Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Morning all

I am a bit late this morning. We were up and out early to get to the market in Bacup as it opened. Bob usually goes by himself but today I went with him. There at 8.15 am, we were the only ones. Went to tge butchers, then the green grocer and last to our friend the pâtissière. We back in the car by 8.40 , timing impeccable as usual, we were leaving as others arrived. We have this down to a fine art. Breakfast back at home with fresh croissants and coffee. We are now sat in our warm conservatory, it was pretty cold on tge market as it was still in the shade with a cold wind blowing through. Those who know Bacup, will appreciate what I mean.

Today Bob and our new neighbour are replacing the falling down fence between the two gardens . I have insisted Bob wears a mask and is careful as Umar does not work from home but from his own factory. It is just him and his wife in the factory but you still have to be careful. Anyway the panels just need lifting out and new ones replaced and as Bob tells me they are two metres long, social distancing panel replacement. Bob will take the old panels out during the day by himself whilst I do a bit of cleaning. We cleaned thoroughly between us last week, furniture moved whilst hoovering etc. This week we have mainly been in the garden and conservatory so I will be less diligent. I do bathrooms several times during the
week and Bob does the kitchen on Sundays and always has.

This afternoon we shall be making a typical Titanic hors d’ oeuvres to go with the Titanic cocktail we tried out last week. The cocktail is strong to say the least, its also sweet , creme de menthe, gin and white wine. Those Edwardians must have liked strong sweet sticky drinks. Its for our Titanic themed on line wine tasting group tonight. We shall be reducing the quantities especially as we have a Titanic style white wine afterwards. It should be champagne but we aren’t in France buying cheap champers now I wonder if I should keep throwing water over Bob during the evening.

Probably no time for walking today. Otherwise I shall continue with my patchwork. I had no end product in view initially but have now decided on table mats as we don’t need any more cushions or bed quilts here or in France.

Have a good day everyone

Take care, stay safe

[Tripps]

Ah Cyril! The Former Labour mayor for Rochdale. We remember him well.

Liberal if you please!

I think Travis may have it here. . as well as everything else, he was known to tergiversate. (Thanks for the opportunity to use my favourite word)

Wikipedia says -
"Smith was first active in local politics as a Liberal in 1945 before switching to Labour in 1950; he served as a Labour councillor in Rochdale from 1950 and became mayor in 1966. He subsequently switched parties again and entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1972, "

[Stanley]

I thought that was the case as well David but was too engaged by my rage about his activities to go fact checking.
Sue, you and Bob will survive you are doing all the right things unlike some we could mention. Yes, I know what you mean about Bacup, I lived there for a couple of years. I always thought of it as the 'arsehole of the empire'.



I slowly and carefully managed a bit of Eccentric turning successfully. Does wonders for my mental health! I'm washing duvet covers as I write and will be cooking later but still expect to get in the shed for a while.....

[Stanley]

I'm sat down after 2 hours of honest endeavour starting with walking Jack and ending with my mutton stew built and veggies bubbling on the stove before mashing. Looking at the clock the shed has missed today. I'm not into punishment. That two hours included washing my bedding and dealing with that. There remains of course the vexed question of putting two clean duvet covers on. I was thinking of leaving that until the newly washed ones were dry but I don't like the idea of that task hanging over me. And of course there is my second sleep to consider. On balance, it gets done in the next half hour when the veggies are done.
Running a house is exhausting!

[Sue]

Morning all and another sunny one

Our life is pretty repetitive at the moment being a usual round of walking, zoom classes, cleaning, gardening and sitting reading or on the ipad or just sitting . I do a lot of family research and sewing to fill in my time and Bob is building a steam train that he was left in the Will of a friend who died. One of the nice things about being home rather than in France is seeing people who wave as they walk past the house or a casual chat through the window or over the garden fence.

I feel for both of my brothers. One is very immobile and lives in s flat. He is dependant on a mobility scooter to get out and about. But at the moment it needs a repair. Luckily his partner is mobile so they can get shopping. My other brother has a heart problem as well as fibromyalagia so is shielding. His wife is registered blind, but at the moment their son is living with them so not completely alone. Due to their disabilities they have priority shopping deliveries. It makes me feel lucky. My sister is on furlough from her newspaper job but is using her time to setup her wine training business for which she has recently qualified. Her daughter is staying with her from London, but is about to return. There things are really beginning to improve.

