Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Hopefully I'll be finishing this engine and getting the castings out for the next.
The rest of the day depends on the weather and any distractions like the excitement yesterday. It looks like rain late morning at the moment. I shall wait and see.

[Sue]

Morning

Another good day. The girls were both busy on the sewing machines this morning being creative, eve making book marks and Briony made a small bag. I had little to do with it and left them to it. Later we left Eve doing her swimming exercises whilst Briony , Bob and I went for a walk in the Dell, to the waterfalls and the lodge and back. It remained dry and by the time we returned it was sunny, the sun, unexpectedly remained all afternoon.

In the afternoon Eve made the ice cream base ready for making ice cream for tea and continued with her sewing whilst Briony and I took advantage of the good weather. Between us we planted up 18 pots and troughs with spring bulbs , some of which had winter pansies planted on top. I find this an effective way of keeping the squirrels from the bulbs and at the same time the pots give flowers three times. The pansies flower now, the bulbs in Spring and then the pansies flower again. After tea I produced an old family board game of Buccaneer which we played for and hour or so. Having finished it, Briony requested we play it again this evening.

Today after breakfast we are off to Claires where we shall have lunch . Claire has pumpkins for each of the girls to make into pumpkin lantern and in the afternoon we shall have a walk round the village pumpkin trail . The forecast is due to be dry and 15 degrees. I have already made a large lasagne for tea which just needs to go in the oven when we get back. There will be enough for Ed when he arrives later in the evening.

Tomorrow we shall be up early and gone by 7.00am to be in Cleckheaton for 9.00am. We shall take a cross country route to avoid the M62 so that we reduce the risks of being held up. We should be back early in the afternoon after the funeral and will call at the laundry for my washing on the way home. I must remember to take the girls washing with me to Claires this morning

Have a good day

[Stanley]

Those girls will be agitating for another visit very soon Sue. It sounds as though they have had a whale of a time. You'll be glad when tomorrow is over. I hope it is as stress free as possible. Funerals can be such strange things. I firmly believe that the main thing in people's minds is their own mortality and some are bad at handling that. Best of luck with it.
I've had two hours in the shed and will be back later......



This was the first part of the morning, finish the 10H and get it on the kitchen table as an ornament! I put air on it and it kicked, it's a runner but needs the valve adjusting. I didn't bother, I've left it how it is. The bottom line is that what with bad castings and the fact I am not the man I was this is not a good build. It's adequate and I suppose a bit of a miracle for an 85 year old but that's it finished!

[Sue]

I think its pretty darned good. I make silly sewing errors all the time that I could kick myself for and I am not your age.

[MickBrett]

I think that looks great! What are your plans for it?

[Stanley]

Thanks to you all. My problem is I know where all the faults are...
It'll sit on the kitchen table for an ornament Mick but I usually give these small ones away in the end....
Today I shall be in the shed turning a lump of rusty scrap shafting into clean stock for the crankshaft I shall chop out of solid for the next engine.



It looks as rough as a bear's arse but when you cut into it through the scab it's very good free-turning steel.
Not sure about bookie watch as we have wall to wall rain forecast. We'll see later.

[Stanley]

I have had two hours in the shed muck shifting to find the blank for my crankshaft. Lots of swarf but lots of cleaning up as well!



Thinking about Sue and Bob on the way to what will not be a fun day. I hope they have as easy a passage as possible.

[MickBrett]

Today I shall be mainly staying indoors by the look of this rain. Not heavy but looks as if it's set in for the day.
I'll read me book...

[Stanley]

That sounds like a Barlick forecast Mick, we have a yellow warning for heavy rain today and tomorrow. Our Met Office is a bit paranoid about being accused of not giving us warnings about damaging weather so they tend to go over the top a bit with the warnings. (The haven't forgotten Michael Fish's cock up in 1987. (LINK)
I shall be chasing my crankshaft and making a lot of muck! According to the forecast it will be dry at midday so I might even get a bit of bookie watch in.

