Odd Jobs

Bitting and Bobbing
I've had a “bitting bobbing” day today, if there is such a thing.  Like some of the busiest days around the house it started off without any real plans. I just let the day unfold.
My first job was stocking up the sheep’s wool I have on top of a pile of logs at the far end of the garden.  It's a bit of a long story but I decided to stuff some cushions last year and in my pursuit to find a cheap natural filling material I contacted wool insulation companies an asked them for free samples.  They duly obliged and I had enough natural, undyed sheep’s wool to fill four good sized cushions, can't argue at that price. I never got around to making them up though so the wool has just been floating around the garage all winter.  I put a bit of it near to the compost bin last week ( iI couldn’t get the lid off, a common problem) and it was soon snapped up by the nesting birds who fluffed up mouthfuls and took them back to their nests.  Since then it's nearly all gone. There will be some very comfortable chicks around our garden this year.
The path to the log pile was an obstacle course as the dogs in their bored moments (they have a lot of them) decided to rip their foam bed apart and scatter the remains. It wasn't a cheap bed either but I'm sure there will be no objections from them when they are sleeping on an old towel. I spend a good twenty minutes putting the foam bits into a bag before the wind picks up and blows them over to the neighbours.

Bird House
I was now in the mood to do a bit of tidying in the garage out of the wind.  After a few minutes of just standing and staring at the mess I spot a bird house that I forgot we had. It's a well made, brightly coloured piece that should fit onto a large tree or wall.  As I was chainsaw happy last autumn we are now left with absolutely no trees in the garden except for a couple of low down stumps, which would be a perfect height for the dogs to poke their noses in, so I set about fitting the bird house high up on the garage wall underneath the eves. I did a bit of sealing around the edge of the roof of the wooden house with some silicone; I wouldn't like the thought of their natural sheep’s wool nest getting wet in the rain.

Frogspawn
My next unplanned job is to take the dogs onto the park and check on the frogspawn. There were a few places on the park where frogs had laid the spawn but only one place is surviving due to the dry weather we have had.  All barring this one puddle have dried up completely.  This one would have done too if it hadn't been for he vigilance and dedication of a few locals.  Every evening in the dry weather the men would come down into the park with large containers of water and keep the small pond filled up.  So far the tadpoles have survived drought, a tractor grass cutter driving through them, litter and dogs taking a drink. When it's warm the water bubbles with the sheer amount of activity. As I am in the park there's time to stop and have a natter with some other dog owners. that took a good hour.

Grease
When I got home, there was nothing pressing so decided that now was a good time to walk around with a large tin of grease. It's amazing where you can put a good dollop.  All of the garage door hinges needed doing and I remembered I need to lubricate the strimmer head.  I have had one seize up on me before and they are expensive to replace.  Keeping the grease levels up stops friction, If you get the urge, use the grease that copes with high temperatures as the heads get very hot under normal working condition which turns normal grease into a liquid. I grease the hinges of the gate next and realise that that is well overdue a coat of paint.  It's an ornate steel gate that has already got 20 layers of paint on it. I have a tin of rust resistant silver paint that I spotted in my visual tidy of the garage earlier. I had no paint brushes though, so it was off to the shop to get one to suit..that was another hour gone.

Back home and raring to go with the silver paint.  Applying just one coat takes a good hour as it's very fiddly.  After drinking tea and waiting for the paint to dry I needed to build up the height of the gate to stop the dogs jumping over it in their endless bids for freedom.  This took a while but I made what I think is a fine looking addition out of bendy white water pipe and one of my favourite accessory ever...good old cable ties, second only to Duct tape.  It's been a busy day, the sun is setting and I am ready for a rest.  It's amazing how busy you can be when you have nothing to do.