Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Morning

It turned out to be a beautiful day yesterday, leading once more to a strong breeze in the afternoon and a clear cool night. Strong breezes are the norm round here usually starting about 6.00 pm , but it has been earlier the last few days. This morning is a clear blue sky and it looks like a repeat of yesterday but reaching 29 degrees rather than 26, a prelude to next weeks temperatures in the mid 30s.

We both took it easy and this morning our aches and pains have subsided. I sewed all morning, and it was so nice to have a decent machine here, having brought my new one over. I am undecided what to do with the other one , but shall start by taking it home. Bob pottered doing odd small jobs, liking putting up my new shelf which he has painted to match the walls in the small toilets. It now looks neat and tidy with the cleaning stuff up off the floor. In the afternoon I read sat out in the garden, Bob played trains.

He did a trial run with just the engine to check that he had managed to clear the rails of stones etc then we both went round a few times just for the fun of it. I did take a video clip but it took a long time to upload on to facebook. I will try here but don’t hold out much hope. On our trips round we identified several overhanging branches that created a hazard, so the position of these were noted and then cut off. U fortunately the train came off the rails three times in the same place for initially no apparent reason, but closer examination showed more gravel was needed under the rails to support them.on the whole a successful afternoon .

This morning I intend to polish some furniture and clean mirrors in the guest bedrooms, this afternoon we are off to the first of the annual August fetes in the area. These usually consist of craft and bric a brac stalls, a parade with people in Breton costume, Breton dancing and music and a general fun afternoon . The dancing is part of a series taking place in various towns around Brittany throughout the month. I think it is called the Celtic Circle. Next weekend is the really big event and we hope to take Jane and Emma there ( my sister and her daughter).

No Sunday lunch out today, it will be a BBQ this evening .

Have a good day all

[Sue]

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hmm this was supposed to be a video

[Stanley]

Never mind Sue it gives a good idea. Only one comment, this is not 'playing' it's serious work preserving knowledge. But yes it's nice to see you both playing out together! Glad the new machine is a success.



First job this morning was to make the steam chest lids a bit prettier. When I had done that I realised that I had to have a planning morning. First I needed to settle where the steam inlet was going to be as this dictates the hole pattern for the studs that will hold the steam chest and lid on the valve face. I did that and set out the hole pattern and then realised that I needed more 6BA studding and nuts than I had available so I had to adjourn to the computer and spend money on 2X12" lengths of 6BA studding and 100 full nuts. That sorts that out, tomorrow I can go on with the holes knowing that the 6BA fastenings are on the way! The firm is quite good and they will be delivered early next week.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed working on the fitting of the steam chests and lids. I won't be held up by the lack of the 6BA fastenings, I don't need them yet.
No social events today, Margaret and Mick are busy in Clitheroe. A walk and a sit will be on at midday. Otherwise looking after myself and gathering strength for Wednesday when Daniel Meadows and his wife Georgie visit and we have lunch at Foulridge. I'm looking forward to that....

[Sue]

Morning

Another beautiful day yesterday. I spent the morning polishing furniture and general tidying, whilst Bob did some pruning. In the afternoon we went to the festival. I have a few photos on my camera but have not uploaded them on to my iPad yet . It was hot! It was also not as busy as usual. We didn’t buy anything at the craft fare but there was also a vide grenier, which literally means to empty the attic ie a car boot sale. It was only small but we managed to buy 4 egg cups which we have been unable to buy in the shop. They cost 2 euros. We bought a new waste bin for one of the bedrooms for a euro and a fabulous art book for 5 euro. We watched some dancing, enjoyed the atmosphere and came home. We spent the rest of the afternoon sat in the garden chatting and later barbecued and ate outside.

This morning is pleasant but the temperatures are on their way up. We need to be up too. The tree man is arriving between 8 and 8.30 am . Once he has set up we need to keep well clear, though we shall sneak some photos if we can. I am going to wash towels, hoover the bedrooms so that all is ready and wash floors downstairs. I will probably sit in the shade and read this afternoon. Have a good day

[Stanley]

All sounds good Sue. I have a grand daughter with two children somewhere in the same general area as you, she's stopping in a château with some University friends and has told her mother it's hot. (I think she's in Bergerac in the Dordogne.)





