Odd Jobs

This morning Jan caught the bus to Calcot for some essential supplies whilst I attended to a few odd jobs.

The top edge of the mounting post for the TV pole was both uneven and burred after I cut it in half with the abrasive disc cutter.  In the morning I took it down to the workshop where I obtained permission to use the bench vice with the timber lined jaws.  The top edge was levelled and the burrs removed using our newly purchased 10” half round bastard file.  The bare metal will require painting, however that will have to wait until we buy some paintbrushes on our next trip to Newbury.

The next task was to make a couple of timber support brackets for the pram cover from some offcuts.  The lads from Kinver Canopies had suggested we obtain two lengths of timber which should be placed on the roof either side of the sliding rear hatch.  The pram cover aluminium frame folds down onto the hatch and the purpose of the timber is to keep the pram frame from ‘fouling’ on the hatch .  The timber offcuts enabled me to make two frames that have a right-angle profile.  They are 30 inches long (length of the hatch) and 6 inches high which provides about an inch of clearance.  They have now been sanded and are waiting on a few coats of paint.

Jan has a well loved large non-stick cooking pot with a glass lid.  It can be used to cook on the gas hob or in the oven.  However she hasn’t been able to place the lid on it in the oven because there’s insufficient clearance.  Today I removed the original handle off the lid and replaced it with a machine screw.  This has lowered the height of the pot & lid so it now fits in the oven.  I need to find something to make an more substantial lid handle without increasing the height.

Pot on the hob

Interim solution

On Jan’s return at noon she mentioned to me that she had purchased a round metal pie dish.  Apparently she had been looking at the “ready made” pies before deciding not to horse around and rein in those negative thoughts about the potential contents of ready made pies.  Hence the decision to buy the pie dish and make her own pies. First pie tonight!

As you can see Jan has taken her portion.  This is MINE!

The sun made an attempt to put in an appearance and at one stage the solar panels were producing 2.4A.  Consequentially we decided to defer running the engine to charge the batteries until later in the day.  Might as well make the most of the”free” electricity!