Undergrowth now gone

At the front of my house i had a small garden if you would call it that. Actually it was more like an undergrowth so thick that squatters could hide in it and not be found. using some serious weed killer and not an AK47 to kill the undergrowth.  I decided that not being a gardener i would cover it with a black membrane and cover that with chipping or as it's called here Brita so that's what i did but i ordered to much chippings.

This was taken from my bedroom window and it does look so much better now. I have an Acer tree but need a much bigger pot to put it in and that will go in the centre then that's job done.

I have a friend and when ever gardening is mentioned my answer is always the same put concrete down and paint it green. simple solution to me because i hate gardening and what do i do Chipping Oh well at least i did something.









My friend has had his house painted and to make the job easy my suggestion was to get some Graffiti painter to do it but supply the paint for them. All he had to do was give them white paint and the job would some be done.but did he listen thank God he didn't i would have got the blame if it was the wrong shade.

Screwfix Haha customer service stinks

For about 25 years I had at one point two Franchises with Bargain Booze who are the largest drinks company in the UK. The one thing that's most important was customer service and getting comments from Bargain Booze when someone called them to say what great service we gave them was well received by all the staff.

Well this is not a story about myself and Bargain Booze but it's a story about Screwfix. The thing I wanted is not a stock item so it had to be delivered to the local store the next day. I have no problem with the staff or any part of the transaction my problem is with waiting for a reply to there being a problem with a part of the machine I treated myself to. I emailed soon after opening the parcel that UPS delivered.

A vital part that has to be fitted to the machine to allow it to be switched on was damaged and as it was in the main body of the machine I was surprised to find a damaged part included in the packaging. It's now 24 hours and I haven't had a reply to my email about the damage and when I checked my email I found no reply yet.

This story will continue

An Early Christmas present to myself

While I was in Liverpool recently to see my Mum I decided to buy myself a new piece of equipment for my workshop. Since Chicco is now unable to work I have nowhere to get wood cut and planed any more I decided to get something to make life easy. I treated myself to a planer thicknesser.

Buying this should make getting so many jobs completed that have remained waiting for attention for so long.

Lots of YouTube watched

After telling a friend how difficult I was finding bricklaying he volunteered to come round and show me where I was going wrong. It seems my mistake was in not using enough water and my mix was a little to dry.

Now I know what to do I brick halfway up a door way and did quite a good job I think. The door being metal is being left as it gets the morning sun and get quite hot and that will help keep the room warm. The room will be fully insulated and hopefully the heat in the room will keep the water warm.

I do have a backup plan should I need to add heat to the room I will have a water solar panel but hopefully it won't be needed.

It's been delivery day

Today was a busy day. I have finally got rid of all the undergrowth in the front of my house I normally recommend fill it with concrete and paint it grass green. Today I put down a huge sheet of black plastic and had a one and a half metres  of chipping or Brita as its called here. With look all the chipping and plastic sheet should keep the weeds away. As a backup I have a very good weed killer to get rid if anything comes back.

On the same delivery came a pallet of blocks enough to finish my first tank. After years of keeping dwarf  Cichlids and successfully breeding many I am tempted to keep some larger fish. Arowanas come to mind or maybe Oscars or Pacu.

This is a Pacu  they grow really big and eat vegetables and fruit.












But the fish stocking will be a long time off I am looking at next summer before I am ready to look at getting fish.

The shadows are because it's been another sunny day
















When I ordered the blocks I didn't know how many came on a pallet but it turns out to be 108 blocks and after a rough calculation that should just about do it. If I have any blocks over I have another long term project they can be used for.

Now it's my turn to graft

Well here it is the start of my big build to build myself a fish tank

I recently had a couple of local builder build the base for my new fish tank. Now it's time for me to do all the rest. I started on the side where the filter system will sit on top of the wall on the left. I am not by any means a builder I am sure even Bob the builder could do the job quicker but I will do my best.
In the room will be my washing machine and freezer so the heat from them will help keep the room warm. Hopefully by insulating the whole room I shouldn't need any heater for the water as the room temperature should be enough.


The walls of the tank are being insulated with 30mm of insulation and so will the walls and ceiling will have 30mm. The walls and ceiling will have a blue 30mm of insulation that is the same as 200mm of rockwool.
For the winter period as a backup I will make a radiator and connect to a solar panel but that's a long time away. The lighting and power for the filters will also be powered by solar but it's all 12v filters and pumps and the lighting will all be LED.

In answer to an email about my tank

I received an email from a friend as to my new fish tank. I took the opportunity to take some pictures from Youtube about someone who has a Koi tank much bigger than mine will be.

My tank will have it's glass at the top of the tank just like this one has.

My tank will have it's glass in the middle not to one side like this one.

More progress

I waited 24 hours after the base was laid before i could stand on it. I am a little excited now my tank is on its way now just the building to do.

Here i have put some bricks together to show how tall my tank is going to be. The tank should allow me a depth of between 90cm or 100cm.

I am going to have a window the depth of the yellow tape measure at the side of the bricks. The window will be 100cm X 50cm.

Hardcore

I am building a fish tank but not just any fish tank this will be about the biggest private fish tank in Portugal. Because of the weight of the tank and water i need a solid base and this will be about 2 ton. Then i h ave to build walls all the way round high enough so i have a water depth of about three feet.

When i was a teenager i had a number of tanks all small about 10 gallon but big enough for the size of fish i kept.

This tank will be big enough for any size fish not like the small fish I kept in the past. The tank will be 9ft X 6.6ft and 3ft deep.

This was done on the 3rd Nov by 2 local builders. It's something i wanted to do but it would have taken me a week and it had to be completed in one go not over a few days.

The 2 litre bottle is to show how big the fish tank will be.
I will insulate and build the walls myself but first the base has to set and dry.









If you have any ideas what I may put in my tank when it's ready then leave a comment.

This is a bread oven

I have been watching the process   at what was a ruin in my village. Outside of what will be the back door was a huge pile of earth and stone.

This is what was found after four truck loads of earth and stone had been removed to the tip. This was an old bread oven last used at least before 1979 when the house was last used.

We have now been told by the property owner next door that the bread oven dates back about 200 years. 

Also the oven would have provided bread for the whole village









As i helped in tracing the owners i have spoke to the soon to be new owner about keeping this important piece of village history.