Nick's Notes

[Nick]

Hey Nick.  Are you furloughed?

Yes, we got furloughed on 22nd December with the idea that we'd be back on 4th January. Obviously that isn't happening so got to make the most of it.
Only getting 80% of my standard pay but it's better than nothing.

[TheChronicOne]

Knocking out them house projects has a satisfaction of its own so its good to see you knocking them out!

[kitbasher]

Sorry to hear that, Nick.  Tough times for so many people.  My daughter has been in and out of furlough; she works for a theatre and as you can guess there's huge uncertainty as to when things may look to getting back to so kind of normal.

TheChronicOne's right.  I know my current circumstances are different to yours but there is satisfaction to be had from getting that sort of stuff done (I've decided to redecorate the house from top to bottom).

Meanwhile I hope you feel that furlough can be put to good use, Nick - time to do stuff for yourself, basically.  I know there's a financial penalty so fingers crossed furlough will be over sooner rather than later.

[Nick]

Sorry to hear that, Nick.  Tough times for so many people.  My daughter has been in and out of furlough; she works for a theatre and as you can guess there's huge uncertainty as to when things may look to getting back to so kind of normal.

I get how that feels, so many of my friends and workmates are actors or theatre professionals and they've been truly hit by this. I do not know what they are living on as they are only part-time at work and would only get a pittance on furlough.
One of my friends usually does Pantomime in a 1500 seat theatre, this year it had to be an online show instead which was odd without an actual audience there.

Another mate is a stage manager and she's been ready to open a new West End show 3 times now but each time it got stopped at the last minute. Very frustrating. Her friend was lucky to get a well paid but short job on a TV set - the 12 hour live broadcast of The Third Day starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris.

I am not ready to redecorate this house, I did it 5 years ago and that was painful enough!

The freezer defrost worked well. Two hours with a fan heater released 12 litres of water and ice 
We chucked out a few very old items and I worked out I could live for a month with what we have in the two freezers.

[Rheged]

The freezer defrost worked well. Two hours with a fan heater released 12 litres of water and ice 
We chucked out a few very old items and I worked out I could live for a month with what we have in the two freezers.

I have to do our big freezer in the next few days, and I'm not looking forward to it.   Repeatedly reaching down to the bottom of a chest freezer  tells you exactly how they got their name, even at 6 foot tall.      My little sister (5 feet and 1/2 inch) reports that she needs someone standing by to grab her ankles if she has to access the lowest point of her freezer.

[Nick]

The freezer defrost worked well. Two hours with a fan heater released 12 litres of water and ice 
We chucked out a few very old items and I worked out I could live for a month with what we have in the two freezers.

I have to do our big freezer in the next few days, and I'm not looking forward to it.   Repeatedly reaching down to the bottom of a chest freezer  tells you exactly how they got their name, even at 6 foot tall.      My little sister (5 feet and 1/2 inch) reports that she needs someone standing by to grab her ankles if she has to access the lowest point of her freezer.

Do you need to bail it out with a bucket or does it have a drain plug?

[PR19_Kit]

A foot operated bilge pump is a much better solution. I have one that we bought for use on a rather leaky holiday hire boat on  the Broads one year.

[Rheged]

The freezer defrost worked well. Two hours with a fan heater released 12 litres of water and ice 
We chucked out a few very old items and I worked out I could live for a month with what we have in the two freezers.

I have to do our big freezer in the next few days, and I'm not looking forward to it.   Repeatedly reaching down to the bottom of a chest freezer  tells you exactly how they got their name, even at 6 foot tall.      My little sister (5 feet and 1/2 inch) reports that she needs someone standing by to grab her ankles if she has to access the lowest point of her freezer.

Do you need to bail it out with a bucket or does it have a drain plug?

It does have a plug, but that's usually frozen solid.  I do have an electric drill powered pump I bought many years ago  which still works if you take time to prime it properly.  The waste tube goes out of the back door.  My sister uses a home made scoop and bucket

[TheChronicOne]

Sorry to hear that, Nick.  Tough times for so many people.  My daughter has been in and out of furlough; she works for a theatre and as you can guess there's huge uncertainty as to when things may look to getting back to so kind of normal.

TheChronicOne's right.  I know my current circumstances are different to yours but there is satisfaction to be had from getting that sort of stuff done (I've decided to redecorate the house from top to bottom).

Meanwhile I hope you feel that furlough can be put to good use, Nick - time to do stuff for yourself, basically.  I know there's a financial penalty so fingers crossed furlough will be over sooner rather than later.

Cheers!! As luck would have it, it's what I'm doing today in fact! Also, about 2 months ago I re-did the whole upper level of the house and now that I've been getting back into building(models, naturally) the neatness, organization, and peace of mind from the completed projects has helped recover my mojo.

My fingers are crossed as well for our buddy Nick! As luck would have it, I learned a couple days ago that I have been furloughed as well so if anything we can all sort of stick together, as it were, here and bide our time building, chatting, and getting chores done.


Anyway.... Nick, have 'fun' with the de-frost. I have two little dorm fridges that seem to grow ice at an unreasonable rate.... maybe I should do mine again, they need it... I hate defrosting them. I normally drag them out on the front porch in the Summer and let the heat do it but they're damned heavy and a bit bulky so I think I'll learn from you and try a better way.....

[Nick]

Today, that is Thursday, which I thought was Wednesday and really baffled myself over why episode 4 of 5 Winter Walks was being shown then because if episode 1 was on Monday then surely today should be episode 3 but no I seem to have missed out on Monday. It is now Friday but very early as it's taken me so long to write this. 
Errr I was going somewhere with this.... 

Oh yeah, I built an arch for the garden. 35 pieces of cheap metal pipe held together with a lot of cheap screws. Quite wide and it is supposed to be 2m tall but is more like 2.5 metres. Tomorrow, or later today as it is now Friday AM, I have to stick it in the garden and train the rose bush to climb up it.
Not sure how you train a plant but as I assume you use a chair and whip as a rose bush has spiky things like a lion has teeth 

[PR19_Kit]

You have to look VERY sternly at it and speak firmly. 

[scooter]

You have to look VERY sternly at it and speak firmly. 

A rolled up newspaper helps as well.  But only once in a while, and only when speaking firmly and looking very stern don't work.

[NARSES2]

Not sure how you train a plant but as I assume you use a chair and whip as a rose bush has spiky things like a lion has teeth 

You can always try bribery, although flattery tends to work with roses. If all else fails just chain it to a wall until it learns to behave. Used to work in the Tower or so I'm told 

[Rheged]

Not sure how you train a plant but as I assume you use a chair and whip as a rose bush has spiky things like a lion has teeth 

You can always try bribery, although flattery tends to work with roses. If all else fails just chain it to a wall until it learns to behave. Used to work in the Tower or so I'm told 

Tie it to the garden arch and cut off the bits that go rampaging off in unwanted directions.  So says Madame R, who does have a botany degree!!

[Nick]

For all you twitchers out there, here are some of the birds to be seen in my garden. You can see part of the arch that we put in the ground and trailed the rose up one side and the clematis (I thought it was a weed!) up the other.
As Mrs Rheged wisely advised we will be out here with snippers as and when needed. I'm actually happier with this arch as it is much wider and taller than the previous one.

Annoyingly the Woodpecker had flown by the time I got the camera out and we saw no Parakeets or Wrens today. Didn't get photos of the Crow or Raven either.

Great Tits 



Blue Tit



Starlings



Goldfinches





Nutjob the Squirrel. I once saw her arguing with a Crow over some nuts.


Magpie. Too sensible to get in a fight with the flock of starlings.