What Preps are you doing this week? Part 13

[Kiwififer]

Didnt know we had a secret bunker in Ainster KF - wonder what that looks like.
FC my cat is quite bad tempered too, but our ferrets were all wee sweetie pies. I love wee fergits.

It’s actually quite interesting and it was a bit of a surprise to a lot of folk that it was even there! I grew up along the road in Leven and had no clue of its existence until it opened as a museum…

It wasn’t a mystery to the Russians however. There’s an exhibition of Scotland in the Cold War on at the National Museum in Edinburgh and there’s a map of Dundee to Edinburgh with projected nuclear explosions on it. Obviously there’s an airburst at Rosyth, Leuchars and Edinburgh (which makes my departure quick and easy) but there was a ground burst at Ainster which makes sense. I thought they would have hit the old observer corps HQ in Dundee but it wasn’t in the map, maybe they thought it wasn’t important enough.

Side issue, if you are in Ainster, don’t bother with the touristy ‘fish bar’, head to the other end of the harbour where the Waterfront restaurant is, they also now have a chippy and they do smoked haddock in batter. Absolutely amazing!

[diamond lil]

KF smoked haddie in batter is a new one to me Not been over for a few years but my grandad had a fishing boat out of Pittenweem harbour.

[Kiwififer]

KF smoked haddie in batter is a new one to me Not been over for a few years but my grandad had a fishing boat out of Pittenweem harbour.

Best fish on the planet caught by the best fishermen. But being an East Fifer (literally), I may be a bit biased!

[GeraldTheBonzai]

Made the pleasant discovery this afternoon that what used to be our garden, is, in fact, more akin to the Somme. Just 10 mins trying to work on the beds resulted in a bog. The ground is so waterlogged.

[diamond lil]

Nightmare Gerald eh?

[Frnc]

Checked the forecast for the next couple of weeks. Is pretty standard for time of year. Three slightly milder days. So I'm leaving my boiler at my winter default (61°). I'm ignoring the three milder days - I'd probably change it for four or more. The boiler's in the cellar, and there's a locked bike in the way.

Still turning my central heating off a few hours early, then back on in the morning. Have to avoid the middle button, as if you press it twice, it goes from Auto to Manual, which could be a disaster (heat would stay on all night, and I would be too hot to sleep).

Internet was down a few hours yesterday. Might have been due to the wind and rain. Next door's was ok, but they're on Virgin, who have their own cables. In fact they did some road works opposite my house last week. But he pays £50, I pay £30, so I think I'll stay where I am for now.

[tco-lincs]

I have made a start on my sash stops (taking a bit longer than I expected to fit). I need to next look into window protection film, might buy a small amount to test to see how easy it is to fit (don't want it looking like a dogs dinner with air bubbles).

I have changed my outside lanterns to TAPO bulbs so they are now all on timers and on throughout the night.

[grenfell]

We've used the window film primarily for privacy. We have clear glass in the bathroom and new neighbours. The old lady who lived there previously never went out the back so it was never a problem . It's pretty easy to fit , cut to size fairy liquid on the glass and a rubber squidey type of tool to flatten it down. That said we have found that if the window is in direct sunlight , like our bathroom window , it won't stay in place as long. We have some on the north facing side of the house that's been there for ten years.

[GeraldTheBonzai]

The wood burner last night decided to dump a load of grit down the side of the flue that goes up the chimney. The woodburner is in the chimney breast but there is a board/plate across the top opening in the chimney. Think what has been happening is that over the years there has been a gradual accumulation of "stuff" coming down the chimney due to heating effects.

From what I can see, a bit of the heat resistant plaster the fills the gap between the plate and the flue fell out. This resulted in a nice little "sand dune" all over the top of the stove. Thats been cleaned up but now its a case of repacking the joints and gaps with heat resistant cement. Which of course has dried up in the pot.... Hello Amazon....

[Frnc]

I bought a ventian blind for the bottom half of my rear livingroom window. It sticks to the glass at the top and the bottom. You can raise it though, but I just tilt the slats. Before that I just had a Roman blind, which I still have, but the problem with that it it's either down or up. I wanted something in between. So if I go away for a few hours or days, it doesn't look wrong, and restricts view in a bit. This is important, because I'd be leaving a lamp on in there.

It wouldn't stop a determined burglar, but it's a bit of an obstacle, and stops people easily seeing if there's anyone in the room.

It will also be useful in the summer, for blocking some of the sunshine, without the room being dark.

I still have the Roman blind - I normally just leave that half way.

Was a bit tricky to fit - you have to get it right first time, as it sticks strongy to the glass. But I did an ok job of it.