Shelter complete!

The shelter is now done! :-) Here's some pictures of it, and also of various bits of wildlife, including a mouse.

First, Tracy cut the ropes on the old shelter and I dragged the tarpaulin off:
Then I set about making pegs to fasten the tarpaulin down on the new shelter, while Tracy began moving stuff over.
Before long we had the cover staked down, and all the stuff organised into it:
The old shelter is just waiting for dismantling now. The bolts are all stainless steel, so hopefully I'll be able to reuse them, and the poles are birch so after a year standing up should be nice and dry for firewood!
The shelter doesn't seem to be too obtrusive, looking from either end of the coup we cut last winter, and certainly can't be seen from any public footpath:
The guys had been busy processing the oak offcuts into firewood:
There's only one oak log left to be converted now:
While we were out in the wayleave we heard a snapping sound every 20 seconds or so. A dim and distant memory from the garden of a house I lived in many years ago led me to the nearby Broom bush:
So what was making the noise? Here's a seed pod with the seeds still in it:
and here's a seed pod after the heat of the sun has made it go "snap", flinging the seeds away from the plant to start a new life somewhere nearby:
Also out in the wayleave were a Gatekeeper and a dragonfly:
Finally we went over to the pond for Tracy to dump some willow in it to soak, so she can try making a basket in a couple of weeks:
One the way back to the car, something small ran across the ride in front of us. It was a mouse! It hid between some logs and pretended we couldn't see it:
But then it did a runner:
after which it was kind enough to sit still while I took a couple more pictures:

We're hoping to go badger watching again tonight, depending on the weather.

Mike

UPDATE: links to posts on building the shelter:
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/shelter-building-and-nuthatch.html
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-shelter-building.html
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/shelter-frame-finished.html

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Shelter frame finished!

Today we went up to the wood to continue with the shelter, fixing poles across what will be the roof once it's the right way up: We used a draw knife to flatten the end of each pole on both sides to help it to sit onto the beam:
Once all the poles were on, Tracy thought it look like a prison:Then came what I thought might be the hard bit - turning it back the right way up! We set the winch up on one side to give a bit of a pull to get us started:
and then with a bit of a heave, and Tracy controlling a rope to prevent it moving too fast, we got it turned over. Much easier than I thought it would be!
Two finishing touches were then made: another diagonal beam across the back to keep it all square
and setting each corner on a brick to keep the logs off the ground to some extent, hopefully preserving them from rot, although chestnut is pretty tough stuff anyway.
Next is fixing the tarpaulin over it, moving everything across from the old shelter, and then taking the old shelter down.

We did have a small audience for all this, including this Meadow Brown:
and this ladybird, which I think is a 2-spot (in black, of course):
Mike

UPDATE: links to posts on building the shelter:
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/shelter-building-and-nuthatch.html
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-shelter-building.html
http://peplers.blogspot.com/2008/07/shelter-complete.html

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Butterflies and sheds

According to this story from the BBC, British butterflies need a good summer to recover from last year:

Data from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme showed that eight species were at an all-time low as a result of an unsuccessful summer in 2007.

The main reason behind the decline was an above average rainfall, which meant the insects, such as the common blue, had fewer chances to feed or breed.

...

The data, which was collected by thousands of volunteers, also revealed that species that were already declining, including the high brown fritillary and the Duke of Burgundy, suffered another bad year.

And down at the allotment - the shed is finished! No photo yet, as it was getting a bit dim last night when we finally locked it up.

Mike

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Shed nearing completion, and another oil record

We went down to the allotment again after dinner today, and got to work putting the roofing felt on:
Yes, I know I look a bit precarious up there, but Tracy was steadying the ladder apart from when she too the photo!
OK, it's a bit wonky, but it's an old shed and we had no instructions! It should stand up to the wind and rain I think.

We almost managed to finish the roof, just one row of tiles and then the strip along the top. The only job left after that is the doors, and a few repairs to the edges of the windows...

Meanwhile, in the energy world, oil hit another new record price, $119.90, before settling at $119.37 at close of business. Probably see $120 tomorrow, unless something changes dramatically, in which case we'll still probably see $120 by the end of the month.

Mike

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Progress on the shed, and another oil record

Another day, another oil price record ($117.76 peak, $117.48 settle) - at least that's what seems to be happening this April. BBC reporting on it here. Why? Because we've on the plateau, production can't go higher, but demand is there. Just think how much fuel's going to cost when we hit the decline!

Anyway, that's what's going on the big wide world. In our little world in Rye, the shed is making progress, as part of our preparations for a post-peak-oil world...

We went down early evening, before dinner, and set about fitting the roof. this thrush was very interested, and watched us from a nearby shed, singing his little heart out. Tracy was able to get very close for a picture - I guess the birds are quite tame around the allotment, bring used to seeing people working

As the shed is old and somewhat warped, and rotten in places, things didn't quite fit together like new, and a little trimming was required...But before too long it was coming together:
The next step is to put the felt onto the roof, which will cover the gap you can see in the above picture.

We're hoping to get the shed finished in the evenings this week, so on Saturday we can get up to the wood and make some more progress on brash burning, log stacking and making piles of dead wood to leave for wildlife.

Mike

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