The Shed, The final chapter or so we thought!!!😂😜

 After much debate it was decided we needed a new shed as explained in previous blog post See Here 

To offer a balanced view of events & proceedings Margie hereby known as Brutal but Lovely Overlord (BBLO) has demanded her voice be heard ,so her bracketed comments will be in (RED) where applicable. (They are not really my comments) so you see how it works

So the shed has arrived two weeks ahead of schedule ,damn there efficiency (Hurrah) So the time has come for the Erection! (of the shed).

I have over the last few weeks written several letters to Nick Knowles and his team, with a view that they could erect the shed for their television programme but alas to no good effect, for despite claiming I have 42 children, with another 6 on the way ,5 dogs and 3 cats, one of which only has 3 legs, and a parrot that can cry on demand they won't be coming, apparently my story ,admittedly largely made up is not heart-warming/wrenching enough for their audience, Their reply to my 12th letter was frankly quite rude and apparently if i ignore anymore injunctions it could be jail!

So with dreams of a 7 storey shed ,with views of the Serengeti, underground parking and a heated pool dashed it was on to Plan B. OK so Plan B is out, apparently these days, bringing a boatload of migrants over from Calais to build the shed is not allowed due to  controlling our borders, bloody Brexit,Bloody nanny state full of snowflakes, etc etc! 

So Plan C it is then Do It Myself !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now recently certain people have cast aspersions about my DIY prowess, mentioning no names, but you know who you are Nicola Evans!! At this point I would like to remind people about previous successful projects: The assembly of the TV Stand and Sideboard from Debenhams (Still standing to be fair) The assembly of the Iron Bedstead from Wayfare which at time of writing is also still standing despite the considerable poun.............. (Stop!! No one needs that image in their heads!!) Fair enough but it might be to late! there was also the successful installation of the Water Butt system with only one near death experience 💀 not to mention the digging of the pond! So fair to say I was fairly confident that a small shed would offer little problem. However the instructions and the BBLO suggested that I would need help, luckily BBLO's son Ashley is good at that sort of thing and willing to help!

The project would be divided into two sections  the laying of the base midweek, with the erection of the shed completed at the weekend, this was acceptable to BBLO as long as there was no slacking. At this point I felt it was time to lay down some ground rules concerning Health and safety, productivity targets, Bonuses, number of Tea Breaks etc.  I suggested an initial tea break rate of 3 per ½ hour ramping up to 5 per ½ hour towards the end of the day, each break to contain 1 cup of Tea and 5 Dark Chocolate Hobnobs per person. Plus, corresponding toilet breaks! BBLO came back with One cup of Tea and a Hobnob on completion of works, this was rejected out of hand by the assembled workforce with dire threats of a walkout, statements such as “one out all out” and “down tools boys” were muttered!!  Eventually after much negotiating, an arm wrestle and 4 goes of Rock, Paper, Scissors it was decided that the BBLO’s offer was very reasonable and maybe a little over generous, although I did manage to negotiate that only the soft whip would be used and only after a period of 30 seconds inactivity. (I Do not own a whip!)    

So with Demolition of the old shed completed some weeks ago see previous post Here and materials brilliantly organized by me, we were ready to go, Ashely duly arrived and work started on the base, this involved Ashely moving the old heavy slabs ,scrapping the ground flat ,doing technical stuff with a Spirit level and builders sand, then repositioning the new and some reused slabs, whilst I lent on a rake offered sage advice such as “that looks flat” and “left a bit on that one” I also held one end of the tape measure on several occasions. Over the course of two nights working not stop for about two hours we had a flat base completed and looking good!! Ashley was full of praise with my contribution saying I did the work of two men; I’m presuming the Chuckle Brothers are a shit hot building firm! There were no notifiable accidents during the works, though Ashley jammed a knuckle, Ouch! I was unhurt (phew)

So with phase one complete it was time for a cup of tea and some hard earned  Hob-nobs (One Hob-Nob) You're evil 😪😪

Some Stats & appropriately captioned  Pics from Phase one below 

Workshare 

Ashley 98% 

Me1% 

Other 11% 

Yes, I know the math doesn’t make sense but BBLO demands 110% at all times! (too right!) 

