tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42990162379407679872023-11-16T10:40:39.905+00:00It's A Stock ItemIan Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-43100429779083094742017-10-22T12:22:00.001+01:002017-10-22T12:22:36.208+01:00I'm back, with a little project and a postscriptThe last 18 months haven't been totally devoid of projects, but we have been away quite a lot and ......well, fellow bloggers will know that from time to time you just need to take a break.<br />
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A while ago I fitted some beech worktops for my elder daughter (http://itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/throw-it-away.html)<br />
and, of course, kept the offcuts. With the birthday of grandchild number 3 coming up, I thought she might like a version of the well-known remove-a-block game:<br />
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particularly if it came in a customised box.<br />
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So the blocks were cut and sanded, and the box emerged from some bits of plywood that were lying around in the workshop, with the grooves for the lid cut by passes over the table saw.<br />
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I used the pantograph I made a few years ago from Matthias Wandel's plans (http://woodgears.ca/pantograph/index.html) to carve Lizie's name in the lid and the job was done. A little heavy to post, so she may only get a card on her actual 4th birthday, with the present arriving when we visit a little later.</div>
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And a postscript for a little task which took a while to work out, but is quick to describe: we are recycling a child's cot around the family, and discovered that one of the swing catches which allow one side to rise and fall had been broken. The makers told us that they no longer had stock of this ABS plastic piece, so I set to making one, using a piece cut from an ice-cream box lid with a couple of pieces of machined wood attached (araldite, with a reinforcing screw for the stressed part), together with a thin metal stopper which (not having much metal in stock) I cut from the casing of an old aluminium door handle. Both items were spray-painted - you'll be able to tell that the homemade one is on the left.<br />
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And it works.</div>
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-77214512573044502642016-03-26T13:25:00.002+00:002016-03-26T13:25:53.949+00:00Installing a window, and fixing a looMy elder daughter's plan for part of their stable block (as they don't keep, and don't intend to keep, horses) is to turn a couple of the rooms into a pottery workshop for her husband. Our latest trip to South Wales involved a diversion to Telford to pick up a window frame purchased on Ebay for the princely sum of £5 which was to be installed in one of the stable's end walls to admit some natural light. When the roof (the patching of which was covered in my last post) is eventually re-covered with profile sheeting there will be GRP sections to let light in from above.<br />
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Again I took a Land Rover full of tools, in particular saws of all varieties, electric and hand - but the most used star of this show was my Bosch multitool with its small, oscillating blade. This offers such accurate and reliable cutting that most of the window work and the cutting out of a door opening from one stall to the next were achieved without even changing the blade.<br />
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The stable walls are built with timber studs, board lining and tongue and grooved cladding. First I removed the board lining and cut out the cladding to the required size.<br />
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Then parts of 2 studs were cut out and a new stud inserted to the left of the window as we look. The frame went in sweetly and was secured to the side studs, with bits of repair needed to the cladding.<br />
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I know what you're thinking - the cladding (and, in fact, the studs and the lining) at the bottom of the wall are rubbish. You're right. This is why phase three of the work will be to remove the rotten sections and build a sleeper wall of concrete blocks to protect the woodwork in future. I will probably renew all the cladding on this elevation as it faces the prevailing wind and has taken years of punishment.<br />
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The glass for the frame cost six times as much as the frame itself but we still thought the project a bargain. Son-in-law is pleased with the amount of natural light now available inside.<br />
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This job took most of the time available during this visit. However, plans to rebuild a downstairs bathroom and utility space in the house were radically transformed by the discover that a malfunctioning toilet doesn't, in the event, need to be moved at the cost of massive disruption. Investigation of the cistern revealed that the water valve had been installed 'out of the box' without adjustment, with the result that only 3 litres of water were available for every (not surprisingly inadequate) flush. Ten minutes to remove and adjust the valve and bingo! a 6 litres flush doing the job well. No need to dig up the floor. Hurrah!Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-54765890191535487242016-02-15T16:48:00.000+00:002016-02-15T16:50:16.396+00:00A little roofing adventureWe're just back from a few days spent at our older daughter's in the Welsh valleys. Most of our visits there have the focus of a particular DIY task - this time it was the repair of the roof of their stable block. No, they don't have horses, but the former owners did, and left a stable block in a pretty tatty condition which is soon to be home to a range of pottery activities. However, part of the felted roof has been leaking so badly that the underlying plywood panel has rotted and fallen away. Ultimately, the objective is to put on a roof of profile steel sheets, but we agreed that a useful interim measure would be the replacement of the rotted timber and some partial re-felting.<br />
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This was a job for the Land Rover, as the scaffolding tower was needed for access, so the trailer had to be towed. The Landie is getting used to carrying lots of my tools, but this time space had to be reserved for younger son's dog, who is staying with us at present. Stock items included nails, screws, battens and two rolls of heavy roofing felt, left over from the days before we gave up on felt on our own stable and took the profile steel route.<br />
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Here's the stable block. The main problems centred around the valley between the two roof elevantions, where a small scaffolding tower went up. Some other patches of missing felt were replaced from the ladder.<br />
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The best part of four panels (each 8 feet by 4 feet - still manufactured imperial in all dimensions except thickness - 18mm!) had to be knocked out to get rid of the rot. The most difficult part was working on my knees on the ladder and not falling through the roof. That would definitely have slowed things down.<br />
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We bought the plywood from a local builders' merchant on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday morning I set up the electric circular saw and did most of the cutting up on the roof, having had help to drag the full sheets up from the ground. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle but generally went well and I soon had the first layers of new felt in place.<br />
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This was another job that was hard on the back and the knees, but at least the risk of falling through the roof had receded. I was lucky with the weather, too, as the first rain came as the last battens were going on.<br />
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So, will it stand up to the rest of this winter? We hope so, and intend to have the steel roof on before next winter's storms.<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-41392168869819605602015-12-22T21:16:00.000+00:002015-12-23T15:13:14.469+00:00Remembering my father-in-law, Graham<span style="font-size: large;">So, this post stretches to the limit the idea of 'it's a stock item', because most of it comprises the words of the tribute I was honoured to deliver at Graham's funeral last week, but I'm going to claim that words are a stock item as I've worked with words since completing an English degree many moons ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Readers of this blog (and you know who you are, you lovely few) may remember that projects to help my FIL cope with his motor neurone disease have regularly featured. My favourite three are the two about the construction of a ramp at their Belstone bungalow:</span><br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ramping-it-up.html">http://www.itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/ramping-it-up.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-ramp-part-2.html">http://itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-ramp-part-2.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">and the one that documented the four progressive stages of enabling him to keep using his Kindle when the buttons became too tricky for him to manage:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/a-bespoke-bedside-table-and-kindle.html">http://itsastockitem.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/a-bespoke-bedside-table-and-kindle.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In writing his tribute, I used the technique that had (sadly) served me well just over two years ago when Graham's wife, Joan, died very suddenly of a heart attack, and I sat with their daughters Elizabeth and Helene and took notes as they chatted about their memories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the story of an 'ordinary' life - of course, I think it was extraordinary in many ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Graham Ward 1934-2015</b></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">It’s just over
two years since many of us met here in the immediate aftermath of the sudden
death of Graham’s wife, Joan. They had been married for 54 years. Perhaps I can
begin this morning by taking stock of what was said that day. I quoted Joan’s philosophy,
which she maintained even in difficult times: ‘When you wake in the morning,
think, “What can I do today that will make this a good day?” and then do it.’</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">That day, Graham
was already using a wheelchair, more than four years into the cruel decline
caused by his motor neurone disease.
