Tag Archives: Gnome Rigging

Gnome Rigged Washing Machine!!

This morning, Gnome only had one mission in mind: try to get the washing machine working to avoid this Munchkin (Chinese Woman) Look:

I think he spends most of this time trying to stop me from pulling this face!!  I am adept at it.

And so he got to work and took the washing machine apart:

Washing Machine.

He didn’t utter a single word as he scrutinised every single component and then went on the Internet to look up “How to repair your washing machine” and “what to do if your washing machine stops working” sites.

After about an hour of Gnomish behaviour, he finally gave me the diagnosis.  He explained that the lid switch had melted; he then joined up the wires to bypass the switch and said to me,

“There you are…all done now.  It still works but you don’t have a lid right now until we find a replacement lid switch.”

He smiled cheekily,

“Off you go then, you can start the first load!”

And pointed at the washing machine that looked like this:

Working Washing Machine

I shrieked at Gnome,

“What about the outside cover?”

He replied, cheekily again,

“Oh this old thing?  Oh you don’t need this.  It’s perfect for making a solar oven!”

and then proceeded to walk away with my washing machine cover as if he owned it…

Washing Machine Cover.

How To Make A Gnome Happy.

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.BootsHello Everyone!  Just something short and sweet today.  Gnome likes specific things that usually allows for practical applications…this is one of them.  If you know what this actually is, you will know how to procure one.  Otherwise, you will just think it is a piece of junk and if you ever happened to have one cross your path.  Finding one of these makes a Gnome happy:

A Gnomish Object.
A Gnomish Object.

Just one of those Gnome things.  There are of course expensive shiny things that he likes…like gold…again, still immensely practical!  Ha-Ha 🙂

Celebrating With Vernaccia!

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.BootsWe had our usual town day today and then stopped off at the hardware store to purchase one connector and a roll of teflon tape.  These were two crucial pieces that were missing in the air-lift pump construction that stopped us from completing the full Gnome-Rig yesterday.

Gnome put the missing piece in and switched on the air-compressor.  There was a moment of silence as we stared at the pipe coming out of the well.  All of a sudden there was the glorious sound of water shooting out of the pipe…YAY!!!  Hip Hip Hooray!!  Respect To The Gnome.  He Gnome-Rigged an air-lift pump all by himself!

We Have Water!
We Have Water!

And then at Gnome’s finest moment, the clouds gathered together above our house with the inevitable Sod’s Law rain.  Ha-Ha!!

Rain Clouds.
Rain Clouds.

We celebrated with a glass of vernaccia; Gnome says that this particular wine that he has made tastes like local (vernacular) Sardinian wine which has a sherry like quality.

Vernaccia in Glasses.
Vernaccia in Glasses.

Mmmm…what a lovely way to celebrate. A little bit of sunshine in a glass.

A1 For Effort!

Together.Smiling

Yesterday was bright and dry and we managed to maintain  good humour despite all our machinery being broken. I planted a bunch of seedlings including some lemons which had been left at our gate on New Year’s Day by somebody (we think we know who the gift bringer was…so thank-you Dave).

Assorted Seedlings.
Assorted Seedlings.

Gnome was in top form and got out the manual lawn-mower…look at that…the sheer motivation of Gnome to get out there and do something.

Manual Mower.
Manual Mower.

But of course Gnomes are rather ingenious creatures and the tinkering of machinery is what life is all about. So he has started reading a book on small gas engines (thank-you to a Hawaiian Gnome for giving us this book) and he has decided that it would be a lot more efficient to attach the tiller engine onto the manual lawn-mower in order to motorize it…watch this space for more Gnome Rigging.

Gnome.Reading.Book

This morning was not so bright and cheery since Gnome woke up with a swollen hand. About two weeks ago, a huge prickle penetrated his left knuckle area. At the time, he managed to pull it out but unfortunately, part of it actually got stuck inside. We had to cut the area open in order to remove the foreign body. However, with the way life is on the farm, Gnome never really got round to resting it completely in order for it to heal. Hence we have a Gnome unable to do any work but sorely tempted to do work. We had to end up wrapping the hand  in a scarf so that he couldn’t move it at all…looks a bit like a sock puppet!  Here is a picture of him holding our new year’s baby.  This is a straight haired lemon agouti guinea pig.

Gnome Holding Piggy.
Gnome Holding Piggy.

At least he can enjoy the piggies!!

Bruk Dong III…With A Vengeance!!

Yes, Bruk Dong Monday continues with a vengeance.  If you will recall, on Monday all our machinery stopped working including the weed-eater, the chain-saw, the drill bit broke and our make-shift table (crate) broke.  After that, we decided that the best course of action was to lay low and do nothing.  I even stopped Gnome from mowing the grass.  At about 6pm that very day we heard a funny popping sound coming from outside but we could not determine the source of the noise.  On Tuesday morning, Gnome smelled some smoke in the air and thought that it was a funny time for some-one to be burning at this time of the year.

It all started to make sense when Gnome went to get out the brush-mower on Tuesday morning.  This is what he found:

Bruk Dong Brush Mower.
Bruk Dong Brush Mower.
More Melted Wire.
More Melted Wire.

Look…the wires have all melted!!  Gnome explained that the ignition switch finally gave up and in failing caused a short circuit that melted the wire.  This has also caused damage to many other parts and in short (ha-ha)…it is not working.

Gnome apologetically said:

“Sorry, I can’t Gnome Rig this one!!  We need to bring in the parts from the States!!”

Gnome.Face

And I replied cheekily,

“But Dear, we don’t have 24 hour rush delivery in Belize!”

Munchkin.Funny.Look.Yet.Another

So, no more mowing for a few months until we get the parts.  I guess we can finish the house paneling and the duck coup instead!  Definitely no shortage of work on the farm…

Gnome Rigging in Belize!!

Gnome.Pushing.Up.Glasses

Gnome-Of-All-Trades is doing all sorts of things.  You would think he was a super hero or something with all the work that he is getting on with.  Super- Gnome (TM!!).  Mmmmm, with all the Super Hero films that are being churned out of Hollywood maybe they would consider this as a movie…Ha-Ha!!  Could be plausible…after-all, they have done an Ant-Man?  What’s next…Mosquito-Man?

Anyway, excuse the rant and let us move swiftly onto the subject of Gnome-Rigging.  This is what happens when something breaks and there is no 24 hour Amazon delivery to get parts needed urgently.  The main switch for the brush-mower has fallen apart (from age, tropical weather, somebody else borrowing it and not using it properly, etc, etc) so now Gnome switches it on by fusing two wires together (like hot-wiring cars).  Like so:

Gnome Rigging.
Gnome Rigging.

The main switch does not work anymore…so connections now have to be made manually.  Hence the reason for the “bird’s nest” of wires attractively sticking out the back of the mower.  Artistic…

Bird's Nest Wiring.
Bird’s Nest Wiring.

Please be warned that Gnome-Rigging does not comply with safety standards and regulations.  Yes, you better Belize it!!

More Gnome Rigging: No proper table to work on so he balances plywood on two crates:

Gnome Working.
Gnome Working.

Against all odds, he is doing it all on the farm!  He is also panelling the inside of the house!  Yippee!!  Of course, all this work is intermittently interrupted by hissy fits from a poor frustrated Gnome trying to get things done despite all the imperfections of living in the bush!

Are you sure you want to….Follow us into THE JUNGLE??….