Today I shall be Mainly...

[PanBiker]

Ahhh, the shuffle dancers.

Hooked on Swing

Sally and I used to do this on a regular basis until my right leg went awol. Not quite up to some of the standards shown in the video but always with enthusiasm and in keeping with the fashion, (we did take lessons, beginners, intermediate and advanced). We used to go to the big swing dances at the 40's weekends. Swing Cats Ball at Stockport Town Hall was a good one.

[Sue]

I always wanted to do that Ian, such fun and energy. My pilates teacher does a lot of cha cha and salsa movements to the dances we do. It loses me as it is 50 years since I learnt cha cha. I do seem to bump into my lounge furniture a lot and the chimney breast gets in the way with progressive movements. Going the other way I have to leave the lounge door open and disappear into the dining room. We do slower stuff too which she uses for stretching movements. Its actually great fun. Her 8 year old and 12 year old do it with her, a bit like a backing group. They are very good. They are designing a dance for us for next week. That could be DIFFERENT, a bit more like the girl in the video!

[Stanley]

The Green this morning and it's full sun now.



The cylinder this morning, growing nicely!

[Stanley]

Same old and I am loving it!
Later, at 06:00. Off into the shed and then some light essential shopping at the Co-op when it is quiet. I might vacuum at some point later!

[Sue]

Morning
Another sunny one as yesterday turned out to be in the end. After my dance exercise and a cuppa I put the washing out for it to be rained on minutes later. I decided to leave it, it was wet, why should I be I thought. Anyway a couple of hours later it was all dry. It continued in that manner for a few hours slowly brightening for longer periods so after looking at the forecast we planned a walk for about 4.15 pm , which turned out to be very pleasant indeed. The footpaths in places were large muddy puddles but we tried to stick to well surfaced paths rather than through grassy areas.

So my afternoon in general had to be filled with other things, feeling virtuous I cleaned the top of the dresser in the kitchen and felt myself to be a very clean housewife when I discovered little dust despite it being many months since i ventured up there. The same with the Toby jugs the day before. I also cleaned out the bathroom cabinets which was more a case of throwing away the odd tube of lotions and potions out of date or finished. Cleaning and clear out done for the day and very little obvious change in the appearance except a little tidier. There are only the two of us, no pets these days and we spend a lot of time in the conservatory or our own hobbies rooms/workshop so things do stay relatively clean and tidy. Of course my hobby spreads shards of thread everywhere, but that is easily hoovered up.

In the absence of any fabric I enrolled on an online diploma in genealogy as an alternative occupation to the usual ones . There are a lot of online courses going cheap at the moment this is one of them. I think the first few assignments can be done without my studying any of the course material but then it gets more interesting. It kept me busy for two to three hours yesterday with the laptop on my knee, and the sun slowly streaming in to the conservatory.

Today is Bacup market then back for fresh croissants and coffee. We shall then set to with our joint effort of cleaning ( then or this afternoon) . Claire, Adam and Erin are coming over at lunchtime. We shall ´picnic’ in the garden informally on pizza and have a natter. We don’t get a lot of opportunity to get together so its nice when we do. A walk may feature in the day, we shall see.

Have a good day everyone

[Stanley]

"In the absence of any fabric I enrolled on an online diploma in genealogy as an alternative occupation to the usual ones "
Good grief woman! Is there no end to the range of your activities? Consider having a sleep instead....
I've started the day with a hot wash of my kitchen towels, cloths and knickers. (Cleanliness is next to Godliness.)



Lots of thought about how to accurately transfer the hole pattern on the bottom of the Cylinder accurately on to the square base of the cylinder of the engine. I think I have a method. We'll see later this morning!

[Sue]

Morning

Stanley I sleep 8 hours a night solid, In bed at 11, read for about 20 minutes and fall asleep on my book about 11. 20. I usually wake about 7.15, raring to go (well ready for a morning cuppa) .

Yesterday was a good day, shopping and cleaning all done by 11.30 when Claire and family arrived. Erin was on good form, chatting away. The last couple of visits she has hardly spoken to me. We had informal dining of pizzas and french patisseries. Erin painted and played in the garden we chatted. They left about 2.00 so Bob and I did some gardening, weeding, dead heading, moving plants, and planting plants I bought on the market. By 5.00 it was looking much better. Bob also assembled some guttering around the shed ready for another water butt, which he later ordered online. We had a light tea of salmon which Bob smoked with his smoker from Lakeland, and we rounded off the day with a really good online Wine appreciation session with the U3A. My sister was our guest as she gave us a talk on merlot wines.

Today is yoga, then I shall have a long leisurely bath, and give myself a pedicure and manicure, then do the ironing. In the afternoon our friends from the other side of Rochdale are popping round for an afternoon of fizz and chat in the garden. Is that a quiet enough day for you Stanley. Tomorrow is an exciting day. I shall have my hair cut. Can’t wait!

