Put the lid on my burn barrel before the rain started. The contents, that were about 18" below the top of the barrel when I left them to smoulder down, are more or less gone completely. I knew they would burn down and the ash would compact but I didn't realise just how low it would end up in the barrel. It's handy, because I've got a few more to burn now. Not all that many - I burned almost an entire room's worth of them - but a few of them and a few rogue laths that escaped last time.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have another burning session. It will free up a bit of space. Space is at something of a premium with radiators in the middle of the floor. Since some of them weigh more than I do it's not like I can just slide them around easily.
I also took the chance to cut a clean edge on a big scrap of wood I found inside one of my walls. I have no idea why it was put there because it served no purpose at all. It wasn't in very good shape so I cut the edge of it so I've got a straight edge that I can use to check whether my studs are level. Surprisingly, most of them are pretty good. One of them looks like it's slanted away from the wall a bit. I need to shim the laths anyway because that's infinitely easier than taking an angle grinder and levelling out every part of the concrete of the wall. The angle grinder would be a cleaner solution but in this heat I really have little interest in spending any length of time wearing a full face mask and respirator. If the heat subsides I may look at the angle grinder option in more detail but the protective equipment isn't an option in the heat and doing the work isn't an option without the protective equipment.
