Wedges and Green Goo

Four more pictures from last week just to fill in a bit of detail.

1) The low-tech wedge arrangement used to push all the floor boards up tight to each other before they were nailed down. An off cut of wood is cut through at an angle to make 2 wedges. This is nailed down to the joists just 'off-shore' of the new boards. A 2nd chunk of wood is placed between butting up to the new boards. The wedge is then driven in between the offcut and the new board, forcing these to tighten up to the ones you are kneeling on, which are already nailed down. No gaps!

2) This is the view north from the caravan. It will also therefore be the view from Mum's proposed kitchen-garden when we've finished wrecking the place and turned it back from building site into Garden-of-Eden. Our land finishes at the hawthorn hedge. The rest of the farm (the 10 acres or so we didn't buy) runs down the slope to the stream and back up a bit into the peat-cutting bogs you can see here. In the distance are some forestry and then the town of Ballaghaderreen, with low hills beyond that, by which time you're into Counties Mayo and Sligo. This is the view we want to keep clear in our gardening and 'borrow from' for our views as if we owned the place. This field is going to be our mixed fruit orchard with or without hot and cold running chickens and lambs, but we will leave an 'avenue' un-planted so that we can see this view.

3)Last thing Friday Sparks started to build stud walling on the main bedroom side of the hall. He would like to point out that the drunken looking upright on the left of the picture is not actually fixed in place yet. He does not want anyone to get the idea he can't do verticals.

4)...and finally a picture of the green goo with which we have protected the ends of our new joists. This is wood preservative, so we guess some kind of kill-all-known-germs stuff which kills woodworm and prevents re-attack but is dyed green just so you can see where you have painted it on. You larrup it on fairly thick especially on the grain ends.

But that's enough writing for one weekend. More from me next Friday or Saturday.
Deefs