Lots To Do & No Time To Do It……
Life near the beach, too many distractions.!?

Another project that I’m starting for the wet days when I can’t get out in the fresh air is brewing both wine and beer as if we need any more projects!

Wine brewing I have done before just the once using a kit I did some red which tasted alright the process was the problem and put me off a bit due to the first part of the fermenting process. This was a bit on the violent side the demijohn was on top of the fridge freezer. Overnight it managed to cover the ceiling and the wall dripping all down the back. So the wife wasn’t too pleased. The sticky mess this created was the main thing that I needed to sort this time round.

The wine kits that I have started with this time are Wine buddy Cabernet Sauvignon and a Wine buddy Chardonnay bought from brew-it-yourself. The only ingredients they do not contain are 900g of sugar and the water. Last evening I carried out the first step which was the same for both kits. Dissolve the sugar in boiling water and then add the concentrate top up with more water then the yeast and oak chips all in a demijohn. Then put the air lock and bung on the top.

After the mess it created last time I had to create some defences so after placing a tray in a bin bag I placed the demijohns on the tray and pulled the bag up so only the tops of the airlocks were sticking out. The white wine seemed happy enough during the evening bubbling at a very fast rate the red was the same but was also frothing in side the bottle. This made me check the temperature and it was on the high side so as the evening was quite warm it was time to cool down the ambient air temperature inside the bag by placing a freezer block on the tray. This immediately cooled down the air so I went to bed.

The following morning was a bit of a mess as the froth in the red wine had come up through the airlock. This was cleaned and all seamed fine when I left for work, a call about an hour later wasn’t so sure about things as it had happened again! This was dealt with in the same way and all was well we thought….

On return from work there was evidence of a slight eruption from the airlock but not a great deal of mess which was good. Since then all has been well until I returned from work tonight. The white is very happy but the red seams to have stopped working which is a little concerning as it is supposed to take a week not two days!

This was purchased at the same time as the Ryobi Brush cutter/Trimmer RBC30SESA as we have two hedges already and are planning to plant a hedge row on the allotment (to attract wildlife that likes eating slugs and snails!!)

The electric hedge trimmers that we had tried in the past have given us very varied results. Some cheap ones we purchased chewed the hedge rather than cut it so they went straight back to the shop. We were then given some mid-range ones that did a good job but seemed underpowered and therefore were on the slow side. Not as slow as with shears but it still took along time to go along two hedges.

Now that we had purchased the Expand-it brush cutter we thought it would be worth trying out the hedge trimming attachment. This was a good purchase as it gives a very clean cut and is very quick.

The down side is the length and weight that the tool ends up, this makes it a bit of a handful. The sides of the hedge were quick and easy to produce a good finish but the top was all but impossible. The hedge is over head height which meant holding the whole lot over my head and after a few minutes everything got too heavy and I was only able to complete one hedge and the other one which is slightly higher I had to do with shears.

This said on the whole I was very pleased with the speed and efficiency that they gave. I guess I’ll have to get some weight training in before they need doing again!

Now that we have our allotment we found out that it meant more work than just digging and planting. The maintenance that is required by the allotment association has meant the purchase of some sort of grass cutter. As we are both busy people it was decided that it had to be mechanical and serve more than one purpose.

This led us to looking at petrol strimmers. These come in various sizes and prices, so when we looked at them we were bemused and confused to say the least. Then we saw the Ryobi Expand-it range. This range covers most jobs that we may require an engine for including a few that we will not use. So it was decided that we would purchase the Brush cutter/Trimmer RBC30SESA.

So how have we got on with it?

This is the first two stroke engine I have used so after getting a can of petrol and adding the oil that comes in the box and giving it a shake all was good to go. Filling the small tank under the engine was a bit fiddly and it is easy to get fuel everywhere! Next time I’ll take note to pour really slowly and not to fill it right up.

The first outing was with the bump feed line head attached to get the grass down to a manageable length. The instructions on the side of the motor are good and clear on how to start the motor. This took quite a few pulls for the first start but I expected that as the fuel needed to get through. Once it had started and I’d waited the 10 seconds and moved the lever as per instructions, this settled the revs. I then enthusiastically tried to start trimming and didn’t understand why it wasn’t working, a minute later it had warmed up a bit and off I went. Having only used electric strimmers in the past I found it very noisy but very effective. The thicker strimming line takes a lot more of a bashing before it needed extending. This is done by bashing the head on the ground, very disconcerting the first time. I found the best way to do this was to let the throttle go then bash it on the ground this meant it didn’t ‘kick’ and feel as though the motor was overloaded.

In all we are very pleased with our first large purchase for the allotment and I have a feeling it will be getting a lot of use in the summer months until we have cleared and dug out all the grass.

I have yet to try the other two attachments, the Brush Cutter blade and the Pro Cut head as it was only grass I was cutting.

This weekend the kids and I found ourselves in Coventry for the day whilst the wife was at a training day. So what do you do in a town that you don’t know, with two kids, for the whole day?

Well we were blessed with great weather and the Godiva Festival at the Memorial Park. This was excellent entertainment for us all day there was so much to see that we came away without seeing everything. There were lots of photographic opportunities as well so I had chance to take a few shots. This was not as easy trying to keep an eye on what was happening and on the children as there were lots of people about. We were all impressed with the parade, the costumes and the floats were amazing. There was also street acts, music, stalls, a fair, food, drink and lots of people having a good time.