What have done towards your prep?

[Mortblanc]

OK, it has been 7 days since SS posted last. He has been giving daily rundowns for months and now this silence.

Hopefully he did not collapse into a pile of manure while filling a planting box or suffer a massive heart attack while moving a pile of rocks.

Can anyone on that side of the pond check on his well-being?

[Straight Shooter]

I am just fine mate ! my silence.....makes me seem more interesting and mysterious ...so i do this now and then ,to make you all love me even more ! .....i fully understand you all are desperate for news....and who could blame you ! its not easy.... being so bastard popular.....
umm.... anyhow......final assault on the workshop last week ....it took me a day just to get to the rear wall......first off i found a skeleton ...of a Irishman (how do you know he was Irish SS you ask ) he had a medallion on a chain hanging around his neck.......it read IRISH HIDE n SEEK CHAMPION 1976........then i could hear someone playing piano....i reached over pulled back the canvass sheet and F..k me ....it was Lord Lucan tickling the ivories.....three days i spent in the final sort out ....every bit of this and that was either shelved,put in the correct box or bin or thrown out ! ....the freezer was re positioned wifey was really pleased ....if mama is happy everyone's happy! everything is now in harmony including me.......around the ground........bought some wood treatment (Paint) to coat up the raised bed timber.....light blue....and yellow......yes i know....i'm a sorta modern guy in touch with nature.....right....granddaughters get away with anything especially around me

Out and about today .....garden centre.....special offer on black currants,red currants,raspberry,loganberry,blueberry and gooseberry plants.....i blew £75 but the quality was well worth the money.....it took three staff members to get my wife back to the truck......she is fine now......the smelling salts did the trick......going to make some barrel containers (raised beds) for the blueberries (they like acidic soil ) ph 4.5..... also a herb display raised bed .....the (wild child ) wants something close to the kitchen door for ease when she creates stuff .....she is so f..king lucky to have me !

[Straight Shooter]

Dug over a piece of ground yesterday...only 10 ft x 12 ft .....i used an vintage hoe ...blade one end and double prong folk the other end , i was most impressed with this piece of kit ...the wooden shaft did crack in the first five mins but ten mins in my now clean workshop sorted it out and sorted the ground out in a few hours , excellent soil ! stacked all the weeds ready to burn , still waiting on my mate to drop off some timber to make those barrels and holders ....getting colder here , so had instructions off (wild child ) to get the rest of the stuff inside and fleeced up ....bay tree and fig tree and some others ....most have already been sorted.
So its on with the fruit bushes now the ground is prepared, but first i will build some raised bed frames and lay some pathways to have it easy ....i imagine the (wild child ) and yours truly walking around these pathways picking berries and feeding one and other whilst singing "i got you babe" next summer.

[Straight Shooter]

Timber turned up at eight this morning and dropped by the workshop door, made up three raised bed frames and set them into position smacked in some wedge pegs , laid some "Taram" sheet in between the frames and laid some scaffold boards for a pathway was going to plant on the fruit bushes but started to rain.....so back to the workshop ....two planters to make twelve sided polygon barrel ....i cut up 6" x 1" to length 15 " ...over to the circular saw bed set the angle at 15 degs and rip all 24 through ....48 passes ....compressor is on ...nail gun at the ready and gorilla glue all joints ....and away i fire only stopping for more ammo .....two barrels later i am on with top and bottom rails cutting gluing and screwing and discover its 6 pm ....in i walk wash up ......"i have called you three times!.....granddaughter chirps in "yes Bampie granny called you three times " (she is in training ) Jack steps right in "leave bampie only ! (he is also in specialist defensive training ).....i make a note how his quick response and eagerness to take the bullet for me .....so just the bottom plates to fit and shoot up and sand up then the paint job.

[Straight Shooter]

Barrel planters all painted up, and now set in position and planted up (blueberries)....made up the herb planter and set it up, got the beast out and made two trips for more leaf mould ....found some really good stuff ...even better than the last lot...bit harder to get at but worth the extra effort...there's tons of it. Made a bird table about 18" x 22 " complete with roof from off cuts laying about and fixed it to the deck rail post while i was waiting on the paint to dry on the barrels, the feeders are filled and there's a lot munching going on ....they have come from miles around to my handy work out .....i overheard a tit....."f..k me he's screwed everything ,,,check this out ! not one nail ! ".....had a rethink on the fruit bushes ....going to set them into the bank along the drive .....plus along the curb where the bank blends into ....making up a shutter about 6ft 6 " long ....6" tapering to zero along the length ....i will set that up and pour in some concrete to set up level tiers and carry on all the way down the (internal drive) once this is done i will lay 1 course of block and 1 course of brick to make up the raised bed total run 26 yards ....i will use this for veg ....beans ,peas and some flowers thrown in for the bees ....and (wild child ) ....i'm not stupid !

[MaryN]

So, SS, what are you doing in your spare time?

[Straight Shooter]

It may sound i am doing Lots Mary ......but the reality is i do many different things ....when i list all this stuff within a post the illusion is of hyper activity......when all i am doing is a few things that stop me from getting bored ...variety is the spice of life !

[Straight Shooter]

BTW Mary my spare time is spent singing at the top of my voice while playing drums ...."some kind of wonderful" the ...Grand Funk Railroad ....cover.......and failing...badly.

[MaryN]

Good on you, SS, having a real relish for life makes things worthwhile.

[Mortblanc]

Way to go SS!

I myself spent part of the weekend working on the lead guitar riffs from the Mavericks recording All Night Long.

The drum part is the best music in the song.