Today I shall be Mainly...

[plaques]

Sue you know what your body will withstand and why you are doing it. Sounds reasonable to me. Horses for courses.
Preparing for our pensioners shopping at Sainburys then back home for the obligatory cup of tea. then starting Mrs P's good idea in the garden. Another easy day.

[Wendyf]

Popping onto One Guy for a quick visit following an email alert from Stanley re a history query. Sue I envy you the rain!

[Stanley]

Yes it would be good wouldn't it Wendy. We need some soft rain on Atlantic winds and less of this east wind from Europe!
Had a good hour in the shed......

[PanBiker]

Sods law says that out of three smoke alarms that I am installing the last one turns out to be faulty! I installed it like the others and tested the battery operation after install, it tested OK and triggered the other linked alarms as it should. When I put the AC power back on, it's green LED lit as it should then 30 seconds later it chirped and flashed it's red LED. This is the indicator for a duff battery, the one that had just passed it's install test! Never no mind, I replaced the battery for a brand new one and re-installed the head unit of the alarm, same problem, red LED trigger and chirp every 30 seconds. As a final test I tried an alarm reset and waited the required 10 minutes for its detection chamber to stabilise, still flashing and chirping before and after the ten minutes had elapsed. I metered both batteries and they both tested fine with a potential of around 9.4v off load. Done all I can so I uninstalled it and put a temporary choc block on the mains cable so that I could leave the other two, (and the lighting circuits) powered up.

I have contacted my supplier via their returns link online, (I got them from CPC who I have an account with). I have asked for a replacement and am just waiting for an RMA number to send the faulty one back.

Kept me out of mischief this afternoon anyway. I'll be keeping the steps from the centre a bit longer.

[Stanley]

I had a similar day with my kitchen light Ian. I thought I had cured it with a replacement tube but it went again and at 3AM this morning I was replacing tubes hoping it was just a duff tube. No such luck! However yesterday I got hold of as bloke called Karl Boothman that Heather recommended years ago and he's going to give me a call today. These lighting units are some that Doc got for me when they were replacing them in a school he was connected with. They served me well and eventually went on the blink. I remember the cure was new ballasts and tubes, almost as expensive as new units so this time I am just going to take Karl's advice and chuck these out. I think I am heading for LED tubed units but will be guided by him.
Apart from that, in the shed pursuing the beam engine! (And dodging the Covid19 virus!)

[Sue]

After 36 hours of rain everything is sodden. The drive, had huge puddles obliterating the path and the lane up to the house looked more like a swimming pool. We had to have the lights and the heating on all day. Today will be warmer and is described as cloud and sun with a light breeze. Its towel washing day but I don’t think they will dry as the humidity will be so high. Otherwise I am sure they will dry overnight in the house.

I filled my day with a pilates session, which eased my leg but it is still tender after any length of inactivity. In the afternoon I did sort my jars reducing the quantity down to one large plastic crate of all reasonable jars of jam and pickle sizes. The rest has gone in the recycling apart from a set of small storage jars that one of our friends who returned to the UK gave us. These have been washed and offered around. One of my brothers may have them when we are in a position to visit him, otherwise they will go to the hospice shop when it reopens. The rest of the time I pottered and did a large complicated jigsaw. Bob did some house DIY and did an oil change on the small tractor we have for cutting the grass in the field/orchard. It occurred to us how little we have left of the activities we planned for when we came or indeed have planned for since. Our DIY and sewing materials are running out . Although we can keep busy outside on a dry day it is less easy on a wet one, so we reached a decision .

We spent some time discussing our isolation exit, ie going home. May 11 th is definitely the end of lockdown here with a gradual return to normal. We feel that is the time to travel when everyone is still aware and wary and there will be fewer people round and some degree of legislation governing activities etc. We are hoping the May 16 th ferry will run. We assume the guidelines for ferry travel will be the same as for our last booking, ie stay in the cabin, bring your own food and drink. It will be a long day, ( I suggested packing a game of Monopoly ) 19 hours in total so will probably sleep a lot in the cabin and possibly have a shower before leaving it.

There will probably be a requirement to wear masks but Bob has a bag of DIY masks for protection against dust inhalation and two others that are actually of the highest level protecting against inhaling of moisture droplets too. They are all washable. We have checked the current permits to travel through France and one of the criteria is to return to your country or origin provided you have tickets and appropriate evidence. We doubt we will get back to France before late autumn or the winter so all our good work will have grown back, but it has kept us busy, healthy and sane doing it all. Some of the jobs were really needed and can easily be redone. In fact we have decided a long stay at this time of year is a good idea and we may do it again in future years, stopping the accumulation of such large heavy tasks. I shall give my growing veggie seedlings to the neighbours plus the veggies that are already growing. We shall shop here before we leave ensuring we have a good supply of food when we get home, and close the houe down as if it is winter.

We have thought about this long and hard. We had various insurances extended because of the lockdown here, which will not be extended further if there is no lockdown. There are also tax issues should we stay for 6 months as has been suggested to us, and of course we will run out of medication again mid May. In the mail at home there will be pressing items that need addressing to. So the plan is set should the ferry run.

