That's right folks, 'Wicked Uncle Edward' here! Remember, in 'Death on the Nile', when SamWannamaker says to George Kennedy's character, "Wicked Uncle Andrew", well that's just like me; it has to be, why else wouldn't I get any rest?
Whilst I should have been enjoying the lovely weather and my semi-retirement, I've had to be working ...again!
Firstly, "Those bamboo chairs and that handrail on the terrace are a disgrace! We'll have to re-varnish them." That's a laugh, eh? Never mind, I'd seen an old codger in the souk scraping varnish off an old chair with pieces of broken glass. Mmmmm, here's one I made earlier! I'd just accidentally knocked a picture off the wall and broken the glass in the frame, it's just as well that I hadn't actually discarded the bits yet. It felt surprisingly therapeutic, scraping the cracked and burnt varnish off the top surface of the handrail. As I wasn't wearing a shirt (or even a vest) I managed to burn my shoulders in the process, though! I declined to do the same with the bamboo chairs, as I would have been on till 'Kingdom come'! They got a good wash and a bit of a rub down with sandpaper instead.
Off I merrily trotted to the Sipes paint shop, I'd remembered that the 'Varno' was 15le per kilo, so had the right money in my sweaty little palm. Lo and behold! He's stopped stocking Sipes's Varno! I would surely get some at the hardware shop in the next street. I did, but at 20le per kilo, and 7.50le for a Chinese 'Real Bristle' 2 inch brush.
Here's the result, what do you think? Before and after:
No doubt you will remember the clart-on I had making the covers for the small A/C units upstairs? (Colloquialism: 'clart' = 'mess'.) Well, now we need to have the large one, above the stairs, covered as well! Since that I've already done two, another should be easy-peasy.
Firstly I needed some self-tapping screws, to fasten onto the metal frame of the A/C mounting bracket, I ended up in the underground shop behind the temple to get them. Of course I had quite a few useful bits of old wood in my flash new stair cupboard, didn't I? They were just the job, after I had the carpenter down the street run them through his band saw. Here's the bottom panel in place, with a shot of the mounting timbers below:
Whilst I should have been enjoying the lovely weather and my semi-retirement, I've had to be working ...again!
Firstly, "Those bamboo chairs and that handrail on the terrace are a disgrace! We'll have to re-varnish them." That's a laugh, eh? Never mind, I'd seen an old codger in the souk scraping varnish off an old chair with pieces of broken glass. Mmmmm, here's one I made earlier! I'd just accidentally knocked a picture off the wall and broken the glass in the frame, it's just as well that I hadn't actually discarded the bits yet. It felt surprisingly therapeutic, scraping the cracked and burnt varnish off the top surface of the handrail. As I wasn't wearing a shirt (or even a vest) I managed to burn my shoulders in the process, though! I declined to do the same with the bamboo chairs, as I would have been on till 'Kingdom come'! They got a good wash and a bit of a rub down with sandpaper instead.
Off I merrily trotted to the Sipes paint shop, I'd remembered that the 'Varno' was 15le per kilo, so had the right money in my sweaty little palm. Lo and behold! He's stopped stocking Sipes's Varno! I would surely get some at the hardware shop in the next street. I did, but at 20le per kilo, and 7.50le for a Chinese 'Real Bristle' 2 inch brush.
Here's the result, what do you think? Before and after:
No doubt you will remember the clart-on I had making the covers for the small A/C units upstairs? (Colloquialism: 'clart' = 'mess'.) Well, now we need to have the large one, above the stairs, covered as well! Since that I've already done two, another should be easy-peasy.
Firstly I needed some self-tapping screws, to fasten onto the metal frame of the A/C mounting bracket, I ended up in the underground shop behind the temple to get them. Of course I had quite a few useful bits of old wood in my flash new stair cupboard, didn't I? They were just the job, after I had the carpenter down the street run them through his band saw. Here's the bottom panel in place, with a shot of the mounting timbers below:
The rest of it just had to be fastened together and lain on top!
More old bits of wood later, along with the fancy meshrabiya sheet stuff, and we were getting somewhere:
After another trip to the underground shop for some architrave to go around the edge, it was finally done. I'm quite pleased with the result:
I'm hoping to get some time off now, for good behaviour. What do you reckon, am I in with a chance?
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