Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

It sounds as though you are enjoying yourself Sue....
I'm not looking any further than getting in the shed and doing a bit more on Margaret's engine.

[Marilyn]

I have never been very good with glue. I do not like my glue stick. I have bubbles in my work. My OCD is kicking in and my work is not perfect. I need to put it aside overnight because it is best to review it in the morning. Hubby is quite surprised I have stuck with the glue this long. He has patted me on the shoulder. I think he has gone to the pantry to see if we have Wine
My dining table looks like it is covered in Confetti....
I need someone to make sense of this for me.

[Marilyn]

The pic of the archway on the right is my inspiration. The wreck on the left is my whole afternoon’s effort...

[Sue]

Morning
Yesterday felt like Saturday, I have no idea why. Bob says I can gave Saturday again today. So as it is Saturday we shall be off to Bacup market just after 8.00 am and after our croissants and coffee on our return we shall be cleaning . Joanne didn’t come yesterday as she had a cold. It won’t take us long between us, but I shall be going carefully as I have a rare case of back twinges. I think I must have slept in an odd position during the night for rather a long time. Afterwards I shall be playing with my sewing machine.

I made progress yesterday, tackled a few basics and got to know the control panel. I was looking for all the routine commands that you do without thinking and they are easily accessible. Today I shall try the basics of buttonholes, bar tacks and a few other regularly used things when I make something to wear. I did make a couple of storage bags for the embroidery unit and accessories and had to clear a shelf in my hobbies cupboard to get it in. The unit is much bigger than the old one so will not fit in the bag I have, and I don’t want to buy a big hold all as I have no where to put it. So the canvas bag I did use will be offered /given to the person who buys my machine. Keith put a very nice advert together with my photos and information plus all the general info about the machine and and it is now on line. Fingers crossed someone is looking for one just like mine !

So today , after household tasks, will be more of the same. I doubt we will go out walking, the forecast is not good but a stroll in the fresh air would be nice

Have a good day everyone. Think positive, keep busy, stay cheerful. I see the numbers in Rochdale are below where they were a month ago. Thats good news.

[Sue]

The pic of the archway on the right is my inspiration. The wreck on the left is my whole afternoon’s effort...

That is impressive Maz

[Wendyf]

That's very good Maz!

[Stanley]

I'm afraid I haven't good news to report. I have just spent another two hours on my piston, rod and crosshead and have just found that I have made the bloody rod 1/4" too short! That's going to be the story of Shed Matters this morning. Not a disaster, easily put right but annoying!!

[Marilyn]

You are too kind. I shall keep going with my creation, because I am not a quitter...

[Marilyn]

Stanley, you are not a quitter either. Take a view in the morning. I am sure you can rectify.

[Stanley]

Oh I can Maz but I can still be annoyed!



Lovely job, the only problem is the rod is 1/4" too short! I shall make another tomorrow.....

[Tizer]

I asked her and she's busy at the moment `crocheting a reindeer'! So the junk art hasn't got started yet. Also she's making various cards and the like for people's upcoming birthdays. Her room looks like Santa's grotto!

[Sue]

I'm afraid I haven't good news to report. I have just spent another two hours on my piston, rod and crosshead and have just found that I have made the bloody rod 1/4" too short! That's going to be the story of Shed Matters this morning. Not a disaster, easily put right but annoying!!

There is a word for that Stanley, but I wouldn’t use it in public

[Sue]

I asked her and she's busy at the moment `crocheting a reindeer'! So the junk art hasn't got started yet. Also she's making various cards and the like for people's upcoming birthdays. Her room looks like Santa's grotto!

Ah did all of my cards in August, 60 Christmas cards, some thank you cards and a couple of birthday cards. I call them my LOCKDOWN SELECTION, and now I have LOCKDOWN COASTERS too. My course book has arrived for my Introduction to the Celts. It looks really good but I must finish my archaeology first. 4 chapters and assessments left. They will be my LOCKDOWN CERTIFICATES . But today will be LOCKDOWN SEWING

[chinatyke]

But today will be LOCKDOWN SEWING

Lockstitching.

[Stanley]

I shall just be looking for a piston rod that's a quarter of an inch longer..... Let's see if I can get that right!

[Marilyn]

I am still going with my junk art...mall/grotto.
Some elements are not committed or stuck down yet, and I am working on the external “stonework”. This was state of play as I closed it off to cook dinner. ( I know...it is tragic...but as you do the first one you learn a lot of things)
It is kind of addictive...
I shall finish this, but it will never see the light of day afterwards.