Still no fabric!

Have a good day

[Stanley]

You are an example to us all!



Here's the result of this morning's hour in the shed. See Shed Matters for the pitfalls. Glad I managed to avoid the mistakes....

[PanBiker]

Today we will mainly be going for a walk for Dan. No longer with us of course but today would have been his 40th birthday. Can't hug our other two kids or the grandchildren but they will be coming on our walk this afternoon. We will go round by Gill and do a tidy around his marker stone there, then over the fields onto the canal and stop at the Lock Stop for a brew and a bit of cake. It was a much better day than this 40 years ago and I will be humming the Floral Dance in my head as he came into the world to that tune conveniently played by Keighley Brass Band outside the delivery room window.

[Stanley]

Nice memory even tough it's so painful Ian.
I shall be having a less stressful interlude in the shed than yesterday.

[Sue]

Morning
A good day yesterday. Nice weather good friends and company. The day flew by. Today is mainly rain

This morning is the hairdressers. Due to the time of the appointment I will not do pilates, and it will mean a late lunch. I have no other plans but continuing with a bit of annual tidying/Spring cleaning, I may tidy a couple of drawers or my hobbies cupboard. I have rather a lot of sewing and knitting patterns that could do with a sort through. We shall see. There is always work to do on my patchwork and genealogy diploma.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Light rain came in here at 06:00.
I am having a breather before taking Jack out, breakfast and posting shed matters. I have had a far less stressful two hours in the shed, everything went well and no mistakes! I shall return...



I've had a good morning. The cylinder is ready for preparing to make the piston and rod. Come to think that's wrong, next I need to Address the steam chest and lid!

[plaques]

There is always work to do on my patchwork and genealogy diploma.

. Does the diploma take into account the possibilities of spelling a name several different ways. Some of the old parish records would spell a name almost phonetically but using the local dialect. Then if the name included a prefix Mc, Mac, or Ma you finished up with a hybrid name that was nothing like the original.

[Sue]

There is always work to do on my patchwork and genealogy diploma.

. Does the diploma take into account the possibilities of spelling a name several different ways. Some of the old parish records would spell a name almost phonetically but using the local dialect. Then if the name included a prefix Mc, Mac, or Ma you finished up with a hybrid name that was nothing like the original.

Yes it does. In fact that is one of the first issues addresses and asked in the first assessment

[Stanley]

Clearing up after Jack, he had a grass eating session yesterday.....

[Sue]

Morning

The sun is shining at the moment but it won’t last. Showers are forecast but should be less than yesterday when it rained quite heavily for much of the day. I could have forecast that, it always rains when I have my hair done at the hairdressers. That went smoothly and my hairdresser is to complimented on the smooth running and set up of his salon.

With a normal lighter weight hairstyle restored I faced the rest of the day. It was nearly two before we had lunch due to the time of the appointment . I spent all the afternoon clearing and dusting my shelves of our joint hobbies cupboards in the study, where I keep my sewing and knitting patterns, sewing machines and parts for my knitting machines. I threw away all my knitting machine patterns as they were definitely 1990s styles and many hand knitting patterns. I sorted out all my young children's patterns to give to my friend in France. I also threw away a lot of dated sewing patterns but was amazed how many I kept. In the evening I did a different pilates class to substitute for the one I missed.

Today I have a dental appointment to have my dodgy tooth x rayed and to discuss the necessary treatment. Nothing else planned, I cannot think beyond DENTIST . We may walk later if the showers are very light and far between. Pilates and yoga this evening

Have a good day

[Wendyf]

We are creatures of habit! Every morning I get up between 6.30 and 6.45am, feed cats & dog, take a cuppa up to Col then sit down to eat my breakfast while reading through Stanley's early morning posts on One Guy. While Col is cooking and eating his breakfast I get dressed then go outside to open up the hen & duck houses with a quick check on the poly tunnel. When I come back inside to wait for Col to ready himself for our morning dog walk around the fields Sue has posted her daily update. It runs like clockwork!

[Stanley]

I love my routines as well, you can set your watch by what I am doing. Love the thought of you reading my early morning posts Wendy, I hope I am keeping up to your standards!



Knocking off time this morning after a good two hours of honest endeavour. Very pleased with it, no mistakes and perhaps the most accurate cylinder I have ever made. Nice morning but my legs are tired! No doubt about it, shed time is light exercise.

[Marilyn]

Routines...hubby brings ME coffee in bed...( coffee is always delivered by hubby wearing only underpants no matter what the weather!)we may wake at 0.630 - 7.00 am ( earlier of late as the birds chirp much earlier as the light changes) I drink my coffee/check emails/check messages/check OG/check June’s Journey/check BBC news ( and lately, Covid stats) on the iPad, while he watches news on TV ..until he bounces out for his shower. I make the bed. He puts my bath on. By the time I am out of the bath, he is already upstairs, working, on the computer. Same thing seven days a week.

