A day of consolidation following the recently busy days during the decking construction. I ended up helping Adonis to finish off yesterday as he was starting to get a bit ragged and really needed to get away from the job.
Since, despite my calculations, there was some decking left over, we used it to trim off the top of the deck where it joins the metal frame. This helps to soften the metal frame and improve the appearance.
Later, Manos brought my lights which had arrived via China Post, surprisingly from China. Even though it was late afternoon, I got the lights out and set them up on the perimeter of the deck. To my surprise, some were working later as it got dark. The others started to work once I realised the light from those working was triggering the dawn/dusk sensor on the others, preventing them from working. I spread the lights around the edge of the deck and found the level of illumination to be reasonable as background. The other light is more powerful and intended to be at the entrance gate. It comes on dimly at dusk but changes to bright mode as you approach. The idea being to allow you to navigate the gate at night without dogs slipping out or you falling arse over elbow. This light has been put at the top of a parasol pole which is cable tied to the right-hand frame of the gate. The destructions suggest the light should be 3m above the ground in order to detect movement 2.5m from the light. We will see tonight.
As the wind had dropped, I wanted to deploy the awning to enable me to sit out on the decking during the day. Certainly it’s not possible without some shade at this time of the year unless you wish to cook! I didn’t want to screw the legs of the awning to the decking so instead screwed them to a piece of scrap wood which I screwed to another piece placed below the decking, passing the screws in the 4mm gap between the boards. I shall do something similar for the tent walls so that these can be taken up during the summer when not needed. The wind got up causing the awning to flap, so I took a spring I had found, together with an old dog line and a piece of wire, to construct a spring-loaded awning fabric tensioner. Using the dog clip allows the device to be unhooked from the metal loop in the deck floor and put up out of the way until needed again. The old awning is planned to be replaced by a new one which is 2.75m x 4.5m, the present one being 2.5m x 3m. Today’s experience shows that, even though the new awning will provide more shade area, side shading is still required at times when the sun is not overhead. I also feel some front shading will be required at other times of the year when the sun is lower in the sky. Even though it will not be as strong as the summer, it will still be bothersome and ‘in your face’.
The decking project is still a work in progress however it has made a lot more progress these two past days, than for a long time. It is also habitable so I plan to use it for a while before ordering the new awning, tent and associated accoutrements. Since the new awning is planned to go actually on the roof, to allow extra headroom, it will not be necessary to remove the existing one until the new one is mounted and operational.
I have cleaned and brought up the chair and table but realise the table has seen better days so will require replacement before too long. It was the one I bought from Argos in 2012 to take for the trial run at living in the van in Greece with Dave and Boris. It was intended to be used in the van, however I don’t recall actually ever using it inside as it takes up too much space. Still, it will do for now and is fine for breakfast or the odd meal with Dennis. I would certainly need to think again if I was considering a Downton-style banquet for sixty people. Despite the size, the decking might not be able to accommodate than many anyway.