It’s perhaps the most remarkable thing that I can say about him that no
one, over the past two years, has managed to honour Joan’s words more
successfully than he has. While we so much wish to celebrate this morning the
vivacity of the man before he was stricken with MND, we should start by
saluting the ways in which he managed, despite the progressive loss of physical
function and, ultimately, his voice, to find ways to bear his condition and,
often, indeed, rise above it to enjoy a trip out with family and friends or a
tasty snack at Exeter Quay or the Garden Centre. He even made new friends in
this period, whose only pictures of Graham will be of a chap in a wheelchair,
smiling for as long as he was able, zipping around in the wheelchair-adapted
Peugeot the family incomprehensibly christened the Bubble Car.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Graham was born
in Rochdale in 1934 and always remained a proud Lancashire Lad. He was the youngest of three children. Muriel, the older sister, died some years ago
but Margaret, who still lives in Rochdale, is here with us. She has always had
a special ability, as required, to cheer Graham up and make him laugh, even in
recent times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Graham left technical
school at 15 to take up a graphic design apprenticeship. Like many of his
generation, being denied a longer period of education made him determined to
provide it for his children, all of whom went to university. It also spurred him on to read extensively
and deeply in history and English literature, and all Anthony Trollope’s novels
were on the Kindle that he used until its buttons were no longer manageable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">In 1952 he was
called up for National Service, and for him, as for so many, this was a
life-changing and life-enhancing experience.
The boy from Rochdale found himself successively in Egypt and Cyprus,
meeting the challenges of making new friends or at least rubbing along with all
sorts of people, and coping with a system where his superiors demanded
unquestioning obedience. He wasn’t the sort to find that easy – hence, in later
life, the number of letters he wrote to newspapers and other bodies. His army
experiences were important in two other ways in particular: he entered service
as a fairly skinny teenage boy and emerged as a fit, muscular man who was devoted
to various sporting activities for the rest of his life. Also, he had a cheap camera with which he
documented his experiences whenever he could afford film, and he came out of
the army knowing that he had an eye for a good picture and determined to make a
living as a photographer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Back in
Rochdale, he found work with a firm of studio photographers, and fell in love
with Joan, whose husband Brian had died in an RAF accident, leaving her with
two children, Elizabeth and Paul, aged 3 and 1. Their marriage two years later
was understandably difficult for members of Brian’s family. But, as time passed, and the love that Joan and
Graham had for each other and that Graham had for the children became evident,
then acceptance did occur. This acceptance quickly deepened into mutual
affection and love.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After Joan’s death,
Graham told my wife Elizabeth that he would not have married Joan had he not
known that he could love her two children properly – which he absolutely
did. As there are now step-parents and step-children
in the next two generations of the family, we feel we have learned a lot from
Graham’s example. Helene, the daughter born to Joan and Graham a year later,
completed their family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">A nice aside: at the wedding
Paul, too young to remember his natural father, turned to Joan’s life-long
friend Pat, who was minding him and Elizabeth, and said: ‘I’m very happy. I’m
getting a daddy today.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Four years after Helene’s birth,
Joan and Graham took the opportunity of a £10 Pom passage (the assisted
immigration scheme) to take their family to live in New Zealand, choosing
Christchurch on the South Island as they didn’t want to join the larger ex-pat
community on the North Island. Graham had secured a job in a photographic studio
and Joan trained as a teacher. New Zealand fitted Graham like a glove. The
adventurous, practical outlook of New Zealanders meant that his sporting enthusiasms
and love of expeditions and camping fitted in well, albeit on a shoestring as
money was tight. His children still remember long walks in the bush and
Graham’s sometimes unjustified confidence in his navigational skills. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">In his active life-style Graham
did not always have the unquestioning support of his family. Joan loved the
open countryside but preferred to shelter from the sun, and Liz remembers some
of her teenage rebellion being focussed on stopping going with Graham to
early-morning weekend swimming sessions.
Her dad didn’t hold this against her, no more than he expressed any
disappointment in Paul not sharing his enthusiasm for soccer – after his own
amateur career Graham coached a spectacularly unsuccessful Topsham team for a
few years. This was the team which progressed from many double-digit defeats to
a single glorious draw, but never won. Graham believed in a very direct style
of play – years later I totally failed to convince him of the value of an
occasional back pass when sitting with him as he shouted at the television
during European matches.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">As the young Paul didn’t take to
football, Graham unselfishly adopted his son’s enthusiasm to the extent of
successfully building with Paul a plywood dinghy from a kit. This was the son
who would subsequently sail his boat (a bigger one, of course) in a gale across
the Bay of Biscay to Spain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">A practical, outdoor life was
what Graham wanted and speedos or shorts were his attire of choice – he even tried
shorts years later at County Hall in Exeter – but his boss didn’t approve. The
only thing that didn’t work out for Graham was a brief foray into glamour
photography. When Helene helped him a couple of years ago to put together an
illustrated talk about his life as a photographer, he revealed that the only
such studio session he attempted made him so nervous and uncomfortable that he
almost had a breakdown.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Six years later, Graham’s father
became very ill back in England, and money wouldn’t stretch to allow for a
there-and-back visit. After a family conference, and with Elizabeth interested
in attending university in the UK, it was decided that they should leave New
Zealand and head back. After a short stay back in Rochdale and following
Graham’s father’s death, they decided to move to Devon (as close to a New
Zealand lifestyle as you can get in the UK?)
After a short spell living in a caravan (a bit cramped for 5 – Paul
slept in the bath) they rented for a while in Exton before moving to Tops-ham
(not, Graham would repeatedly correct me, Top-sham). For a while Graham worked
as an insurance salesman – a job he hated and at which he was hopeless – the
only saving grace of this whole episode being his meeting with Colin Hickmott
which led to a lifelong friendship with him and Thelma – indeed it was on
Thelma’s recommendation that Graham eventually moved to Langford Park Nursing
Home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After several years with a
photography business in Exeter, Graham became the official county photographer
for Devon, a job which suited him down to the ground. He engaged cheerfully and easily with a wide
range of people (was there ever a more natural extrovert?) and drew on his wide
experience as a technical and landscape photographer when the assignments demanded. He took truly beautiful photographs of the
then new M5 viaduct over the Exe estuary, catalogued a succession of Lord
Mayors in their regalia, and had no trouble with Miss Devon as she kept all her
clothes on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Outside work, he became a key
member of the Topsham community, and is especially associated in many people’s
memories with the planning, funding and building of Topsham Outdoor Pool. He loved Topsham and made some lifelong
friends there. He joined in gamely with
everything, particularly if showmanship was involved, as in refereeing the Mud
Football game.</span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">We have been very moved to see
the number and nature of Facebook responses to the Pool’s announcement of
Graham’s death. This is the very positive side of social media. With his
daughter’s help, Graham wrote his account of the building of the pool 18 months
ago for publication in the Estuary magazine. I particularly liked his memory of
local junior school children, invited to the official opening of the pool,
being singularly unimpressed by Graham’s efforts to fill it in front of them
with a garden hose from an ordinary tap.
