Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Morning

A pleasant day yesterday every where. Bob was busy in the park with his train rides, I pottered, packed and picked cooking apples from our tree. I made 2 litres pf tomato soup to take with us and some ratatouille. In the evening I watered the garden with the hose pipe, everything was looking really dry as it has not rained since we came back from France. The weather forecast on Countryfile was the most promising for Northumberland so apart from Thursday/Friday it should be a good week .

So we are off after breakfast, picking up a Tesco shopping delivery at Chadderton on our way, taking our time and enjoying the drive. Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

Sounds like a good day. We had a good day at Clarion House. It was ideal for sitting with one of the best views in the country and all the family round the table and the kids running round in the grass.



I've had two hours in the shed, I'll be back in a few minutes.

[Stanley]

A frustrating morning in the shed due to my failings and a pot hard casting but I managed to marry the cylinder to the bed. A bit of a triumph....



I got carried away and finished the morning by painting the castings.


I have a social appointment, I am meeting a lady for coffee this morning.....

[Stanley]

Nice two hour catch up with my friend yesterday. I'm pleased to say she looks great and is happy. So nice when so many are depressed.
I shall be in the shed looking for a permanent fit up of my basic engine but need to sort a piston, its rod and the back end of the crosshead yet. We're getting there......
Bookie watch could be shirt sleeves if the forecast is right..... Tropical heat!

[Sue]

Morning

We had a lovely journey up yesterday. It was cloudy all day but did hit 20 degrees. I gather it was a lot warmer in Rochdale but we expected that having lived over here for most of my childhood and teen years . We stopped off at a village just outside Durham and tried to find the house of my school friend. We could not so we had lunch at the pub and asked, but they did not know either. We tried again after lunch. I know it is a new bungalow, built on the footprint of one she and her husband had knocked down. It only has a name and post code for the address so there were not many contenders in this small village. Anyway I have emailed her and will try and meet up on our way back next Monday.

We had afternoon tea at a large garden centre where I could have spent a fortune and later we browsed an antique centre but it was not very interesting. We arrived here at 4.30 pm and were greeted by the owner of the cottage. It was the home of the local miller circa mid 1800s now much and beautifully modernised whilst retaining some of the original features. The present owner lives in the large house the miller had built in the 1870s when he had made his money. The mill itself is now a residential house just through the gate next to our back door. We are in the area of UK where there is no light pollution ( Dark Sky region) and sky watching at night is a regular thing by the locals. The sunset last night was beautiful .

This morning we are doing a circular walk from the cottage to St Cuthberts cave and onwards to a nature reserve . The cave was one place that the monks rested with the body of St Cuthbert on the way from Lindisfarne to Durham. (Another place they rested at was Chester le Street where the local Parish church, where I was baptised, is dedicated to St Mary and St Cuthbert ). From the cave it is possible to do a 7 mile circuit on St Cuthberts Way but we have decided to do it in two shorter walks. There are numerous walks round here and many more further a field to Berwick or Bamburgh. Todays walk can be boggy hence doing it early in the week before the rain sets in on Thursday.

This afternoon we are doing a short shop in a local village for a couple of things we forgot. We cannot use our ground coffee due to the cottage having a septic tank so will get something else. Have a good day everyone.

[Stanley]

I've never heard of that Sue, prohibition of ground coffee on a septic tank system. Why not use the ground coffee but dispose of the grounds in the garden compost heap or alternatively if there isn't one, in a hedge bottom. You can still have the good coffee!



Here's where I ended up with the castings. Ready in all respects for some serious fitting. I cleaned Mrs Harrison and re-sharpened my HSS cutter and honed it. I could have started on the piston and rod but left that for a nice easy start tomorrow. It's good progress, an hour and a half spent effectively and no mistakes. That makes a nice morning!

[Wendyf]

I've never heard that there is a problem with septic tanks and coffee grounds either and we have lived with them since 1976. Our grounds do go in the compost heap or the bin.

[Wendyf]

Just googled it and now I see why!

[Sue]

I've never heard of that Sue, prohibition of ground coffee on a septic tank system. Why not use the ground coffee but dispose of the grounds in the garden compost heap or alternatively if there isn't one, in a hedge bottom. You can still have the good coffee!.....