[Marilyn]

Of course, the first thing I do, before anything, is pull up the blind and see how the day is. Have to get that first eyeball on the weather! Can’t function until we have seen the dawn clear! We have to watch the dawn through frost on the windows at present...but we are noticing the changes in the light as we transition through Winter.

[Sue]

Dentist was fine . We have a new dentist, lovely young Asian lady. Definitely the ‘new’ school of dentists. Very chatty, very reassuring, showed me the xray, discussed everything clearly. The outcome is still a bit blurred. There is no infection, there may be a crack in the root, but it wasn’t very clear on the xray. It needs another in a different position, but she will wait. She says it sounds more like a pressure problem, like clenching my teeth or grinding them. i explained the circumstances of the original flare up and she thought it could well have been stressed induced. There were signs of possible tooth grinding often associated with stress. She said she would check it again when we have our check up in three weeks and to try not to think about it. She said its so easy to aggravate teeth by thinking about it! Anyway could clear up or flare up occasionally, or be a root filling or crown or extraction . At the moment there is no need to do anything. Just continue with the self treatment I have been applying and we will watch carefully. To go straight back of I need to.


Yes creatures of habit, wake about 7.00 Bob looks at the weather outside then goes and empties the dishwasher and makes a cup of tea. I get the iPads, check the weather forecast emails etc and do my daily update whilst we drink tea. Bob gets up has a shower, I get up, make the bed, sort the washing if there is any, load the washer. I then have my shower whilst Bob puts the breakfast out, followed by me checking the greenhouse, watering plants, picking ripe strawberries and courgettes. I start the washer and have breakfast. Followed by a leisurely coffee sat in the conservatory. By then its 9.30 am . I had to be out prompt this morning to be at the dentist for 10.00.

[plaques]

She says it sounds more like a pressure problem, like clenching my teeth or grinding them.

You could have the high spots ground down and glued over to set it a bit lower than the others that will avoid teeth grinding Grrrrr.

[Sue]

Some high spots were ground down last time. I have to really clench my teeth to get a connection between top and bottom jaw. The tooth affected has a private filling which is harder than NHS fillings. It was that or a crown which was more expensive. Its a big filling that did need filing down . Last dentist was awful though, technically good but hardly spoke to me, never explained anything, never inspired me with confidence (definitely wore a toupee.) Chatted to Bob, just think he was uncomfortable with women. He was S African and has gone back home to look after his Mum who he was worried about. Anyway new one seems fine, we will see how it goes. Neither Bob nor I am aware I grind my teeth, so perhaps it is something I used to do but now don’t

[Stanley]

Funny thing teeth grinding. My sister Dorothy used to do it when she was asleep. Don't think I ever did it. Hope ypou find the solution to it Sue.
Today I shall be in the shed. The Design Committee have been active and I think we have a plan for doing a better job of drilling the deep holes for the steam chest and lid fitting than last time!

[Sue]

Morning

Another damp one, its described as light showers which could mean anything in Rochdale, from disappearing into cloud , or a constant drizzle. Not an exciting prospect with more indoor occupations to be sort. I may redo my art project for my two art classes. I did have an attempt last week but was unhappy with the end result. The project is a botanical painting of a flower, but I got the position of the centre all wrong.

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Yesterday after the dentist, I did some patchwork in the morning and in the afternoon we did another section of the walk along the old railway route to Rawtenstall. A 16.5km ( it may be less route) has been paved with a sort of compressed rubber, probably old tyres to make a surface suitable for wheelchairs, bikes etc. Its called the VALLEY OF STONE and goes all the way from Healey Dell, through to Bacup and on to Rawtenstall. It isn’t complete in the middle yet. A series of old lanes, tracks, bridle ways and the old railway route have been connected. We have walked it in stages, catching the bus to it at various points and walking a 5 mile section but decided not to use public transport for yesterdays bit. We drove to Waterfoot, parked up a lane and then walked backwards to our last finishing point in Stacksteads. This section goes through old railway tunnels that, again , have been paved, but also now contain strategically placed street lights. It was a short section to where we finished last time so we cut up the hill towards the back of Rooley Moor and looped back to the car. In the absence of a map we just followed our noses and discovered a maze of interesting tracks to walk another time. It was barely 3.5 miles in total but interesting and different with great views and beches to sot on to admire the view. We have still to identify the route of the last section of the walk to Rawtenstall. I don’t think it is as clearly marked yet.

So with a day of art and patchwork planned, I think thats it. Pilates is late, about 8.00 pm. I just do these classes as a normal part of my day now. There is no doubt I have benefitted and find that some of the exercises I used to struggle with are now relatively easy. There are some however I can’t do and realise I never will as a result of my slipped disc and spinal op. I just sit those out, or to be honest lie down not sit.

Have a good day everyone.