He knew when he was beaten, and called in the Fire Brigade.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">At the Pool he was one of the
original Nutters, the early morning swimmers. We think the name suited. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Graham was generally good at
making things, and he and Joan had always found that they could be particularly
happy when sharing a project, usually the purchase and upgrading of a
house. In his mid-fifties Graham took
early retirement from Devon County Council and he and Joan embarked on a grand
round-the- world tour – they travelled east, returning along the way to New
Zealand and spending time with Brian’s family in Tasmania as well as visiting
Muriel in New England. Liz’s children remember the excitement of plotting where
their grandparents were as they crossed the map of the world and postcards from
everywhere came through the letterbox.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">When they returned they began the search
for a new house. In Clyst St George they
bought Church House which needed extensive rebuilding, so much so that for
months they had only a ladder connecting the ground floor and their upstairs
bedroom.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b> </b>Graham’s mother had moved to
Topsham before Graham’s retirement and after a few years was beginning to
struggle. So, pooling their resources, they bought into Pytte House, a grand
property in Clyst St George which had been divided years earlier into 6 homes,
each full of character. Here they
increasingly cared for May, helped in the summer months by Muriel who came over
each year from her home in the United States.
These were on the whole very happy years – the house was often buzzing
with visitors – children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces on Devon
holidays – and all the Pytte House residents got on extremely well. Number One had a great open plan kitchen /
living space long before such things became popular and here different
generations would work and chat together and conjure up amazing meals. It was
at one of these that Graham’s coughing fit inspired the comment from his
step-grandson Hugh which appears on today’s order of service.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span>
</div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The Pytte House occupants shared
the maintenance of the grounds and infrastructure, including a badly-behaved
septic tank, so Graham became a member of another crazy club, the Sewer Rats.
Most communal celebrations included beautifully presented and illustrated
expressions of sentiment in appalling doggerel verse, something Graham revelled
in. He liked dressing up, too. A photo which almost made it the cover of the
order of service shows him at Joan’s 60<sup>th</sup> birthday party (in Number
One, Pytte – quite an occasion!) wearing a kaleidoscopic waistcoat. His love of bright colours is brilliantly
expressed in today’s lovely flowers. And as for his outfits on the floats at
the Topsham Carnivals – well, enough said!</span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">They lived in three different
houses in Pytte until they downsized, too soon as the subsequent move to
Baldwin Drive in Okehampton showed, to Pound Lane in Topsham. At this time Helene moved back to Topsham and
to help her out they often collected Ellie and James from primary school. They were the most lively and youngest looking
grandparents at the school gate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">However much they did to the Pound
Lane house and garden (and they did a lot) it remained too small a property, so
they tried to burn it down. No,
seriously, they had undertaken as always to make gallons of soup for the Pool’s
New Year’s Day swim (great to see that that’s still going) and were working
with gas burners in the integral garage.
A gust of wind, some papers under a workbench, and the garage was
alight. Fortunately they got out and the Fire Brigade got there quickly, but
not before the front of the house and its services were extensively damaged. Having benefited from the kind hospitality of
Topsham friends, they were able to return to a repaired house three months
later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">A few years later, The Bartons in
Okehampton was their last home-improvement project. It was here that Graham had the first signs
of his illness, when he noticed that he was struggling to fasten his shirt
buttons. But he was more interested in the fact that he and Joan joined the
Senior Council in Okehampton, which acts as a forum for older people and
liaises with the County Council. Graham
also returned to an enthusiasm of his youth – singing. In Rochdale he had been a keen Glee Club
member, and now he joined the Men’s Forum, whose contribution today we greatly
value. Sadly, as his voice weakened he was no longer able to sing, but one of
the many ways in which he enjoyed seeing the younger generation take up the
reins was the performance in Les Misérables at Okehampton College of his
grandson James. He was both particularly
touched and amused to find a wheelchair space reserved for him in the middle of
the front row labelled ‘For James Cox’s grandfather’. Later we are going to
hear a piece of music from Les Misérables which Graham requested when he talked
to Liz about his funeral about a year ago. It’s a symbol of his pride in, and
love of, all his children and grandchildren.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Graham’s condition didn’t admit
of much thinking about the future – it was too remorselessly mapped out – but
in one way he did look forward, and that was to the future of his family,
including his seven great-grandchildren. All but one of these treasures have
arrived during Graham’s illness and we know that in some small measure they
have mitigated the emotional effects of an illness which was a particularly
harsh one for such a man of action to endure. He lost muscle tone progressively
through his body but only at the very end was there any hint that the speed of
his mind had been affected.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After a brief occupancy of Ottersmoor, the bungalow in Belstone, Joan and
Graham moved back to Okey to Castle Ham’s assisted living facility shortly
before Joan died. The staff there, and subsequently at the Chollacott home in
Tavistock and finally at Langford Park in Newton St Cyres worked marvels in
supporting Graham. We have to single out the Langford Park staff, and key
workers Denise and Roger in particular (Graham referred to them as his A team),
because of the degree of assistance Graham needed from them. The family thank
them most sincerely.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">So what was Graham really like? I
have at home his ‘name mug’ which begins by describing him as ‘even-tempered
and level-headed’ – no help there, then.
However, on the other side of the mug we read of ‘a man of esteemed
action who loves to be just’ – now that’s more like him. Graham displayed,
amongst other characteristics, a fascinating combination of determination and
impatience. In his 70s he learned to use a personal computer, and succeeded in
digitising his vast collection of photographic images, no mean feat. This didn’t come without a price, though. No
one, it seems, had ever had a more wilful set of computer equipment. He would ring Helene one day to protest that
his printer wasn’t working even though he’d told it 6 times to print a document.
Then, the following morning when he finally switched the printer on, he would
ring her again to complain that it had now printed out 6 copies that he didn’t
want.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">To his family and friends, he was
a thoroughly reliable, practical and loyal man. If you had a problem and needed
help, Graham would be one of the first to offer his assistance, sometimes
driving the length of the country to do so.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">So, how would an impatient man
deal with his debilitating illness which gradually robbed him of more and more capacity?
