I bought a new planer, after the first version I bought broke AGAIN with a motor fault, not five minutes after it arrived back from being 'fixed'. Buy cheap, buy twice - a mantra I have demonstrated perfectly. Huge thanks to the fabulous Aldermaston Tool Company who managed to get this delivered next day, at a lower price than any internet suppliers, and who literally saved the day. How many tools come in their own wooden shipping crate these days?
This chap came to visit one wet morning, and stayed long enough for me to rig my DSLR for a nice snap. Sparrowhawk I think?
The forklift was delivered in time for a stretch of days away from work. This was the last time for about a month that I'd be able to have a full week off - so it was vital that the frame building was finished on schedule.
With the forklift I could crack on - the little storage area under the catslide roof was first...
...before I started work on the complicated eastern wall - all sorts of braces, floor-to-ceiling windows and eight inch section doorframes in here.
Then my Kubota saw some action, moving the 7 metre beams from my neighbour's farmyard towards the barn.
We lost a whole day to a power cut - the weather was glorious, so we relaxed in the garden...
...and made coffee in the Kelly Kettle...
...before a hard slog to beat the forklift-being-collected deadline. The great news is that the oak frame is finished, it is really quite square (better that I expected!) and there were only a few non-terminal mistakes. Oh, and the Landy fits in, which was the whole point after all.
This week's job is to chuck a thousand pounds at the rafter-and-batten shop and make a start on the roof.
