Vlog Episode 3 - Roof On

Catch my third vlog on youTube now!

This one is only short, just showing what I've been up to in the garden and the roof on the extension. 

Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see next time! 

Also please share it with your friends! 

Extension Progress - Roof On

Sorry it's been a quite week on the blog - I've been really busy! 

Managed to get the roof on the extension!

It's now felted and battened meaning that it's waterproof from the top and ready to tile! 

I still have a few things to do inside the roof (which I'll do tomorrow - Sunday). 

Here's some pictures of some of the frame work - 

Cuts on the jack rafters

Hip and jack rafters either side

Beams as ceiling binders but also to form a truss to support the purlins in the roof

Feels good to put a lid on the place and to be honest it's been one of the hardest little roofs I've done just because of how it cuts intot he old one and that it has purlins, I don't think I could have gone for a truss one just because of how complicated it is. 

I've also had a bit of help over the last week or so, so big thanks to Andy, Dill, Nick and Dave who've all come at different times to lend a hand, the days on my own always seem very slow by comparison! 

If I finish off a few structural things in the roof tomorrow I'll be pleased with how half term gone! Just the job of tiling to go on the roof then (as well as fitting gutters, etc) but that's not straight forward either! 

Look After Your Back

At the moment I feel about as strong as I ever have, I'm never going to be slim but I about the right size for my build and although my fitness could be better I still feel good in myself. 

Back in the summer I was mucking out a shed I'd used to keep sick sheep and lambs in during the spring when I was lambing. Whilst doing this I picked up too much on my muck fork and as I twisted to chuck it in the bucket of the tractor I felt my back twinge. This really knocked the wind out of my sails, for the next week or so it really slowed me down, everything was harder, I was hanging doors at work and I found lifting them difficult. 

This cleared up but then a couple of weeks ago I was loading out bricks on the the scaffold and had the same thing happen. It's better now but I've decided to get my back looked at. 

I always worry that I could have structural problems from a fall I had a few years ago (you can read about that here) and at 33 I need to use my back for a while longer yet so I decided to get it checked out properly by a chiropractor. 

We went through my history and he looked at my back and he thinks that my pelvis is out of line by about 3/4 of an inch, something that could cause me problems later on but it was probably caused by a fall or a knock. 

It's not going to stop me doing anything now but I am going to go through a course of treatments before it becomes a problem. There's always an element of doubt on anything like this as it's not something I can see, hopefully a few visits should start to put things back in line where they should be and I'll have no future problems. The downside of this was I had a treatment today and then was told afterwards I couldn't climb a ladder! I was gutted as I have so much to do on this roof, but I can get back up there tomorrow! 

I lead a very active life. I am constantly using my body and there's not many nights where I don't fall straight to sleep from being physically tired, so I want to make sure I look after it and deal with things before they become a problem, although I should have done this sooner! 

Do you look after yourself? 

What are you proactive about when it comes to health?

Extension Progress - Roof Carcass Day 1

We made a good start on the roof yesterday. 

Dill had got the brick work finished the day before (which is a post in itself that I'll do later) so it meant that Saturday we could start the roof. 

Andy, pictured above, came to give me a hand. He's the man that trained me to be a carpenter many years ago!  

The roof itself is quite complicated as it's trussed and has purlins so some head scratching in a few places but I was really pleased with the progress we made in a day. My brother came over in the afternoon to lend a helping hand.

There's still loads to do but by the end of the day we managed to get all the heavy and awkward timbers in, leaving me with stuff I can do myself. 

I need to now finish the rest of the rafters, support the purlins, install the ceiling joists, fit binders to carry the ceiling, fasica and soffitt to fit, felt it, batten it, line the chimney, tile the roof. I don't think my week without the children will be enough to get it all done but it's a start at least! 

Busy Week

It's been a another busy week.

Bricks I loaded out during my youngest nap time - the trick is to hit the ground running if you want to get anything done! 

The build is still heading skywards, hopefully Dill, my bricklayer, is going to get the wall plate on today (Friday) so that tomorrow I can start to get the timber for the roof on. Unfortunately it's a complicated little roof and I think it might take a bit more time than usual, luckily my friend and mentor Andy (who trained me to be a carpenter) is coming to lend a hand on Saturday. I'm hoping to make a good start on it then and I've then got half term to try and get all the timber work done and get it felted and waterproof. The tiles are going to take a bit longer though! 

A few hours with the boy, while he happily chews on a apple I've got jobs to do! 

I've also been trying to get some other jobs done around here as well. I've managed to get my first vegetable bed prepared and planted for next year. This is a whole bed of hardneck garlic so I should have two harvests, the bulbs and the scrapes. I've also planted this through plastic to give myself a bit less work next year as garlic really hates weed competition. 

I've still got a bed of soft neck garlic to go in but I need to find space first. I might be going over the top with how much I'm putting in but we eat a lot of garlic and I can always sell the surplus! 

I hope he realises he's got to start pulling his weight soon! 

I've also been collecting up some apples from the cordons as well as harvesting some veg for tea, this week we've had a great mizuna salad to go with jacket potato, as well as leeks cooked in butter to have a long side salmon, my leeks this year are looking brilliant, big thick stems with long white "socks" just perfect really.  

I'm hoping once the extension is waterproof I can take my foot off the gas a bit but I doubt it'll work like that! 

Who else is having a busy time at the moment?