Things that get in the way of turfing. First there’s saga of our new flooring where a 4-day job lasted around a month. And with that now out of the way, there’s decorating needs done in all the rooms where the new flooring was laid. Now, I don’t mind decorating, in fact, I quite enjoy it, sad to say I know. But what annoys me is the poor quality of house building these days.
First there’s the gaps between the skirting boards and the walls, the messy, irregular finish where the plasterboard skim coat abuts anything and there’s also little mounds in the walls and ceilings where the nails have popped through the plaster. All these little things take time to remedy, time better spent turfing. Then there’s the silly error made by the decorator, that’s me by-the-way, who mistakenly used outdoor wood stain inside the house and it’s taking weeks to actually dry properly.
Today, I’ve just about finished the conservatory. Cracks in the ceiling needed filled, sanded and painted. Popped fixings in the ceiling also needed repaired and then there’s the dreaded silicon sealant that’s been liberally applied at each and every joint between different surfaces. Makes it a real pain to achieve a neat finish between, for example, the emulsion on the walls and the wood stain on the woodwork. Glad it’s finished and I can get turfing again, at least for a while. There are still other rooms to do. Rant over.
Now, turfing and at this time of year there’s a special event that both delights and annoys, Halloween. And what should a turfer be doing on Halloween? They should be attempting the Turfoween un-official Planet Gary medal, of course! Here’s the details.
“This medal is for those exceedingly brave turfers who are willing to venture out turfing on All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, and face the ghostly ghosts, ghoulish ghouls, wicked witches and those annoying trick or treaters. There are five medals available for turfers who manage to take 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 zones and live to tell the tale. Turfoween takes place only on 31st October each year.”
I have a faint recollection that I managed around 40 zones during a previous Halloween but I cannot be certain because I didn’t update my Unofficial Progress page, so this time I’m going to go for the Turfoween 50, that means I have to take 50 zones during Halloween, when all the nasty witches, ghouls and another scary creatures are abroad, and finally tick this medal off the to-do list.
Turfoween 50 – take 50 zones during Halloween.
Now, I don’t know what terrifies me the most, the thought of going out turfing when there’s all the denizens of Halloween about. The wicked witches, the evil wizards and all the other scary creatures that are free to roam at this time. Or the thought of going out turfing when there are hundreds of noisy, excited and mostly sweetie-sticky germ-factory children running uncontrolled about the town. Hold on, yes, I do know what terrifies me the most. Yes, you’ve guessed, the latter, the children!
To collect the 50 zones for my Turfoween 50 medal I started in Bonnyrigg, when almost all the zones were held by other turfers. This gave me around 40 takes, which meant I needed a few more. For these I headed for Dalkeith country park, where I wanted to complete another small task from my to-do list. In the beech woods towards the Kings Gate entrance there’s a junction I always seem to miss when cycling in the dark, so wanted to mark the junction with a few small, discreet reflective markers. These are easily picked up in the bike lights and make finding the junction so much easier. Not sure they will not be found and removed but we shall wait and see
With this small mission accomplished, I was headed back to Bonnyrigg and finally completed by Turfoween 50 medal at zone HolyDalkeith. Of course, being an un-official Planet Gary medal, there’s no pop-up alert in the turf app, which is a shame, but perhaps the turf wizards will add it someday. Bye for now.
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