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Headwinds blowing for us at the moment. But how many people would give their back teeth to have our problems?

I'm getting more used to the range of reactions from visitors to the site. Its the range of reaction that interests me. The thinly veiled sneer. Yer doin what? How much? How yer doing the roof then? Shakes? What, vaulted roof? Haven't done wun o they fer 20 year od. An' ahm a rewfer. Yer wanna trussed rewf mert... Well good luck with that then The visiting BM Driver It takes a BM delivery lorry driver about 10 seconds to say, Whasatt stuff then? Followed by 'Looks like sponge' (Durisol block). The visiting mate Got the keys to yer digger? Need owt lifitin' ? Need an ole dug? Has Debbie got the tea on yet? Ya haven't done much since I was last here. The visiting BH member I'll get my kit out the van, won't take long. The architect Well, the SE will be able to tell you that. The passing cyclist(s) We are on a National Cycle route) I've got no time for NIMBies; seems to me you've just gone and got on with it. JBDI is my motto too. The passing local councillor How come its taking you so long then? The long, slow drive by There are two sorts: the builders' van, and the Sunday driver (every day at least two, never mind if it's not Sunday) Builders: two blokes, one feet on dashboard, 'tother forearm on wheel craning to see of the wall's come down again (UP YOURS pal) Sunday driver: two old biddies, of, though not yet in the grave, ashen-faced smiling. Judder past in the wrong gear because they're driving so slowly. Kindly. Walkers in groups That curious dynamic that makes groups of walkers oblivious of their surroundings, pass by without so much as a flicker. Single walkers How's it going? yabber yabber yabber. Let's have a look then! Cheery, joke-filled minute or two. The precocious child Mummy, what's the man doing, he looks like Darth Vader? (Welding - er sorry writing braille with a welding stick) The local retired super-nerd We chat happily for an hour or so at a time about minutiae, when I repeatedly refer him to read @JSHarris on heat decrement delay, @Temp for planning matters, @Nickfromwales for saucy one-liners. "Well, I have to say (no he didn't) yours is the most over-engineered house I have ever seen". Some locals Studied avoidance of gaze: the sort I used to get in the 1970s as an Officer Cadet when a senior (but arsey) NCO deliberately avoided saluting me. (The NCO was right) Headstrong Old Biddies Well now what are you making the roof out of? What? What's that then? Harumphhhh. I could forgive you if the roof was going to be slate. I may be working on my own at the moment. But there's a committee of watchers out there. I'm starting to sell tickets tomorrow.

Special tool? Nah, don't bother. On a long run like that an EMPTY silicone tube is what you want. Put a drop of Fairy in a jug with some water. Cut the end off the silicone tube SQUARE. None of that 45deg b@llocks. Flatten the end a bit and dip the in the soapy water. Go along your silicone and it leaves a lovely neat filet. Excess collects in the empty tube. Periodically re-dip in the water: Maybe I'll do a video! Taught to me by a Moldovan commercial glazing fitter.

Been tiling the bathroom this weekend and taking a borrow of my builders tile cutter. It’s one of these https://www.buybrandtools.com/acatalog/rubi-dc-250-electric-tile-cutter-230v.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvtfQqsSW1wIVhBbTCh151QiQEAQYCyABEgLIKfD_BwE about £800 quids worth but what a piece of kit. Suspect you could probably buy one and sell on for a couple of hundred loss. if I had more to do I’d be buying one myself. I do love a decent bit of kit.

Oh, and beware any positive close valves as the water hammer 'closed shunt' is rather unpleasant and very much audible. . It causes the flow regulators to jump badly.

@JSHarris Wunda just supplied me with a new manifold for a customer to replace the mess that some goon fitted. They recommended the Salus auto balancing actuators which open with stepper motors, a lot quicker than the wax heated ones. Literally open to closed in a few seconds. Manufacturers patter Wundas patter and cost These have a pair of capillary wires, one for flow and one for return, to sense temp differentials and balance accordingly. Under max flow I'd say the longest I waited for fully open / closed was around 30 seconds as they struggled a bit against full pump force on one circuit open. Much quicker when the pump potential was divided.

Cracking job, Russell, and I think it does make the point that the proposed new development looks much neater and in keeping with the setting. I'd be surprised if these models don't have a positive impact at the planning meeting. Blame me of they don't..............

I can wire a 24 port IDC rail with cable management and everything labelled in less than an hour - very therapeutic and easy to do. Metal krone tool is your friend, and a cable cutter to take the last 25mm of sheathing off. Split the wires, lay them in the clips and punch down. Small cable tie as strain relief and then on to the next one. Then buy some cheap patch cables from Amazon at about 30cm long and you can connect whatever you need. I’ve got a 24 port PoE switch, all patch panel, NAS, Routers and UPS etc all going in a cabinet under the stairs. Most expensive bit was the cabinet as the rest is ex-company stuff ..!

My experience is that terminating sockets is dead easy. Terminating plugs needs a lot more work, and ready made patch leads are dirt cheap, so it's only worth making custom plug-terminated leads when you really have to. I've made a few custom patch leads where I've had no choice,, like the PoE injection lead for our modem, but would rather just buy them as needed. So, my advice is to terminate all your fixed wiring at fixed sockets, be they on the walls in rooms, or on a patch panel, and then just buy a few patch leads. There might be a very small cost penalty in buying patch leads, but offset against the added cost of a plug crimp tool, plus the time it takes to make patch leads, it's really not worth the hassle.

The same way as they connect to the wall sockets, usually.

Dead easy to use, and not very expensive. I have this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Network-BT-Telephone-Socket-Insertion-Multi-Punch-Down-IDC-Faceplate-Krone-Tool/251360544028?hash=item3a8641851c:g:AJYAAOSw0e9U1IDh which has been fine for wiring up all the sockets in our house. When you get into it, there's more work in fixing all the back boxes than there is in terminating the cables. I also agree with the comments above about fitting a patch panel at the router/switch end, it makes life a lot easier. Final tip, as you run each cable, label where it runs to (room, position or whatever) at the patch panel end. I didn't, as cabling up all the network stuff was last-minute decision, and I ended up making up a pair of widgets to enable me to trace which cable went where, and then labelled the patch panel. Worth thinking about things like network printers (I have runs across the same room, from one side to the other, just to give me locations for printers). Also, have a think about network CCTV, and if you think you might want it, run some external Ethernet cables for them, ideally with PoE capability, so they can be powered over the same cable. This is another thing I regretted not doing - WiFi cameras don't work well through thick walls.

I may be old fashioned but for stuff buried in the ground I only use decent brands - I use Plasson for all that stuff. Pipestock do it all at decent prices. https://www.pipestock.com/plasson/mechanical-fittings/coupling

Well, long day. But we're in and we have a sofa to sit on and a bed to sleep in tonight.

This deserves a picture, Mike?