Talking of fence Bob got the old broken fence out yesterday but our neighbour was at work all day and did not get back soon enough to help put the new one in. They have their own mail order clothes business and have never been so busy. The whole family including the two boys ( 12 and 9) are there every day for at leat 9 hours. Yesterday Umar was there for 12 hours and unfortunately got home just as we began our Zoom Titanic wine appreciation evening

The evening went well. Everyone had taken interesting slants. In some cases tbe wine that was drunk had nothing to do with the Titanic but it was usually accompanied by a good story or poem. We laughed a lot. I dunno when these oldies get together, especially the computer illiterate that either have an image and no sound or sound and no image. Then there was the couple who had a zoom backdrop of a wine cellar, but one member of the couple kept disappearing and reappearing like a ghost . Bob made a titanic cocktail and I made an hors d’ouvres that was in the final meals banquet. All good fun.

We had a message from one of our french neighbours last night to say that it looked like someone had been in our orchard. The grass which would have been long by now had been walked through. There are a couple of dormabile type vans parked across the road which nobody recognises so thinking it may have been them, Yves went over and told them to keep out. We had left the padlock off the gate so both sets of neighbours could get in to pick fruit and veg, anyway Yves has put it back on. We are lucky to have such good neighbours. We haven’t always been so lucky

I shall now have my cup of tea whilst I plan our day! I will have to water the garden as it is looking a bit dry again. The flowers coming are so colourful we want them as long as possible.


Enjoy yours
Stay safe, stay well

[Stanley]

Nice diary entry Sue....
I'm back inside sat down with my breakfast after walking Jack and finishing all the tasks including making the bed. Nice to be able to stop, I shall listen to Broadcasting House. (and second sleep.....)

[plaques]

Yesterday was busier than planned. Trimmed the tops (about six feet) off about eight conifers. Being of average height I could bring them down to about 7ft 6 inch still stood on the ground. Today's task is to tidy up all the branches and turn as much as possible into serviceable firewood.
A good bit of entertainment from next door. They were having their drive widened and ultimately rebuilt to stop the sides collapsing. A big digger swinging about loading tons of rock and rubbish into a an enormous wagon. The man hired to chop a elm tree down didn't turn uo so after digging round it they shoved it over. Nothing like watching experts use their equipment like it was an extension to their arms. Better than any TV,

[Stanley]

That's why I enjoy Youtube so much..... Look for 'Tally Ho' and the Sampson Boat Company. Perfect example......

[Sue]

Nice diary entry Sue....
I'm back inside sat down with my breakfast after walking Jack and finishing all the tasks including making the bed. Nice to be able to stop, I shall listen to Broadcasting House. (and second sleep.....)

I think I am back in diary mode Stanley, too much to do and sort out when we got home. My girls now start our family blog before me, as of course I used to be an hour ahead. It gets me writing and thinking first thing. Got to go, its yoga. My back seems to have recovered from its rest.

[Stanley]

"It gets me writing and thinking first thing."
I find that's the best way to start the day Sue. I'm glad you are in diary mode, I enjoy your pieces.
No distractions today, shed!

[Sue]

Morning all

Well our new fence went in yesterday evening about 8.00 pm. It was only a case of sliding new panels into the existing concrete fence posts, it was very efficiently and socially distanced completed in barely 30 minutes. Bob has to cut the last panel down to size which he will do today. It looks good and we think Umar is particularly pleased. We ended up having quite a chat over the fence and they were saying how much they like living here. I explained no one ever moves. So many of our neighbours have been the same for 30 + years. Katrina likes gardening but has never done any so we were discussing how to prune shrubs and why we got rid of our lawn.

I was busy watering at the time with the hose pipe which has a gentle leak, and when you stop pressing the button on the sprayer a fine jet of water shoots out in all directions. It didn’t fail to do so and during the conversation I was getting wetter and wetter. Later to complete the out door shower effect the sprayer detached itself from the hose whilst I was watering the greenhouse. The snake of hose pipe shot round and did a thorough job of watering windows , door, floor, me and completely missed the plants. I was drenched so busy laughing I didn’t care.

