31.10.2022 A better bit of gardening.

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 Monday 31st 54F. Up at 5.30. It will take time for my body clock to adjust to the clocks going back.

 06.30 Slightly misty. I can just see the silhouettes of the trees out of my windows as the sky lightens in the NE. 66F/19C upstairs this morning. The unusually mild weather meant another evening without the wood stove needing to be lit. 

 I am seriously thinking about fitting a second banister rail to the very steep [55º] stairs. There was never a handrail fitted on the wall side. It would need handrail support brackets and well anchored screws. 

 Very bad timing. Considering I have just filled and painted the plywood cladding on that wall. The wall is solid and rendered on the kitchen side. So presumably a rougher version of the underlying brickwork [?] lies just behind the plywood. Which flexes in and out. Making the task of screwing anything to the wall even more difficult. Do I really want to remove the plywood and expose yet another hideous wall?

 8.40 54F/12C. I have returned from another brisk walk to the lanes under a grey sky. Too warm in a jumper and fleece jacket. Two, large, brown, birds of prey were roosting in a small tree. I have seen lots of birds of prey recently. 

 I passed a field on my ride yesterday. Where there must have been well over 1000 geese. All sitting on a low, grass-like crop. They were ringed on all four sides by gulls. An odd contrast between very dark grey geese and the almost white gulls. 

 Plans for today? A matter of priorities. Should I lay the self-levelling compound in the entrance hall? I was going to make a bridge from low, wooden blocks and a plank of thick plywood. So I can reach the toilet while the compound is drying. About an hour? I can make the jump from lounge to bathroom easily enough. In fact I have done so repeatedly. I don't want to drop any debris from my shoes onto the still wet compound.

 I still couldn't find my ancient [mains] hammer drill. So I went out and bought a new rechargeable one on special offer. I have been struggling to drill bricks and concrete using a normal, rotary drill. Without the hammer action even the smallest masonry drill struggles to penetrate.

 11.00 The entrance hall floor is now primed with Lip54. I vacuumed the floor well beforehand. The primer takes an hour to dry and I recommend rubber gloves. The little I got on my hands is persisting. Despite repeated washing. 

 I still have to decide how deep a layer of self-levelling compound I need. I do not want to raise the floor too much. Just level it enough to lay the tiles evenly. So, just enough compound to fill the hollows. Which requires it be feathered off on higher areas.

 14.00 57F/14C. Heavily overcast. I mixed enough powder for 1L of water. It made enough compound but would have been better if it had been "wetter." So that it ran out to a thinner edge. Never mind. The tiles will have a level base for the fixing mortar now. That is all that matters. 

 The afternoon was mostly spent outside. I trimmed back the overhanging branches of the larch trees on the approach drive. Then used the hedge clippers to level this year's growth in the flower bed at the drive end of the house. All the trimmings were raked up and dumped in the trailer. Ready for a trip to the recycling yard. Then I mowed the parking space.

 Dunner was mackerel on toast followed by tomato soup and a roll. Dreadful picture quality I am afraid!

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