Screwing

It's not far off thirty years since we moved into this house, of which the first five years were spent renovating and improving the place from the 1930's and 50's technology which we found in place.

Since then we (or rather I) have done very little to improve things further, as we managed to make our home comfortable and livable; most changes since our children were born have been done by professionals rather than by my enthusiastic DIY bodgery.

This weekend, after five or so years of subtle and no-so-subtle nagging, I finally got around to repairing Moonface's allotment shed. It took me two full days in the sun to replace a door, fix another door in place of lots of crumbling tongue-and-groove cladding, then to treat and replace the bitumen on the roof. But I did it, and I feel pleasantly burned and sore after doing so.

Needing to fix the doors into place, I bought new screws to do so, and noted how the technology has again improved over time. When we moved into our home we had problems removing old screws from the walls and fittings because pre-60's screws had narrow, V -shaped slots which our newer screwdrivers wouldn't fit: they had squarer sectioned slots like an inverted ∏. At the same time, the old Phillips-headed cross-headed screws were being superseded by Posidriv and similar models. Now, another twenty-five years on, the design of the screw shaft itself has changed. The screws I bought were by Spax, with thinner central bodies but deeper, sharper, more steeply-inclined threads; more like self-tappers than old-fashioned woodscrews. They are all cross-headed, too, much more positive and easier to use than slotted screws. The finish is better, with some form of golden anodising which I assume is more corrosion-resistant than the old bright steel finish which used to rust away in damp wood.

The job is done. The shed is ready for use once more, and I hope that it doesn't leak now.

:o)

Life moves on, technology changes, even at this seemingly very simple level

Bristanbul

The Gloucester Road seems to have every shop that we need for day-to-day needs and a fair bit more besides. The gap used to be the lack of fishmongers, but a small one opened about six months ago which is more than adequate. I don't go there every time I need fish, but often enough to feel I'm giving them some business.

The new shop is Bristanbul, which opened on Monday. It's a Turkish patisserie selling both sweet and savoury breads and cakes, and I'm a fan. Everything I've had from there so far, tastes great. When Rio comes home for the weekend we'll investigate more.

:o)

Dhal

I've tried making dhal several times before as it's one of my favourite dishes, but I've never had real success. It's always turned out lumpy, or burned, or tasteless.

But tonight I managed it so I'm very pleased with myself. I've realised that the usual yellow colour of the dhal I've bought and eaten elsewhere is not due to the use of yellow lentils, but is the result of the turmeric dye in the mix. So using red lentils, onion and a tin of tomatoes as well as the right mixture of spices I made a very decent dhal, enjoying both the cooking and the eating. Moonface liked it too, but I'm not sure about Tom.

:0)

Major One

Late last year I bought a bike from eBay, sight unseen and theoretically my size. It was a road single-speed, just what I wanted, but the 49cm size turned out to be too small for me. Damn. I had fun enough riding it but I was very aware that it wasn't quite right so when in January I saw that a woman on Singletrack was looking for an identical small bike to replace one that had been stolen I offered to sell mine. No joy. She decided to buy a better bike made by a different manufacturer, but also 49cm. I didn't know about that, of course.

A couple of weeks ago I dropped her an email asking if she was still interested in my bike and she told me that her new purchase turned out to be too large. So with a bit of havering and cash adjustments and parts-swapping we decided to exchange bikes. I'm pleased that we did.

I've ended up with a lovely single-speed carbon-forked cyclocross bike that's just a pleasure to ride, at a just-about-affordable price. It's rare for me to really like a bike from the outset, but this one feels just perfect for me. I hope that I remain strong enough to use it for a good long time.


Thank you, Juliet.

:o)