A working road trip or two! -

On Friday Daisy and I had a road trip north to Scotland. Daisy drove as I was going to be working when we got there. We stopped at Tebay Services for a rest.

I think Monty really wants a wee.

Harriet is standing on a decking with a view of grass, hills, and trees in the background. Monty Dog is jumping up as he needs the toilet. — Do you want a wee? Go on, Monty, go for a wee!

I spent all day Saturday installing the new doors and windows I made for Flo. Mrs MacGregor, the house keeper saw to me as I worked.

Harriet is standing in a dark hallway at the bottom of the stairs talking to Mrs MacGregor. The new front door, door frame, and fanlight window is behind them — Thank you for sweeping up, I was just about to do that!

Mrs MacGregor inspected my work on the front door and set about polishing the new brass doorbell pull. More work for her I think.

Harriet and Mrs MacGregor are standing on the pavement outside the new front door. The double doors to the house are ajar and set into the white frame and column door surround is a shiny square of brass with an inset knob to pull for the bell. The brass has a black number ‘52’ on it. — The pull was custom made, Mrs MacGregor.

Daisy was reminding me that Monty was getting a bit restless and needed a quick walk before we joined Flo and her family for dinner.

Harriet is still talking to Mrs MacGregor outside the front door. Daisy is holding Harriet’s hand and trying to calm Monty Dog as he leaps about excited for a walk. — Ok, just coming.

Later we all sat down to a meal. Mrs McGregor is a fabulous cook!
I think Daisy is getting a little broody cooing at Frank, the baby.

Monty, calm down! You can have that later!

Harriet is sitting in a rocking chair in the kitchen. Daisy is standing but bent over talking to young Frank who is playing on the floor. Flo and her husband are seated on the other side of the kitchen table. Mrs MacGregor has set out the table with a meal of roast pork. Monty Dog is sniffing at a piece of pork set aside on the table for him to have later. — Monty! You can be so embarrassing!

After dinner we had a lovely chat and catch up on life. Things have been so quiet and so busy at the same time over this strange past year and a half!

Seen from the back of the kitchen over Mrs MacGregor’s shoulder, Flo’s family is on the left, Harriet is seated on the right, and in the background is Daisy. The new windows are lighting up the kitchen wonderfully in the early evening sun set. — It is so cosy in here with the new windows.

On Sunday we had a lovely picnic in the garden. Apparently Ratvaark and Ty Llygoden were also visiting Flo too.

Everyone seated on a blue grey rug, laid on a strawberry patterned oilcloth in the garden having a picnic. — Oh, its is quite a party!

After our picnic lunch we bid our good-byes and set off for home. We decided to stop off so see the Falkirk Wheel. What an amazing bit of engineering!
Then a long, long drive home.

Harriet is out of focus as she looks at the Falkirk wheel waiting for it to start turning. — It’s amazing!

Of course, having got home and had a day to recover I then had a call from Lee, of LNR Models, with a #Makers emergency. So off I went again. Busy busy all of a sudden!
I stopped off in Slaithwaite for a cuppa and found the ducks were social distancing!

A canal with lots of ducks in it but they are all spaced apart. — Sorry ducks, no bread!

There is the Antiques Warehouse here so I decided to take a look and bought two nice moulding planes, a pair of pinking shears, and a little 1953 booklet on timbers used in houses.

Two wooden moulding planes in a dark wood, on top of the boxed ‘Canary’ branded pinking shears, and a small red booklet titled ‘Timbers For House Building’ published by the Timber Development Association Limited. — I must get those planes sharpened up!

Lee’s project is some kind of miniature house, maybe for a model village or some eccentric client? It is about 1:6 scale so like a Barbie dolls house. But it is huge, taller then I am!

Harriet is looking a the front of the model house. There are two floors of big Georgian windows that fill the front of the house and continues around the curved sides of the house. Wrought iron decorative lamp posts are positioned to light the front door and the curving driveway. Harriet’s tool bag is blocking the drive. — Oh wow, what a lovely house!

So what am I supposed to help with? Ahh, the house and its grounds are built on a raised wooden plinth and it is oversize. I have to cut away the excess, only about a centimetre, so that it fits.
Now, how shall I do that?

Harriet is standing in front of the house and looking at the edge of the wooden plinth that the model house is built onto. She has a tape measure, a mallet, a hand saw, an angle grinder, and a circular saw out of her tool bag and is scratching her head as she thinks about the job. — Hmmm, options….

Well, I suppose it is wood and I could just use the circular saw and cut a thin strip away. I hope my tool batteries hold out.

Harriet is kneeling on the grass at the edge of the plinth and is pushing her circular saw though the wooden edge. — Shuffle shuffle buzz buzz…

Slowly slowly to save the saw.

Harriet is kneeling on the grass pushing her saw further along the edge of the plinth. — Mustn’t rush it…

Argh, I wish I had brought my knee pads with me! Still not much further and it will be done.

Harriet is still on her knees pushing the circular saw further along the edge of the plinth. — Ouch! Grit in the grass.

Done! And another happy client.

Before I left I went for a tour around. The house is amazing to look at, even though it is half the scale of my garden railway, it dwarfs it! The detail just has to be seen to be believed.