Covid Blog 20

Today was an early start with me up at 6.00am to go to the local bakery (Breadstreet) to get some fresh bread for breakfast. I met David Winter who owns the bakery and it seems he is doing well with the stay at home shoppers .... 

Arriving home it was time to get ready for the ride to the hills for the morning. The starting point was at Red Rooster on the corner of Canterbury and Union roads... the ride was along the bike path alongside the Ringwood line to Heathmont station then along bike paths to Boronia station then to The Basin to start the 1:20 ride of about 7 kms. This is a great ride on the uphill as there is a steady climb for about 4 kms then a false flat for about a km to catch your breath before the final few kms to Sassafras.

It was cool at the top of the ride and I was pleased I had a couple of layers of gear on especially for the fast decent back to The Basin.

After the decent it was pretty much the same route home with a stop for coffee at Laburnum. By this time the weather was really good and the coffee in the sun was lovely.

Arriving home I had lunch and organised myself to start the repairs and painting of the first of the front bay window.. the more I got in the sanding the window the more rotted timber I found..... yuck!

With some help from Chris, I organised a trip to Bunnings to get some better tools to get the job done. I must admit that getting the right tools makes all the difference!

The afternoon was spent trying to complete the preparation work on the window timber and then applying the undercoat again to give a good surface to apply the final coats of paint 

I really hate this job as it is painstaking and requires real patience which I do not have.

In many respects it reminds me of difficult times on the bike where you need to hunker down and get on with doing the job and enjoy the completion of the task!

The job was finished at about 5.30pm and it was time for a beer!

I will try to put the final coats on the window later in the week

The day was satisfying with a good ride and a frustrating afternoon doing the prep work on the window. It was interesting to hear the people walking and riding bikes etc along our street whilst I was stuck up the ladder trying to be a handyman... seems that Covid isolation at home has made people appreciate the simple things of life rather than going to restaurants, cafes and the like. I wonder whether this new normal will continue when the lockdown is over.

Now for the photos....

Today’s ride up to the hills.....

Tools for the job...

Chisels, sander and multi tool for cutting timber in difficult situations ....

Another shot of the tools I purchased from Bunnings 

Thank god I have shares in the company!