 

 Swearing  

BBLO 50% (I don’t swear!) Sorry but “get on with it you lazy M?@+@****ing w+***ker !! Counts as swearing in most people's book! 

Ashley 50% (understandably elevated by the caught finger event) 

 

The Old Base

Slabs removed estimates vary about how many I moved it was somewhere between One & Zero

Materials no expense spent  Spared!!

Initial Groundworks plus foot

Sand Applied managed to stop Margie building a castle she's obsessed (No I'm not I just like em a bit)

Early slab positioning

The finished article

Erection time!! (Shed)  

 

Erection Cancelled (Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😰😰😰!!) 

Due to technical difficulties and some quality issues the Shed has had to be sent back (told you not to buy a cheap one off the internet!!) Cheap, Cheap I'll have you know that £47.50 is good money by anyone's reckoning and Cardboard is the latest cutting-edge building material I’ll have you know!! Ask anyone in the trade!! 

The good news is we have purchased a new shed of higher quality and considerably more money (I’m worth it!) Which disappointingly comes with full installation included, therefore denying me the opportunity to show off my legendary DIY skills 😂😂🔧🔨 Denied!! 

The bad news is, there is a 16 week waiting time which means it will probably be January before it is installed ,this apparently, is due to all the twonks who cancelled their foreign holidays needing to spend their money on something and choosing to do up their gardens, bugger!! If only someone hadn’t prevaricated so long, we could have a brand-new shed by now (Why you dirty 😡😡💨💨) hmmm I better adjust the swearing chart above!!  

So hopefully we will soonish have a brand-new shed to put our single Lawn Mower and Strimmer in (and a bed for you if it goes tits up this time) Well I can hardly be blamed for this ,don’t see how it’s my fault at all! 

Ginger Cake

 Have been a bit lax on the old Cake-making side of the Blog lately so made an Organic Ginger Cake today, Went well with only slight spillage in the oven, looks a bit rustic but the spillage tastes nice! Stuck pretty much to the recipe though went heavy on the mixed spice and added a bit of Stem Ginger cos I had some! Ably assisted by Margie on Bowel & Spoon licking duty and a bit of the clearing up ,although I did a fair share! (though Margie is now claiming she had to rewash some stuff, AS If!!!

Butter, Light Muscavdo & Black treacle

Melt em down

The Dry Mix

In the Tin

Bit of Spillage

The finished product, Little bit Rustic

Nice Texture and moist

Seems a reasonable slice

Difficult Morning by the River

 So with shopping on the agenda later, thought I would have a little early morning trot around the local patch ,however was raining when I got up contrary to last nights forecast, resisting the urge to go to back to bed I checked the phone which suggested Seaford would be dry, the rain stopped as I got to the A27 so halfway down the A26 I changed plan and decided a walk along the river at Southease would be in order. Parked near the youth hostel and headed towards the railway station at this point I noted it was bloody windy, this is worse than windy but not as bad as Kin windy! The walk to Southease Bridge was largely birdless apart from a couple of Dunnocks and few hardy Swallows optimistically heading North??! Deciding to head South along the East Bank ,mainly so I would have the wind behind me I set off , a Green Sandpiper flew up calling from a ditch on the opposite side of the river and a Whinchat flew up from the river bank and crossed the river ,posing on the far bank just long enough to clinch the ID but not long enough to get a pic ,indeed the only birds that posed at all were a couple of hardy Swans, a flock of approximately 30 Linnets swirled about without settling but it was all a bit frantic with any bird that showed it's face being whipped away by the wind in seconds,  a couple of Little Egrets battled the wind and a Grey Heron looked very ungainly as it tried to take off befoe giving up and disappearing into a reed filled ditch, a few Sandmartins headed up river but my ban on photographing Hirundines remains in place until such time as they decide to pose nicely, they've only themselves to blame, so no pics! At this point I decided to head back and try the other bank, this decision had nothing to do with the large herd of Bovines that were occupying the path the other side of the stile, I took this as a sign from the Birding Gods to try another path! By the time I made it back to the bridge the wind had eased somewhat, but by this point I realised I had only taken a couple of Pics of the Swans and nothing else ,dire times indeed, things could only get better!!

