290 July to December 2016

Now the work begins....  and boy have I got some to do.

 

The electric cupboard also includes wiring for the redundant storage radiator system

I initally statred with the intention of converting a small covered in are between the house and garage into an en-suite for the master bedroom and drew up the plans and submitted them. Whilst they were being processed we simply changed our minds and withdrew it. We did however use the same plans to apply for a conservatory. As there had been so many extensions already, it exceeded the normal permitted limits but it was not opposed so we bouight one.

The conservatory kit half filled the garage. Oh, and Karen bought me another bike too. Wallace has company.

At the time all this was goiung through I made a start on the bathroom. We initally had 2 seperate bathrooms, one with a shower, and one with a bath. I decided to make one large family one from the two and use some of the space to put the boiler and water tank in.

At some point I still need to be able to go to the loo. This lot came out first.

.... to be replaced with this.

When making two rooms into one, at some point a wall has to come down. It is however normal to take the things that are attached to it away first. Not today. I still needed a loo when I was fitting the other one.

It needed to stay but it made going to the loo interesting.

When finished and second loo removed, the new shower could go back in where the toilet previously was and the back wall of the shower was now the dividing wall to the boiler room.

The finished bath, shower, oh, and the TV.

 Getting the plumbing right was an education in itself. I spent a long time getting my head around the plumbing system and then actually fitting it all and neatly at that.

I have to say, I am quite proud of this.

I finished the room off as an airing cupboard. Karen is happy. (it is removable too !)

July 2016:
We were surprised to see that our new village has an annual carnival. The real good bit is that there is a mobile bar on the green too.  It is not a massive affair but it is ours (I can say that now we live here).

Then it was a trip to Duxford to look at some fantastic flying machines. These are ones that for various reasons have meaning for me (Ray).

This is an English Electric Canberra. We sold one to the Argentinian air force. They used it in the Falklands war and I watched it fly over us whilst in a foxhle in San Carlos. I also saw it blown to bits by a Sea Cat missile from one of our ships in the harbour.

This is an Avro Vulcan Bomber. Its job in the Royal Air Force was to deliver the early British nuclear bombs in the event of a nuclear war. It was used in the Falklands to bomb Port Stanley having travelled further that any aircraft in history. I had the privelege of helping to fill the hole in that it left behind.

This is a Harrier attack aircraft. I saw it in action during the Falklands campaign. I also worked with then in Germany  during the cold war, putting in landing pads and strips.

August 2016:
Trula, Jim and Paige came to visit and we went to the beach to swim with the seals. This was followed by the obligatory trip to the Nelsons Head pub.

 
September 2016:
My best friend Taff and I, decided to take a nostalgic walk over the Brecon beacons. However, unlike most people, we decided it would be a good idea for two daft old men to sleep out in the woods for a couple of days, military style.
It took a while to get to where we wanted to set out from. It was very dark when we selected this 'slightly' sloping site. It rained all the way in and all night long too.

It pissed down all night. Taff called it "liquid sunshine". I worry about that boy.

I weigh about twice what Taff does. Makes it harder going up hill but I am less likely to be blown away.

Here we are, a nostalgic trip to 'The Fan'.

This was about the best view we had.

There was a lake here when we went to bed.

October 2016
It is the time of year that my elder brother has his now annual midlife crisis. He is 68 yers old and it's  time to drag his banger racing car out from under the covers and get it ready for the next veterans race at Essex Arena banger track.

At one time Bruce was British banger racing champion and as such has a very large following of (now) older fans. Once at the track, when his name was announced, there was cheering from all around the stadium. Thats me with my arm in the air trying to get some reflected glory !

The form up lap with much aplause.

He was doing quite well....

Till the clutch fried and he was going nowhere.

December 2015
We decided to make use of that blank wall at the back of the house and stick up a conservatory. The kit was complete aside from being sent some incorrect sized cosmetic parts. I managed to put most up by myself and putting the roof up was an education in stretching and ballancing.

Putting the glass into the roof was by far the scariest part. A 2.5m long double glazed panel weighs an awful lot and Karen and I prayed a lot as we hinged and slid them into place.

Once the shell was up it was all about being able to get inside it. We punched a hole in the outside wall and put a new door. Once that was in place, it was time to sort out the electrics and then plaster the wall over. This was the final result.

Then it was the turn of the floor. Karen picked these shiny floor boards and when down they look great.

We now have an extra room for use in the summer and we are very pleased with it.

The next job we had was sorting out the problem of the third bedroom coming off of the kitchen. Time to punch another hole in the wall. We knocked through into the living room and managed to use the original door and all the original trimmings so it fitted in with everything else. It was then a simple matter of bricking up the old doorway and plastering over it. This effectively made the usefull part of the kitchen much larger. The floor was laid with the same boards as the conservatory.