Interest with Pinterest

Ey up my faithful Blogworms, I really do appreciate your enormous interest in our Roadstone Plaques and thought this week you might like to see what we've achieved with them so far, follow the link below to my Pinterest board and you can see the diverse plaques we've made upto now

http://www.pinterest.com/milestone01/recycled-roadstone-plaques-kitchen-splashbacks/

For some reason I don't seem to be able to load individual photo's this week, bloody computers !! I'll get it sorted somehow, so I'm afraid this weeks blog might seem like a bit of a cheat.

While there's a lot of interest from you all, I'm not getting any feedback as to what you really think ??

I'm puzzled, I know you're out there !! 

There's a lot of creative thinkers out there in the Blogosphere and I'd love to hear from you either by leaving me a message or emailing me on : julian@milestone.uk.net and let me know what you think

While we're on the subject on Pinterest, you might like to see the full story of the "Reclaimed Madness" kitchen which has also created a fair bit on enthusiasm among you , my faithful followers, we are still adding finishing touches as the proud new owner of the kitchen keeps thinking of more stuff she needs.

http://www.pinterest.com/milestone01/milestone-reclaimed-madness-kitchen/

Interestingly, she loves the kitchen so much, she's asked us to now do her bathroom in the same style, Yippee, Happy Days are here again. We had a ball last time and really looking forward to doing it again !!

See ya next week when, hopefully, I'll get this bloody computer fixed.

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

Hard water but not Hard luck !

 Ey up my faithful blogworms, I have some questions to ask you all today:

Scalemaster inline limescale inhibitors

Do you live in a hard water area ...... ?

Are you spending  a lot of money replacing kettles ..... ?

Do you spend way too much on unnecessary Calgon tablets ...... ?

Are you sick of getting tradesmen out to
repair your Boiler / Dishwasher / Washing
 machine due to limescale damage ..... ?

Are you daft enough to have bought a Brita filter jug when you can have filtered water on draught ..... ?

Do you spend a load of hard earned cash on bottled water ..... ?

Then I've got to ask ...... WHY ? ..... Are you totally bonkers ? There are other, better answers !!

15mm inline isolating lever valve

Water filter kit

The stuff shown in the pics provide you with all the solutions to your problems ...... !

Hard Water ... Not a problem ! Using the the Scalemaster inline inhibitors fitted either local to each of your appliances or on your incoming cold water main, after your stopcock, will break down and change the chemical make up of the limescale and render it harmless to the workings of your machines. That's going save you stress and money and save you using environment damaging chemicals to tackle the symptoms instead of the problem.
OK, you will need someone to fit them first but if the pipework is set up properly, you can change the cartridges as and when necessary yourself, they last for ages and are cheap enough to replace.  Fit the 15mm isolating valves before and after the unit so you can stop the water going through it and change it your self ..... it's easy, trust me !

Bottled water on draught  Once you've fitted the limescale inhibitor to sort that bit out, back it up by fitting a water filter kit to give you water every bit as pure as the stuff you're wasting money on by buying it in bottles. Top your bottles up when ever you want to as you now have your bottled water on draught ... Simples !. The water filter kit I've shown takes about 15 minutes to fit if you're a bit DIY minded and it's easy and it will pay for itself many times over with all the money you're going to save. Fill a bottle with your freshly poured bottled water and give it to your friends to try ..... I bet they can't tell the difference either.

In fact, even if you live in a soft water area like we do, you can still fit a water filter and benefit from not spending shed loads of money on bottled water.

There are many other products out there but I've used these, they work and they're NOT expensive.

I am absolutely staggered that the products I've shown you above are still some of the UK's best kept secrets, so stop wasting money and chucking chemicals at everything. Do yourselves and the environment a favour and look seriously at the stuff I've brought to your attention.

For the cynical amongst you, NO ...  I don't have any connections to Scalemaster and .. NO ... I'm not working on comission ... I just believe in their products any would recommend them to anybody. So I thought I would share this with you and hopefully convert of few of you.