Mute Swan

Large Bovine taken from the safety of the opposite bank!

First thing I noticed when I got the other side of the bridge was a noisly flock of Goldfinches , a few Warblers were in the bushes mostly Chiffies and Whitethroats but also a Reed Warbler and a couple of Blue Tits, I also managed to refind my Whinchat from the other side of the river perched in a Hawthorn bush. Things were improving!

Whinchat

Whinchat

I proceeded south along the West Bank ,two Common Sandpipers took off noisily and flew down stream before I could get a shot, another smaller bird also flushed off the bank and flew ahead of me before landing on the path, Wheatear! Soon realised there were three of them consorting with a Pied Wagtail, I followed them along the river bank ,staying a respectful distance away as they chased each other and whatever it was they were eating , for approximately 15 minutes before they got tired of the game and flew across the river before heading back north the way we had come, I thanked them for their patience and headed on south.

The most Cooperative of the Wheatears

Think probably a Juvenile

The other two were a bit more flighty

The two Common Sandpipers flushed again from the bank, again before I'd even seen them for about the fourth time ,although this time they flew back up the river giving me the opportunity for a couple of ropey flight shots and one of several Little Egrets in the area ,flew passed close enough for a couple of decent pics.

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper, never saw them on the deck continuously landing just out of sight!

Little Egret

Little Egret

Had reach the place where the path reaches the road and buffeted by the wind decided to call it a day and retrace my steps, ran into the Wheatears again which had increased in number to 5 ,presumably the other 2 had been lurking on the other side of the river, they played the just staying out of quality picture range ,game again for about 10 minutes before once again flying over the river! Although one actually sat in a Hawthorn for a couple of minutes which was nice of it!

Wheatear photobombing my Berry shot!

Wheatear

The more usual pose

I carryed on up the river when three more waders flushed and flew across the river and landed! Getting all excited about the possibility of seeing the Common Sands on the deck (yes I know it's very sad to be excited about Common Sandpiper although it shows you how slow it had been!) however getting the bins on them it was clear they were not Common Sandpipers, now at this point other Sussex Birders flushing 3 waders across the river would put the bins on them to find a Bairds Sand, a Buff Breasted Sand and a Slender-billed Curlew I however ended up with a Dunlin and two Ringed Plovers, no doubt if I put in the effort they do I would get luckier!! 😀😀😁 Still nice to see anything in these conditions!

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plovers

Dunlin & Ringed Plover

Just before I reached the bridge a tight flock of about 30 Housemartins crossed the river behind me they seemed to be reacting to something all bunched up, but the expected Hobby never materialised ,so maybe they were just winding me up!! A couple of Linnets on the cycle path and the flock of Goldfinches looking miserable in the bushes were the last notable sightings,it comes to something when even Goldfinch won't pose nicely!!

Linnets

Unenthusiastic Goldfinch

So that was about it, a day, that won't live long in the memory ,where every Osprey I got the bins on turned into a Gull or a Cormorant, buffeted by the wind and largely avoided by the birds!! Although any day with Wheatears and Whinchats can't be said to be all bad and of course it's better than shopping!! Though I've now got that to come !! 😟😢 Sorry about the quality of the pics, Dull overcast conditions and strong wind don't make for stunning results!! Let's hope the weather improves for  rest of the Bank Holiday weekend !!

 

The Seawatch and the Flycatcher!

