Today I shall be Mainly...

[Big Kev]

Happy anniversary to you and Sally

[Wendyf]

Happy Anniversary Ian and Sally! Hope you have both recovered from your colds.

[Stanley]

Congrats to you both.

[Gloria]

Many congratulations to you both, enjoy your day xx

[PanBiker]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

We were supposed to be going to a surprise 40th birthday bash do at Skipton Rugby Club tonight. We have cancelled that idea with the new variant knocking about we don't think that sharing space with a lot of folk that we don't know would be a very good idea. Ready for a sit down anyway, this morning was Bosom Friends Coffee Morning and Christmas Craft Fair upstairs where most were masked including the visitors. Not as busy upstairs than previous events with the weather being wet, or for the same reasons that we are deferring tonight, the group still made £84.00 in donations for the tables though. Not sure how much the Coffee Morning made but trade looked fairly steady

LFT's for both of us tomorrow as a matter of course.

[Big Kev]

Sounds sensible to me Ian.

[Stanley]

I thought so as well Kev and sensible is what will get us through this!
Shed this morning and listening for the phone..... Could be a bit of bookie watch later, they forecast the rain will stop.

[Sue]

Morning

That is exactly why we cancelled our trip to France last week for the Fete De Soupe. Too much people mingling in the local town .

Yesterday was a long but successful day. We were halfway up the M62 in driving rain when Bob realised we had forgotten the key so had to go back. The result was we arrived at 11.15 and not 10.15 as planned. Lily had already arrived. She had been driven up by a friend in a 4 by4 and was busy sorting her clothes and other things. We chatted but each got on with their tasks. She took some larger items eg ironing board which was good, then left to go back about 11.45 pm just as it started snowing ( short lived thank goodness) . It was a tearful departure . It is now all clean and several bags of stuff were taken to our local tip when we got home. The drive back late afternoon was horrendous. The M62 came to a standstill because of the rain. At one point we were frighteningly blinded by a a rogue puddle, so at the first opportunity we left the motorway and cut across through Sowerby Bridge , Ripponden and Rishworth. Whilst we were queuing at the tip we had a phone call from our niece to say Bobs cousin , aged nearly 80, had died. A sad ending to a difficult day. On the plus side we can get house clearance in and say good bye to the flat. Then its down to long and involved paperwork. We gained a few items of stationary, kitchen utensils and some garden tools.

Today its zoom art with Briony. Bob is off to the model engineers and I shall wrap Christmas presents. I did the cards on Friday evening. We are not sending abroad this year , apart from a couple of cards to France, as most of last years cards and presents dispatched abroad never arrived, nor the return ones to us. Otherwise today I shall chat to Eve on Whats app and enjoy making a roast chicken dinner.

Have a good day, should be cool but fairly dry

[Wendyf]

Take it easy Sue, it sounds as if you had a physically and emotionally exhausting day, just the journey would knock me out.

[Stanley]

Plus another death..... I agree Wendy, that was a big day.



I've had two hours in the shed doing some delicate turning but thank god I have got all my little bits done with no dramas. Now all I have to do is fit them on the cylinder!

[Sue]

Long soak in the bath followed by cooked breakfast, now coffee and a self manicure. I shall chill today. Hence the present wrapping , a sit down job surrounded by nice paper and ribbons and sparkly things. I will get Alexa to play some music too

[chinatyke]

Congrats Ian and Sally. Enjoy yourselves.

[PanBiker]

Thanks Graham. I hope you are pegging on OK.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed completing the work on the flanges and the valve rod gland.Fiddly work but essential so I shall just attack it quietly and carefully and try to avoid mistakes....
After that I'm not sure. If the forecast is right, wind sleet and snow, definitely no bookie watch! I shall take a look and decide if I am up for a walk later....
Graham, are you keeping warm?

[Sue]

Morning

That was a better nights sleep, a solid 8 hours. It was also a better day with normal activities, a bit of ironing, a bit of jigsaw and all the Christmas wrapping was completed. That can all be put into bags for delivery nearer the time. No postage to be done as its mainly for the girls and grandchildren

This morning I have pilates and yoga and then I need to phone the District Nurse in Cleckheaton to see about returning a box full of unused dressings and such. Bob is hoping to arrange the house clearance. This evening I have art at the community centre.

Its a dull dark morning, I think the forecast is rain, and possible snow showers. Stay warm and dry

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, the cold rain has come in on schedule. A good day for being indoors I reckon.
I have had two hours in the shed and will be back with an enthralling image shortly.....
Later at 08:39....