Don't think about it ..... Do it ..... it really is a no-brainer !

Always trying to help ! ... Jules.

Reclaimed Madness: The Full Story

Ey up, my faithful blogworms, as promised here's the full story of another milestone for Milestone: the fantastic adventure that was our Reclaimed Madness kitchen

Pop over to Pinterest to see all the glorious details  http://pinterest.com/milestone01/milestone-reclaimed-madness-kitchen/

One small snag: It's the first time I've used Pinterest and I've loaded the pictures in the wrong order, so you'll have to start at the bottom of the board and work up to watch the progress, Sorry, I'll know next time !

 ......    but here's a taster to set the mood

Our starting point

Even the floors had to go 

We took a load of this

Added a few  of our lovely Eco cabinets

And turned it all into something like this

That looks absolutely gorgeous and so Eco friendly, it's perfect !

Out there in the bloggoshpere, you all seem reluctant to pass any comments or even contact us at all, this time be a devil, we would really, really like to hear what you think !!

In fact, we would really enjoy the chance to repeat this great Eco Adventure in a house near you sometime soon.

Jules: Logger, Blogger, Wino & Worker of Wood

Roadstone Plaques .. Everyones a winner really !

Ey up my faithful blogworms, here are the results of the Roadstone jury !!, oh dear !, that's sounds a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest, still never mind, welcome to all our readers from all over Europe and the U.S.
These are the lucky recipients of our wonderful free roadstone plaques in response to our appeal for photo's to use in our marketing.

If you're new to seeing these plaques for the first time, have a look back at my earlier blogs for more details.
These guys took possesion of their brand new roadstone plaques at Burley Classic Car Show last Sunday and the response was fantastic !!

The concept of the plaques being made from the very roadstone and tarmac that you drive them on is quite unique and appropriate (and very desirable) but I should point out that this product is way more versatile than just making car plaques, it can be used a various ways around your home with absolutely stunning, original results.

The very same mix can be used to make;

Kitchen feature splashbacks in sizes to suit all cooker / hob configurations in stock images or your own photo of whatever subject you feel would inspire your cooking to new levels.

Sink splashbacks in stock images or you can have your favourite landscape scene featured on it. You could imagine yourself looking out over a stunning mountain landscape or glorious exotic beach while actually stood in front of your sink. That's got to make washing up a more pleasant task ??

Waterproof bathroom wall panels are another use, whether for lining your bathroom walls, framing your bath or even featuring in your shower cubicle itself. Just imagine you're standing in the middle of a fabulous waterfall with water cascading over you, it would almost feel like an fantastic open air shower.

If you wanted a stunning, focal centrepoint for your garden featuring exotic plants that there's no way you could grow, have them displayed on an outdoor plaque in your garden with other planting nestling up to it, a gardeners dream !


There are many, many unique and inspiring ways in which these plaques can be used and in many different sizes to suit all sorts of different applications.

If you can see the potential for bringing something rather special into your life and have an idea, give us a ring, email, send us a sketch idea and we'd be extremely glad to have a look at it for you.

Car Plaques, while something quite special, are only the tip of the iceberg !!

Until next time . Jules.

A Great Reclaimed Adventure

Ey up my faithful blogworms, the project that was "reclaimed madness" turned into  "A Great Reclaimed Adventure"

We knew we were just the right side of bonkers to take on building a kitchen using reclaimed timber completely from scratch in a clients home but, do you know,

It was absolutely brilliant !!, Here are some quick pics of some parts of the kitchen to whet your appetite.

We are going to get the full story in picture form from the pics taken by our client on her I pad and post them somewhere for you to have a look at, starting from a random pile of timber offloaded from our van to the results you see here.

I kid you not, the whole thing was built using the entire (portable) contents of my workshop transported to site and all the individual pieces of timber selected and cut to make each door and panel by our client herself !!

She had a ball !

The kitchen was made from the Victorian factory beam timber and the salvaged Engine shed floor became the new kitchen floor, with the whole lot being treated to three good coats of tree resin based oils to really bring the wood to life.