 With Margie having to work, and severe winds forecast, decided it would be a good day for a Seawatch down at Splash Point Seaford, with Shearwaters being seen at Dungeness and Selsey the day before seemed reasonable to think there could be a couple past Splash today, this was based on no research and the science of wishful thinking, managed to arrive along the Seafront at approximately Six AM ,it was obvious that the wind was a lot stronger than the last forecast I'd seen and I wasn't expecting the squally shower either !! I made the decision to abandon the point and relocated to the small shelter, here I made two discoveries with the wind in this direction the shelter offers no shelter and secondly I'd forgot my cushion, a rookie and sometimes costly mistake at my age!!  I quickly rustled up a substitute using a bag for life and a couple of scarfs but it's not the same ,that'll be me sitting down gingerly for a couple of days!! Nice to get into the woolly hat and winter coat though, this birding in shirtsleeves is not for me!!

So I settled into the watch, however it was predictably, considering the time of year, slow going ,I had views of 52 Gannets ,5 Curlew,1 Sandwich Tern,10 Fulmars and a Common Scoter in the hour and a bit ,the main excitement was an all dark bird with long wings shearing in the distance, until I remembered what colour Juvenile Gannets are!!,I saw 4 altogether which I think were 2nd Calendar year birds rather than this years offspring!! Obviously with the grotty weather I'd left the camera in the car, and the birds were a long way out anyway. But I had a walk down to the point in a bright spell to try for some pics of the Gulls saw a nice juvenile Kittiwake here but it shot by to quick for a pic!

Stormy Seas

Great Black-backed Gull summing up the morning so far

Great Black-backed Gull showing it's Black Back

So what to do? decided I would give Seaford Head a look ,mainly because it was close, predictably it was windy AF up there ,Hope Gap was devoid of birds and Hope Bottom likewise except for a couple of Stonechats and even they were hunkered down. I decided to try Harry's Bush, on the way there I bumped into Seaford birding legend Bob S. who informed me there was a Pied Flycatcher and a Redstart in the bush giving me pinpoint directions, his last comment was they are a bit elusive! 

A bit elusive!!!! Lord Lucan was a bit Elusive .the Scarlet Fin Pimpernel was a bit kin elusive ,this Pied Fly was on a different level, must be the ninja subspecies in an hour of searching I had two brief views, one flying away and one as it landed on the ground for approximately 1/2 a nanosecond. Although on the plus side I did get good views of at least 2 Redstarts!

Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Common Redstart

Pied Flycatcher 

Slightly better view of the Pied fly!

At this point the Flycatcher started to show a little better although at one point it flew into the bottom of a bush  before emerging at the top and sitting proudly on a twig, "Hurrah at last" I thought, filling my boots with pics ,"somethings not right" I thought "it's being far to cooperative" put me bins on it Goldfinch, it had only pulled the old switcharoo on me!!

Views getting better

Pied Fly

Goldfinch 

Slightly better

At this point a few other birders had arrived, one of whom informed the us that there were Yellow Wags in with the cows at the bottom of the hill, now I had been steadfastly ignoring these cows mainly because they were at the bottom of a steep hill which I didn't want to have to walk back up, but faced with incontrovertible evidence of Yellow Wags I bit the bullet and accompanied the others down the hill. We arrived to find about 5 Yellow Wags and several Pied Wags but not the Wagtail fest anticipated nor could I find the Whinchat that had been seen. I did have to listen to the tales from the other guys of the Osprey, Peregrine and various other goodies they'd seen  earlier whilst I'd been on the Seafront watching nothing dagnabit!!

Classic Yellow Wag with cow pic!!

So braving the hill ,we headed back up to Harry's Bush , well what a difference half hour makes the Pied Fly was now showing like a right tart posing out in the open on leafless dead branches guess they perform best to a crowd!! Turns out there was two!!! 

Still trying to hide behind a single leaf!

Finally!!

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

And that was about it, I left the group ,no doubt the flycatcher would reappear in Top Hat n Tails and do a Tap dance right in front of them!! I made it back to the car just as the heavens opened which was lucky!!

 I quite enjoyed the morning, nice to do some seawatching, quiet as it was ,as due to lockdown I've done very little although it would have been a lot easier and probably more productive, with several pairs of more experienced eyes there!! and there was some satisfaction in getting usable pics of the Flycatchers, Birding with the wind is exceedingly difficult (insert own bean joke here) !!!!