Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Morning

It was very wet here yesterday but when we arrived in Preston it was sunny and quite warm. We had a lovely meal with Claire and family, leaving about 7.00 as it was Erins bedtime.it was still raining when we got home. More forecast for today but dry and vaguely sunny at the moment.

I managed to finish all the washing and ironing yesterday before we went over to Claires, which is good as I have a busy day. Our Tesco delivery comes at 9.00 just before we have our cooked Sunday breakfast. At about 10.30, I shall be chatting to Briony on zoom and showing her how to paint a simple vase of flowers. At noon we have our fortnightly zoom meeting with our friends Jean and Bob. Perhaps our next meeting will be real. Sometime during the afternoon I shall have a whats app chat with Eve. I want to transplant some of my seedlings in the greenhouse as they are too big for their pots but it is too soon to put them outside. This evening I plan to start the next chapter of my embroidery course. I haven't done any for ages, but there is no times limitation on the course. The original idea was for the courses to get me through lockdown and the winter which they did .

I see France is on the amber travel list. I am not surprised. Infections continue to rise and the vaccination programme is just taking off. Laetitia was not expecting to be vaccinated until the end of the year, but yesterday she told me the programme has been opened to everyone and is expecting to be vaccinated this month. Its good Boris has been so cautious, I think the travel industry has been rather naive expecting the borders to be opened to holiday travel in Europe whilst most of Europe remains unvaccinated with increasing infections. Hopefully this will give the countries a kick to get their act together . Many countries in Europe need UK tourism, particularly France, Italy and Spain. The decrease in the number of lorries from Europe was noticeable in our drive south last week, but that is Brexit rather than the pandemic, although it does demonstrate the reduction in travel across the channel, being essential travel only. I worry aboutBoltons increase in infection, its a bit too close to Rochdale. Rochdale numbers are back to last Junes numbers, and we are once again in a zero covid area . I believe in Bolton it is mainly the Indian variant brought in to the country by people returning home having been stranded over there for months. I know how that feels

Hope today turns out drier than yesterday, 15 degrees forecast, but no sun . Have a good day all

[Stanley]

You have a busy day planned Sue and I agree totally about travel.
In contrast....



Not one of my best days. I don't want to say too much about it but I totally cocked up this morning and got my cylinder aligned 90 degrees out! What it means is that I have to retrieve the situation and in effect this means making another front lid. I would have been better staying in bed....

[Marilyn]

We had a kind of “sun on, sun off” with “drizzle on, drizzle off” day...but went for our walk as usual. So hard to judge if we need sleeves or not!

[Sue]

Oh dear Stanley, I have days like that with my sewing but I think they are cheaper and easier to rectify . We haven’t forgotten about coming over to collect the pressure gauge and pump. We will be in touch. We are expecting a couple of deliveries this week ( new BBQ, wishful thinking ) but may find a day suitable to all of us

[Sue]

We had a kind of “sun on, sun off” with “drizzle on, drizzle off” day...but went for our walk as usual. So hard to judge if we need sleeves or not!

Warm today but looks miserable. Rochdale is not prone to many bright sunny days

[Marilyn]

I am sure they are coming for you, Sue. Won’t be long and you will have those Summer tops on.
won’t be long until we will put the gas heater on in the evenings.
Another fortnight at least for both of us.

[Sue]

I am sure they are coming for you, Sue. Won’t be long and you will have those Summer tops on.
won’t be long until we will put the gas heater on in the evenings.
Another fortnight at least for both of us.

Yes I think you are right Maz, its mot cold outside today, I have do e a fair bit of gardening tidying with only jeans and a thin cotton short on . I usually reckon next weekend to get summer things out of the loft but keep a few light weight jumpers in my wardrobe for cooler days

[chinatyke]

I got home from my busy night out at 2:45am this morning. I'm too old for these marathon sessions but it was good fun.
Yesterday we inspected the leak in our apartment and it is definitely one of our pipes that is weeping in the wall. Apartment blocks are constructed of reinforced concrete structural walls, floors and beams, and partition walls are added later which are single brick construction with a cement render. When you buy a new unit you are sold a bare shell and you install all pipes, cables etc during "decoration". The walls and floors are channelled to accommodate pipes and trunking, these are "buried" and the walls finally plastered. So when you have a leak you have to locate the pipe in the wall. We bought this apartment second hand and had nothing to do with the original work. It turns out that thin walled copper pipe with a plastic coating was used widely on this estate. I do mean thin walled! So there have been many failures of the piping according to the site management company. Any failure can lead to damage to other property and the management company gets involved. We've had a couple of leaks, but whilst we were living in the apartment the leaks were quickly spotted and repaired. The current tenant couldn't care less because the leak was in a wall in a bedroom he didn't use. Anyway, we got a contractor in today and he is going to replace the entire plumbing in the apartment. He has done several already on this estate. This time it will be on the surface but most will be hidden and very unobtrusive. Cost is about 400 quid, 2 months rental down the drain.The joys of being a landlord, but we would have had to do this work if we still lived there. Apart from this little setback, the apartment is in good order and the tenants are still very happy.
Came back on the high speed train, just 40 minutes at up to 250 km/hr, very quiet and very smooth, awesome trains.

[Stanley]

That sounds sensible China, start afresh. That's what I am going to do in the shed this morning, put the clock back and start anew. It won't cost anything Sue, only time. No rush about the goodies, they are here when you can get over here.

