Scottish Cub Fest?

And just in case you didn't see this on The Cub Mag - here it is again, and for those of you who check both sites, apologies for repeating myself, repeating myself, repea...

Some of you might have heard about the new Scottish bike show, to be held at Lanark on 12/13th May this year. I was considering the idea of having a bit of a Cub get together there - it would make an ideal venue to showcase our Cubs to a new audience, and maybe even meet a few 'like minded' types. The deal from the organisers is a FREE 16 square meter plot indoors, which would give us room for a selection of different models - not scantily clad stick insects, I was thinking more Sports / Mountain / Trials Cubs etc and not forgetting the Terrier, and perhaps some sort of project on the bench, so that people can see the mad things that we Cubbers do!

Might even manage to hook up a slide show with Cub rides and activies shown on a screen - would probably be a charge for an electric hook up, but if the 'Fest' takes off, I can find out more.
I'm sure there are a goodly number of Cub owners in Scotland or the north of England who would relish a weekend away at a bike show, talking bikes, looking at other bikes and generally having a good old time. Being May, the weather might be nice and we could even attept to organise a BBQ for Cub Fest Partakees and Friends.

Any thoughts on this are most welcome, either leave a comment by clicking on the 'comment' link under this post, or email me gbc AT thecubmag.com. If you fancy taking your bike along or helping out by manning the stand for a couple of hours each day, then that would be much appreciated. Contact me in the same way.

More 'shovelling' than 'shedding' really...

....So there we were, digging this hole, which was to be for the inspection pit in the new concrete sectional shed. Well, actually, 'we' didn't dig it, the mini digger man dug it, in the snow, a few weeks back. Luckily, it hasn't really snowed much since then, and the pit has remained covered up with tin sheets and anything else that would stop Star the not-overly-bright-Collie from falling in it. Last Wednesday, the Man from Muckle Flugga came round and started the concreting of the pit floor. There was a small pile of sandy ballast left over from the last shed build, half way up the drive (the lorry driver got stuck so just dumped it there), so some of that was barrowed down to the site and after clearing out the mini-landslip in the bottom of the pit, a few loads were mixed up and dropped into the pit. While the MFMF was busy concreting himself into a corner, I was up a ladder fixing the roof on Cubbie's shed. One of the corners of the box profile sheet had somehow come lose, and was flapping around in the rather stiff breeze. Luckily it had survived the recent storms that we had earlier in December. The problem was that the plank that that the sheeting was screwed into was so rotten that the screws weren't holding, so after a quick scout around the 'timber recycling pile' I found a suitable replacement, chopped it to size and fixed the roof back down. Sorted. Meanwhile, someone had left some footprints in the wet concrete....
(A couple of days later...)
So with the pit floor sorted, the next step will be to pop a few rows of blocks up for the walls and back fill the gap between the blocks and the rest of the world, with some concrete. But that's for later. Moving swiftly on to New Years Eve, and a handy contact in the world of 'big diggers' had agreed to lend us a JCB Loadall, and it was delivered to Cubbie Towers at early o'clock. A rather useful bit of kit, it would surely make shifting the huge pile of spoil a lot easier than a wheelbarrow...

The first pile to be shifted was nice, healthy dark top soil, which had to be carted right through every field we've got, up to the top of the farm, then back down to the bottom and back up half way again, to Mrs BC's veggie garden, and when that was gone, it was time to move the thick, orange clay that was heaped up on the far side of the shed base area. Easier said than done really, as there's the small matter of the whopping great big hole in the middle, aka the inspection pit.

New Years Day: Being ever so careful to avoid dropping the Loadall in for an inspection, TMFMF set about shovelling up the clay and dumping it in one of the fields to make a bit of a sheep shelter. Unfortunately, being the middle of winter, and having had quite a lot of overnight rain, it meant that the big heavy beast of a JCB cut into the ground rather a lot, and after just a few loads it was decided that it would be better to dump the spoil on a patch of waste ground, that wouldn't involve running back and forth through the fields. That was a doubly good thing 'cos it also meant each load could be dumped in half the time, and I didn't have to keep running around opening and closing gates and keeping sheep in the right fields. It's certainly been a great help having the machine in to shift the spoil, but more or less every load has had to be supplemented with hand lifted shovel-fulls of heavy, sodden, half set clay, which let me tell ya, is no way to spend New Years Day! But hey, it's all going to be worth it when the muck is cleared, the ruts have healed up and the shed starts to be built. Can't wait. Oh, and before I forget to tell you, it looks like I might be getting my paws on another plunger Cub frame in a few months!

We've only got the Loadall until Wednesday, so hopefully the weather tomorrow will be nice and frosty, and we can finish off the earth shifting and maybe even get the mini digger man back to help tidy up and then.....maybe.....on Tuesday....maybe the block work could go up in the pit....maybe....oh yes, there's a tree to plant too, one that had to come out when the base was dug out.

And before I take my weary body off to the land of nod, I'd like to say thanks to one and all for the good wishes received by email, text or Fleecebook, and thanks for your continued interest and support in all things GBC and Cubbie over the years. I hope you'll continue to 'watch this space' for more madcap adventures and sheep tails. Tales. Sorry. HAPPY NEW YEAR BLOGGERS!!!!!

What did you get? C'mon, share it, tell us!