So for today

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy, stay safe and have as good a day as you can.

[Stanley]

Interesting post Sue as it highlights matters that perhaps normally don't get mentioned. It's not just a matter of popping over the channel is it. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it all. I have enough on today administering the solution to the kitchen light problem!
Didn't get in the shed, other matters got in the way. It's amazing how much time is taken up in simple everyday tasks.....
Have a good pain free day Sue, I shall be thinking about you.

[plaques]

Today is still digging for Britain, Yesterday's good idea changed as we went along. A clematis which had been badly damaged through tree felling was to be dug up and replaced by another different shrub in a slightly different spot. As work progressed the root system came out in one big lump without losing any of the main root or fibres. The plan then changed to replant it in a more favourable spot putting the damage towards the back out of view.
Then back to the vegetable plot. Deep joy.

This reminded me of Sue's predicament.
.

Going to Sue.jpg

[Stanley]

What exactly are the sanctions that are being applied to keep you hard at work? Lysistrata springs to mind but surely not that...

[Sue]

Today is still digging for Britain, Yesterday's good idea changed as we went along. A clematis which had been badly damaged through tree felling was to be dug up and replaced by another different shrub in a slightly different spot. As work progressed the root system came out in one big lump without losing any of the main root or fibres. The plan then changed to replant it in a more favourable spot putting the damage towards the back out of view.
Then back to the vegetable plot. Deep joy.

This reminded me of Sue's predicament.
.Going to Sue.jpg

Love it, all of it. Good ideas spring anew daily.

The railway pieces have arrived, but no knickers

[Sue]

What exactly are the sanctions that are being applied to keep you hard at work? Lysistrata springs to mind but surely not that...

Best not ask Stanley

[PanBiker]

Mentioning trains, my DIY jobs are arriving like them, one after another. Got to a temporary straight edge with the duff smoke alarm yesterday so can do no more with that till the replacement comes.

Sally grabbed the bottom of the handrail on the stairs yesterday teatime and it came away from the wall complete with the two wooden plugs that should be holding it firm to the wall. Looks like it has worked loose, the bottom rail is fixed via a bracket to an 8" turned wooden pattress which in turn is fastened to the wall with two substantial 3" screws. The wooden wall plugs for these have worked loose so need re-securing before reattaching the rail.

I will clean out the hole and bed them back in with extra wedges and filler to make up all the gaps. Will have to leave that a few days to dry and harden properly before the re-fix. I might drill a couple more fixing holes clear of the originals and put a couple of heavy duty plastic plugs in as a belt and braces fix.

You don't realise how much you use the handrail until it's not there. I use it more now I have a slight deficit on my right side particularly as a steady when coming downstairs.

[PanBiker]

Hopefully made good when it dries out.



With the plaster crumbled out to reveal the brick I could see that the wooden plugs are set into a horizontal seam in the brick work. The wall at this point is three courses thick so plenty of meat to go at. With a brick above and below it will be ideal to drill and plug a couple more fixing points in the centre of these which will add extra stability to the pattress. Looking at the layers of wallpaper underneath shows that it is an after build fixing so not absolutely original but I reckon it's probably been there 70 or 80 years.

[chinatyke]

The railway pieces have arrived, but no knickers

Any fur coats?

[Sue]

None of those either China, but then I didn’t order any

[Stanley]

You can manage without knickers Sue (I used to live with as woman who hardly ever wore them and didn't seem to suffer.) but you can't run a railway without lines! Give platelayer Bob my best regards!
Aiming for the shed and looking forward to the Sparks coming on Thursday.

[Sue]

ha ha Stanley, but i like my knickers

Yesterday I did some cleaning, washed towels, attempted a tidy up of my hair and in the afternoon acted as barrow boy again for Bob as he is busy cutting the laurel hedge. Not a short back and sides, but a reduction in height from 8 feet down to 4. We have a lot of laurel hedging put in by the previous owner. We now have a big pile of laurel cuttings. More of the same today I think. That is after stripping the bed and washing the bedding. I shall move us into our summer bedroom at the other end of the house. The room we are in now is a lovely room but gets very warm from now onwards. Its too hot to sleep some nights. The summer bedroom is too cold to sleep in, in the winter months.

I am expecting parcels today, wonder if they will arrive and what will they be.

My U3A craft group is now all set to start making hospital scrubs, I shall be helping if/ when I get home in mid May.

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy, stay safe and have the best day that you can.

[plaques]

Digging again then lots of soil spreading. The problem is the patch is on a slope and the veg patch was built up along one side to compensate, now it has to be returned back in line with the surrounding grass. Its turning the clock back 30 years but I haven't figured how to turn my clock back.

[Stanley]

Morning you two! Sue, I like the idea of a summer and winter bedroom! Never come across that before. Laurel cuttings sound dangerous to me, I am right am I in thinking they are poisonous? Sooner they dry and get burned the better if that is the case.
I know the problem about putting the clock back P. Mind you, one of the consequences of stopping smoking is that in physical terms I think I have shifted back between 5 and 10 years. This has surprised me, I didn't expect it.
I've just had a good productive hour in the shed. I'll post on Shed Matters when we have had a walk.This engine is like your landscaping P, if you are going to eat an elephant, do it one bite at a time. Forget how long it's taking or how hard it is, just do a bit at a time...

