Today I shall be Mainly...

[Wendyf]

Archive Room this morning, dentist this afternoon and yet another of those pesky wedding anniversaries that we don't do much to celebrate! 44 years, how time flies.

[Stanley]

Have decided vacuuming can wait! Far better to have dinner and a good sleep!

[plaques]

Looking good today, lunch in the garden.

May pop over and join you. Fantastic garden display you must be a least two weeks ahead of us. Its nice just to walk round and admire their beauty. Lost a few of our peonies to the damp the rest should be OK but tending to flop over a bit.

[Sue]

My mums favourite too Cathy, PEACE, I planted it in memory of my Mum 17 years ago. Not so inviting today, rather cloudy but warmer than it looks.

Just getting some washing done and on the line before Igo to craft. We are doing pattern drafting today, could be interesting. Then its lunch with friends. When I get home the second load of washing will be ready to go out on the line.

Pond looking good today after an extra large bottle of algae killer was applied two days ago. This morning I have added a different organic matter digester. It seems to have stopped losing water, we think the leak may have silted up, just in time for the water lilies to flower. There are 4 at the moment

[Marilyn]

Wendy...44 years..phew...we will never make that, (second marriage) but we are over 20 years (possibly 23/24) but I am HOPELESS at knowing without getting that bit of paper out. And who wants to go to all that effort of finding a bit of paper? It really isn't important to either of us. (And "his" memory is worse than mine )

[Sue]

Two years to my 50 th! I can’t believe that either, it seems no time since I did a 50th anniversary meal for my Mum and Dad.

Plaques the garden has suddenly improved after last weeks sun. We thought we had lost all our peonies but eventually 12 of the 15 buds have flowered and the roses have never looked so good. The hosta leaves are rather lacy though, due to enhanced slug and snail activity but I am trying a garlic mix I was told about at Holehird? Gardens in the Lake District. Last autumn we applied horse manure liberally all over a d it has paid off.

[Marilyn]

I just want to sit in your garden and sip the wine and enjoy the sun, Sue. I can hear it growing and buzzing with life.
( I am not good with bumble bees though...seem to have a bit of a terror)
Hubby mowed a neighbours lawn the other day, came home and laid his cardigan on the sink. I kept finding all these "bugs" and examined his cardigan. It was "alive" with them. He remembers brushing against a bush in the neighbour's garden whilst mowing. They were hideous...everywhere..like fleas!
(Cardigan went straight in the wash!)

[PanBiker]

Maz bees wont bother you if you don't bother them. View them as a miracle of flight and enjoy the wonder, they are not built to fly and it is a physical impossibility how they do it according to our understanding of flight but they do. Add to that the myriad of different colourings to identify the colonies, how many visit your garden? We currently have two different bumble bee visitors and three honey bee families, fantastic watching them mine the flowers in the back yard.

[Marilyn]

But...but...I have been CHASED by bumble bees...possibly passionately...they seemed quite determined to HAVE me.

[Tizer]

Maz, they just want to be friendly!

I agree with you 100%, Ian, we love bees and we've planted our new garden with flowers that will attract them, and butterflies too. In our last house we had one year when a colony of small buff-bottomed bees formed in the roof of the open porch. it was fascinating to watch them coming and going. At the moment we've got a leaf-cutting bee living in a little tunnel in the soil in one of our flower pots. It's forever back and forth carrying in pieces of leaf to make the nest.

[Marilyn]

You say that but have you ever had an ardent bumble bee wanting you?

[PanBiker]

Over the last few weeks we have had to rescue quite a few bumble bees that have run out of energy in the back yard. Sugar and water solution usually does the trick to get them on their way. I suppose it's a bit like a diabetic crash for them, I have experienced similar myself on the bike when the muscles run out of fuel and you get a glucose crash.

[Marilyn]

That is why I eat before a ride...very important.

[PanBiker]

Indeed, and to fuel during the ride as well depending on the distances you do. I hope to get back to my norm of 20-30 mile morning or afternoon bike rides if I can. Should help to build up the stamina. For a simple boost when out walking we take the small double packs of Biscoff biscuits which are caramel based and give a good lift when you are flagging a bit. For bike rides I like the energy bars that I make, they give about 450 calories a pop and are easy to carry. Particularly on the bike, it's easy enough to burn 2000 calories on a decent ride out if you put some hills in the way.