Well, to the admiration of us all, he learned, if not patience, at least
endurance; and displayed a quite remarkable degree of good cheer when he had
company, which was often. Just a month ago, he was showing with his eyes his
silent appreciation of being taken out for a breath of fresh air and a bite to
eat at Lutzy’s on the Quay.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Over the last couple of years
Graham passed on to his children and grandchildren his large collection of
tools, cameras and photographic equipment and took pleasure from the sense that
these things would again be used. He loved to see that in their parenting, his
children and grandchildren are as loving and involved as he had always been. He
gave up very reluctantly his active role as father and grandparent, but he took
consolation from a sense that, as in a relay race, the baton had been passed
on. This athletic image for his legacy will, we think, serve Graham well.</span></div>
</b></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-17678837254323261102015-08-28T15:04:00.000+01:002015-08-28T15:04:31.786+01:00House-warming presentRather late, but then I'm often rather late with jobs, I put aside two days this week to lay a small (6m x 3m) patio at the Bury house my older son and his family moved to in the spring. This was more a case of stock tools than stock items, as the stone, sharp sand and landscaping fabric had to be bought in. This was a triumph of Ebay deals - excellent communication with each seller and delivery of tons of material at the promised times.<br />
<br />
Son and I shared the horrible job of removing the turf and digging out enough soil to produce a sand foundation for the stone. Both of us have occasional back issues, and this isn't a favourite task. The hope that the turf laid a month or so after their arrival would lift easily proved to be in vain. Barrowing in the sand, levelling it and laying the slabs one by one was less physically demanding. I worked to a jigsaw-like plan to avoid unsightly joints and kept a good eye on the spirit level as I worked away from the house. It's Indian sandstone, with a riven finish, so the spirit level has to be interpreted with due allowance made.<br />
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The last backbreaking tasks were pointing up all the joints and loading the waste onto the trailer to bring home to contribute to some land-levelling to be done here later this year.<br />
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Two good days - and the weather helped by being dry but not too hot. Here's to the first BBQ!<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-65447637227472618542015-06-03T21:12:00.000+01:002015-06-03T21:12:10.129+01:00Throw it away!After another three days' work in elder daughter's kitchen, I have had to concede that some stock items should just be thrown away - a difficult admission for me to make.<br />
<br />
The focus of this trip was the removal of some very dodgy old worktops and their replacement with the beautifully simple and elegant solid birch ones which Ikea sell at a reasonable price. This was the third stage in 'lightening' a dark room: new led ceiling lights have been fitted and the programme of re-painting the fronts of all the storage units is almost complete. Fortunately I had the kitchen to myself for a day and a half (with assistance available when required from son-in-law, who was busy marking university exam papers) as Elizabeth and daughter and grandson had decamped to Devon for an overnight visit.<br />
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Getting the old worktops out without damaging the kitchen units and the walls was surprisingly difficult - they had been well fitted. A deal of careful sawing was required to divide them into manageable bits, the one with the pot sink in it weighing a ton. This was the start of the 'interesting work'. The measuring and cutting of the new tops proceeded steadily, with little in the kitchen exactly square, and cutouts needed for the hob and the replacement sink.<br />
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The fact that the new sink was a slightly different size to the original meant that the plumbing of the tap and the wastes (from two bowls and the adjacent dishwasher) had to be reworked. In the end, after a minor leak on the old tap, a new one was bought and fitted, but the big disappointment was the use of my recycled stock of push fittings for the 1.5" drainpipes. Late on the second day when testing took place, they leaked. A lot. Fortunately the incoming pipes had service valves fitted so there was no damage. Note to self: always in future use welded abs fittings, with just the one compression fitting to allow the assembly to be removed. That's what I did the following morning, starting the plumbing again from scratch, and this time it was fine.<br />
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So, there's still some boxing in and re-tiling to do. And some rationalisation of my plumbing stock - I'll be throwing away anything that has a used rubber seal in it.Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-31631466716812845042015-03-22T20:13:00.000+00:002015-03-22T22:34:28.439+00:00A new home for the hens (well, some of them)A few months ago I made some carved house signs for a friend and took payment in the form of what was described as a dismantled garden shed. When I collected 'it' there seemed to be parts from two different sheds, but closer examination revealed that, in fact, three sheds were represented. However, parts of all were missing.<br />
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For some time we had been intending to move our small flock of hens, as their enclosed patch had been pecked bare and we were concerned that the soil might become sour. So I chose a corner of our field where there is some tree cover (which the hens love) and levelled out a base using some old concrete blocks and bricks. I salvaged a base for the shed, trimmed two sides to the same size and used the two matching ends. My human cleat, Liz, held onto things until I had got the main parts screwed together.<br />
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I had to improvise the roof panels. A couple of pieces from a salvaged wardrobe and a length of furniture board did the trick. With the roof on, the structure was pretty stable.<br />
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One end had helpfully come with its door, which I fitted with some new(!) hinges.<br />
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Fortunately I had some roofing felt in the stable. This was bought about 9 years ago while I was still used to repairing sections of the stable roof after every gale. I soon gave up and invested in profile steel sheets, so the felt had stood unused till now.<br />
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It made a tidy job, and as the roof is small and the site reasonably sheltered from the biggest winds we get here, it should be fine. The window opening took a standard 2 foot by 2 foot sheet of greenhouse glass (thanks, Ian, for the half dozen or so you gave me ages ago).<br />
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Converting the shed to serve as a hen-house involved cutting and hingeing a pop door within the main door, mounting a couple of 2 by 1's as perches and cutting a hole to take the removable nesting box Liz suggested I borrow from the other hen-house.<br />
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So here we are: our cockerel and 4 hens have accepted the move (though chickens don't like change). Four hens, including the three young Cream Legbars which have got used to roosting in our trees in the kitchen garden, have refused to move. We may yet persuade the Welsumer to shift, but the Legbars will just have to look after themselves without the electrified fence, which has moved too. If they continue to lay their beautiful blue eggs in the same place, all will be well.<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-21471289338921744542015-03-13T09:22:00.001+00:002015-03-13T09:22:05.616+00:00A year in a kitchenJust over a year ago, I offered to install a new kitchen for my older son and his wife in their newly acquired house in Stockport. It was obvious from the start that the long distance nature of the task (round trip of 130 miles) and my other commitments meant that this would not be the work of a moment, but even I didn't expect it to take a year.<br />
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Memorable moments of a complete refurbishment:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>a Saturday afternoon in Ikea, ordering every component of the furniture: cupboards, doors, worktops, appliances. A long list, and always likely to be an arduous retail experience, but why did we have to choose the weekend when Ikea were changing their kitchen unit range (and dimensions) for the first time in a decade? In the event, they did us proud with the delivery and didn't miss a single item.</li>
<li>removing the linoleum covering from a basically sound timber floor to discover a square metre of 'temporary' flooring where boards had been loose-laid over a concrete slab which years ago supported the heavy clothes-washing boiler. Not a suitable foundation for the tile floor I was laying, so it had to be sorted.</li>
<li>finding an open fireplace and adjacent cupboard hidden behind a piece of plaster board where heavy cupboards were to be hung - wall rebuilding required.</li>
</ul>
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Many new items, of course, went into this project. However, all the tools came from stock, and certain bits and pieces came in very handy: a couple of light fittings, plumbing and electrical accessories, adhesives to mention a few.<br />
