After the inspection, yesterday, Monica asked me to make a couple of queen excluders for her hives; a quick job before elevenses. Just as I was milling the last rebate in twenty boards, she popped in to say she was on the way to market and pointed out that there were design criteria for the excluders that I hadn’t been told about. A wasted mornings work, unfortunately. Monica drove off to market while I fumed over a pot of tea. I had to redesign the components and mill up another lot of boards.
To reward my effort, a parcel was delivered containing the wood stain that would turn the previously-rejected tote into an item of furniture plus a couple of Stanley spokeshaves. While the excluder frames were gluing up, I flattened the backs of the blades and sharpened them roughly. They will join the green woodworking kit, once I have some old, wooden shaves and travishers in the joinery.
After staining the tote dark mahogany, to match the parlour furniture (it’s to become a kindling box), I was tired of the joinery and stepped out for another brew. The fence, started yesterday, needs to be completed and sheep-proof ASAP so I bargained with myself that, if it was earlier than two o’clock I’d go work on it today. It was twenty to five!
I was less grumpy after an Eccles cake but Monica was still tiptoeing around me. After the market, she disappeared up the hill to continue beating up the hedge. She chose neutral territory for the evening, offering a trip to the movies to see the Spooks film (three DAVES: not enough better than the TV series to justify being in the cinema).
The fence will have to be done tomorrow. I hope to get the field at lock 35 done, then move some materiel to lock 34 on Monday. Apart from a bit of fence behind the house which blew down recently, I have no need of the rest of the wood and am thinking about a design to turn it into benches.