We ate outside last night, first time in years here, it was about 7.30 pm and that little spot where the table is in the shade during the day was sitting in a pool of evening sun. It was lovely although cooling down. The garden looked particularly nice yesterday with a big display of tall flowers. June is its best time, then it gets plainer, fuchsias , nasturtium and hostas as we are not normally here to plant things. This year I am hoping to get more veg in. The courgettes are about to flower, herbs and potatoes are up strawberries getting bigger by the day . More seeds should arrive in the post this week.

My back survived my yoga and really apart from sitting, eating, drinking, sewing , doing a bit of genealogy and having an out door shower I didn’t do much. My patchwork table mats are coming along nicely and I find it very relaxing sitting doing it. Oh I did do one other thing . I made another wrap over skirt out of a piece of material I had left over from a dress. Not the my best success, it was just mot a big enough piece, so it is now back in my scraps drawer.

Pilates this morning, weekend over we may get a walk in this afternoon. How far we go depends on how hot it gets. Bob tells me that from Tuesday night we are back to typical June weather , showers and 12 degrees . He has also just reminded me that we have online french 2 till 3.00pm so the walk will be later.


Have a good day all

Stay safe

[Marilyn]

Would you enjoy either Cazza or my “daily diary entries”?
I think not.
But it is lovely to hear that the weather has improved enough to lift everyone’s spirits. I think you all deserve a warm sunny hug.
Have a great day!

[Marilyn]

Ok...my day.
Woke up about 5am with Sciatica ( not too bad though...didn’t require Paracetamol)
Hubby had an 8 am Cystoscopy for his Bladder Cancer ( he drove himself to and from the hospital because no anaesthetic used). Good news...all clear.
Then the temperature dropped and it rained the rest of the day. We couldn’t find a clear window for a walk with hubby’s Cystoscopy induced “sensitive” bladder.
Salmon Pasta for tea. (Yum). Heater on. Will likely be in bed by 8pm as it is still raining and there is nothing great on TV.

[Sue]

Ok...my day.
Woke up about 5am with Sciatica ( not too bad though...didn’t require Paracetamol)
Hubby had an 8 am Cystoscopy for his Bladder Cancer ( he drove himself to and from the hospital because no anaesthetic used). Good news...all clear.
Then the temperature dropped and it rained the rest of the day. We couldn’t find a clear window for a walk with hubby’s Cystoscopy induced “sensitive” bladder.
Salmon Pasta for tea. (Yum). Heater on. Will likely be in bed by 8pm as it is still raining and there is nothing great on TV.

That sounds nice and realistic Maz. Much more typical of a day which when the sun goes on Tuesday will be a bit like mine. It was days like that in France with nothing to do that really got to me. The two days trying to have a garden fire in the mist I shall never forget, with no one not even a cow around for nearly three days.

[Marilyn]

possibly my day has not produced the required amount of endorphins...
But we are hopeful of a long walk tomorrow. ( need to get out of the house I think)

[Sue]

possibly my day has not produced the required amount of endorphins...
But we are hopeful of a long walk tomorrow. ( need to get out of the house I think)

It certainly helps. We have actually had lovely weather here for weeks, certainly well before we came home but now is the time the flowers come out. It always puts a smile on my face. In France some of the same flowers were already out when we left. They are a good three weeks ahead if not more in that respect.

[Sue]

Pilates time, I have found twinges in my back since I got up, no twisting actions today I think

[Stanley]

Bob's right, today is the last day of summer, we go back to below average temperatures and rain tomorrow.



Yesterday was good. We now have an eccentric, all I have to do is make the bronze casting into an eccentric strap....

[Sue]

Morning all.
Was it a busy yesterday, I don’t remember! I did pilates, did a lot of washing. We had a ZOOM. French lesson which took us to 3.00 pm. By the time we had had a cuppa it seemed too late to go out for a walk. I seemed to spend the rest of the day working on a genealogy project.
Bob finished the last panel of the garden fence which needed to be cut down to size and carried on working on his steam engine. I pottered in the garden and green house.