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The final job, the tiling, was completed just a few weeks ago. Now, because as a growing family they need more space, the house has been sold (subject to contract) and someone else will enjoy their kitchen. They are kind enough to say that my labours helped them to a quick sale. Here are three images I've borrowed from the estate agent's website:<br />
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Now they are buying a new-build house which, I believe, has a kitchen already installed. So I'll have to find something else to fill the next year. No problem.Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-17422929961290218602015-02-01T10:33:00.000+00:002015-02-01T10:33:49.979+00:00South Wales shelvingOur most recent trip to elder daughter's in South Wales was partly to help with the transporting to the abattoir of the three pigs which had had a very happy life in the pig ark described in my last post. So the reward for the jobs which were done while I was there was half a pig, neatly butchered, to return to our freezer in North Wales.<br />
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The key job this time was to use shelving materials rescued from their former home near Oxford to make their new home feel like theirs - you can't have a home without books on shelves, can you? As always, the problem with doing jobs like this miles from home is deciding on which tools and materials I need to take. This is part of the collection that went in the car this time:<br />
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(If you've spotted the rainwater pipe, that was for a different job!) We knew that we didn't have enough wooden shelving to complete the project this time, but the challenge was to get the uprights, the original brackets and some additional newly purchased brackets installed so that we could decide how much more timber to buy.</div>
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It's important with this kind of shelving system to get the uprights in exactly the right place on the wall. They can be unforgiving, as the metal is pre-drilled and all the screwholes must be securely fastened, otherwise the strength of the shelving is compromised. There's no room for botched drilling of the wall leading to out-of-line or wobbly wallplugs.</div>
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A tool I bought at a bargain price years ago came in very handy. It's a laser level, and it was cheap because it came without a tripod support. However, it exactly fits my camera tripod and when properly adjusted, casts a red laser-generated line on an exact horizontal level. Here I'm demonstrating how it was used a while ago to line up the power sockets on a wall of our kitchen.</div>
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Fortunately, the marking, drilling, plugging and screwing went well. It turned out to be a very good thing that I had included my small angle grinder in the toolkit, as the new brackets needed to be trimmed slightly to fit into the uprights, but soon we had the existing shelves in place - and then books! I've measured up, and I'll be back soon with the additional timber.</div>
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As Anthony Powell wrote, <i>Books do Furnish a Room</i>.</div>
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-82529200099775376522014-09-08T22:25:00.000+01:002014-09-08T22:50:29.966+01:00Can we make a pig ark from stock items?Our elder daughter has moved to a house high on a valley-side above Cardiff. As well as taking on a barn conversion, she, her husband and their son now have a stable block and 5 acres of sloping land. Their first new venture is to keep pigs - 3 weaners which will go to the abattoir in about 6 months' time, but not before they have prepared plenty of ground for next year's fruit and vegetable growing.<br />
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The electric fencing was ordered and I offered to knock up a pig ark for them. It was a disadvantage that we live 4 hours away as I wanted to make the ark at home. I decided to go for a flat-pack pig ark and trust to my roof bars for transportation. Somehow we ended up adding a kingsize mattress for the journey so with the plywood pieces, corrugated steel, oak skids and softwood roof struts we produced a sandwich-style roof-load.<br />
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I'm not sure that this load was within the manufacturer's recommendations. I did take particular care on the drive. Rarely have I negotiated bends and roundabouts with such care. We arrived safely and after unloading I set about the final construction. I had found some nice pieces of oak left over from our roof rebuild a few years ago, and they went onto the underside of the base to act as skids which will allow the ark to be moved around.<br />
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With two side struts added, the base was carried up to its first home in the lower field.<br />
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The end pieces each came out of half a sheet of 18mm ply, with a bolt-secured door.<br />
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The roof struts which, like the corrugated steel, were leftovers from our old postbarn, were friction fitted to the ends.<br />
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My charming assistant, who unwisely likened herself to Debbie McGee, held the bag of roofing screws. This was a big help as the three sheets of corrugated steel seemed to have minds of their own.<br />
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So there we were. I had to buy the plywood and the bolts, but all the other bits came from stock.<br />
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Our grandson approved. In fact he seemed interested in moving in. If he does he won't have long. The piglets arrive in about 10 days.<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-60615205229941271372014-03-09T21:07:00.001+00:002014-03-09T21:07:11.202+00:00Oak house signsSo here's what to do with those left over short ends of 4" oak floorboards: visit Matthias' brilliant <a href="http://woodgears.ca/pantograph/index.html" target="_blank">website</a> and buy his plans for a 3-D router pantograph for a few dollars, buy a nice little router, and spend much of the winter on and off fiddling around with offcuts of wood and steel rod to construct one of these fiendishly clever machines. Spend more evenings in the workshop making the plywood stencils for all the letters you need for your signs (and even a couple of swallow images), then it's time for the quick bit.<br />
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Actually cutting the signs is really easy and quick. Use some black acrylic paint to highlight the carved letters, sand and, if you wish, varnish away, then get out to the end of the track and, with your neighbouring farmer's permission, put up the signs to his farm and our house, Coed y Mynydd Isaf (Lower Mountain Wood), his horsefeed business, and our luxury holiday cottage, Gwenoldy (Swallows' Rest).<br />
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Job done. About a year from start to finish.</div>
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Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-8135898107959982262014-02-26T10:45:00.000+00:002014-02-26T10:45:35.358+00:00A mini rampFather-in-law's substantial ramp having been dismantled and put into stock when he moved to his assisted-living apartment, it was time to use some of the materials to provide an easy way for my wheelchair-bound brother-in-law to get in and out of his house.<br />
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The scale of this project was relatively modest, and having made the key frameworks at home, I actually managed to get everything in the back of our estate car for the trip to south Wales. The photos show the laying out of the frames, and the fixing of the decking and side rails.<br />
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The interesting challenge on this job was the gate. The driveway up from the end of the ramp slopes quite steeply, so the original gate opened inwards. The ramp now prevents this, as a normal gate would have to have such a gap at the bottom to clear the ramp that BIL's dog would be able to escape. So I borrowed an idea from the excellent woodworking and engineering website at <a href="http://www.woodgears.ca/">www.woodgears.ca</a>, and created an articulating gate, similar to Matthias' design for a <a href="http://woodgears.ca/home/baby_gate.html" target="_blank">parallelogramming stairgate</a>. All the vertical elements of the gate pivot on the top and bottom horizontals, so you lift it at the non-hinged end and lower it behind the ramp to park it in the open position.<br />
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Thanks to some careful measuring on a previous visit (well done Elizabeth) and pre-fabrication, the installation of all this took just two and a half hours. Ramp timbers, stainless steel bolts, screws and gate hinges came from stock. As you can probably tell from the colour of the gate, I did have to buy a little bit of timber for that. So, almost a stock item job.Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-2287400033626755242013-12-29T13:23:00.001+00:002013-12-29T13:23:37.061+00:00A bespoke bedside table, and Kindle stand 4Father-in-law needed a bedside table with levels at just the right heights if he was to manage his touch lamp, his kindle stand and his reading glasses. It would be a bonus if he could also both see and operate his TV remote control while lying on his back in bed.<br />
