DIY with function over finesse!!

[myglaren]

I have considered a similar thing. I have loads of hard-drive platters suspended in my garden to deter them and other than the intruder they seem to work. The blackbird ignores them, fortunately.
I Iike to encourage the little birds but the pigeons, crows seagulls and magpies gobble any food put out for them. I used to have lots of ivy and thrushes, blackbirds and bluetits nested in among it, but then the magpies would come and steal the eggs, kill and eat the hatchlings.
Currently I turn the hose on them. Scares them away but not effective for long.
Recently had to get the ladder out to clean the gutters, full to overflowing with crap and the downcomers clogged with nesting material. Stunk to high heaven and the crows were chucking it all over while trying to get the eggs and hatchlings.
I will have to implement something but the roof also needs pointing and something doing with the TV aerial that is hanging by a thread. Bargeboards need replacing too.


One day!

[mickthemaverick]

The saga of the recycling grey water goes on!! Unfortunately SWMBO's arthritis stopped her operating the small rear tap on the two way tap which feeds the garden hose.

The problem tap

So I added a second two way tap onto the front tap with two new easy taps and thereby giving me a spare outlet at the back which I can use:

The new tap arrangement

She is now happy with the system but I realised I have created another issue. We use a tap cover in the winter and it simply won't fit over the bew arrangement so I sketched a plan to build a protective box:

The plan

Using a spare loft flooring board I then built this which will fit over the complete tap setup and hang from the hooks:

The cover waiting to be painted!!

I also fitted a lid to the tank to keep the airborn debris and pigeons (same thing? ) out of the tank!

The lid in place

Hopefully that is the job done!!

[CitroJim]

Yes, no argument on your definition of pigeons Mick... Nothing more than airborne rats...

[xantia_v6]

Spotted in the Lidl car park:

A very tatty Xantia, with dents and scrapes on every panel:

But look more closely at the mirror...

[Sloppysod]

Spotted in the Lidl car park:

A very tatty Xantia, with dents and scrapes on every panel
But look more closely at the mirror...

Ah, you're thinking he just stuck that on to replace a damaged mirror, but it may be because they drive down a narrow road.

[mickthemaverick]

Spotted in the Lidl car park:

A very tatty Xantia, with dents and scrapes on every panel
But look more closely at the mirror...

Ah, you're thinking he just stuck that on to replace a damaged mirror, but it may be because they drive down a narrow road.

It could just be that they are upright citizens

[xantia_v6]

And he has the dipping function to use when changing lane.

[Sloppysod]

And he has the dipping function to use when changing lane.

Let's hope it's automatic and he doesn't have to stick his hand out the window to flick the little lever!

[mickthemaverick]

Since I upgraded my laptop I noticed that the sofa arm is getting too warm for my liking. I use the laptop on the arm so I can work in comfort and the old laptop's vents used to overhang for ventilation. This new machine has its vents in the centre so I have used an old chopping board and a couple of rails to provide the necessary. The laptop is attached with velcro tabs along the front and is very stable and cool now!!

The front view with velcro tabs, one below the mouse position.

The end view showing the ventilation path.

[Rp0thejester]

Mick, you have way too much free time on your hands

[CitroJim]

Mick, you have way too much free time on your hands

Indeed, all my free time went for the chop ages ago

[MattBLancs]

A very tatty Xantia, with dents and scrapes on every panel:

You missed the little F on the number plate, is that standard Parisian finish?

That mirror is great, definitely in "not stupid if it works" category!
Wonder if the anti glare dipping lever still works too!?

[mickthemaverick]

Having completed my grey water recycling system, detailed here, I decided it was time to turn my attention to rainwater collection, if we ever have anymore of course .

We do not have anywhere that a normal size water butt can be installed without seriously obstructing our wheelie bin route from their nest to the front for collections. So I set about a plan of my own. I didn't want to use one of the conventional diverter systems as here:

Click on the images to enlarge

A typical diverter system

because it necessitates cutting into the downpipe and installing the unit. Our downpipe from the garage, the only one I can make use of, is very hard and brittle so I had no desire to try and cut it, envisaging a pile of broken plastic and a renewal of the entire pipe!! So I devised this scheme in the diagram:

My rainwater plan

Basically I have put an extra outlet in the guttering before the original downpipe, thus draining a majority of the roof water into the tank. However it is obvious that the possibility of an overflow exists so I have the new pipe sealed at both ends and with the tank tap off it forms a sump type reservoir. Should the rain fill the tank it will fill right up the pipe to the gutter level thus causing further water to bypass the new drain and continue to the original downpipe - at least that's the plan!!

So after some considerable battling with connecting the different diameter parts I have ended up with this. The down hose is flexible and I have left some slack in it to allow me to lower the tank should I decide to do so. Now we just need some rain!

Spoiler: show

The new installation

[PaulC5]

Looks good. It will be heavy if full with water weighing 1 kg per litre. Still no sign of rain here (Lincoln), it is cloudy but not dropping anything.

[mickthemaverick]

Indeed it will Paul, I am going to build a proper stool for it to stand on with 2 x 2 legs and 18mm plywood top. A job for tomorrow when I find the length of 2 x 2 I know I have somewhere!!