DIY tool tips

As a budding DIY enthusiast, I am slow but steadily building up my collection of tools. One mistake I made in the past was going for the cheapest in the market. I now realise that I should have gone for the branded tools.

A good example are the cheap screw drivers I bought sometime back. I got blisters using them while building my shed and they are practically useless now after the heavy duty usage.

I also found out that branded names are not necessarily costly and that it's possible to get them at rock bottom prices during discount sales. I am now always on the lookout for some good deals on the net.

Besides the normal tools, like hammers, screwdrivers, drills, etc., another essential piece of equipment that every DIYer must have is a workbench. It must be robust, durable and adjustable. I found a good bargain for the Black and Decker Workmate WM825 on the on godfrey-diy.co.uk site.


At only £54.99, this is among the lowest prices for this great work bench. Easy to use and hight adjustable, it folds away when it's not in use. Would definitely love to have one.

Black Watch - awesome theatre

Yesterday night went to see the acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch at the Warwick Art's Centre. My wife's friend who's doing a PhD in theatre recommended it. He liked it so much that he watched it five times.

Written by Gregory Burke and directed by John Tiffany, it was indeed a wonderful experience - among the best theatre I have ever experienced in a long time. I say experience because it seemed like we were in the middle of it. Pulsating and high octane right from the start to the end. I was so engrossed that the one hour and 50 minutes just rushed by. It might have something to do with the fact that the actors were so near us. The arrangement of the stage was quite unique with the audience of either side of the stage.

A warning though - there is liberal use of strong language (Hint: four letter words starting with F and C). There are some loud explosions as well - made me jump more than once. The seating was a bit uncomfortable and I had someone's knee on my back and whenever there was an explosion he would jump and give me a light thump on my back with his knee. We were sitting so close that I could almost smell the beer the lady sitting next to me was holding. I guess that was part of the total experience.

Make sure you empty your bladder before hand as there are no intervals and you won't be allowed back in if you decide to go out.

So what was the play all about? Well it's about the famous Scottish regiment of the same name - Black Watch. Tells about the experiences about some soldiers in Iraq and about politics. You also get to learn about the history of the regiment as well.

It was an awesome show. Watch it.

DIY metal pent shed

For quite sometime we had been using the second toilet outside as a storeroom but finally decided to get a shed as we need to use the toilet sometimes .

We finally decided on the Yardmaster 6' x 4' Metal Pent Shed. We bought it online and it cost us £119.00 plus a delivery charge of £4.85.

Argos also carries a similar shed and at a slightly lower price but we decided on the product from Tesco because it comes with anchoring fittings and work gloves.

The shed was delivered this Monday and I straight away started on the roof. It took me 45 minutes to assemble it.



Next day, the weather was quite bad and it rained intermittently through out the day. Thank God! my father-in-law who's visiting, was there to help me. We took several breaks and I had to buy a new screwdriver from Wickes and a cordless power screwdriver from Woolworths halfway through the assembly. Wish I had made the decision earlier as we would have got though it much faster.


Without the roof and the front walls.



Now all I need to do is to fix the anchorings and put some grease on the door rollers. My first major DIY project completed successfully.

The shed is not really big and I realised one major disadvantage of buying a metal shed - fixing shelves on the wall is going to be really difficult if not impossible. That means that I am got to look for some metal shelves.

So what do you think?

Blue Hyacinth

Saw these beautiful blue hyacinths at the local grocer and decided to get some for my garden. One of them finally flowered. Some of the buds fell off while I was planting it. It would have looked much better otherwise.






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Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Teachers on strike

Saw a number of kids on the street today and was wondering about it. Later learnt that the teachers are on strike. The one -day strike was called by the National Union of teachers to protest against low wages. A number of working parents are fuming mad as they have to take off from work to look after their kids. I wonder what would happen to the kids whose parents are unable to get the day off.

I don't know why but I suddenly felt like listening to one of my old favourite songs - that we used to sing in school.



Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall

Dinner at My China, Coventry

Last Sunday evening both my wife and I were feeling too lazy to cook and we decided to eat out instead. We went to our favourite Chinese restaurant - my China at Priroy Place, Coventry City Centre.

This was our second visit to the establishment. Charles Lim the friendly proprietor is originally from Malaysia (the World seems like a small place).

They have such a extensive list of food on their menu , it's quite hard to choose. We finally decided upon Crispy Vegetarian Spring Rolls (starters), Malaysian Style Fried Ho Fun, Egg Noodles and Vegetarian 'Ma Po' Tofu with rice. As usual we had Chinese Tea to go along with the food.

Here are some pics. Sorry they aren't that clear as they were taken using my Skypephone and the light was quite dim inside.


Egg Noodles


Malaysian Style Fried Ho Fun


Vegetarian 'Ma Po' Tofu


Rahil trying out chop sticks for the first time and somehow she managed.

Our son refused to get off the stroller and slept through the whole dinner. He only woke up when we got home.

The food was great and reasonably priced. Would definitely be going there again.

The cabbage that survived

Some of you might recall my post "Cabbage and caterpillars" that I posted last year showing pics of my cabbage plant infested with caterpillars.

You might be surprised to learn that the cabbage plant is still standing. It survived the caterpillars



the winter


and is now even taller than my son.


A true survivor.


Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.