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On this occasion I did have to buy some timber, but not enough to make it an expensive project. Here is the table (higher than you might expect because it has to be level with the bedside rail FIL uses to move himself about). It was something of a rush job so the finish is just a wipe-on liquid wax.<br />
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The strange looking triangular piece in the front corner is where the remote control is now fixed by zip ties at a 45 degree angle to the horizontal (and pointing diagonally at the tv in the corner of the room. It turns out that FIL can both see and operate the buttons (we had wondered whether semi-horizontal pressing would be possible for him, but it is). The lamp sits on the lower section at the back. The lower shelf carries books as ballast.</div>
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Meanwhile the design of the Kindle stand has progressed. My first effort arose from FIL's finding it awkward (later impossible) to hold the Kindle on his chest while reading in bed: </div>
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Then it became difficult for him to operate the small power button at the base of the Kindle - particularly necessary when you have dozed off in the night and wake to discover that the Kindle has automatically gone to sleep, too. So version 2 incorporated a big spring-loaded button which presses on the tiny switch and which made it possible for a while for the Kindle to be switched back on:</div>
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However, these first 2 stands were relatively heavy, being made from offcuts of MDF, and FIL increasingly found it difficult to manipulate them. Additionally, the operation of the big button became problematic. I made a big breakthrough when I discovered a web forum which explained how to use the Kindle's programming language to disable the auto-switch-off routine. No more finding it unusable after a brief doze. So Kindle 3 addressed the weight issue, being made of thin plywood with weight-saving cutouts wherever possible:</div>
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This worked well for a while, until FIL found it increasingly difficult to operate the small page-turning buttons at the side of the Kindle. So now we have version 4 - lightweight again but this time providing large pivoting buttons to turn the pages back and forward. This is the one I'm putting my name on!</div>
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Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-31735339758099531482013-12-14T17:43:00.001+00:002013-12-14T17:43:54.122+00:00More woodwork for my father-in-lawI continue to try to come up with bits and pieces to mitigate my father-in-law's limited manual control. In an earlier post I described his difficulty in switching on his Kindle, and the holder I made with a large button which connects via a pin to activate the switch. Now the problem is that this holder is too heavy and difficult to grip.<br />
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Fortunately, a lot of internet searching turned up a way in which the Kindle can be programmed to prevent it from switching itself off. Useful for cooks using it for recipes, apparently; certainly useful for FIL during the night when he wakes up and wants to read further without requiring anyone else to turn it back on. It means that the Kindle needs charging every few days rather than every week, but that's not a problem.<br />
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So Kindle holder number 3 is a lightweight affair, made from thin plywood rather than mdf, and with cutouts wherever possible to keep the weight down:<br />
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This is now in use, but tends to move too much when the page-turning buttons are pressed. So we are adding to the mix a lightweight plywood tray with some anti-slip material attached which FIL can position on his chest in bed under the Kindle holder. Laborious but, we hope, effective.<br />
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If you have limited grip and digital control, managing toilet paper can be tricky. Don't worry - not too much detail needed on this one. Just a simple wooden shelf which holds the moist wipes boxes in place by friction, so that the lids can be pressed open and the tissues pulled out, without the whole caboosh ending up on the floor:<br />
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Last for now, a couple of further arm-crutch holders for different places in his flat. We call them elephants' feet, and they are simply made out of 110mm drainage pipe, which is surely a stock item for most people?</div>
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The next project is a made-to-measure bedside table. It has to be just the right height for FIL to reach from bed to manage a few items, including (we hope) the remote controls for his TV and Freeview box. That's underway at present.Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-71075660956484274052013-10-13T18:30:00.000+01:002013-10-13T18:30:16.366+01:00Ride-on mower and ironing boardYears ago I bought an elderly Yardman ride-on mower as our development of the field made it ever more difficult to cut the grass with the 1964 Fordson Super Dexta tractor and 5-foot cut topper without taking out newly planted trees and flower beds.<br />
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The early years of ownership were marked by frequent trips to the repair shop, but over the last couple of years it has redeemed itself and given good service. It's needed to have the odd bracket welded, but nothing too serious. I have pretty much decided that it's no longer worth repair-shop bills and that I will try to discover how it works so that I can apply my limited mechanical skills to it.<br />
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I was pretty pleased a month or so ago when it lost drive and I discovered that the main belt from the engine at the front to the auto box over the back axle had popped off. I was even more pleased when I managed to pop it back on again by temporarily removing one of the pulleys to get it back in line. However, within a week the reason why it had popped off became clear as drive was lost again. Metal fatigue in the side of the frame had led to one of the pulleys tearing its fixing. You can just see daylight at the end of the arrow in this photograph - and there shouldn't be daylight visible there!<br />
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I thought that a piece of sheet steel, suitably drilled to match the bolt holes, would be enough to reinforce the side wall if placed on the outside of the frame. As I don't do a great deal of metal work, sheet steel is not the sort of stock item I have around, but a little scavenging in the pile of stuff waiting to go to the tip turned up an old ironing board which soon gave up a piece to my angle grinder.<br />
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This doesn't make the most elegant repair, I know, but it works, and that's the main thing on a pretty ancient piece of machinery. Perhaps I should treat the mower to some green paint to disguise the patch and self-tapping screws?<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-36093231882000435302013-08-24T22:03:00.000+01:002013-08-25T22:29:40.475+01:00Someone else's stock, and a mouse with two tailsAs my father-in-law continues to struggle with his loss of manual dexterity, I keep trying to come up with solutions to some of the things he finds difficult. He now has an electrically operated reclining/lifting chair, which is great, but he pointed out that the control panel (fitted with a generously proportioned clip designed to fasten to I don't know what) moved about on his side table every time he tried to adjust the chair. I had a particular problem in trying to do something about this - no stock, as I had travelled light to visit and hadn't known about this in advance.<br />
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However, my brother-in-law, who lives nearby, generously gave me the run of his workshop and with a couple of pieces of wood, four 22mm pipe clips and a keyhole saw I fashioned a practical but non-too-elegant addition to FIL's tray stand which keeps the control panel rigid.<br />
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Another issue that we've been aware of for some time is the problem of managing a computer mouse when your fingers won't do as they're told. By the time the mouse has been moved to get the cursor into position, the effort involved in pressing the mouse buttons often shifts the whole thing, and therefore the cursor, away from its target. Very frustrating!<br />
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So I wondered whether it would be possible to separate the button functions from the movement function. I shied away from wireless/optical mice, and dug an old wired one from the depths of a drawer. Dismantling it revealed far more circuity than I was expecting, but I managed to drill the case and insert a second four-core cable, soldering the wires to the microswitches operated by the left and right buttons (FIL never got the hang of the wheel, so I gratefully left that alone). Then I made a simple timber console to fit in front of the computer display, and wired two normally open switches in parallel to offer an alternative to the mouse buttons. The mouse can be operated as intended, but the black switches offer less restricted access to clicking left and right. It works for me, and it's going to Devon next week for FIL to try it. One small confession - the switches weren't stock items. I did think of buying a dozen but somehow restricted myself to just the two!<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-14245277822847967252013-07-30T12:28:00.000+01:002013-07-30T12:28:36.755+01:00Trekking in the Austrian AlpsWhen the invitation came some months ago to join a group of old friends on a trekking holiday to Austria, only one of the reasons for saying yes, but an important one, was the fact that I have all the gear. The promise of sunshine, the lure of the mountains, the treat of having a couple of weeks off home duties - all these were important (and a big thank you is due to Liz and other family members for providing home cover), but I definitely have a sense that I should be using all the mountain-walking kit I have accumulated over the last 40 years. After all, having all the equipment must make the trip into a cheap holiday?<br />
