28.07.2024 Demolition continues apace.

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  Sunday 28th 64F/18C. Bright sunshine. 

 10.00 Stopped for a rest and morning coffee. I have spent an hour bringing down more of the outer observatory structure. Cutting through the bases of the uprights has sped things up. Though not as much as I would have liked. There are still far too many hidden screws. 

 I also have to be very careful to avoid falling objects. Including myself, now that the outer timber-work is no longer providing security. In the form of a sturdy guard rail. It feels increasingly exposed. Working up at the veranda/observatory floor level. About 9' or 3m meters above the new gravel. With more rubble available but the builders have vanished. For several weeks now.

 I am grateful for the safety of the Japanese tripod stepladder and its very wide base. It's large, metal feet are sticking firmly into the gravel as intended. The ground was originally 3' below its present level. Before I brought in the builder's rubble and topped it off with self stabilizing gravel. 

 12.00 69F/21C. I am dripping with sweat and need another rest! 3/4 of the larger structure has been brought down. Sawing through the bases of the twinned uprights has been the major factor. I had foolishly hidden many of the screws holding the frames together. When I added all the cross braces. 

 Fortunately the joists I used for supporting the observatory floor and cantilevered veranda are still present. Though access grows progressively more difficult now. With the two, nested, buildings overlapping at the side of the shed/workshop. I actually worked from a roof ladder on the shed roof at one point. There was no other way to reach the plywood cladding on that side. 

 I pressed on in the hot and sunny afternoon at 70F/21C. Reaching the screws in that area required a different ladder. I would have had to waste an hour tidying up. To be able to use the Japanese tripod stepladder. It has such a wide stance at the bottom.

 Finally I had removed the last visible screw. So I could drag the uprights free. There is still the junction between old and new observatories to tidy up. I had moved the double doors. To the gap between the buildings for more shelter from the prevailing SW wind. So I built a sort of canopy over it. That all has to come down.  Much of the timber I have removed has long screws sticking out of it. So there is quite a lot of work to do before it can be safely stacked.  

 It is rather sad to be undoing everything I built. Just making it up as I went along. With the advice of astro forum members with more woodworking experience than myself. Apart from the dome leaking it has served me well. With little sign of deterioration or unwanted movement.  

 Who else would be daft enough to choose an octagonal building with a veranda and a trapezoid dome? All the extra wok required to be able to lift components and work safely at such a height. Always working alone. 

 I spent countless hours up there. Imaging the sun in H-alpha. Or occasionally trying my luck on the moon. The overall cost was far more than I had dared to imagine. Though this can be safely divided by the number of hours of use. Not to mention the pleasure of building it. Then finding ways to maximize its performance and ease of use. The chain and crank drive to the dome's roller drive was fun and effortless in use from my imaging chair.

 It kept me at home instead of wandering the countryside on my touring trike. So that was much better for my wife. Who feared I would have an accident one day and leave her all alone. Suddenly I was always around. Or within easy reach. To help with any lifting, mending or chores. The irony is that she went first. Leaving me alone after 55 years of marriage.

 Only now, after two years of apathy, am I finally recovering some of my lifetime passion for astronomy. If not now, then when? I am 77 and have just had an operation to open up my clogged heart arteries. Who knows how many years [?] I have left of physical and mental fitness? To be able do anything of real interest for myself. 

 I am dismantling the observatory to provide the materials to start anew. Not from on high in the wooded back garden. But in the narrow front garden. Where once the sun never shone. Was never allowed to shine.

 The final picture shows the progress today after tidying up the debris.

  ~*~