[PanBiker]

I received an email from my supplier CPC with an RMA number for the return of the faulty smoke detector. Packed it up and used the freepost label which is on all the delivery notes. Copy of invoice and a request for replacement. Package was less than 750g so was OK on the freepost, got a certificate of posting at the post office which was deserted when I went in half an hour ago. Plenty of folk on town and a few orderly spaced queues for the shops that are open.

My filler job on the stairs handrail pattress has hardened up but I will give it a couple more days before I put it back up. I carried the handrail out of the front door and round to the back and into the kitchen. Gave it a wash down and and a spruce up, put new screws in it's bottom mounting bracket as they were working a bit loose, slightly bigger screws and a bit longer, it's pulled up tight now.

[Sue]

Morning you two! Sue, I like the idea of a summer and winter bedroom! Never come across that before. Laurel cuttings sound dangerous to me, I am right am I in thinking they are poisonous? Sooner they dry and get burned the better if that is the case.

One bedroom, that is actually the master bedroom with the ensuite, faces south and gets very hot in there in the summer, The other faces north and is positively chilly in the winter but a nice temperature in the Summer. We have fans and portable air conditioning units for each bedroom, and even in the north facing room in the Summer. Laurels give off Hydrogen Cyanide when cut. You should not carry cuttings in the car with you or be in an enclosed space with them. You are fine if they are outside but cut leaves and stems will kill vegetation under them. Once old it is not a problem. We are not to allowed to have a garden fire, so it will all have to wait till the recycling centres reopen. ( or a sunday afternoon when no one is around)

[Sue]

Oh yes my fabric arrived today. All set for next weeks forecast wet week

[Stanley]

But no knickers?
Today I hope to be avoiding the Sparks as he gives me new lighting. Touch wood!
Part of that will be in the shed.....

[Sue]

But no knickers?
Today I hope to be avoiding the Sparks as he gives me new lighting. Touch wood!
Part of that will be in the shed.....

Yes indeed no knickers. However the parcel I was expecting to be delivered did not come, I had a delivery notification two days ago. My fabric came by ordinary mail

I slept like a log last night in the summer bedroom. I switched the light off at 11.25 pm and woke exactly 8 hours later. I haven’t done that for a bit.

It was a hot day yesterday reaching 30 degrees at lunchtime. I washed bedding, washed my fabric and it dried within half an hour of being put on the line. This means I am now all prepared for a bit of sewing should it rain next week as forecast. Whilst Bob shopped later in the afternoon, I cleared ivy from where he had cut back laurels in the rhubarb patch. This has given me a nice path to walk round the edge now.

In the morning I watched a live art session with Jeremy Ford on facebook live. He was painting a cherry tree in flower. I struggled with that two weeks ago when I did ours for my U3A art project. Next week he is doing his live workshop on Zoom, to which I am invited. My watercolour paints have gone a bit odd over the last couple of years so Jeremy has suggested I use my gouache paints instead for the zoom class. Between us we have come up with a possible solution ie squeeze them into the wells on a palette and let them dry and see if I can use them as blocks of paint instead

Bob cut the lawn yesterday and started cutting the grass in wide paths through the orchard. This leaves huge oblongs of longer grass where wild flowers and hence bees etc can thrive it looks really pretty in early May . We then usually cut it back after the seeds have formed and fallen. At the moment it is covered in tiny white flowers, wild garlic and little purple violets, as well as the usual dandelions, buttercups and daisies. Tbe blossom on the fruit trees is now over and we can already see the fruit forming.

I baked a batch of scones yesterday evening and put them in the freezer, having finished the hot cross buns I did a few weeks ago. We find them a useful snack about 5.30 or 6.00 pm if we are going to eat late after a later zoom pilates or yoga session. Some of the times in the Uk do not make for good timing here in terms of meals and exercising on a full stomach is not a good idea. Today my evening yoga is 7.30 till 8.30 p.m we would normally eat at 7.00pm. I also have pilates today at 11.00 am.

I have no other plans today but will take it as it comes. It is going to be another dry warm day. A bit more weeding perhaps of flower beds, but it is a bit difficult now as the seeds of flowering plants are coming up and at this stage it is difficult to see what is weed and what isn’t .

Just think all the gardening and sorting I have done here and it will all start again when/ if we get home in May. The garden there will just about be hitting wilderness level , and all those cupboards and drawers I promised myself I would tidy out, plus all the cut out sewing waiting to be done, and there is the DREADED YELLOW TOP to finish

So
Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy, stay safe and have as good a day as you can.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue... I like the plan for the grass in the orchard, best of both worlds I reckon. I got quite a shock when I saw the Yellow Top rear its head again. Do you have to do something with it?
I've just had a very promising session in the shed brought to an end by an unexpected event! See shed Matters!
Karl could arrive any minute, better get my skates on.