Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

Saturday saw an equally good day's progress ....



ripping into the 'corner' I'd had to negotiate on the hop down/up ......





and still nicely on the rock bed








stuff it in and pat it down .... I've managed to get all the loads up the drive and into the field, without dribbling a trail of 'breadcrumbs' the length of the route ..... and making a mess


getting in there quietly


and keeping 'em stuffed ...... this is a hell of a pull up the one part of the drive .... 'kin steep


runing out of day .... getting on for 8p.m. ........ my self imposed curfew on the dulcet tones of the 'Drema for the neighbour's ears


quick edge tidy .....


ramp it off slightly .. and the front end sort of half hopped, half drove down ..... back end still needs lifting down though ... the legs drag otherwise


starting to get a perspective of how decent a size piece of ground me yard's going to end up at ..... and still a fair bit to trim out around the edges ..... once I can relocate all the crud sat on it currently
Looks bigger with it all at a much lower level


yet another burning session, for all the day's rubbish excavated


and here's a shot of the boulder 'pavement' that's still left embedded and below the required level ..... they'm staying put and'll make a decent base to hardcore onto


Almost like it's been laid ........ by a glacier in my opinion

Sunday ..... as usual is 'quiet day' ..... other than getting all the bloody mowing done and half a day on't strimmer too, sorting some edges that haven't been massacred yet this season.
Neighbours'll be glad to listen to the 'Drema, after that buzzy lil' bugger for an afternoon

Pam's Birthday today, so Monday had already been commandeered as a 'day out' shopping/whatever, but ended up as a day at the coast with her daughter, SIL and Clara .....



....not a bad day TBH .... I don't 'do' beach holidays, but a day relaxing (sort of) as much as you can, with the 'energiser baby' on full charge, tearing about was quite fun.

As said 'the day' is today, but Pam's declared she's having a 'birth week' this year ... a week to celebrate her B/day

Clara day today, as usual .... both totally wrecked this morning .... been 30+C here the last two days and having been woken by Pam at 3 a.m. ..... to see if I was awake had just about gotten back to sleep by 4 when the dawn chorus kicked off, closely followed by my phone, with Vicki's shop's alarm system's auto-dial-er informing me of an issue with one of its sensors ..... *@*%$!+* thing ..... spoke to her, who was 'en route' to reset the bloody thing and asked her to let me know all was alright, which she diligently did .... 'bout 5 a.m., just as I was dropping off again .. not gonna be long from my 'pit' tonight, but still 26C and real sticky .... fan on overtime tonight.

Lil' 'un's been her usual busy self all day .....

spot of gardening ...






followed by her usual inspection of the "digger Grand dad" ...









....and the "dumper grand dad"







The cats have had the best method of coping with the heat these last few days ..... crash and chill ......



Seems to work well ... for them anyway.
No mention of an agenda for the morrow, so far and talk of 'doing her gardens' .... so hopefully ..... I might get that last bit down to the rock bed tomorrow

Thursday's another Clara day and we're off to Plymouth for the weekend, to Pam's son's ..... Glastonbury weekend FFS .... M5 is gonna be hell.

Clara, Vicki and her hubby have the best deal .... cat/house sitting here, for the weekend

So ........... If i don't get any 'Drema time tomorrow ...... Gonna be Monday at the earliest, to get that last dozen loads (for now at least) out and up to the tip area !!

Time for bed !!

[ianoz]

You been Photoshopping the Sky again ?
Great progress . I can see the cogs turning in ya head as you start Picturing the Shed in place .

[Muz]

As said 'the day' is today, but Pam's declared she's having a 'birth week' this year ... a week to celebrate her B/day

I'm thinking of doing the same, mine was yesterday, .. into the next decade now and it always falls around fathers day .. so I never get the benefit of the good lady fussing over me as it gets lost in the ether of birthdayness .. now if I tried that when mothers day comes around oh boy !

[v8druid]

You been Photoshopping the Sky again ?
Great progress . I can see the cogs turning in ya head as you start Picturing the Shed in place .

aye coming along Ian ...

'Drema has been performing awesomely well .....

sky was just amazing the other night ... have had a few good ones of late but that was something else ....

only cogs going round of late have been the slew pinion, all the ones in the Deutz & Perky and the tranny in the Thwaites ... mine have just been in 'digging mode'

[v8druid]

I'm thinking of doing the same, mine was yesterday, .. into the next decade now and it always falls around fathers day .. so I never get the benefit of the good lady fussing over me as it gets lost in the ether of birthdayness .. now if I tried that when mothers day comes around oh boy !

