yes @chizharward I’m happy to help Guy with cooking on Sat! and i’m sure there will be a few ingredients suitable for me
Yay! Thanks, Guy. See you then 
Jenny
Anyone got a spare space from London for @Paul_H??? @guyarnold???
@Haszko, you get what you’re given and be grateful 
@jo_keogh you will be missed, catch up soon
@Tutu, great, talk to Guy about ingredients?
@Jenny, see you there!
Sorry chiz, with Jenny I’ll be full I’m afraid. The mini will be cramped as it is!
No bother, hopefully someone else will have a space although the cars look full!
Nigel Seaborne will also be joining us, so 17 for breakfast, 18 for evening meal. I believe he is n0t coming from London, he is an ‘O’.
Updated list…
O(mnivore)/V(egetarian)
So far we have:
Chiz (and Liethan) Coming from Stroud Thurs O
Peter Harris driving, O
JT with Peter O
Laura O with Peter O
Dave Adler with Peter O
Manchi driving O
Tim with Manchi O
Catrin with Manchi?
Tutu with Manchi V
Guy 1 space? O
Martin Bull with Guy
Jenny with Guy O
Paul Sagar from Cambs O
Richard Young from Wilts O
Richard H self propelled O
Valerie self propelled O
Nigel S self propelled O
Paul H requiring lift!!!
Yes Catrin is in our car. She’s O.
Just heard Bob Adams is also coming, so extra for Saturday breakfast and meal
Update from the Cottage…the oven is in, working, and christened…lasagne and crumble here we come…the hearth has-been taken up and relaid, burner goes in today, should be super toasty by this evening.
See you all tonight!
Manchi and Tim, we do need firelighters, toilet roll and bin bags please!
I’m about to set off from Cambridge - would somebody who knows for sure where the cottage is mind sending me their number, in case I can’t find it in the dark?!
Thanks
Paul
Spring Working Meet
I’d just like to extend a massive thanks to everyone that came along and helped at the Spring Working Meet. Every time I organise a meet I’m never sure whether we’ll get anyone turning up, but so far the club has been fantastic, and this meet was no different with 17 members coming along, plus a prospective member!
Before the meet even started Mike P had fitted the new oven; I’d been a bit worried about whether it would fit but Mike slotted it in no problem, job done, and one that has been on the cards for a good while. It’s great to finally have it in and I think it will get a fair bit of use. Instructions are in the drawer next to it. We’ll be building more food racking next to it to ease congestion at the end of the kitchen.
On Thursday afternoon I drove up and took up the central part of the old hearth which sloped downwards for some reason. This proved to be largely made of super strong cement, but a determined approach, accompanied by swearing, paid off and a new hearth stone was laid that evening. Thanks to Richard (put a jumper on) Haszko for his help and minor grumbling about the fact that it was cold without a burner on!
Friday morning the burner fitter turned up and quickly got the new Firefox 12 burner in and the flue connected, a test firing quickly warmed the Cottage, and the burner was declared officially open. We now have a vitreous enamel flue, which kicks out a lot of heat (warning: metal box containing fire is hot) and the increase in efficiency was instantly noticeable. To clean the glass: wait til its cold, scrunch some newspaper, wet it, dab it in the wood ash and scrub off the soot on the glass.
The wood fire needs to sit on a layer of wood ash, so don’t bother clearing any ash out unless it is overflowing (remembering to dump the hot ashes outside to avoid Carbon Monoxide poisoning). The steel handles should be taken off after closing the doors, there is a heat proof mitt as well. We’ll put a small shelf up to keep the fire irons and handles on. I know it seems like having detachable handles is crazy, but we haven’t lost the ones in the Barn in two years!
After a quick evening scramble over the Daear Ddu with Leithan and Richard Young, returning via the Tyn-y-Coed, we got back to the sight of Bob Adams and Haszko enjoying the burner. More members turned up throughout the night and the usual pre-meet excess of whisky and lack of sleep followed…
Manchi (and Tim after a bit of prodding) cooked a stellar breakfast and we all got stuck in to the work bang on 9am, all the jobs were finished on the Saturday which was fantastic. The weather was good, and we got both huts deep cleaned, as well as tidying up outside the Cottage, laying hardstanding by the woodstores, plastering behind the new burner (by Guy and Laura, to be completed later), laundry, BBQ construction, hacking back brambles, emptying the safe, and fitting new shelves and coathooks in the Barn (Richard Young continuing the club tradition of burning out masonry bits at a rate of two per hole).
Guy and helpers meantime had prepared a mighty lasagne and crumble combo that would test the oven, and feed the army of hungry workers, joined by Valerie, and a fleeting visit by Liz F. The oven passed the test with flying colours and the food was superb and we all did our best to make sure there was plenty of recycling to take down on the Sunday.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by a charity auction of lost property, proceeds to Mountain Rescue. An assorted ragbag of towels, odd socks, t shirts, and children’s clothing (modelled by Martin -don’t ask)was hyped up by our auctioneer, J.T., with some serious (and inexplicable) bidding wars, and we raised nearly 100 quid for MR, plus a lot of laughter, and some very worried looks (Martin).
If anyone has any receipts, if you can send them to Max Adamson (photos ok, please add a short explanation of what it was for).
I think everyone had a good time, at least they looked like they enjoyed themselves, and everyone pitched in and worked hard, so a massive thank you to everyone who came along. Your hard work means that the huts are in really good order and we can all enjoy a base in the mountains. Looks like everyone had a good Sunday too, it was scorchio in the Moellwyns.
Thanks to Mike P for caretaking duties, and to Richard H, Valerie, Richard Y, Bob Adams, Jenny, Guy A, Peter H, Tim McD, Manchi, Martin B, Nigel S, Marion W, Catrin, Tutu, Laura O, JT and Paul S, you are all stars
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I had a cracking weekend - thanks for having me along. I’ve put in my membership form and payment details, so hopefully I won’t be “prospective” for much longer!