Take your wedding on the road !

Ey up my faithful Blogworms,

Looking at our statistics it seems that Roadstone Plaques are really grabbing your attention so this week sees us taking them into new territory ............

The most unusual way to comemorate your wedding day !!

Comemorating your wedding day in what is probably the most unusual and memorable way has really got to be something special.

Hopefully as special as the day itself !

You can bet your boots that none of your friends will have anything that looks remotely like this in their wedding album




   If you're already married, there's no reason why you can't get a plaque now because all we need is a great picture of your wedding in jpeg form to make one for you. The picture doesn't even have to feature your wedding car, boat, truck, carriage or whatever, ( although a really unusual wedding vehicle would be an amazing thing to create ) you can have your plaque made from any of your wedding pics that you particularly like.

If you're just planning your wedding you can ask your photographer to set up a picture that will look fabulous on a plaque or, these days, your guests usually manage to capture some amazing moments that would look terrific made in this way.


As a special offer for weddings, we going to offer a FREE easel along the lines of those you see here ( worth £30 or more  ) to sit your plaque on in pride of place in your home.

Your standard plaque size is 300mm high ( about 12") x 375mm wide ( about 15") 

but don't forget if you want to make amassive statement with your plaque, we can go ...

 Supersize at 600mm high ( about 24") x 750mm wide ( about 30")

For something this unique, I see absolutely no reason why we could not courier or post these out to you ........ wherever you are in the world !!

Lets take Roadstone Plaques global, we're willing, are you ?

See ya again next week, Jules !

A whole new meaning to "Pandoras Box"

Ey up my faithful blogworms. 

This week it's inventions time ! 




We needed something spacious but compact to carry our supplies in the back of our campervan. It had to do more than 1 job as space in campervans is always at a premium. So the idea of a combined camping box and table was born.

Cue: Pandoras Camp Box & Table


Store all your provisions in it before you set off, all tidy and in one spot, lift it out when you arrive at your destination, fit the legs ( conveniently stored in the box ) and Bingo ! you've got a ready made table with all your stuff to hand and you can seat 4 people around it for enjoying your meal, pop your beer or wine or whatever in the middle and you're fully sorted. OK you've got to take some seats aswell but it can't do everything !


We've used ours to test it and it's absolutely perfect for adding a touch of style and comfort to your camping expeditions.
You could happily use it for days out, picnics, festivals ( it does hold quite a bit of beer and wine if you stack it properly but it does get heavy ). We've designed the legs with an element of self levelling so it's sits perfectly on grass, pebbles, beaches ( just make sure the sand's not too soft though or it'll sink ) and tarmac


You can actually fit certain 2 ring camping gas cookers in it if you want somewhere safe to store one.

In short, it's brilliant and now we never leave home without ours, it's become an important and valuable piece of our camping kit.



As it's such a damn good idea we've made a few and sold a few so don't take my word for it, other people think it's brilliant too !

If you think one would also make a big difference to your camping trips and days out, we're sure it will, they can be yours for only £169.99 plus delivery ( typically around a tenner )

Email me on: julian@milestone.uk.net and place your order, we can get one to you wherever you are !!

And yes, I know it's corny but you really will wonder how you managed without one !

Hardwood Heartache

Ey up my faithful blogworms, did you miss me ?. Been working away and on my jollies so not had chance to spout forth my usual words of wisdom.

It's time for a rant again ! ... Hardwood worktops. I am still hearing tales of woe and horror stories about folk having bad experiences with hardwood worktops  ..  and why  ..  I'll tell you why. It because there are a load of so called joiners out there pretending they know what they're doing with expensive hardwood tops and ruining them by lack of knowledge.




This breaks my heart and does my head in !! It makes me so angry !!


Here's why, there's only one way to fit hardwood tops ...AND THAT'S PROPERLY.

Don't buy rubbish in the first place and make sure your fitter has done this before and successfully.


Here's what to look for:

1. When a fitter is installing these tops for you, make sure that all the sections of worktop are fully machined to shape, any cut-outs put in, any edge profiling done. Sand to 120 grit finish ( and no higher !, I don't care what anyone else says ) to start with

2. All the pieces should them be turned over and given 3 GOOD COATS  of a good quality danish oil. In my opinion there is only one oil in the UK that gives a good finish, good coverage, good durability and lasts for ages and that's Rustins Danish oil. However I'm aware that there are probably oils in other countries that are just as good.

3. Do not skimp on this stage ! Oiling the underside is the start of creating a humidity balance in the timber essential to keeping movement to a minimum during it's life in your kitchen.

4. Once dry, assemble the sections onto the kitchen units and fix together. Do not fit hobs or sinks yet . REPEAT step 2 and give 3 GOOD COATS of oil to the topside aswell. Allow to dry thoroughly between a coats. Only once dry are you ready to put the appliances in and finish off.

Follow this simple procedure and your worktops should last you a lifetime

Right .. that's got the fitting sorted out, now to you looking after them.

Let's state the screamingly obvious.. these worktops are wood ! .. therefore you are going to knock, bump and scrape them but let's face it, if you didn't know that then you shouldn't have bought them in the first place.
If any of the above happens .. don't panic .. you can always sand them up and go again. DO NOT USE OILS WITH WAX IN THEM .. ( see my earlier blog, jam & wax )

Periodically you will need to re-oil your tops, this is essential, don't think you can fit them and forget them, not going to happen ! Also don't believe all the stupid old wives tales about oiling them every week or month. Let you tops tell you when they need feeding.
When water starts to sink in and not bead up on the surface, that's when they need re-doing.
Clean them off, use a little white spirit on a lint free cloth to clean them and then re-oil using a 2" paint brush stroking the oil in with the grain, leave overnight and you're good to go the next morning, and that's all it takes. See, not hard is it but it needs doing promptly and not leaving till they go black when it a hell of a lot more work to sand them back and start again.

Simple top tips:

1. Don't leave greasy pans on the your tops overnight
2. Do give excess water etc a good wipe off when it's spilt
3. Don't put really hot pans straight onto the surface, you'll scorch it !
4. There is no need to use these stupid "antibacterial wipes" that don't work, as hardwood has natural antibacterial enzymes within its structure anyway. Millions of butchers chopping blocks can't be wrong.
4. Don't worry if any of the above cause problems as you can sand your tops back and go again.

Following these simple rules will give you fabulous natural worktops for many many years to come.

Follow your desires on this and don't listen to negative people on the subject of hardwood worktops as they're wrong anyway. !!

Good hunting ! Jules