El Nino Undercover

After weeks away from the house (largely due to the Gathering, which I still need to blog about!) we had set aside this weekend (01/02 Sept) to catch up with things around FTC.

I had had 4 roof sheet leant up against the racecar shack for a number of weeks now, and I was especially keen to get them in place so I could start to think about actually rebuilding El Nino.

Knowing I needed to leave some room for the fig tree I only intended to stick 3 of the 4 in place.  They went up nice and quickly, which for the first time presented me with a usable space that offered protection from the elements for the racecar.

With the shacks roof in place it was time to raise the bus roof off the top of the chassis.  A combination of ratchet straps and blue poly rope soon had the roof nestled into the joists of the car port.

This uncovered the collection of logs, hardcore and general tat that had gathered under and around the chassis.

That was how it looked yesterday.  We had Fred and Lyd visiting today and so I wanted to get an early start.  I visited Bryn last week who kindly donated a huge banner to me.  Its a real fine mesh that keeps wind and rain (and prying eyes) out, but lets a nice amount of light through.  I am really pleased with how it works, I'm even kinda looking forward to it raining to see how much extra protection it offers.

With that sorted I set about cleaning up the general area.  The remainder of last years wood supply was taken to the log store, kindling was chopped and sorted, and then I set about clearing the area nearest the path.  Not bad for a few hours work.

 

I have enquired about a price for having the chassis blasted and primered.  If I get a good price and it goes away for blasting I am VERY tempted to have a concrete base laid whilst I have the space free!  Have to wait and see on that one though, in the meantime I need to finish clearing the area around it.

July 2012 @ FTC

OK, so this is late.  So late I nearly need to do my "August 2012 @ FTC" post.  Although that will be easy, I shall simply write "the Gathering happened" with links to photos and show reports.

Anyway, in July ....

The kids enjoyed yoghurt.

 Esme cruised.

 Alfie climbed (no surprise there then!)

The racecar shack took another step forward with the completion of the structure and another roofing section going up.

And after being quoted £40 by Stevenage Glass the caravan even got a new window!

Alfie got the best present ever.  He has a real thing for bins.  No, that isn't a typo.  He is obsessed with bins, with opening bins, with organising bins, with spotting bin men, and best of all watching men on bin day.  And so I went looking for a bin lorry for him.  Thankfully Wow! toys do the best toy ever.  Alfie still managed to find fun with the box though!

We had a tiny break in the non-stop wet summer which enabled the kids to play in the splash pool.  Thanks to our friend Michelle, who was wonderful and brought us chocolate brownie that day, for the photos!

It was also the month Tash went back to work, securing a job at Thomsons.  We celebrated by buying her a bike.  Then we all rode to Baldock and ate fish and chips.  Oh yes, we are rock AND roll!

 

And as I mentioned in my Olympics post we spent a nice afternoon around London after watching the Equestrian.  We visited the Cutty Sark, which was just awesome, and finished the day off with the best ever pie and mash from the best ever pie and mash shop! 

 

 

Racecar Shack Build, Day Two

Weekend just gone (Oct 29/30) Bill paid FTC a visit to help me complete the first stage of the racecar shack build.

This is where we got up to last time if you don't remember.

In the few weeks since his first visit I'd sorted 8 metal roofing sheets, the 'special' nails for the sheets, as well as the hangers and wood for us to erect another joist.

Friday night was a little later than planned, and that plus an early Saturday morning F1 Quali session saw us a little slow to start.  We quickly realised we were light on wood for the noggings so decided on a swift visit to wickes ... and calculated en-route (with the use of a dusty Benz dashboard) that if we could get 360cm lengths of wood we would be able to notch them - and the joists - and get everything to interlock nicely.  This was a little too much use of the little grey cells for such an early hour, and so after loading the wood into the Benz we dived into the adjacent fast food retaurant for a flame grilled wopper!

Once we got back lunch time was fast approaching and so we got busy erecting the second joist;

and then notched our first nogging;

 

followed by notching of the joists;

and nogging No1 was in place by the time round two of burgers were ready (this time flame grilled on the Barbie!)

With one already done we were quickly into our rhythm;

 

and the remaining notching went super fast ... but it always helps when Tim from next door passes over a couple of pints!

With the woodwork complete it was time to throw the tin sheets up!

And 45 mintes later we had a full roofed front section of the shack!

Now's time to get the Fig Tree moved, and then the rest of the shelter can be erected up to the barn.  More tin sheets will go down to extend the roofing and it'll be an awesome usable waterproof space!  By the end of the day Bill and I were pretty proud of our achievements, its just a shame this photo only accomodates one - thanks though mate, I couldn't have done it without you!!

Racecar Shack Build, Day One

For a long time now I've wanted to get a shelter built off the back of the barn.  A place for the racecar to live, and somewhere for me to start its rebuild with a roof over my head.

Short of funds for a complete garage to be built I decided a carport would be a suitable solution to the problem.  A recent call to Bill had him booked in to help out with the erection and a phone call to Less2Build had the materials with me by Thursday.

On Saturday morning it was time to clear some space!

And got the woodburner fired up to give us a helping hand.

We spent a while measuring everything out, working our which way the posts were going to line.  With the barn and the adjacent fence not being at right angles we had to work out which way the 'square' of our four posts was going to line.  With everything planned I ran out to grab some postcrete whilst Bill went about digging some holes!

I returned to find all holes dug, and so we set about mocking up the posts and setting them into place.

 

 

With the posts set in place we went about measuring the joist position whilst accommodating a 6 inch slope for the rainwater run off.

It was looking good, and Bill gave it the thumbs up!  Proper job!

It was about this time I learnt a valuable lesson.  When tapping coachbolts into place don't leave a lump hammer on the top of the step ladder ... cos if you lose your bearings and try and step off the wrong side of the step ladder not only will you fall on the floor, but the step ladder will also fall on top of you throwing said lump hammer right between your legs from about 5ft up!

Once I'd finished jumping about and my voice had dropped back down to a normal level we got everything finished off.

All properly finished off with recessed coachbolts and right angle brackets in the corners!

With everything done for the day we made the most of the last half hour of daylight to try and remove some off the abundance of tree and shrubbery near the fig tree.  I'm pleased to say that most of the budlia is now gone!  Its amazing what a few blokes can do with a piece of rope and a bit of heave-ho!

Next up is to move the fig tree, and then the whole carport will be extended to join the barn. In the meantime I'll probably add another joist, brace it with a few noggins, and then lay a nice tin roof over what we've already built.  A perfect shack to build a racecar under!