Man Cave Mk2

[Wingco]

Wow, loads to catch on Mike.
Love the plumbing very neat and tidy. Cracking deal on the windows mate well done you.
Great photos as well Mike, that R3 is going to take some beating proper bit of kit, along with that macro lens, looking forward to seeing the results.
Do you think the roofer will finish what's left ?
I really do hope you can get in asap, you so deserve it.

Keep at it Mike.

[b33fy]

Thanks both, the slater returned yesterday which is good. Probably a good two months work here to complete the whole roof. We’ve been punching holes, cutting bullets and sorting the slate into heavy’s, mediums and lights the last few days. James and I can do about 1000 a day along with cutting a few bullets to change the monotony. We’ve around 10,000 slate on site to get through. The plan is to some every few days to keep the slater busy and keep going with the inside fit out as it becomes watertight.

The new windows are due week commencing 6th May so that’s the next main job on the horizon along with fitting out some electrics. I’m still awaiting EDF to come back to me with a date to sort out the meters etc. Scottish Gas have attended the site and completed their survey. They can run the gas to the outside of the boot room which is spot on for us. They are going to connect to a mains across a busy road which involves four way traffic lights and a weeks work, so we’ll be keeping a low profile that week to avoid the inevitable abuse from the impatient ar$3holes who don’t realise how good they got it up here. Paid the connection fee today so all good.

New camera turned up today along with a macro lens. Managed to make enough sense of it eventually to snap some blossom in the cemetery. Gonna be a steep learning curve, seriously complex with the longest menu system on a Canon Camera.

[Wingco]

Things have seemed to have turn up a notch Mike, roofing , Gas man and EDF. No surprise really about waiting for EDF !
The slates do look nice all stacked up there.
Love the images with the new camera mate.
Keep at it.

[DJ.]

Nice camera, good to hear the slater is back and progressing. Still lots of work to do though.

[b33fy]

Thanks Duncan, Colin. Hopefully have some opportunities to get out and about with the camera in the next fortnight or so. The other half is heading up with the rest of my gear so should be able to grab some sports action of some sort.

This week has been much the same with sorting and cutting slate. We’ve also boarded over the zinc roof to protect it. The inside is almost watertight with one leak left at the end of today’s play, following a bit of a thunderstorm. The weathers been good so we’ve put the wiring on hold for now to concentrate on the slate sorting and cutting.

The roof is looking great, can’t be more pleased with it tbh. So many people have commented positively on it as it’s in a prominent and busy part of town. Even other trades people have complimented Stewart on it when usually they knock each others work.

A couple of images with work done this week.

In other news, been organising a new gas connection. SGN turned up to take a look, scratch their chins and umm and arrhh for an hour or so. The end result is 2 weeks work, four way traffic lights and a gas pipe on the side of the lodge exactly where I want it. Fixed price as we are within twenty meters of the gas main which is on the other side of the road by a roundabout.. £900 all in. Result.

Picked up some clubs from the charity shop just to have a bit of a laugh at the driving range. There are better clubs abandoned at the range but the £15 went to a good cause. James has taken to it well and it’s nice to get out and do something different.

Collecting a bit of tat, if it catches my eye, to make the place a home, found some thistle drawings ripped from a book in a bric a brac shop and had them framed. A bit chinzty but they’ll look ok once up on the wall.

The lodge windows are turning up next Tuesday so that’ll be our next focus to get a few in place.

[b33fy]

More of the same, working with the slater cutting and sorting. Progress is good, now watertight in the extension.

Other half is with us for a fortnight so did a return visit to Beamish with the new camera. A bit overkill for a few sightseeing snaps but had a bit of fun snapping the trams and buses.

Some zinc ridge fitted today. Stewart doesn’t solder so I did the end caps rather than fit pieces of lead. A bit tricky as the melting points of solder and zinc aren’t too far apart. Practised on some old bits first which is probably harder than using new metal. All done ready for fitting Monday.

[b33fy]

More slating this week, punching holes and cutting bullets. A few woodwork repairs also done on a gable end in readiness for slates. The chimney specialists started this week and the biggest stack is starting to look a lot better. A quick trip to Edinburgh for a chimney liner on Thursday. Deals were done so also ended up buying a wood burner.

Slate sorting and bullet cutting mixed in with a bit of F1 over the weekend.

[b33fy]

A late update with more of the same tbh. Sorting and cutting slate. Got three pallets left to do but run out of ‘bins’ for the sorted slate so Stewart needs to bang a few more on the roof to make some space.

Chimneys all done, they look smarter now. Picked up the wood burner, though it’s gonna take a while before it’s installed. Started on the wiring and still got the windows to fix.

The Jim Clark Rally happened last weekend. Didn’t bother following it as such though they were routed past the lodge so snapped a few with my camera phone then butchered the images on my computer.

[Wingco]

The roof is coming along nicely Mike looks great.
Love the wood burner that's a nice size and should keep you toasty.
Do you have a finish date in mind ?

[DJ.]

Rally past your front door? Perfect