And for you following my blogs, there wasn't a trace of wax anywhere near the oils we used !!

I have one admission to make ...... the only part of the tick list from my earlier blog that we didn't achieve was to make the kitchen "handleless". However, we ticked all the other boxes, so I don't think we did too badly.






In conclusion for this blog, I must say that for pure gorgeousness and creative satisfaction, this project is up there with the best of 'em.

To be fair, we all had a ball !!

Keep watching for the full story as soon as I can get it sorted.

Jules: Logger, Blogger and worker of Wood

If this was a curry, it would be a Vindaloo !

Ey up, blogworms,  we're experiencing some technical probs with our website that I don't even begin to understand, so at the moment, I hoping you still manage to find this weeks blog.  

'Cos you don't want miss this one !

Introducing a Scorching Summer Deal on EcoKitchens 

"EcoKitchens" is a new range priced at an equivalent to a massive 30% less than current prices on our existing entry level EcoSelect kitchens !

Stone Grey & Oak kitchen  

    A Kitchen Starter Kit 

    only £499 inc.vat.

   

    Free delivery to the local 

    area.

    Delivery absolutely 

    anywhere in the UK can 

    be arranged

    Free upgrade to soft close 

    doors

Coco Bolo woodgrain kitchen

                   

        10 Stylish Contemporary finishes

         Comprehensive unit list to build 

         your starter pack into your dream 

         kitchen

         Delivered to install yourself or we 

         can give you a cost for us to install

         A great variety of Eco laminate 

         worktops to complement your units

All the units are top spec with quality German Blum hinges and soft close drawer boxes, 18mm flat pack carcases, adjustable legs and continuous plinths. 

To help you further, we can also supply at competitive prices: sinks, taps, appliances & tiles to make it truly a "one stop shop" and cut out all the stress of buying loads of individual parts from loads of other companies and then spending the next few weeks wondering if it will all turn up on time, complete and the right colour.

You have our "cast iron" guarantee is that everything you order will arrive complete, intact and in one load ready to rock 'n' roll !

Don't delay, contact us today for more details on this fantastic offer, there's never been a better time to plan your new Eco kitchen. These prices cannot last forever !!

         

Plaque is only a problem at your dentist !!

Ey up my faithful blogworms,

Checked out the Cumbria Wood Festival, as promised, good show but nothing significant to report that helps our quest to be more Eco friendly. More aimed at Loggers, Biomass producers and renewable heat incentives, more of a business to business show really. Hints and tips for helping the general public think a bit more about eco issues were sadly lacking. Still there's always next year !

We do however, have the winners of our free Roadstone Plaques following our newpaper appeal, here's their entries, I'll show you the pics of the plaques as soon as we get them made !

Great action shot from Yorkshire Trike Tours showing our local Ilkley landmark
 "The Cow & Calf Rocks"

A fabulous & very rare Austin A30 pick up, one of only about 100 made

Nice to see the old guys represented in the form of a 1932 Morris

And a shot of an early Mini from a guy who clearly believes that Minis weren't short enough to begin with and who needs a roof anyway !

A pretty diverse bunch I'm sure you'll agree and destined for fame by featuring on our first comprehensive leaflet promoting Roadstone Car Plaques, set to become the hottest ticket in town for classic vehicle enthusiasts. 

To see these vehicles in the flesh and receive their Fantastic Free Roadstone Plaques, you need to get down to the Burley-in-Wharfedale Classic Car Show on Sunday August 18th. Google Burley Summer Festival to get details on location. It would be great to see you there.

Obviously, for our followers from the corners of the globe, it's one hell of a commute just to see a classic car show but I'll make sure I get loads of pics at the event and post a selection of them here for you to have a peep at !

And just think, if you like what you see, then don't miss out & be among the first to own one. These amazing plaques can be yours  by contacting me at: julian@milestone.uk.net  

Use the reference: Car Plaque Blog to claim a 10% discount for my faithful followers

It really doesn't matter where you are in the world, I know we can get one to your doorstep.

See you there ! Jules.