We don't in France we put it on the roses. We had thought of throwing it in the hedge, but there isn't actually anything to make the coffee in like a cafetiere. We are going to buy some filter papers and put them in the sieve and make coffee through that into a pyrex jug. These coffee bags, provided, are ok, mild like American coffee though and we are used to strong french coffee.

[Stanley]

Sue, I never use anything other than a jug, in my case my brew can. Just put the ground coffee in, pour on the almost boiling water, stir and leave for five minutes. You can pour the coffee then carefully with no filter. I use a tea strainer but it's not essential. The odd ground will sit in the bottom of your mug.

[Wendyf]

We had a pleasant walk around Burwains Reservoir this morning, starting and ending at Foulridge Wharf with coffee and a shared piece of carrot cake at the café. It was 2.8 miles including a slight deviation from the route, a bit of uneven ground and a couple of stiles to negotiate so Col is building his strength!
The lawn mower calls this afternoon.

[Stanley]

That lawn mowing should be left until early tomorrow morning Wendy, Too hot for lawn mowing!
I've just had half an hour on bookie watch with a very friendly Border Collie who was putting himself up for adoption.....
It's getting warm Wendy, too warm for mowing!

[Wendyf]

There is a pleasant breeze up here Stanley. There was a heavy dew this morning making the grass quite wet. I'll have go and see how I get on.

[Stanley]

Be careful, you're a tough woman but not bullet proof!

[Cathy]

Gosh you are having a warm day today.

Wendy is your mower a ride-on one?

[Wendyf]

No Cathy I don't have enough open space for a ride on mower. I gave up after strimming all the edges, it was too hot!

[Stanley]

What a sensible woman, nice and cool now!
I shall be in the shed chasing an engine. The paint looks good. First thing I shall do is replace those two countersunk head screws with round heads. It seemed like a good idea at the time! We are promised 26C today so bookie watch is definitely on!

[Sue]

Sue, I never use anything other than a jug, in my case my brew can. Just put the ground coffee in, pour on the almost boiling water, stir and leave for five minutes. You can pour the coffee then carefully with no filter. I use a tea strainer but it's not essential. The odd ground will sit in the bottom of your mug.

Morning
We managed. We couldn't buy filters but bought some Jeys(?) cloths or in this case a Co-op cleaning cloth and filtered through that .

It was a beautiful day yesterday reaching 25 plus degrees but felt a lot cooler as it is not as humid as the west . We managed our walk and in fact decided to do the whole walk which turned out to be 8.2 miles. It was a gentle climb, trough forests, pastures and heather filled hills. We we still had the same overall climb as going up to Lobden but it did not feel like it on the grassy paths . We reached a trig point but there was no indication of how high that was. My walking app said 650 feet , but we started quite near sea level . We arrived back at the cottage at 2.00 pm had a late lunch, went to the shops then sat in the lovely garden with a glass of wine. Our walk gave us both panoramic views of the cheviots and Lindisfarne, Bamburgh and the Farne Islands.

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This morning we are off to Craster and a circular walk to Dunstanburgh castle. A walk I did a lot as a child. Hopefully we can buy some Craster kippers for tea. We have no other plans but shall take it as it comes. Tomorrow is forecast 75% chance of rain, so another fine weather activity I think.

Have a good day

[Sue]

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[Wendyf]

It looks wonderful Sue and I envy you being there in Northumberland. I love the walk to Dunstanburgh Castle.

[Stanley]

Over eight miles was what grabbed me.... I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've just come out of the shed, I'll be back a bit later.



Knocking off time today after two hours in the shed, we have a piston and piston rod. It needs joining to the crosshead nw.

[Sue]

It looks wonderful Sue and I envy you being there in Northumberland. I love the walk to Dunstanburgh Castle.

I agree its a most beautiful calm place. Good for the soul. The sky last night was amazing.

[Wendyf]

I've attempted to start mowing this morning but the grass is too wet with dew and the mower is clogging up, I'll have to wait till it dries off a bit more.

[Stanley]

Hard luck Wendy, you might get a chance today before the thunder arrives this afternoon.
I shall have my spell in the shed as usual then sleep and bookie watch. Might splash out on some pickled herring.....
At some point I shall have to cook veggies....

[Wendyf]

I managed to get it finished yesterday Stanley but had to raise the cutting blade so it won't be long before it needs doing again! Today I really need to spend some time indoors cleaning.