Two pics tell the story, an hour and a half in the shed and all I did was drill 12 holes....
More to it than that of course and I have all I need to go forward tomorrow to drill the cylinder block for the holding down studs. I need to sort my witness marks out tomorrow, I got mixed up as usual with my opposite hands but nothing I can't sort out.

[Sue]

All sounds good Sue. I have a grand daughter with two children somewhere in the same general area as you, she's stopping in a château with some University friends and has told her mother it's hot. (I think she's in Bergerac in the Dordogne.)

Its about 6 hours drive south from here, Stanley. Its a rather indirect place to get to as well from here . Nice area, we have camped that way years ago. Actually we have camped in most of France. Our favourite area is the Alps, but it was too far for us to usefully have a home there. We wanted a weekend escape whilst we were still working and looking after Dad.

[Big Kev]

... buying a car, a Hyundai ix35. Skoda Yetis are like hen's teeth.

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It'll be ready early next week, it has to be valeted, serviced and MOT'd before I pick it up. I'm in no rush, I still have youngest offspring's car. A 10 year old car will do for me

[Stanley]

Sounds sensible Kev.
She's braver than me Sue, setting off in the car with two young children. Evidently Kahara is enjoying himself because it's so hot he can run round naked which is his favourite dress code at the moment!
I shall be in the shed quietly making sense of the complicated little steam pump. I can well understand the original machinist giving up on the job, it's incredibly complicated and I have a long way to go yet. Then a walk and a sit later as we are promised yet another good day. No social engagements today, the next one is tomorrow!

[Sue]

Morning

Braver than me too Stanley. I never travelled further than to work with my two in the car when they were so young. By the time we were travelling long distances in France as a family our two were probably 8 and 10. Nice looking car Kev, I hope it serves you well with little bother over the years.

Our tree man arrived on the dot of 8.00 am yesterday. He and his apprentice worked non stop till 5.00 pm,, no two hour lunch for them. The man, Jonathon left England when he was young to join the French Foreign Legion. That gave him French citizen ship rights. He is married to a French lady, and now has 5 adult children who all work in the UK . After the Legion he worked as a translator for the gendarmes and then trained as a ´forestière which is not quite a tree surgeon . After a day he has one tree down, and two more sheared up ready to go today. The first one down is cut up but the pieces are too heavy to move. He reckons in a year they will sell for a price for firewood. There is certainly far more than we will ever need.

We kept out of the way for safety reasons. I finished cleaning the house, Bob pottered in his workshop. We shopped in the afternoon as the fridge is bare, and we are on our last bottle of propane and that is normally on the gas BBQ. However the shop for the latter was shut for the day so thats a trip for today . We also had to buy a small rug to cover a hole in one of the bedroom carpets. In searching for one we discovered a shop a bit like THE RANGE. They did not have a rug , which we got elsewhere, but did manage a new pair of scissors and a new loo brush which means I can throw away the orange one that was here when we bought the house! As for the carpet, well its the latest in a saga of holes, all covered in rugs mow. The french don’t do much in the way of carpets, and our bedrooms are all covered in a type of foam backed floor covering, which was down when we bought the house. We would like to replace them , probably with laminate flooring, but its a big job and an expensive one. Our next major expense here is to finish my art room cum store room. The roof needs doing and the walls lined with plaster boards, then we will decorate it. Our friend Paul, now recovered from a prostate op he had last winter, is all set to do it this winter for us.

So today its back to the shop for the gas, I want to change and wash our bedding,I have some ironing to do and I have beetroot and shallots to pickle , that I dug and prepared last night.

Have a good day all, its going to be a hot one here, but at least the nights have been cool.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Your forestiere sounds like a good man!Hope you get all your tasks done today.







As I said yesterday I cocked up the orientation of my castings yesterday so the first job was to get the orientation right and put another set of witness marks on all the castings. Then I drilled and tapped for 4 studs and fitted them. This means my lids are held tight in place and tomorrow I can mark accurately the the other 20 stud holes (!) through the clearance holes in the steam chest. An hour and a half to fit 4 studs.... but there was quite a lot to it. But beikng positive, progress may be slow but it's steady.....

[Stanley]

I shall be on my steam chests.... After a sleep I have a treat in store, lunch at the Wharf at Foulridge with Susan and Margaret and Daniel Meadows and his wife Georgie! They are up here for a Northern Progress. I'm looking forward to that.....

