A short diversion

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We knew it would happen eventually. We worked around it a bit with a cunning plan – I warmed up the oil and the wood in the house, then oiled some small bits of wood out in the garage, then brought them back into the house to dry, but positioned them directly under the whole house fan in the laundry.

Doing that allowed me to put up the lights in the main room that sit over the hallway – which has improved the lighting situation in the dining area and the kitchen pretty markedly. It also meant that I could put down the trim strip that goes between the bathroom and the hall (I’ve not actually installed that yet, I had to cut the screws short so that they won’t go into the pipework in the floor).

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I finally managed to locate the enthusiasm to start working on the trim again yesterday. It’s tough because we want the house to be done, but I think we’re both pretty much in need of a break from doing the house. It’s close though, it’s within spitting distance of being done. And we are making progress, but it’s much slower.

In a way I think that’s probably much healthier. But it is dragging it out too; which is kind of frustrating. It’s that balance between not making the process utterly hateful because you’re forcing yourself to do it whatever you feel, but also not just letting it drag on interminably. Not least because we have other things we want to do with our lives! But. All that said, we’re taking a short diversion for another part of the project.

We’re going to borrow a friend’s trailer today and clear some of the rubbish from the garden. We’ve been studiously ignoring the pile of old naily wood – the offcuts from our salvage pile – for months. Hidden under a tarp in the corner of the garden they’ve avoided too much scrutiny because they’re out of the way. Well, today they’re going to go away. So, too, will the old metal sink, the broken UPS and the broken sump pump from under the house. All of those can go find a new home at the hazardous waste place, or the tip.

And then we’re going to go and get an enormous pile of drywall and insulation. The time has come to insulate and drywall the garage. In theory (in theory) Rebecca should be mobile. Since putting the new flange on the diff and reattaching the prop shaft I’ve managed to get the battery somewhat charged. And so in theory (she said optimistically) she should be able to move with some fresh petrol. I did tighten all the fuel line joints because when I did my quick test that the electrics are working and “how much petrol do you have in you” turn on she decided to spray everything with stale petrol – sort of a resentful “you left me in the dark for years and now you want me to move!” event. But I think I’ve got them all tightened up. The carb also leaked, but that seems to have stopped having absorbed some of that stale fuel into the dry seals.

So hopefully – we can move her outside and inside at will (well, sort of. The 12v battery is very sickly, but hopefully with a jump starter, that should work). So that will mean that we have a dry, heatable space in which we can oil some bits of wood.

In other news, Christmas was very nice – peaceful. We did get to see Kathryn’s mom and her partner which was lovely. Isolating was definitely worth it – and actually, it was quite refreshing not to have to think about COVID for a bit.

It’s the first time, I think in 5 years, that we’ve had our own tree. Of course, we didn’t realise until after we were isolating that the bulk of our Christmas decorations are still in the storage unit. It’s not like we have a ton of them anyway, but there was some angst from me because we didn’t have a robin for the top of the tree. I’ve always had a robin for the top of the tree – it’s a family tradition – so Kathryn managed to crochet one double-quick, because she’s lovely and wonderful :)

We also made some paper chains for the tree, and then borrowed some lights because our little section of stars, and the later found little section of copper LED lights was a little scant on the glowyness.

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Since I’ve not been working on the house all the time, I’ve been partaking of my hobbies some more – and am slowly gathering the bits and pieces to build a Mycroft AI to replace our google home. This has meant doing some 3D printing – which has been entertaining. I’ve also been editing some stuffs for TE, and generally footling around in the way that I (used to) do. That has been quite pleasant.

Obviously, watching a bunch of neofascists attempt to subvert the process of a democratic election and stage a coup has been ‘somewhat of an uncomfortable week’. And knowing that my passport is very nearly expired is… concerning. When I mentioned it at work there it all seemed a bit uncomfortable, but a couple of people expressed concern. Which is something.

But, at the end of the day we can only be where we are.

Oh, btw. I had my first shot of COVID vaccine. It was uneventful.

KateWE

Kate's a human mostly built out of spite and overcoming transphobia-racism-and-other-bullshit. Although increasingly right-wing bigots would say otherwise. So she's either a human or a lizard in disguise sent to destroy all of humanity. Either way, it's all good.