[Sue]

Morning

What an emotionally exhausting day yesterday. The traffic was light as it was half term so we arrived in plenty of time and lurked in a nearby service area on the M62 for quite some time. Whilst there my sister arrived too so we had a little chat before we went to the flat. We also arrived at tge crematorium 20 minutes early due to the light traffic. There were 15 of us at there 15 of the 24 people who had been meeting last year for a family reunion. It transpires Dave thought he had two months to live when he saw me in September, and it seems a friend had been taking him for treatment in Huddersfield for 5 years. It now becomes apparent why he left Bulgaria 5 years ago . We may not have always seen eye to eye but I was very moved when his partner gave me a large bag of art stuff that Dave had put together for me to be given after his death. I will treasure those art things

We were home by 3.30 pm having collected the laundry on the way home. We had left Ed and the girls sleeping and I had said to just leave the bedroom etc. What a lovely surprise to find it all tidy, bedding removed and folded neatly with a little thank you note on each bed. I did little more for the rest of the day.

This morning I am at the hairdressers early and this afternoon we are off to Bury for our Covid booster. I have no other definite plans but will take it as it comes

Have a good day all

[Wendyf]

Sounds like a tough day Sue.

[Stanley]

Indeed! Wendy is right of course and my advice is to have a quiet weekend. Life events like funerals are serious stuff and should be treated as such. Sit back, do your thinking and get back on an even keel.



Bob will recognise this, an hour of careful manual cutting because my auto feed wasn't slow enough. All is well so far, a good morning.

[Sue]

Emotions will continue for another week. Next week is the anniversary of Mums death, Lily(Dave's partner) is having the ashes to follow Dave's request but she is giving us so e to put on Mums and Dads grave. We should get the ashes over the next few days which Bob and I will collect then Jane and I will meet next weekend at Burnley cemetery. However there is no doubt I feel better this morning than yesterday.

If the rain holds off I shall do a little garden tidying this afternoon, otherwise I shall cut out the toile for my jacket or do a jigsaw I started with Briony

[Stanley]

I had a short second sleep and am up again. It's looking very gloomy outside so I think I will go for a walk before it rains.
Glad you're feeling a bit better today Sue, it's hard work this emotion!

[Stanley]

I shall be leaving the shed alone this morning. The agenda is early doors shopping at the Co-op. breakfast, second sleep and then to Colne with daughter Susan where we'll have lunch at Granny's Kitchen in the market. Not really exceptional but we both enjoy it. Me because she is a lovely lass and she because she knows the chances of losing me increase daily and she's spending as much time with me as she can. She's not going to end up saying I wish I'd visited him more often! It does us both good, she is slowly recovering from the worst effects of the Sarcoidosis and it gets me out of the house!
Then this afternoon Covid booster jab at Well pharmacy.

[Sue]

Morning

Awake early this morning, the message we had from the washer repair man last night was that he would come between 7.15 am and 10.30 . I hope he has the parts as at the moment I have several wash loads sorted on the spare bed. There's the usual stuff plus bedding from the girls and towels from them and Ed. This morning is towel changing day and tomorrow our bedding needs to be changed, as it should have been done last Sunday. I feel a washing weekend coming on .

I spent some time on the garden yesterday, before and after our covid booster.( There are no side effects this morning. ) I cut back some stuff in the garden and also moved and split some perennials. The rain should have watered them in nicely . I managed to gather together two bucketfuls of perennial roots to take to the little steam train garden in the park. I hope they will be hardier than the 70 plants that i put in , in the summer. The local rabbits ate those . By the end of the gardening session I did not exactly look like I had spent two hours at the hairdressers in the morning.

This morning is u3a art, then its Friday lunch with our friends, when we shall be discussing a week in Filey together next April . We need to finalise the date so we can book it, the apartment belongs to Jeremy Ford, my artist teacher and friend. It is in one of the big stone Victorian houses overlooking the sea. We have been offered friends rate and am happy to oblige . Lunch will see the afternoon out and I shall start my marathon washing this evening, though Bob hopes to do a couple of small loads before he joins us for lunch.

The rain sounds heavy and the wind strong. Enjoy your day, stay warm and dry

[Stanley]

Listening to your washing loads I begin to realise I must be a mucky pup! My standards are way below yours.I have done my early shop and am sat here eating my breakfast before second sleep. (Those monks knew a thing or two about life management!) I shall go to Colne in a dirty shirt and nobody will notice....
Have a nice day, I shall.....

