5.1.20 Yo-oh heave ho!

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Sunday 5th Jan. After a pretty sky, earlier on, it soon became uniformly grey overhead. There was even a spot of drizzle, later, to keep me cool. As I was stripped right down to my shorts by then it really was thoughtful of the weather gods. I am kidding, of course. It felt like about 38F all day. 

Today's project was placing some paving slabs inside and outside the observatory door. Six outside and two inside. The ground was made up from self compacting sand and gravel. Hand barrowed nearly 30 yards and laid just before I built the observatory. You may well imagine how often I have trundled across this space by now. Let's just say it was well compacted. 

So I had to dig down about three inches [in ye olde money] to reach a level where I wouldn't trip on raised edges in the dark. I haven't yet mentioned how they have added lots of lead to the concrete mix of paving slabs since I last played with them. You'll just have to take my word for it. 

Even after the excavation, getting them all level was a bit of a chore. In my typically slapdash manner I had singularly failed to obtain any sand for the slabs to rest on. However, I digress, and found various crowbars useful for hooking underneath each slab to be able to get my gloved fingers under them. I would then re-distribute the lumpy stuff in the "bed" and then jump up and down on the re-laid slab for good measure

Eventually I was reasonably satisfied and moved into/onto the ground floor of the observatory building. Much the same scenario unfolded except that the levels were even more untoward. I had been rather generous with the loose pea gravel over the self-compacting stuff during the assembly of the building.

So it took some raking and scraping in the confined space available. As I pretended to be an octogenarian miner in a septuagenarian's bod. Being quite imaginative, I could also pretend I was surrounded by the 4x4 pit props of the 14' tall, timber pier. Well, you have to make the effort, don't you?

Sadly, the images do not do adequate justice to the sheer scale of this "groundbreaking" project. Also, note how the foot of the giant stepladder has photo-bombed my fine photographic artwork. These were carefully composed, I'll have you know! None of your quick snaps will do for m!

Apart from everything else, I am still remarkably fit for for a fully paid up old fart. Apart, that is, from having to strip down to my jumper, to cool off midway, I had no real problems. I swear it is all this amateur astronomy exercise I get! 

A more fastidious worker might have hidden the only discoloured slab inside the building out of sight. I reasoned that all the slabs would all too soon look remarkably similar. So should be able to sleep soundly enough tonight. The "brown" one was the sole slab outside the building for a year or more. Until I became inspired by pictures of professional observatories and felt a want in the appearance department. 

Sadly I don't have room, nor the necessary changes of level, to have magnificent, winding, masonry stairs, with gravitas handrails and all guarded by classical marble lions. Had I been less of a cheapskate I would have had more slabs. Now I have to buy more slabs just to finish the floor inside the building. The present mixture of pea gravel and odd-sized slabs is hardly likely to get me an international prize for architectural excellence!

The hawk-eyed observer will notice the streaks of dampness on the timber building. I have plans for metal flashing around the base of the dome walls to shed rainwater further out onto the veranda. My "clever" invisible, rubber flashing just isn't getting the job done as well as it might have.

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