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I had some doubts about being fit enough, and managed too few practice outings. I did get far enough one day to find my heavier walking boots rather uncomfortable, so opted to take a lighter pair.<br />
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This was not a particularly good decision, as in the event we crossed a lot of snowfields and the soles had little bite. The flexing also left me with a sore foot halfway through trek which needed to be blasted with anti-inflammatories.</div>
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I had greater confidence in my trusty, 30-years-old karrimor rucksack. It has seen good service, with me mainly in Scotland, with my children in Iceland, America and India.</div>
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It still bears the badge of the Mountain Bothies Association, a great group which co-ordinates simple shelters in the British wild places which can be, or feel like, life-saving refuges at the end of a long day's walk.<br />
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Fully loaded, the rucksack weighed in at Manchester Airport at 16.5Kg, so the early days of our expedition as (I hoped) I built my fitness up were never going to be easy. You will realise by now that I was not going to win any prizes for being the best turned out trekker with the smartest kit. Even my friends found it hard not to comment on my non-matching walking poles.<br />
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They have stories to tell. The green one is the survivor of a tricky day/night in Fisherfield which ended in a plunging, tumbling crossing of a bad-tempered bog as we sought out Shenavall bothy - its mate bent under my weight in a half-fall and was irreparable. The one on the left was a crafty Ebay purchase to make up a 'pair' - its wooden knob unscrews to reveal a camera mounting thread</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkcoydEBu87UGaz0-hK1km02OjcvfmzTus_YPXjLSJSCe2qj1nw4A6VGakkpTQwA_XniKfnnN7NUgtXtwkkTqEo9i6czSw5dAS4DnHtMf8qDiEDSu7HTjwYU7hheGCZAYe7o9uaa7npXq/s1600/DSCF1612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkcoydEBu87UGaz0-hK1km02OjcvfmzTus_YPXjLSJSCe2qj1nw4A6VGakkpTQwA_XniKfnnN7NUgtXtwkkTqEo9i6czSw5dAS4DnHtMf8qDiEDSu7HTjwYU7hheGCZAYe7o9uaa7npXq/s320/DSCF1612.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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which allows you to take great group photos like this:</div>
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This was our group in the Oetztal, on an excursion day from one of the many Alpine Club mountain huts we stayed and ate in. We all managed the high paths, but not all of us bagged the peaks. After all, someone has to take the spectacular photos:</div>
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We had a great time, and now the kit is back in the cupboard. Both walking poles came back slightly bent after snowfield tumbles but straightened up nicely with a 15mm plumber's bending spring. Maybe it shouldn't be too long before the kit is given another outing.</div>
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-19675151751044856732013-06-30T13:23:00.000+01:002013-06-30T13:23:43.516+01:00New camera (2)On our trip to the Outer Hebrides we were keen to try out the new camera's capacity to capture images of wildlife, as we have never previously been able to snap more than very close, very still subjects. It must be emphasised that I, as the photographer, have a long way to go to catch up with the capabilities of the camera, and sadly birds in flight (particularly a hen harrier near our last campsite) proved quite beyond me.<br />
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However (and, as in the last post, the images are unedited) we were reasonably pleased with the outcome.<br />
On North Uist, we saw hundreds of land- and water-based oyster catchers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77oXwSregtYl_7zKO-9NvIcsDGYi96IjSGftJsFgR-WhxTsIBMsMj4WMCDs4LCtnaiLIKhL7nS_0gXH0T6nMiTE5EbQu6T7Dz3Ip-1Tz_j7yG8RI20gqvJagZ0AfW7FiEkcYG4nVhlVU_/s1600/06uists+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77oXwSregtYl_7zKO-9NvIcsDGYi96IjSGftJsFgR-WhxTsIBMsMj4WMCDs4LCtnaiLIKhL7nS_0gXH0T6nMiTE5EbQu6T7Dz3Ip-1Tz_j7yG8RI20gqvJagZ0AfW7FiEkcYG4nVhlVU_/s640/06uists+042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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On Berneray arctic terns were settling on the cultivated crofts.</div>
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There were plenty of lapwings, too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCr4FiIl5gA33xlL6NbQjFjXeMczmRhK5ojeSvdLA34M_mxDXtHRFRPqQmLtqxx3i3rS4Dpb2u6nVBywovPdp8pk3dkCXS1QujREXnQt-EvJrsj50ddcijYHAPm-ze5VVOeNR5lxeRC6a/s1600/06uists+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCr4FiIl5gA33xlL6NbQjFjXeMczmRhK5ojeSvdLA34M_mxDXtHRFRPqQmLtqxx3i3rS4Dpb2u6nVBywovPdp8pk3dkCXS1QujREXnQt-EvJrsj50ddcijYHAPm-ze5VVOeNR5lxeRC6a/s640/06uists+035.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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But the stars of the show on Berneray were probably the harbour seals:</div>
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On our campsite on the south coast of South Uist bees were active in the sunshine.</div>
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On our final walking day we explored an estuary on the east coast of South Uist and were very taken with these Aylesbury ducks:</div>
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The above shot was taken from the same spot as this next one, at the opposite end of the lens' range (you can just pick the ducks out, lower centre):</div>
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But the overall star of the show (photographically at least) had to be this red deer stag, antlers still in June velvet. He seemed to want to say something to me ('Nice camera' ?)</div>
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Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-84568884385380559312013-06-24T16:42:00.000+01:002013-06-24T22:20:00.485+01:00New cameraInspired by Wendy at <a href="http://blueborage.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blue Borage</a>, I recently bought a new camera. If you could see my stock of cameras, you might think this unjustified. I go back to 35mm and APS film systems, have a movement-triggered wildlife camera and a motorbike/windscreen cam, as well as a nice compact digital. My Canon SLR 35mm film body went a while ago, but its lenses live on with a digital body picked up on Ebay. But the point is, even with an SLR reasonably long zoom lens, I have been missing out on distant telephoto targets. So enter a superzoom bridge camera, a little smaller than an SLR with a standard lens, capable of bringer those distant objects really close.<br />
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Our long-planned week-long trip to the Outer Hebrides offered an opportunity to try it out. I was interested to test some of its overall capability, but also interested to see what I could gather in the way of wildlife shots. That last category I will leave for another blog. Here's a short account of the trip in some other images.<br />
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I first crossed to Skye on the ferry from Kyle of Lochalsh about 50 years ago. The 'new' bridge does seem a bit of a cheat, but it is very convenient, and photogenic with the Skye peaks in the background.<br />
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We drove across Skye, stopping off briefly at a couple of favourite places in Portree, and caught the afternoon ferry to Lochmaddy on North Uist from Uig on Skye's north-west coast. This is the ferry coming in (I'm getting used to the telephoto capacity here.)<br />
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While we were waiting to board, Liz asked me take a photograph of a church on a distant hillside. With a small amount of telephoto, this is how it looked:<br />
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To show off the camera's capability, this is maximum telephoto:<br />
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From the deck of the ferry (with hardly any roll, it was very calm) here is a view back to the Cuillins:<br />
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The rest of the images show the camera's ability to reproduce colours faithfully. I am being lazy and using the straightforward, built-in formatting. It is possible to extract RAW data and do more editing - something for another day.<br />
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Here is a North Uist sunset at about 11pm (15 June, a week to go to the longest day):<br />
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Here is Trinity Temple on South Uist, where Duns Scotus studied:<br />
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Here are hand-dyed, hand-knitted and crocheted works of art at <a href="http://hebrideanwoolshed.co.uk/" target="_blank">the Hebridean Woolshed</a>:<br />