[Sue]

Listening to your washing loads I begin to realise I must be a mucky pup! My standards are way below yours.I have done my early shop and am sat here eating my breakfast before second sleep. (Those monks knew a thing or two about life management!) I shall go to Colne in a dirty shirt and nobody will notice....
Have a nice day, I shall.....

Two words Stanley

VISITORS
GARDENING

[Stanley]

Yes..... I know.I was just pulling your leg! Off to bed...

[Sue]

Yes..... I know.I was just pulling your leg! Off to bed...

Washer man has arrived. I am so looking forward to a lie in on Sunday.

[Stanley]

I can't have a lie in Sue, it's against my religion!
Today I am back to normal and will be in the shed chasing my crankshaft. Not sure about later as at the moment we have a lot of rain forecast. I shall see....

[Sue]

Morning

A lie in means the alarm won’t be set for pre 7.00 am. Its been set for 6.00 three mornings this week, and we have been up , dressed and breakfasted almost immediately . We are always awake by 7.15 am, and normally up and showered by 8.15 am after a cuppa in bed and writing my blogs. Hence my refence to a lie in.This morning I woke anyway at 6.30 a.m , got up and put the drier on with my last load of last weeks washing that had washed overnight. This morning I shall change the bedding and I am back to normal . It took the repair man3.5 hours to change the bearings and my machine has been almost rebuilt. It is very quiet now

Its Bacup market this morning so again up and out pronto, we like to be there as it opens at 8.30 am, to avoid the queues and believe it or not the crowds. It gets really busy mid morning till about 2.00pm. The town seems to be trying really hard to get things going and apparently the last few Saturdays there has been some sort of entertainment from local bands and dancers . The number of stalls now opening has doubled over the last month or so.
Back home its a second breakfast of coffee and croissants then Kath will be bringing her outdoor pot plants round some time after that. I give them a home over winter in the conservatory with mine. At the moment its torrential rain so its going to be wet outdoor shopping.

This weekend is the first for over a month when it will be a normal weekend, both by what we shall do and emotionally . So I shall start by doing the ironing and then take it from there. Have a good day all, stay dry

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, I can never work it out but does the change of the clocks give you a lie in or get you up early?
You're right about the rain but the forecasters seem to be expecting it to clear quicker than expected.....
I've just had my 2 hours in the shed, I'll be back in a few minutes with a pic....



Here's knocking off time. We are getting there, patience and concentration pays off. I remember Jim Fort once telling me that chopping out a three throw crankshaft for one of the feed pumps from 70 ton steel took a week so don't be thinking I am all that slow....

[Sue]

Morning

Well i have had my lie in and its still not 7.00 am . I feel better for that. Yesterday turned out rather nice and after the ironing etc we managed a decent walk in the dell. Bob was trying to photograph ‘Autumn’ for his u3a photography group but few trees have actually changed colour although a lot have lost their leaves. The best tree is actually our cherry tree in the front garden which is turning a lovely red colour. Kath brought her two geranium pots round in the morning, and we had a nice long natter over a cup of tea and some tea-bread, that Julia had made and sent with the girls. I planted some more pansies and a couple of cyclamen on my pots of bulbs as the squirrels had still managed to get somee tulip bulbs out. I don’t know it it will work but I also sprinkled a teaspoon of chili powder on each pot. I understand squirrels don’t like chili.

Today we shall have our normal Sunday brunch, normal it may be but its 5 weeks since we last had chance. I shall then do some sewing. If it does stop raining I intend going with Bob to the park to plant the roots of perennials I have dug up, but I think the chances of that are slim. Its not nice out there

Have a good day, stay dry

[Stanley]

Morning Sue... This afternoon could be quite good between the showers, rather like yesterday was here.
I've had my two hours in the shed and will be back in a few minutes with a picture for you.



We have a crank pin! Note the ridiculous stick out on the parting tool. It needed some careful turning. I have changed the chuck, cleaned Mrs Harrison and got the stock ready for some heavy muck shifting tomorrow.