bed into a solid surface. Do I want that on this stuff on the parking area? I am really not sure. 

 Alternatives, like blocks or slabs would be costly. Probably require vibrators and experienced labour to do it properly. I have hardly made a dent in the concrete slab outside the house. 

 I started to break it up with my sledge hammer. Then ran out of steam as other projects reared their ugly heads. The pick-axe handle had rotted away too. I found a new handle but swinging a pick is much harder work than I remembered. 

 I spent years excavating the space beside the house in Wales. When we bought the cottage there was a steep bank. Literally leaning on the house up to roof level. 

 Every teaspoon of this rock-hard moraine had to be picked free and removed. Shovelled up and wheel-barrowed away. To build up a useful flat surface where there was none before. I wore out two picks and several shovels and builder's wheelbarrows. The picture shows about a quarter of the area I removed. Later owners built an extension and conservatory on the space I excavated. My wife built the slate waste, slab wall. She was gifted at that sort of thing. A natural, dry stone, wall  builder.

 The slope and depth of the ground is clearly evident from the sloping field just beyond. This field allowed sheep to walk straight onto the roof. I moved huge boulders over twenty yards. Using only levers. To build up the level in a marsh. So that it eventually became dry and level and even grew into a small wood. We planted hundreds of trees on the reclaimed marshland.

 8.00 52F/ 11C.Almost light enough to risk a walk now. It looks overcast. Though it seems to be an illusion caused by small dark clouds. The remaining leaves on the trees are beginning to move to a light SW breeze. I am going to wear the same fleece jacket again but without the jumper.

 A day of persistent vapour trails. Depending on altitude. The cloud had piled up in the east. Causing it to be darker than usual. It was well after nine  before there was the first glimpse of the sun trying to break through the layers of cloud. I walked down to the village. Then turned right onto the track to the forest. 

 Turned right again. To follow the forest edge up to the summit. Then finally descended by the direct route. Just as I did yesterday. I managed to walk off my aching back. The fleece jacet over a t-shirt was very comfortable in today's conditions. Mild and no wind.

 Plans for today? I have a grocery shopping list but really ought to get on with something useful at home. I am looking for inspiration. Always tending to do things which appeal in the moment.

 11.00 I have repainted most of the woodwork in the entrance hall. The door frames were given a second coat. Half of the boarded ceiling too. I can easily reach the ceiling with the paint brush but dislike tilting my head back for very long. The inside of the bathroom door needs a first coat. It was easier to work flat on a trolley last time.

  12.20 56F/13C Sunshine! The bathroom door is painted inside and two architrave pillars fixed either side. There is no clearance for a top rail to match the 90mm wide uprights. I'll add a timber profile across the top  to hide the absence. It should vanish when it is all painted white to match the rest.

 14.30 57F/14C Returned from the shops. Caught up on the groceries while the paint dried. Rehung the bathroom door.

 17.30 55F/13C  It had been getting darker. Now it is raining.

 20.15 Dinner was a salmon pasty, tinned tomatoes, pasta and lots of mushrooms. I split the mushroom pack in two but even a half is still too much for one sitting. If I split it in three they might go off and be wasted. There would also be too many repetitions of mushrooms. 

 Having pasta allows me to use all of the tinned tomatoes. I used to have to sieve it with a slotted spoon. Then throw away all the juice. Now I can keep it all without the plate swimming. I freeze the pasta so it can be easily broken by hand into small pieces. I have also discovered that I can chuck the frozen peas in with the pasta. That saves needing an extra saucepan and ring on the hob.

 

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