A couple of weeks ago, Gnome gave me the mission to find a J Roller in Belize.  My first question was,

“What’s a J Roller when it’s at home?”

So he told me to look up pictures in Amazon and read the descriptions.  I am not sure how he came up with the tool name because he had never mentioned it before…he probably read instructions somewhere…he is the only person that I know that reads instruction manuals with great interest and enjoyment.

A J Roller is a “J” shaped roller made of rubber.  It is used to aid the adhesion of  surfaces with a sticky underside…you basically roll it back and forth on a surface to make it stick down smoothly.  They can be used for adhesive tiles which is what we had for a new project.  Aha…he read the back of the box! 😉

The task of looking for an uncommonly used tool in Belize can be quite a challenge.  I started my mission in the hardware stores in Punta Gorda.

When I said,

“I am looking for a J Roller.”

I would usually get a perplexed look and,

“…what’s that??”

So, then I had to modify my first question and say,

“Do you have a J Roller?  It looks like a paint roller but it is made of rubber.”

(This did not work because the shop assistant would automatically turn the conversation to paint rollers being made of foam in Belize).

Okay, so I had to further change my method of questioning and point to their formica counter tops and say:

“…what do you use to stick that (formica) onto the countertop.”

These were the answers that I got from a few hardware stores (I feel like I was conducting some sort of survey on how to ask silly questions and how to get silly answers back!!):

“…errh…you just smooth it out with your hands…”

and:

“…you get a big old smooth stick…”

and:

“…what???”

Hmmmm…needless to say, I wasn’t getting anyway.  So, I asked for Panda’s assistance since he was driving out to the big city.  He said that he even printed out a picture of the J Roller and showed it to a few hardware stores.  No luck…at least they knew of the existence of the tool but did not think that it was of much use hence the reason they did not stock said tool.

Okay…Okay…so, we had to do it the Munchkin and Gnome way.  Get a marble rolling pin and use that instead.  No shortage of rolling pins in Belize!!  When I presented the rolling pin to Gnome he said with a smile,

“…well, if it doesn’t work, we can always roll out some nice pasta noodles with it…”

Well, it does the job!!  So, if you are looking for a J Roller in Belize, try the kitchen section for a heavy rolling pin instead!!

Ha-Ha!!  This is toooo funny!!  This one is Farm Job #507 and has been on the waiting list for 18 months.  The front gate fell apart due to termites and it has been such a pain (physical) for Gnome since he has to manually remove the gate every-time we need to leave the farm.  So at long last we have got to this job…Gnome did all the measuring and designing and then we ordered the hardwood.  He said:

“Aha!!  This time I am making one big gate to stretch across so I only need to hinge one side…”

The brand new gate was designed with wheels to take the weight and on paper, it seemed like a practical and well-thought out design.  Well, Gnome put the gate together and…

…we can’t lift it!!  It’s way too heavy.  In the picture you can see the old gate which is really quite wonky and needs replacing.

Okay, so back to the drawing board…Gnome will be sawing the gate in half and we will have two sides to the gate and yes, he will have to hinge both sides.  Oh well, we just have to have a normal gate!!

Gnome:

“…well, not actually that normal!  One side will be longer than the other!”

Ha-Ha, I just had to laugh at that.  Also, the wood has just been freshly cut and not seasoned so they are all bananas.  Whenever Gnome does a wood project, we usually joke about him lining up the bananas!  Nothing is straight and nothing fits despite obsessive Gnome measuring!

Old gate when it was working:

When we have the gate up it will be a cause for celebration.  Some more Harvey’s Bristol Cream, methinks!

Hello There!!  The Easter weekend was cold and wet so it kinda allowed  an enforced rest.  Then Monday came and nothing came out of Monday.  Mondays can be write off a lot of the time, I’ve noticed.  I personally think that the beginning of the week should start Tuesday!

Anyway, we started Tuesday.  We are trying to do all the tidying up and construction that we had stored up for the dry weather.

Firstly, the tree that fell on the roof of the house (about 8 months ago) which has been perching precariously over the Internet antenna, was removed.  We had been waiting to buy a chainsaw (because our cheapo one broke…it was a luminous green and purple one and looked like a Fisher Price toy!).  Just as an aside, I usually start Gnome with cheap tools so that he learns to use them without getting worried about wear and tear and breakage.  Once he shows that he actually knows how to use the tool, we graduate onto more expensive tools.

Well, we haven’t got the good chainsaw yet!  So, Gnome had to take the tree down, traditional-style with a machete.

With the usual one Gnome heroics, the tree was cut down, pulled to the side and cut into pieces.

Moving swiftly on, we (Gnome actually, I do all the cleaning up after) has taken the back wall off the house to replace with zinc because it is water-proof and sturdier.  With all this messing around at the back of the house, we had a better chance to intensely scrutinise the wooden posts that were holding up the stairs.  We knew they were rotting and we had to fix them…sometime.  The posts had actually rotted right through and the stairs were being held up by…I don’t know… magic and air.  Anyway, the stairs were pulled out and now replaced with a ladder (Ha-Ha).  Also, the posts holding up the door are rotting through!

It’s funny because the cat comes up to the house from the back stairs and we were both worried that he wouldn’t be able to get into the house in the usual way.  The cat didn’t have a problem with the ladder…of course!!  Savvy cats can get up and down ladders!!

So, today, instead of getting the zinc up, Gnome has to cut extra pieces of wood to hold the door up!

Yes, the place is falling apart but we must save the sinking ship!!