Happy Hatching Day Muz ... can see your problem .... so what's the eighth decade like then mate

Sister in law said to me the other week, when I turned 60 .... "you'll get two things ... yer bus pass and the bowel cancer screening pack in the post with in a few days"

She was right ..... pack in the post within 3 days ...... haven't gone and collected me bus pass yet .... worth having by all accounts ... 1/2 price rail fares too



You'd only get away with the Mother's day bit once Muz ... or about 30 seconds

[v8druid]

Well I did get me 'Drema time Wednesday and this was the score at the end of the day this evening





been trying to get Photo****ingbucket to work for days and upload Wednesday's exploits!!

Have eventually gotten there, so here goes with what got did, .........

Got meself back on me lil' island tump, where I'd hopped down from Saturday, to clear alongside me, to give myself a level to pull to, to rip out the tump. .......







'fore clambering back down ......



and giving the last of that level the old heave ho !!



ready to load it out .....



field tip area is filling nicely .....



but by the time I'd gotten the last of this lot out, ........



could do with another 6-ish loads up there to spread out and get a good flat area everywhere on the next 'push' with JakieB

lots of tidying edges etc. to sort yet and sift through the rubble pile too, to get that area down, so's I can get that hardcored

nice to see it getting down somewhere near the level though .....





score at the end of the day ....... plus 20 loads as said



found what I was worried might be a spring in the one corner




but was no worse the next day, so I'm guessing it was just a pocket of water, trapped in the shale.



the area didn't look quite as large once I'd parked the P38 and trailer in there, full of all the strimmer's victims,






ready for the application of some heat treatment

[AndrewMawson]

I could do with all that spoil that you're pulling out Druid !

leveling up a pad for a new 40 X 45 foot tractor shed and so far had four eight wheeler Ro-Ro's in but reckon that we need another six or eight !!

the haulers love it as its free tipping, but seem to have run out of clean subsoil locally :(

Anyone moving spoil near TN33 please let me know :)

[v8druid]

I could do with all that spoil that you're pulling out Druid !

leveling up a pad for a new 40 X 45 foot tractor shed and so far had four eight wheeler Ro-Ro's in but reckon that we need another six or eight !!

the haulers love it as its free tipping, but seem to have run out of clean subsoil locally :(

Anyone moving spoil near TN33 please let me know :)

Pity you're not closer Boyo ....... still got plenty to come out, but think the haulage might take the shine off it

[v8druid]

well, I got some time in the seat today ..... been away in Plymouth all weekend .... spotted this in Tavistock .... leaf lifter/rake .. apparently automated, but wasn't functioning Sunday








nice piece of engineering


few more loads out this afternoon .....





and the ol' clock is creeping around quietly .....





doesn't seem like five minutes since I tripped 5000 hrs with her.


batter got some attention to start with ..... Gonna need the tilty on for a final finish off .... just can't get the angle for some of it !!





before turning my attention to sifting / sorting through the rubble (and crap) pile ..... slow ol' job !!








ended up with a damned good load in the Thwaites and now need to try and decide WTF to stockpile this lot, as there's gonna be a lot more of these to lose / park some where, for now!!





Also ended up with a lot more blockwork for crushing too :thumme: ...... Clara day tomorrow so doubt i'll get a lot done !!

[v8druid]

well the inevitable has occurred ...... the dry spell has 'broken' and it has 'kin leathered it down here, all night.
Just stopped and after a brief inspection the carnage, is not quite as bad as expected ..... but bloody wet all the same







certain areas with just the shale showing look like they'll dry pretty quick .... yon pond's a different matter ... gonna need to drain that, unless it filters away quickly and what was nice talcum dust is now slop!!

more forecast 'til Saturday and it's going to be sometime before i can get on it .... or the field tip, again


forgot to say earlier ..... found these two lil' buggers when we got back from Plymouth Sunday night ..... expired on a window sill ...



.... the bomber squadron's numbers are diminishing quietly

[v8druid]

if these buggers ever arrive here .... best go out and buy a flame thrower .





Asian Hornet ..... 2" long

it's been a wet week (which's kept said hornets grounded ).... 'til yesterday and yon pond's a good 9" deep in the corner, having followed the rock bed .... and it's bloody slope !!