This was where I had got to at knocking off time. I have the flange for the exhaust fitted. I haven't tightened it down completely because it has to come off again. One problem I have hit is that the 5BA studs included in the kit are slightly over size and very difficult to fit into holes tapped with my almost new Presto 5BA HSS taps which I am sure are accurate. No point moaning, just carry on working at the fitting. You'll see I have the flange and gland ready for fitting and have found two of the four studs I need. I shall make the other two.
Slow and complicated but no mistakes and quiet solid progress. That'll do me!

[Stanley]

Quiet progress in the shed. The rest of the day depends on the weather and at the moment it looks bad.

[Sue]

Morning

An ok day yesterday, bit of jigsaw, bit of sewing, art in the evening. I am making a nice warm dress but managed to snip the base of my thumb whilst cutting out, nothing serious but because of where it is it keeps bleeding. I will keep it covered again today but I think its on the mend. Bob managed to find someone to clear Dave's flat, that is not going to cost a fortune. As there is no money in the estate we shall be funding this . One chap wanted to charge £1000! In art in the evening, one of our members who has been missing for three weeks came back. She had been on holiday in the Lakes, caught covid and been ill for two weeks. From what I gather she had not been vaccinated and her husband did not catch it. She says she felt a bit as if she had a cold for two days but then felt really tired. No other symptoms. I think she is probably about 50, a youngster in the group and lucky I think.

This lunchtime is my sewing friends Christmas lunch at a restaurant in Rochdale. We aren’t meeting till 12.45 pm so I think the lunch and chat will take up the afternoon. I am not surprised snow is forecast, it usually snows on this particular outing, the first Tuesday in December each year. My pilates and yoga is cancelled because it is their Christmas outing too this evening! Needless to say I backed out . Two meals in one day is too much, plus two lots of mixing. Bob is taking and fetching me today so I can have a drink or two.

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

That's a facer Sue, I thought house clearances were financed by what they made selling the good bits. I must be wrong. £1,000 sounds like a complete rip-off of people who could be under great stress. I'm glad you negotiated that one! I hope you enjoy your meal with your sewing friends, I can imagine the Mother's Ruin getting a hammering.
I have been in the shed for two hours and made progress. More fiddly work.



This is where I finished up, steam and exhaust pipes to make tomorrow and then I address the valve.

[Sue]

That's a facer Sue, I thought house clearances were financed by what they made selling the good bits. I must be wrong.

My brother Bob thought that too! We paid to have Bobs mums house cleared 20 years ago. It was £50 then, and apparently at the moment there are so many houses to clear you even have to wait weeks. The man we chose is only charging £250 . He has an antique and collectors place in Dewsbury. There is not much worth selling on I am afraid. A newish fridge freezer, which has been switched off and is black inside..... I only discovered it as we left on Saturday, a couple of TVs, a big bed and a dining table and six chairs some new pans, a few pots and some glasses . The leather chair though old is in good condition so may sell. The rest is pretty battered. We are meeting the chap on Thursday but it will be two weeks before he can clear it. Lets hope we don’t get hit for more rent as well.

[Stanley]

Never fear Sue, you will be milked for all they can get out of you! That's happening to us over Leslie's estate and it's been going on for over 18 months now.
Today is definitely a shed day and from the forecast I shan't be going out on bookie watch! A lousy weather forecast....

[Sue]

Morning

This morning we may walk to the post office if the rain isn’t too heavy. We have some stuff to post to France and I don’t want it getting lost in a rush of Christmas mail. I have my dress to hem , but may not have time to do it today, this afternoon Bob is at the dentist with a broken tooth, and I am at Maxines for a sewing session on my jacket. This evening I have pilates in the studio. It will be my last there until February as I don’t want to risk getting caught in snow and ice at 9.00 pm. I must also contact the dentist as yet another bit fell off my tooth last night. I had hoped to have had it crowned by now so I shall enquire as to where I am on the waiting list. If I don’t get through on the phone Bob can ask whilst he is there this afternoon.

Have a good day

[Stanley]

I'll bet Sue is posting as I write this!



Some quiet accurate work on the steam valve this morning. Nice, I enjoyed it!
There you are, what did I tell you.
Commiserations to both of you on the broken teeth. Thank god for my pot gobblers! (Sorry... )

[Sue]

First appointment with my dentist is March. I can see a locum on Dec 17 th. I have asked Bob to make a March appointment for me when he goes this afternoon in case the December one does not work out as hoped. I trust my dentist, I don’t trust many others. Too many mistakes have been made over the years, leaving me where I am now.

[Stanley]

Three months is a long wait Sue. Is this what dental provision has come to now?
Today I shall have an hour in the shed and then early doors Co-op shopping. Luckily it's dry today. Later I shall be having a walk because I need to call in at the Pharmacy, amazing how fast the monthly prescription comes round.