[Sue]

Morning

Yes the joys of being a landlord. Our little 250 year old cottage on Anglesey soaked up money with minor repairs. We bought it when Bob worked away from home at Wylfa power station. Previously when he worked at Berkeley he lived in a mobile home during the week. With the move to Anglesey we opted for something more comfortable. The house was ok when Bob lived in it as he did the repairs as they occurred and we also had one tenant who used to be a builder and he did the repairs for us but some tenants never told us about minor issues until they became major and then any profits we made soon went. Some tenants were just destructive and dirty too much to my horror. Eventually we renovated it completely and raised the rent to get better tenants. It didn’t work so we sold it before we lost all the money we had put in to it. We loved that cottage and if we hadn’t bought our French house we would have kept it. It sold very quickly indeed, before the estate agent had finished producing the literature. It was a very desirable buy and we feel we did the right thing for the property in doing it up.

Today is a grey start and due to rain most of the day. Yesterday I did a lot of gardening and repotting of plants so today I can sit back a bit from that. I have pilates this morning and this afternoon I shall take my glasses in to the optician to get the scratched lens replaced, under warranty. Bob is staying here as we are expecting delivery of the new BBQ this afternoon. I am not quite sure when it will be used with the present long range forecast. 🌫🌧

I have had an email from my sewing teacher, Maxine, saying she is starting up again in June. I have said I will go back to her after our short break in Norfolk in early June. I trust her to do everything properly as she has her own health issues that need to be catered for, but she also needs to get her income back, having been out of work since the pandemic started.

Have a good day all

[Big Kev]

Bob is staying here as we are expecting delivery of the new BBQ this afternoon. I am not quite sure when it will be used with the present long range forecast. 🌫🌧

I like the concept of a BBQ but am terrible at cleaning them, it's usually a case of just shutting the lid and leaving it until the next time. I probably shouldn't be so lazy For that reason I've not had one for several years.

[Stanley]

I've come out of the shed after a good morning. I have made progress and have rectified most of the faults, for the full story look at shed matters.



A bit more work tomorrow and we will be back on track.

[Tizer]

Anyway, we got a contractor in today and he is going to replace the entire plumbing in the apartment. He has done several already on this estate. This time it will be on the surface but most will be hidden and very unobtrusive.

We have a similar problem on the 1970s housing estate where we live. When the houses were built the downstairs CH pipes were buried in the concrete floors but not satisfactorily protected and now they often start to leak. The concrete floor gets soaked and wet patches appear on the carpets. Unfortunately a whole business model has been built in the UK to deal with this problem. People claim on their insurance, the insurers determine who you get to rectify the problem, inspectors are sent in etc, your floor is dug up, new pipes laid, more inspections and so it goes on, making lots of money for the companies involved. Sometimes they even do the work and then a leak apppears elswhere. We decided when we bought this house that if it happens to us we won't get anyone else involved, we'll just get our favourite plumber in to switch all the downstairs CH to trunking on the walls - like your solution!

[Big Kev]

I worked for a central heating company back in the 80s and was involved in channelling out concrete floors to relay central heating pipes. We never reburied them just covered them over with insulation and galvanized sheeting.

[Sue]

Bob is staying here as we are expecting delivery of the new BBQ this afternoon. I am not quite sure when it will be used with the present long range forecast. 🌫🌧

I like the concept of a BBQ but am terrible at cleaning them, it's usually a case of just shutting the lid and leaving it until the next time. I probably shouldn't be so lazy For that reason I've not had one for several years.

According to a BBQ lesson Bob had in the Staes a d our son in law who lived there for three years, you don’t clean a BBQ as such you burn off the debris when you have finished cooking and just brush off the charcoal later. Easier with a gas one

[Sue]

anyone else involved, we'll just get our favourite plumber in to switch all the downstairs CH to trunking on the walls - like your solution! ...

Tiz, we had a similar problem with our water pipes in the kitchen in France. The French plumber simply put new plastic pipes in on the surface hidden by the wooden beams

[Sue]

Jeepers! We are in one almighty thunder and hail storm

[Big Kev]

Bob is staying here as we are expecting delivery of the new BBQ this afternoon. I am not quite sure when it will be used with the present long range forecast. 🌫🌧

I like the concept of a BBQ but am terrible at cleaning them, it's usually a case of just shutting the lid and leaving it until the next time. I probably shouldn't be so lazy For that reason I've not had one for several years.

According to a BBQ lesson Bob had in the Staes a d our son in law who lived there for three years, you don’t clean a BBQ as such you burn off the debris when you have finished cooking and just brush off the charcoal later. Easier with a gas one

There's my problem, I've only had charcoal BBQs

[Sue]

Kev, Bob says you just shut the lid on a charcoal one and let the heat build up

[Big Kev]

Sounds like a plan, thanks to Bob. Not really BBQ weather today though, my lightning tracker has lit up like a Christmas tree

[Big Kev]

Painting wooden tulips. We bought them 20 years ago in Amsterdam (as you do) and all the colour had faded. There's a selection of part used silk emulsions in the cellar, we're now red, yellow and green again. Could you tell boredom was setting in?

[Marilyn]

I have some painted wooded Iris. Had them over 20 years. I’ve never painted them...(it’s a big enough job just dusting them)

[Stanley]

Guess where I'll be and what I'll be doing. I'm gradually climbing over my disaster. Could get two walks in as well, it looks like a slightly better day.

[chinatyke]

Today is the day the contractors are renewing our plumbing at our leased Nanning apartment. Our tenant is present and the contractors are keeping in touch by sending pictures by social media to my wife. They've obviously done a few of these already, they know just where to route the pipes. They've done more work in one morning than I could manage in a week! So far it is looking good and it is money well spent. We may redecorate this apartment at the end of this lease (Sept 2023 if not extended), which basically means gutting it and starting again.

[Cathy]

Reading the instructions for my new vacuum cleaner. Might need to consult YouTube

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