No chance of getting back up on there, for a while, so decided, having given it some thought, to shift JakieB out of his parking spot ...
... and sub. humper-dumper in the spot, which'd free up some room for a large pile of stone/rubble.


easiest solution was to sling Humper and pick him into spot, having turned him around, for a better fit .....





should've blocked the rear end's articulation, to keep it a bit more level .... will do next time!!




Didin't realise the 'Drema had quite so much of a lean on .... 'til i got out to juggle the HD around ....... felt fine !!





this should do nicely for some rock relocation and'll be convenient for crusher parking, at a later date too ....





Should think the Thwaites was well pleased to be emptied in here after .... been full of stone for several days .... and I mean full !!




next on the damp-ish agenda was dealing with the large pile of concrete block rubble I'd accumulated, so far, on't 'Druid's Anvil' ... ready for crushing .....





which had turned into a sizable pile of crush, by tea time .... hadn't been able to get started 'fore lunchtime !!





finished off what was left, this afternoon, after Clara'd departed, 'bout half four and also ripped out some of the side of the ramp, that also crushes well





a judicious amount of pressure on said materials, between the back of the edge and the anvil and just roll it back and fore a bit and it all just 'dissolves' into crush.


shifted the resultant pile out the way, for now........





.... so's I could get further forward and spun the bucket around, to lob a few loads of rocks into it, out the pile and dropped 'em into the new heap, 'fore the bell for tea.




need to rip some more out of the ramp edge tomorrow and crush that, as it comes out,





so's I can get further forward, with the 'Drema, onto the anvil and the boulder pavement.
Then I can get at yon rubble pile to sort it, 'til the upper level dries out, some more and re-locate some more bucketfuls of rocks.


job for the a.m. ...... bit late tonight, to go ripping into the rock bed ... bit noisy like !!

forgot to say .... the reason for the late start yesterday, was a big job on ... on the bench ....... new part arrived for the step daughters over-locker sewing machine ..... old one had broken ...





what a bitch of a job .... 'specially as I had no idea HTF this thing worked .... it sews with 5 different yarns ..... simultaneously!







three and a half hours, several screws, some of the fiddliest bits of metal in christendom,
me jeweler's screw drivers, fine tip pliers and several pairs of surgical forceps later and said new part was installed, with some key hole surgery
What a bloody contraption to work on !!!! the bit I had to replace was right in the middle of all that lot!!!!!


It got a test drive when Vicki came for Clara this afternoon and after a minor adjustment ....


said new part had a slotted mount hole and I'd no idea WTF the right position was, as what came out had the crucial 'datum point' missing .... literally!! ,


but it all worked a treat, with a bit of a fine tuning 'tweak' !!


Engineering at its finest .... some clever burger designed this weapon .... pretty amazing to see it work ..... and then mass produced every tiny component .....
there are some VERY clever people in this world !!!!!

[v8druid]

As usual ... Sunday was a no noise day, but warm and breezy and things were drying nicely.
Monday morning, all set for a n other go, when Pam wanted some time to lift and relay some of the patio slabs .... again !!
She'd got her grouting head on again!!!


so ... after mixing up 5 buckets of mix, lifting and relaying a lot of slabs and mixing yet another LARGE bucket of grout, I eventually got to start on my bits!!





sorting rubble, yet again ......





and finding some pretty large lumps I'd forgotten were in there ......





plus yet more lumps of block work for crushing





I also got a bit of the side of the ramp ripped out .... one layer is a very 'crushable' shaley sort of conglomerate, sat on top of some bloody hard rock, which is in turn sat on the boulder pavement .... some very odd colours in the shaley layer .... almost looks to have been in some sort of fire ... real black and 'cooked'. ???




getting a tidy pile of crushed material, aside from what I've already gotten spread about





Today ... wasn't a Clara day .... so managed to get on with some more .... top's dried out nicely and was an easier proposition sorting the crap pile from up top ....
been playing face shovels all day yesterday, with the bucket on back'ards, raking trough it





after having crushed yet another gert pile of blockwork, found today and gotten it spread out, I'm about where I want to be, height-wise ...
at the top of the boulder pavement's highest point ... me anvil !!





Might stick me beam over it tomorrow, but it ain't bad and will give me 3" - 4"+ of planings on top to bring it all up to level.
It's gonna roll down nicely, damp .... but not for a few days yet, I hope !!







the new rubble/rock pile grows ... and's got a bit more to go yet ... once I finish sorting the old pile and start ripping more beds out !