[Marilyn]

I make a slice with currants/oats/almonds/coconut -no sugar- but sweet enough because of the currants. Can crumble it in a bowl in the morning if needed before a bike ride. Have it with a dob of cream, not milk, if going for a decent ride. I find it sustains me. I don't seem to have suffered a "hypo" but I don't imagine we are serious bike riders like you Panbiker. You are in a different level entirely. We are not athletes! We go our own pace - hectic occasionally- but sight seeing at other times. We even sit on benches beside the sea, for a rest now and then. I love our bike rides....but I couldn't do it all day or too seriously at high speed.

[PanBiker]

I don't consider myself a serious rider either Maz. We see plenty that are that think nothing of doing 150 miles in day. We see the clubs out on their runs who hardly break a sweat on inclines that we have to get off and push. Lots of clubs also visit the Clarion of course, they are in a different league. We had a bunch that came from Derbyshire for their Sunday run the other week. I hope I can get back to putting a few hills in the way but I will have to start back on the cut bank I reckon for an initial assessment.

[Marilyn]

I believe that so long as we just keep pushing those pedals, all is good. Some days, the numbness in my foot is down to a mere slither on the right side of my foot, and I believe I am almost cured by activity. ( other mornings I wake up in stiffness from foot to thigh and know there is more work ahead). Just happy to be pain free.

[Stanley]

Ian, I remember what you call a glucose crash from the days when we were really serious riders, we called it 'bonk' and we all had the little cotton 'Bonk Bags' for the Mars Bars or whatever. You'd have been sick if you had seen us on the hills in Derbyshire.... My mate Ian told me 50 years afterwards that he used to hate seeing my 'little fat legs' going up and down like piston rods as he followed me.
Maz, the bees. Big Harry once told me that it is the CO2 we breath out that attracts insects.....
Today I shall try to get an hour's sleep early as I have guests at noon and I am looking forward to it, don't want to crash! (Not bonk, over active immune system! But perhaps something sweet would be a good precaution?)

[Sue]

Well there is me thinking it was warmth and smell of our bodies that attracted insects. I found this but also found another article that said it was carbon dioxide and the smell of lactic acid there are apparently 100 s of chemicals on the skin that attract different insects

http://theconversation.com/health-check ... more-36425

Today I shall make my new paper pattern for the shirt I have designed, having resolved the issues. This afternoon we are catching the bus round to Waterfoot and then walking back over Rooley Moor to Lane Head, Rochdale, down to Healey Dell and back home. We have been planning it for a few weeks and this afternoon looks good. Dry, warm but not sunny. If we go this afternoon we only need to take water and not lunch. We are not sure of the distance but we think about 6-7 miles with a steep incline at the beginning. Our bus passes are great for doing one way walks! We are lucky to live so close to so many old tracks and packhorse trails that are easily accessible. The other day on the moors above Whitworth Road we could see the Welsh hills looking one way and the Derbyshire hills looking another. We could spot Oldham, Rochdale, Manchester, Widnes to name but a few.

Just found this article. Very interesting.

Bladder cancer 'attacked and killed by common cold virus' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48868261

[Stanley]

I saw that report Sue and have commented on it elsewhere, Science News? or Medical matters.
The strategy of advancing the day has worked well, just got up after my dinner and 2 hours sleep. Once I have come to I shall vacuum and mop the kitchen floor using strong disinfectant!

[Stanley]

My visitors Naomi and John have just left. First time I have met Naomi and she is lovely! She told me she had heard a lot about me from John and he says I am the best educated man he has ever met.... That's nice.
John is the same as ever, we made a real connection all those years ago. A delightful interlude... It's done me good.

[Stanley]

Why do I get uglier as I age and John gets more distinguished?

[Sue]

The walk was fabulous. The sewing less so. I made my pattern and because the design on the fabric is complex I need more fabric to be able to pattern match. I have ordered a metre by first class post as I need it to arrive before we leave here next Saturday.

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Caught the bus to Stacksteads about 8 mikes away and walked over the tops back home in about 2 hours 20 minutes, plus a stop at our favourite Tea rooms in Healey Dell at the end for a drink and a piece of cake. It took over an hour to do the 2 mikes up to the 1300 foot high plateau . There the views were fabulous looking back to Burnley and over towards Pendle. Across the top we could see Whitworth, Manchester, Oldham and the hills beyond.

[Marilyn]

We did a similar length coastal walk today, on the look out for whales, but didn't see any today. It was a lovely walk though. Fresh air, sunshine and sea breezes. My leg was looking forward to home after 2 hours of wet,grassy coastal terrain (up hill and down dale). We walked past a coffee place and hubby asked me if I wanted one. I declined....then he added he hadn't carried his wallet anyway ( so why ask!?).

[Wendyf]

That looks like a great walk Sue.