Well I was one lucky girl this year, receiving 2 pairs of wonderfully warm and cosy boots, some gloves (which always come in handy, boom boom), a rather brilliant hat and scarf hand made by a friend of Mrs BC, which isn't my usual style at all, but there's just something about it that I love. A joint pressie for Cubbie Towers came in the form of a DVD recorder, but we've now discovered that we have to watch the same channel as we're recording, which rather negates the whole point of finally having a DVD recorder. I'm wondering if it's because it also contains all the Freeview gizmos which we previously had to use the set top box for, and if there is a way of hooking up the old set top box as well as the DVD recorder, so that two different channels can be received at the same time. Mrs BC has gone all technical, with a DAB radio and wait for it....one of those MP3 player thingies! Somehow, Santa managed to fit a hammer drill down the chimney, along with a helmet cam - you just wait for some new 'Cubbie / Terry Tours Scotland' videos. Two other pressies that will aid in the filming process are a natty new neck tube that turns into a hat, and, yes, wait for it, an upside down map. I mean, please? An upside down map? I'm a girl, don't people know girls can read maps the right way up! Tis a bit funny though, finding the south coast of England where the north coast of Scotland should be, and all the place names the right way up. So, what did you get?

Go on, click on the map pic and see for yourself, weird!!!

Christmas Day Sheep Surgery.

Did a little surgery on young Dennis the Dorset sheep today. One of his horns was dangerously close to his eye, and after a suspected bit of fisticuffs (or whatever the sheep equiv is) with Solly the Soay, the horn ended up poking poor Dennis in the eye. So it was out with the hacksaw blade and after a very painful few minutes for the lad, with the horn being pushed and poked and shoved into his eye even more, Dr GBC soon sorted it out. And no blood. And hope you all had a great Crimbo day.

Wot, no festive wishes? Oh go on then...

Wishing all you bloggers a Very Merry Christmas and a stunningly wonderful New Year, may it be full of sunny fun filled motorcycle riding days and adventures and loads of new and interesting motorcycle magazines to read. Well, actually, hey, you only need one new motorcycle mag really, doncha? And I bet I know which one you'll all be asking Santa for....The Cub Mag!!!

If you pop back over the hols, you might find something of interest; maybe some shed building, or shed clearing out to facilitate a little bit of bike building, or maybe fitting a new kitchen door, shovelling snow, painting the kitchen, oh, who knows, there'll be festive times a plenty at Cubbie Towers!

Digger Work Cont...

After a couple of hours on Sunday, the Digger Man ran out of diesel and went home. Personally, I think it was more likely that he wanted to go and thaw out, cos it was a bit chilly and it hardly stopped snowing all the time he was working. As soon as he'd gone, that's when it did stop. Monday morning was fun; a guy came to buy some of the lambs, so they had to be caught and penned up in the hurdles, which we first had to drag across the fields of snow. We got the girl lambs caught first, with the aid of some feed in their trough, which we moved into the hurdled off area. That was easy enough but keeping the little critters in, that was another story! Every time a lump of snow fell from a tree at the end of the field, they all took flight and barged the weak point in the hurdles, almost succeeding in breaking free on one attempt. While I kept an eye on them, Mrs BC went and caught the boy lambs up in another field, using the same sneaky technique. By this time, the Digger Man had arrived, and work was under way, and then Tony the Shearer, whom we shall now refer to as Tony the Lamb Buyer, turned up an hour or so late, much to his usual form! With the sheep all wormed, injected and treated for things they haven't got but might get when they leave the sanctury of the farm for pastures new, they were loaded into his trailer and the deal was done. Tony set off down the slippery snow covered icy hill, and we went to see what the Digger Man had managed to do in his next two hours. Oh. My. Goodness. That's a mighty large hole in the garden. And that's an even mightier pile of spoil we've now got to re-home. Did I mention that the plan with this shed is to have an inspection pit in it? Always wanted one, and never had the chance to be able to 'make' one before. Seeing as it was partly the Man from Muckle Flugga's idea to get the mini digger in, it's also down to him to beg / borrow / steal (no, don't really mean 'steal', not as in 'break the law') or acquire some sort of machine to shift the mountain of spoil, cos none of us are relishing the thought of moving it with a wheel barrow!

Just a wee scoop to see if we'd hit the soak away from the gutters round the house. No, is the answer, nor did we find any oil or gold or anything interesting.

Nearly deep enough, but needs to be a little longer and wider......

"What, about this big for the pit?"

Er, yeah, ok then, that's probably big enough now! Thought we'd better cover it up before the cats, dogs and small sheep fell into it.

Thats it, dig a huge hole and then clear off!

Well, that's the first stage done and dusted with snow. Next up (after moving the mountain out of the way) we need to get some shuttering up and investigate the best option for the base. Do we mix it ourselves? It's not much bigger than the previous Cubbie Shed base which Mrs BC and I mixed up and laid a few years back, or do we try and get a ready mix company with a small enough lorry to deliver the gloop straight in? At this time of year, it's gonna be tricky getting lorries and big loads up the hill, down the drive and back up the drive again.

A Day of Rest.

Digger man coming tomorrow to scoop out the base for the shed. Snow also due tomorrow.

Grampian Classic Club Xmas Bash today, ciao.

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I didn't see any point in starting a new post about the same subject, so here are a few pics from the digger work today - woke up to a blanket of white stuff everywhere, but the digger man still managed to get his transit van and trailer up the steep hill to Cubbie Towers. He managed a couple of hours work in almost constant snow, then ran out of diesel! So he nipped off home and will be back tomorrow to finish the job. If only I hadn't given my spare can to the hay delivery chappie on Friday.


The calm before the digger.................................First to go was the Woolly Willow

Which was so huge it had to be chopped in half for re-planting. Followed by two birch trees and a conifer.

Nice, dark top soil, handy for the garden............then down to the very stoney, sandy stuff. Would have taken more than a couple of hours to get to this stage with a shovel and pick.

And finally, some frozen woolly faces.