Then the rain came

This week: Then the rain came again; Making repairs;

On Monday there was significant snow on the Dinaric Alps as I went to the shops.

The highest point in the mountains is Sveti Jure (St. George) at 1,762 metres high is 70km from Dol. The sun was shining on Sinjal (1,335 m). I knew it had been a cold night because when I got up, I had all the felines asleep inside.

Snow is normal on the Alps in the winter, although late snow storms like this are a little unusual.

The blossom on the trees in the foreground of the photograph, is Almond Blossom.

Once again it has been another wet, grey and miserable week of weather, with just two days when the sun was shining.

During one brief spell without rain, I emptied the garden shed to get at my ropes which were at the back. I need a rope to help felling the Nettle tree I was talking about a couple of weeks ago.

At the same time, I moved my small petrol rotavator up to the workshop, ready for use in the spring.

I bought this around 1984 when I lived in the UK, as a second hand machine from a machinery company in Hessle. It was already second hand then.

The last time I tried to start it, there was no spark at the plug and I suspected that the points were stuck.

The engine was made by Briggs and Stratton, a well known and highly respected engine manufacturer. However looking on their website, I couldn’t find details of the model I have.

I had to go into their “Antique Engines” section to find a manual and parts drawing.

Somewhere behind the flywheel, there should be a set of points, which need a gap of .51mm or 20 thou.

The next time there is bad weather, I will dismantle the engine to get at the points. At least now I know what I am supposed to do. It’s nice to know that I have an “antique” rotorvator in my stable of machines….

I have recorded 54.4 mm of rain, or 54 litres per square metre this week, to add to the total we have already had in February.

Friday was a particularly wet day, with 25mm of rain in just a single day.

There has been little point in trying to do anything outside, when everything is so wet. I was trying to scan some books, however my senior cat Callie was determined to stop me!

My big, old almond tree has been in full blossom all this week.

When the sun shines, the whole tree “glows” with the blossom backlit. Something I have tried and failed to replicate in a photograph.

The Daffodils are at their best as well, here in front of the polytunnel, where there are both standard and miniature daffodil bulbs.

All the signs are there of spring. it would just be nice if the weather was a little more spring-like.

Then the rain came again

I started looking at wood for my outside seat on Wednesday, while the weather was nice for a while.

This was wood which I removed last summer from the roof between my buildings. However as soon as I looked at the 4 metre lengths, I realised there were 4mm screw holes along every length.

It’s not surprising really because the roof structure was held together by long screws.

My window seat will be in the open air and exposed to the elements 24/7. So although I will be treating the timber with Sadolin, I realised that I couldn’t cut the lengths without having one or more screw holes.

On balance, I could perhaps have filled the holes, but decided that new timber would be a better option.

On Thursday while I was in Stari Grad, I called at Volat, my local builders merchants and bought three 4 metre lengths of Kantinela, the Croatian name for roof lats, for the princely sum of €7.50.

I was thinking that I would start preparing the wood in the courtyard. However almost at the same time as I arrived back at home, the rain started aaion.

So once again, rain has stopped play…

Making repairs

The sun was shining on Saturday morning and a strong wind was quickly drying things up, so I decided to cut the wood I bought on Thursday.

I have a medium size mitre saw which I brought out of the workshop and set up on my B&D Workmate moveable work bench.

However when I released the clip which holds the saw head when it is in its box, the head would not move.

My examination didn’t reveal the reason, so I started to strip the machine down to get at the inside parts.

I bought this years ago from a DiY store in the UK, so have probably had it for 30 years. In that time, I have never had to undo anything.

Once the cover was off, I used WD40 on the hinge pin and went and had coffee with my neighbours, while the WD40 was soaking in.

Returning some time later, the WD40 had done its job and as soon as I released the securing clip, the saw head moved as it should.

Putting the saw back on its base, there was a clang and the saw guard fell forward. That shouldn’t have happened!

This necessitated removing the saw blade to get at the guard mechanism. As soon as the blade had been removed, I could see that the arm which held the guard in place was broken.

I think the metal has fractured over a long period of time. My trying to remove the clip finished the job and broke the arm where it had been bent and fractured. It looks like a typical stress fracture.

A quick check on line confirmed that these mitre saws have not been made for “donkey’s years” and no spares are available. So I removed the guard completely and the fractured arm, then reassembled the saw.

Guards are there to protect users, so are an essential “elf n safety” fitting. However, once assembled, I realised that if I used the saw carefully, I could minimise the risk of causing myself any injury.

I just must not lend it to anyone, because they would not be aware of the lack of the safety feature.

With the machine reassembled and checked, I then started to cut up the wood, three hours later than I had planned!

It didn’t actually take too long to cut the timber. This was because I had already planned the lengths I needed and had them on a list.

The next job will be to run everything through the thicknesser before painting with Sadolin. But those jobs can wait until another day… NCG