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And to end with, a couple of landscape shots. The first a standard shot of an-anything-but-standard beach (3 miles of deserted heaven - just the two of us all afternoon):<br />
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The second, an appreciation of the islanders' sense of colour fun - a crofter's shed picked out from a distant road in the late afternoon:<br />
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This camera is, in my humble opinion, a great bit of kit.Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-31704579189049936232013-06-03T08:13:00.002+01:002013-06-03T08:13:26.400+01:00MotorcyclingI first had motorised two-wheels when in the Sixth Form. A holiday job in a cotton mill (yes, there used to be thousands in south-east Lancashire where I grew up) produced the £40 necessary to buy an ancient Lambretta 150cc which gave me lots of fun and problems until I sold it as I went to university.<br />
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When I graduated I bought my first car, a mini traveller (848cc) and over the years family responsibilities meant that 4 wheels were always the order of the day. Then, in the 1990s, with increasingly independent children and a wife who was working a good motorway drive/ride away from home, I took the plunge and bought a second-hand BMW K100LT (998cc) - a touring bike capable of comfortable long distance rides. I still had my full licence so I was soon back in the groove.<br />
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In the mid 00s this bike was stolen from outside the ground where I was watching older son play semi-professional rugby league. I got a fair insurance payout and bought a BMW R1100RT (1098cc) like this one:<br />
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Since our move to N Wales, I have used the bike occasionally for the work run, and had a few adventures (Scotland twice, London for a concert, Cambridge for a funeral) to keep the engine ticking over. It doesn't get a great deal of use in the winter, particularly not the kind of wet and snowy winter we have just emerged from.</div>
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As part of the motorcycling spring-clean this year, I decided to sign up for a safety workshop run by N Wales Police (www.bikesafe.co.uk). This is a one-day course, with the morning spent in the classroom looking at accidents and how they can be avoided, followed by a one to one 3-hour ride-out with a highly qualified observer (most are serving or ex- police motorcyclists) who provides feedback and advice about your riding style and competence, with particular reference to safety. As the ride-out was on bendy roads I didn't know, taking us to Betws-y-Coed and back, it was quite challenging. The level of concentration needed was very high, reminding me that trying to stay safe on the roads should always mean thinking of nothing else while riding/driving.</div>
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I was signed off with a certificate assessing me as a low/medium risk rider (there's one category safer, two less safe). Further training with the Instititute of Advanced Motorists or a similar organisation is an option. Frequent use of the bike undoubtedly helps, too. Thankfully the training day brought a change to the weather, and we've had sunny days since. Long may it last.</div>
<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-36297331009661059522013-05-03T17:29:00.000+01:002013-05-03T17:29:26.979+01:00A second Kindle standMy father-in-law has found the first Kindle stand (previous post) helpful, but has been struggling to operate the power switch, a tiny affair at the base of the reader which usually needs a well-controlled, small finger-end to operate it.<br />
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So the second prototype includes a big button which, through a sprung plunger, operates the switch with a steel rod.<br />
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It's an even more pleasing use of stock items than version 1. Again, it uses offcuts of 13mm MDF, but now with added delights: part of an old broom handle (the knob), a screw (the steel rod), a ballpoint pen spring, and a piece of a brass hinge (the plate which retains the spring). Oh, and a bit of glue.</div>
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It's going to be taken to Devon to be trialled next weekend. Fingers crossed.</div>
<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-27762109207531436252013-04-23T07:56:00.000+01:002013-04-23T07:56:30.234+01:00More baskets, and a Kindle standMy younger daughter and I had planned to share a basket-weaving session on her last visit, so I put some willow to soak in our outside bath. Unfortunately, she arrived during the cold snap and the willow was frozen into a gigantic block of ice, so no progress was possible. She wanted a display basket, so I set about something smaller than my previous log-bearing efforts. This is what arrived:<br />
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Actually, she wanted two (the point of the original idea for joint making) so with a few calculations and a lot of guesswork I set about making one slightly bigger so that they can be stored together:<br />
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By no means perfect, but adequate. That's almost the end of the brightly coloured willow from Devon, and almost the end of this year's total crop, so it's time for a break from basket-making.</div>
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We continue to try to help father-in-law deal with his increasing difficulties in manipulating things. Unable now to hold a book and turn the pages, a Kindle has been a great acquisition for him and he reads avidly. Lately the issue of holding the Kindle while fiddling with its controls has become a problem, so I thought I would have a go at making a stand for it which will allow easy access to its edges and therefore its buttons. This is to be regarded very much as a prototype. I'm posting it to him this morning and look forward to his feedback.</div>
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-33778433674289373222013-03-22T20:03:00.000+00:002013-03-22T20:03:12.866+00:00Some things take a little whileI have a very long list of jobs, and a lot of stock items associated with them. I don't fully understand the process by which things get put off for another time - something to do with the difference between the important and the urgent? When I acquire materials I almost always intend to process them reasonably quickly, but that often doesn't follow. My record, I think, is a package in the workshop which contains the pieces of teak and slate needed to make a small coffee table, which is wrapped in newspaper dated 1975. I should be able to sort it by the end of 2015, I think.<br />
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So my third willow basket has happened at lightning speed. In January my younger son and his wife donated a red wig for my car:<br />
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This was some overgrown willow from their Devon garden. I don't know a great deal about all the various willows, but this had the advantage of beautiful colour variations from yellow to red, and the disadvantage of being rather thick-stemmed with lots of side shoots. When I got it home I spent ages trimming off the sideshoots, and used the thickest rods to create a screen for some of our compost bins. The rest went in the bath to increase its pliability (not our only bath, in case you were wondering):</div>
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As I worked with it, I learned a lot about which rods were really too thick for the job in hand, so the outcome was a rough-and-ready (artisanal?) basket which has now gone back to Devon to hold logs for the willow-providers. They are kind enough to say it's fine. As it's the first basket I've made without expert supervision, I'm grateful to them, but shall be aiming higher next time.</div>
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-30587878637206561842013-03-05T09:46:00.000+00:002013-03-05T09:46:05.009+00:00Wisteria supportWe have been planning for a while to plant a wisteria in the side garden. To support it (assuming that it grows!) we designed an open structure which in effect creates a new south 'wall' facing the utility building. In due course the drystone wall will be repaired (Elizabeth is going on a National Trust course this summer) so I used up some 4 x1 carcassing and some half-round posts, held together with galvanised roofing bolts. The new planting is going to feel somewhat intimidated for the first few years, we feel.<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299016237940767987.post-23854856906588229592013-02-24T18:16:00.000+00:002013-02-24T18:16:39.409+00:00Kitchen chairs - new lifeWe're not sure quite how the upholstered seats on our kitchen chairs had become so disgusting. It's not as if we make a practice of sitting in muddy pools outside in preparation for using them, but Liz pointed out yesterday that it did look as if we had. So off she went to Abakhan at Greenfield and back she came with some lovely large check material.<br />
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This afternoon the job snuck in front of the hundreds actually on the list and we shared the removing of hundreds of staples, the cutting of the material and the re-stapling. There are eight chairs, so it did take a while. It also uses a lot of staples, but fortunately I received some recently (along with many upholstery tools - thanks, Graham) as part of father-in-law's stock clearance. Maybe we should now use the kind of covers the garage puts on the car seats at service time?<br />
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<br />Ian Thorpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07126406246964123582noreply@blogger.com6