[Sue]

Sorry no long update. Just managed to erase the lot. Here are photos of the felled trees and the last one to go.

Collecting Jane and Emma today and tomorrow from Nantes airport, but staying in Guerande overnight for a bit of sightseeing, between the two flights

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Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Those are big trees Sue and a skilled job getting them down safely. Glad you have the dangerous bit done. Are you going to stack the logs and wait for a market for them?







I started this morning by marking the stud positions I need by spotting the cylinder casting using a clearance drill in the steam chest holes as this is the most accurate way. Then I drilled and tapped 20 stud holes 6BA and that has taken up all the time I had in there. I think I have them right!

[Sue]

At the moment they will be too heavy to lift but we have been told by 6 months it will be easier. Yves use to be a log merchant before he had his heart problem, so we thought we would ask him to sell them on with a large cut of the money to him. We will take what we need but we do have plenty already

The one being felled whilst I write is 28 metres tall

[Sue]

Its so hot!it reached 39 today, its 10.45 pm and 27 degrees.......

[Stanley]

We hit 28C Sue and I kept comfortable for most of the day. Today I have no social engagements so shed and second sleep and then a walk and a sit. I shall be keeping as cool as possible!

[Sue]

Morning

That was a hot night , its a fresher this morning at 19 degrees. This morning we are visiting Guerande, a walled medieval city, and back the airport for 3.15 pm. To collect Emma. Jane arrived late on her flight yesterday which put us in rush hour crossing Nantes to Saint Nazaire and on to here. We were so thankful for the open top car, which kept us cool beautifully. We dined out at a beautiful crêperie last night which was in an old mill.

Before we left the house to drive to Nantes the last of the trees came down with an almighty crack . Jonathon said he could not work much later as it was getting too hot for the chain saw ie 35 degrees, so they would do what they could and start stacking the wood and would be back at 6.00 am today. They could then stack in the cool but the law prevents the use of noisy equipment before 8.30 am. He now has two days of cutting up the wood, which will form a large wood pile covering the width of the field. Ie 5x25 metres it is all behind the hedge that we planted as a demarkation line at the back of fruit trees .

Today is an exciting day for Eve. Saturday is the start of the International Children's Games and this year it is coming from Coventry. She has been picked to swim the 400 m and 100 m freestyle on Saturday morning, but today she is being dropped off early at the pool by Julia and Ed, where she will get her kit/ uniform. Then she is off to the airport to meet the other teams and finally to the games village where she will stay for the next few days. What an exciting experience. I told her to enjoy her swims but not to worry about the result, much more important is to have a really good time.

Its going to be even hotter today we shall be glad to get back to the house this evening with its habitual cooling breeze . Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Another three days of heat for us at least Sue. Interesting that Margaret felt hot because we have higher humidity here than in Oz. No dashing about here, I shall be doing as little as possible.





This morning was making studs, fitting them and using them to hold the steam chests down on to the cylinder. These don't need to come off again as far as I can see. I got one end done and started on the other end, getting 4 studs in place. I know exactly what I am doing tomorrow!

[PanBiker]

Change of plan today. Still going to Scarborough but the kids don't want to see the naval battle in the park. No worries plenty of other stuff to do. Finlay is happy with his body board.

[Sue]

As hot as yesterday but felt cooler as it was less humid. Over 28 degrees as we go to bed. Its been a busy couple of days

[Stanley]

Margaret has been feeling the heat, she says it's because it's more humid than Oz.
Hoping for an hour in a warm shed before Early Doors shopping.
Walk and a sit will be on as we are having yet another hot day.

[Stanley]

Only one image needed. I made the last studs for the steam chests and lids and fitted them before early doors shopping. I shall have to look at fitting lids to cylinder block and the pump....
I have been for my early doors shop. Very nice and cool out there. Now for breakfast and a sleep.....

[Sue]

Morning

Another day and another warm one. This mornings plans are lots of washing....and a trip to the local Megalithes. This afternoon, chill out in the garden though I do not think that is the right phrase . The tree branch chopping will continue today and the job should be finished

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

Anyone who can find 'chill' today is very lucky Sue... We are promised a gradual improvement starting tomorrow but from what I can see no such respite for you Sue, hard luck! The big fire in the Gironde is in the news here.