Bob is thinking of tackling the pond leak yet again today, before the rain starts to fill it up again. I may take myself for a short walk, just round the houses not in the Dell. I don’t like going lonely places by myself. Then more genealogy before my double pilates and yoga class. My back eased through the day yesterday and last night was the first night it didn’t stiffen up

I am expecting my runner bean seeds to arrive imminently, they will need planting.

Our eldest grand daughter attends school two days this week. I don’t know when, we are waiting to hear.

Thats it , not awfully exciting but its nice sitting in the garden whilst the weather lasts. The next week is cool, fine weather warm returning in 10 days.

Stay safe, stay well

[Stanley]

Ask Bob to post me a pic of him and the locomotive please, I am intrigued.



I've managed an hour in the shed plus essential Co-op shopping and this is the result. Another small step forward. Bob will understand well the feeling of relief when you do a tricky job and don't cock up!
Now for a walk with Jack on the green and breakfast!

[Sue]

Its in bits but we can do that Stanley. He inherited it in bits, with a set of plans but they don’t match exactly, you will understand. He jas had to find plans for the regulator which was ceased. A friend sent him something yesterday.

Our 6 year old grand daughter has announced she wants to come and play in our garden because she likes our garden , and its ok because she knows a secret way in that doesn’t go through the house ( the side gate!) and she won’t go near grandma, and she doesn’t need mummy to drive her because she can come by helium balloon. I love kids

[Stanley]

A normal active childish view of life. Lovely!
No cooking, just a quick vacuum. The shed is looking good.
I know exactly what Bob's problem is, Drawings are not always helpful to say the least. He will surmount the problem. My clue would be slide valve regulator.

[Sue]

Morning all, its a bit of a damp one. It was nice to hear heavy rain during the night but I don’t suppose it will wet the soil much

First of all Stanley, Bob says yes to a slide valve regulator, I gather it was his conclusion too

We had a lovely couple of hours of social distancing with our friends Wendy and Keith yesterday in their back garden. We took our own chairs and wine glasses for a bit of bubbly and timed our visit so there was no need to go inside for the loo etc. All exactly as recommended. We hadn’t seen them since February. These are the friends we used to lunch out with every Friday. We used their secret entrance as Erin describes it ie side path and gate. They both looked really well, having spent most of the lockdown gardening which they hadn’t done for years. Considering neither of them are very mobile these days with various joint problems they had done really well. Like us tgey had been totally isolating and in their case not even a walk. Keith has been doing the shopping at the local Coop, going at quiet times when the shop was nearly empty.

Today I have my Zoom local history class, the topic being the impact pf WW1 on women. Last week was the suffrage movement. Whilst looking at places and dates it occurred to me that my great grandfather John Widdup may have known Emmeline Pankhurst. A quick search on the British Newspaper archives online revealed that he spoke at an SDF rally and afternoon tea ( they seemed to do a lot of that) which Dr Pankhurst attended.

This afternoon I may cut out Bobs new shirt. The material arrived yesterday. Its very tropical! Bob is at the park doing something with a steam boiler being made by one of the members , A social distancing consultation. If its not raining I may do as I did yesterday which was to take myself off for a walk as Bob said I was street walking ! I won’t go on lonely paths etc by myself

Its a late pilates tonight with the lovely Deborah, finishing just in time for the Great British Sewing Bee

The weather forecast is variable at the moment Thursday and Friday have swapped weather, so Claire and Erins visit will be decided on the day. I wonder if rain affects helium balloons, Erin

Have a good day
Stay well, stay safe

[Stanley]

Regulators... Tell Bob the best and simplest are straight slide valves but some locos used a circular flat valve hinged on a pivot. All the traction engines I have dealt with were straight line valves.
Nice post again, what a good mix of activities!
I have been boring and done 90 minutes in the shed, all went well. I will post later. At the moment I'm having a sit and a drink of tea before taking Jack onto the Green. Nothing better than having a fitness trainer!

[Gloria]

Sue, I love the comments about Erin, I can imagine thinking her thoughts in years gone by, keep them up. Xx