What have done towards your prep?

[Straight Shooter]

Cleared the poly tunnel and clean as a whistle , planted two bags of onion sets in two raised beds and hooped up and covered in poly . Cleaned the gutters and down pipes .....full of leaves .

Made a steel framed porch welded it up and fixed it , covered the roof with 20 mm triple wall polycarbonate ....wild child’s request was only three years old .....I know men .....I am amazing ! .

Logging and splitting a trailer full of firewood to take up for John the farm tomorrow ....and some of the wine along with some home cured bacon .

Ordered some profile steel sheets today , coming this Wednesday .....moving the bottom shed in order to get the digger past and better access to the lower ground, charge on !

[MaryN]

It's tidy up time of year isn't it. Whenever the rain stops I skip into the garden areas and weed everything like fury; clip back grass areas in the orchard (great "scratch" for the hens), and try really hard to boss some sort of order into the plantation. I still have runner beans producing. Has anyone tried saving the runner bean roots for an early start next year? My uncle used to do that: I've never tried it, but it could give me a 2-week jumpstart on seeds.

[Straight Shooter]

Moved the shed 3mts x 4mts we ran it on rollers ( 100 mm dia steel pipe ) it’s now 10mtrs further towards the lower ground and chocked up to level and plumb , some hardcore is needed to one side , then ready for concrete .

I will reroof with steel profile sheeting , I intend to do this first , if it rains it will not hold up concreting , the digger will sale past with ease now ! That will enable the lower ground to be put to good use ......livestock , more veg .

Sowing some garlic this week .....I have prepped the ground.........having a whiff from logging and splitting ....there is quite a few cords to go yet ! ............ work is never ending around here ! But chipping away and getting stuff done.......fix bayonets ! .

[Straight Shooter]

Started some limoncello this morning , enough to make about a gallon ........the house smells beautiful ! With all the zest removed from twenty lemons ......it’s now time to make some Lemonade with the rest of the lemons ...wild child is making Christmas cake or two , just reminded her there’s no welsh cakes left.....”oh dear I’ll have to make more with my left foot then ! “ ........is that the way to speak to me after giving up fifty one years of my life just for you ..........as she fell to her knees , clasping my legs and begging for forgiveness ....sobbing sorry darling I will make you some immediately ....we’ll alright then I say ....that’s more like it girl !

.......ummmm I may have slightly exaggerated the last bit girls .

[Straight Shooter]

Logging up the remainder of the logs the pile is now 9 mtr long , I will split this lot in the spring , there is no rush till then .

Concreting another base tomorrow to extend the shed we moved some weeks back , I will extend the shed a further 4 mtr by 3mtr and continue the roof line to match ....this will be an open plan undercover area .

I have bought all the timber to extend my brew shed 2.5 wide x 3.0 mtr long I will crack on when I finish the sil stuff .

The latest plan for the solar panel setup (finally honest ! ) is to mount the panels on a adjustable pivoting frame to enable maximum efficient pitch all year round , I will fix the frame to the deck hand railing , this will save space and easy to maintain, plus easy to wire up and connect into our house , I will build a mini shed to house all the bits and battery bank along with a dedicated generator .....I will have to rewire inside the house ....just reroute what I already have .

Done some more home cured bacon (hanging in the brew shed ) ......will finish off the lemoncello this coming weekend .......wild child is icing the Christmas cakes ( this is the second lot ) .....for family and friends ......I am allowed one bloody slice .....on Boxing Day ! ............charge on !

[Mortblanc]

Early in the week I had a new pre-built shed delivered.

I spent today laying an extra layer of plywood down on the floor so I now have 18-20mm on the floor.

I shifted all the motorcycles into the new shed today and moved the garden tractor into the old shed.

I had big hopes to run electricity to the new shed today but wore myself out before getting that started.

I had a great day for it, 10c clear and crisp.

[Pete Grey]

SS you’re the welsh timber king......Extending your sheds I wish I had your energy.

My father was a master carpenter and builder, many years ago I remember when he was building a shed he asked me to order some tongue and groove boards, he gave me the quantity as “3 squares” when I phoned the order to the builders merchant they had no idea what I was talking about. Before the war dad worked at a timber yard, a square was 100 square feet.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve winterised the vehicles, finished tidying the garden, moved OH’s flower tubs inside, unblocked a downspout (birds pulling moss of the roof), and made a couple of veggie troughs for next spring (for salad and herbs).

[Straight Shooter]

Pete , have no fear ! I am most definitely slowing down ! In fact the main reasons for doing these jobs is ( I best do it now before such time I can not ) the plus will be for me to enjoy them to the full .....truth is I am enjoying myself .....even old farts can have fun ! .

Finished the limoncello , we tried some last night .......ice cold ( from the freezer ) absolutely beautiful WOW ! ....wild child has marked the bottle ! “ it’s for Christmas......do you understand.....it’s not pop “ and all the bottles have been allocated to family and friends .....and I have written the names on the bottles ! .......scuppered even before I could hatch a plan ! ......that will teach me , not to tell her the quantity I made , trouble is she knows what I am going to do ......three weeks before I bloody do it ! .

Trimming up the shed we moved and rehanging the doors and fitting another window tomorrow , it will be ready to be a working shed by Tuesday ..........onwards men ! .

[Straight Shooter]

Ordered the uni channel and some fittings to mount the solar panels , they delivered this morning ......going to make the pivoting arms from gate fittings and weld up to suit .....I will preset the three positions of pitch so I can just lock in place with a butterfly wing nut .....this rack will hold three 100 watt panels.

Found some elderberries in the brew shed freezer earlier today .....turned it into elderberry syrup ( we ran out taking it every morning ) .......so a welcome surprise ! Just about to bottle up , done some more home cured bacon today ready for some gifts for friends for Christmas, I am slicing up the one I did two odd weeks ago tonight .

Kicked over the digger just now .....rain and snow forecast within days , so I need to get stuff sorted over the next two days ........play time ....yeah !

[Straight Shooter]

Built the frame and bolted on the three 100 watt solar panels , fitted three hinges ready to attach the frame to the deck rail .....cut the stay struts to size .......it’s all ready to fit ! .....I will make a mini shed to house the battery bank and a separate cover for the dedicated generator backup ......I need to drill for the cables ,bit tricky because it’s under the fitted corner kitchen unit but that is the perfect position! .

Dug out four holes with the digger ready for the steel support posts and graded off the ground the digger will sale on through down to the bottom ground no problem ! .

Today I cut the steel posts to size ,welded some support tie brackets , then levelled up and fixed the lateral timber support the full length of the building so tied into the existing shed we moved , then plumbed up a post at a time and concreted them all in ..........I will leave it alone for three days to cure up .....just three roof trusses to make and fix ( I have made them already ) just the fixing , then it’s four more sheet bearers ....and fit the steel profile roof sheets and ridge , should be all wrapped up come next weekend , the sil is insulating inside the shed we moved and doing a good job to ! ...........charge on !