Got a new 'Att.' fitted this evening, having gotten the 'Drema level-ish on the freshly spread area, when I parked her up, before treatment this evening ...
lost 3 hrs to that and tea ....
bit late to crank her up again when we'd finished.


this should make for a real handy addition.
I'm happy enough eye-ing level, cross chassis, as you work, but getting it perfectly level, makes life so much easier.
the bulls-eye agreed with my 4ft level, when I glued it down !!





Crane drivers live and die by the bubble ....
it's gotta be perfect ...
or yer's gonna have trouble

[v8druid]

" It's my seat ... and you ain't having it!! " .....








Spent a couple of hours today trying to op. with Sparty on my lap, head butting the sticks and smudging his head against my hands!! AGAIN !!


Daren't put him down .... has no regard for wheels, is going deaf and is phased by now't !!!


was pulling a load against the blade yesterday, only to see him appear behind the blade, from under the chassis


One crazy cat.


have had a reasonable day, demolishing the crap pile and stoning up me drainage channel .... pix tomorrow ... bed time!!

[v8druid]

well didn't get a chance to put them pix up yesterday ... Clara day and I grabbed a couple of hours while she was eating and napping after, to massacre the grass .....



lawn is green and the side of the drive'd been mix of fresh cut and the last cut's results, collected up 'gingerly' with the Countax.
Unreal the amounts they produce in a week, especially as it's been so dry .... which brings me to the point ..... totally wiped out yesterday afternoon / night .... so dusty, it kicked off me hayfever-like allergy to whatever the **** causes it.
3 loo rolls yesterday and another half-ish one this morning, before it settled down !!

equipped for a snotty day this morning .....



anyway ... Wednesday as i said was spent sorting the crap pile yet again and getting me drainage channel sorted, so's I can get on there more easily.



sorted what I could from below and tossed it all about a bit to separate some of the crap, then headed up top, got meself nice and level - it was perfect, just didn't line up the camera lens accurately enough to get it .....



..... and cut a drainage channel to empty the pond up there, so's I could toss and stockpile the rest of the heap and separate the remainder ....










water away and pile dimishing rapidly .....


managed a couple of hours yesterday evening, after Clara'd departed to load out what I'd sorted Wednesday and get it up the field ..... just about, through streaming eyes and mega snotty nose ..... looked like it was gonna pee down and wanted it gone, whilst it was nice and dry.


Allergy'd receded a bit this morning, but not enough to not take a loo roll with me .... drip, drip, drip is bloody annoying and that's with the max daily dose of Cetirizene every day !!


Have had me co-pilot with me most of the day - AGAIN !!





either on me lap, up on me chest, or stretched out under me feet ....




better in the cab though than wandering about on the chassis... or worse still ... under it. have had to get out several times today, if he'd disappeared, to make sure he wasn't under the 'Drema .... or its wheels !!


anyways .... pile finally sorted ......



lots more blockwork to crush .. the last of it ....





and got the batter trimmed up and drainage channel tidied up, ready for some stone .....





now got to get some crazy paving down, on the rest of it, ready to spread some crush over, but can at least do that from the hard stand now, if it rains ..... which it's been threatening to do most of the evening, since about six.

The 'Drema's clocked up another 24 hrs in the last few days ...



which is a lot for me, when you consider, I'm on / off her and the dumper like the proverbial fly


Another nine loads got sorted and tipped out of the crap pile ..... amazingly !!





Time for JakieB to get deployed to the field for a flattening session ... there's a lot to flatten !!


was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get to this point ... no crap pile and looking a hell of a lot better ....





the rubble pile also grows inexorably .....





and will grow a lot more when I start ripping into the rock beds, under the next layer ... the shaley sort of conglomerate, I'm currently driving over !!


Let's hope the weather holds up !!

[v8druid]

had a few hours with JakieB yesterday afternoon, flattening some of the tip area out ..... jeez it was hot ......



By half four me and Jakie'd had enough and headed back down the house for a shower. ..... but not before a certain lil' girl and her mate had had a play .....





.... in the "other one digger"

next generation BHL op in the making ???



was all too much for one lil' fella ....



..... he settled down there about 5, was still snoring when we went out at 6:15 with some friends, for the evening, so had to make provision for one 14 yr old mog to get down under his own steam !!
He's not as sprightly as he was !!



trying to sort this out for Sparts, with t'other lil' un yelling "digger, digger Grand dad"



'Snoozymog' was still spark out, when we got back from our meal about half nine ......... and eventually 'strolled' down his gang plank as it was getting dark, miaowling for his tea !!

I'm coming back as a pampered house cat ... it doesn't get much better eh !!