Saturday: Mostly observatory improvements.

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Saturday: All day sunshine promised. Hong-Ha is showing proms which might be worth a try. I couldn't bring out the proms without over-brightening and showing the mask. I tried ASICap but it was no better regarding the mask and was much more limited in scope.

So I gave up and fitted some larch skirting boards to the back two sides of the observatory. This area has never been accessible until I had dragged all the reserve timber out. Just to check if it was dry and not being attacked under the tarpaulins. A few mouse droppings suggest they like the shelter.

The remaining larch boards are so long ~7m or 22', it is impossible to store them inside the shed. I thought I might buy some strong shelf brackets for the shed wall and lift the boards high off the ground. It would probably end up with birds nesting on top! Now I need some more gravel to raise the ground level above the bottoms of the skirting boards. Otherwise the wildlife will just burrow underneath.

I could fit some larch skirting boards inside the observatory to use up some of the reserve. Though I had planned to fit the grooved cladding plywood on the inner walls first. This would certainly improve the appearance. Then it might be a problem if damp got inside the walls. I'm not sure insulation in the walls is a particularly good idea in an observatory. If it keeps the heat out then it keeps the heat in. Ideally indoor and outdoor temperatures should quickly equalize. Otherwise a heat plume can pour out of the slit and ruin the seeing.

After lunch, I went off to collect some gravel to resurface the surroundings of the observatory building. Only to discover the sand and gravel man's big bucket loader was broken. So I had to fill my own trailer with a borrowed shovel! Once I returned home I had to shovel it all back out again. In scorching 77F in full sunshine. And I'm 72 you know! 👶 What a hero! Stop sniggering at the back! 😏

Tuesday sunshine, 82F, finishing off the gravel and re-stacking the larch board reserve on wooden blocks. 82F in the shade under the veranda and 86F inside the unopened dome. Thunder and cloudbursts were forecast. So I didn't bother to open up.

Wednesday 28th Tidied the observatory and looked at options for using up some larch boards. Skirting boards in the dome look like the most promising use. It's a bit warm up there even with all the doors and observing slit wide open. 82F in the shade at 13.30.

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