ROPES PULLEYS AND GEARING





After a sleepless night in the tent ...



I finally came up with a system of ropes ...





To haul the windows up to the first floor - fortunately Suki is very strong.



PRIVATE PARTY

Some things are under-rated.



But Suki insisted on walls before her big birthday party.



An everyone was relieved.

CHANNELING HEAT

I'm fascinated by this figure - Dungeness B is cooled by heating 100 million litres of sea water per hour by 12 degrees C. Is this why the sea is quite warm at Winkelsea beach? 100,000,000 litres is 100,000 cubic metres per hour (and tonnes) or nearly one cubic kilometre a year. The volume of the channel is probably about 9600 cubic kilometres. Ok - probably not.

But the sea has seemed cooler in the last couple of years. Last year was particularly unhot. Dungeness A is dead and B is mostly closed for repair until further notice. I see a connection.

My father used to tell a story about some part that his company had to reinstall a hundred times at Dungeness A. If that weren't bad enough, B has only been operating for half its life. Had we a decent level of phone hacking in the 60s this outrage would never have occurred!?

Both A and B now serve their most useful purpose in my view - protecting the coast from Pett level to Dungeness. They can't let it go while the Geiger counter is still buzzing.

Dungeness Power Station (in the distance)

More framing

Its raining hard and I need to put a lid on.

MOST RAFTERS UP

Most rafters are now up. There has been an offshore wind for most of this week making the sea appear quite dark. The rain has brought about a second spring and the grass in the field has turned mauve - that which han't been eaten by the Cumbrian sheep who are looking increasingly successful.

However, the biggest shock of the week was an evening stroll round our local pub garden. The renovation by the manager of the former Pet Shop Boys is nearly complete, and it is staggering. It is like a cross between a theme park and Chelsea Flower Show. I used to think that it had potential but this is amazing! And there is obviously alot of money in managing Pet Shop Boys.

Front

Rear

FROM THE SEA - AN ARCTIC BLAST

Front gable up before the rain set in.





6 rafters up - 56 to go!

After the rain set in.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

I am wondering whether the name Romnia - meaning gypsy girl - is still appropriate. Maybe Octopede, or Clingon Strike Vessel would be better.

Gable attic wall takes shape.

More doubts about how large to make the window.

FLAMING JUNE

This week I have had many visitors - Suki of course, Monica, Luci Hero and Otterley, Sarah and Ali, Sarah Freddie Joanna and Hector, Mike and Margo, and my neighbour in a rage. Where was everyone in December? For all those who visit while I am not in there is now a greeting at the top of the stair.

Next week I start on the roof. Invitations go out for Suki's big birthday party on 20th August. It's a dealine of Grand Design proportions.

keep praying for no rain

enclosure - but the birds still fly through as if it were part of the garden