[Sue]

Morning

Busy day yesterday, after the market we cleaned. Bob shampooed the carpets. I know it's not a good time to do it , but as I exercise on a mat on the floor I commented that the carpet didn’t smell very nice. Its only a couple of months since they were done, but they certainly smelt fresher afterwards. We don’t have many carpets in the house, so Bob managed to do them all. They had more or less dried by the evening . Still in cleaning mode I decided to wash all the dusters and cleaning cloths, then I ironed, this left me with a clear conscience to spend the rest of the day studying my machine. I have now been through all the control switches and stitched in the sewing section and started on tbe embroidery. I shall put the embroidery unit on today, and have a play with that.

Otherwise today is yoga this morning. No doubt other activities will arise throughout the day.

Have a good day everyone, stay cheerful, keep positive and busy

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, I have just had an hour in the shed and we now have a piston rod that's the right length. I'm ready now for the valve and rod, the pads for the exhaust and steam pipes and the drain cocks. Very close to a finished assembly!

[Sue]

Thats better news than yesterday Stanley.

I have just been setting up the days entertain ent ie clean out and top up the bird feeders. I have moved one bird feeder to a place the squirrel can’t reach, we will see, and put coffee ground round the tray with nuts and special dried worm thingies ( give me the creeps!) I have been told squirrels don’t like coffee. We shall see the chilli never deterred them

[Tizer]

Maz, your junk art mall/grotto looks really good, especially for a first attempt. It also reminded me of those 3D models of rooms or streets that people make in between books on a bookcase. BBC and Japan

[Marilyn]

Yes, those things are very clever and I think they would take a lot of patience.
I finished my junk art. I showed hubby, who said it was aptly named and he wouldn’t pay a cent for it.
Then I had to clean up all my mess...

[Stanley]

It is Sue, I think I must be getting old! I think I'll have a look at the valve today but I know that as soon as I take the lid off the steam chest I will want to put the pad on it for the steam pipe and that will lead on to the exhaust port. If I do those two I can put the 7BA tap away for a while. We shall see which wins!

[Wendyf]

Yes, those things are very clever and I think they would take a lot of patience.
I finished my junk art. I showed hubby, who said it was aptly named and he wouldn’t pay a cent for it.
Then I had to clean up all my mess...

I think it's brilliant Maz! Is that all from one magazine?

[Marilyn]

Mostly from a Dolls and Bears magazine that I must of had over 20 years! Then I found an old Quilting magazine, that was in bits and without a cover, I must have kept it for something, but that is in the bin now. I also used the local phone book, which we never ever use for any useful purpose. That’s about it. Made a hell of a lot of Confetti!
I found I had to stand and bend forward to do most of the positioning and sticking. This is not my favourite stance, as it tends to aggravate Sciatica. So I had to constantly take a break and walk about. It would have been more comfortable to sit and have a slanted desk. Not that I will take this up as a permanent hobby! ( but I would say give it a go. It is fun, and it does teach you a lot about perspective and colour.)

[Sue]

Morning

I think it is good too, Maz, I wouldn't no where to start..

Well my news of the day is I sold my sewing machine. I had a phone call about 5.00 pm, to ask if the machine was still for sale. I explained it had only been advertised for 24 hours so yes it was . It was a man phoning on behalf of his wife who had just gone out with her daughter. She would phone back with any questions. After a couple of hours, she did phone back and a sale was agreed at just £50 less than my asking price. We have arranged a bank transfer and as they live in Cheshire we shall meet half way at a service area later this week. I am more than delighted. I can now start planning on my cabinet replacement. I have found the bigger version of mind in Keiths shop, its just wether I can get it into the space available

The rest of the day was pretty good too. We managed a very local walk, barely 3.5 miles , but took a path we had never taken before. It was very muddy indeed, but we found the standing stone circle we had heard about but in all our 47 years of living here, we had never seen it. I also did a little bit of trial embroidery on my machine. I now feel ‘ready to go’ to make something. I shall start be making a couple of the coasters I have just finished to see how they turn out. The embroidery part, was easier to use, quiet and fast. Just what I wanted.

I contacted our neighbour Laetitia in France, to check the house was ok. They had been round earlier this week, and lit a fire and aired the place a little. I asked if she had eaten the meat out of the freezer as I had suggested. She she hadn’t as she didn’t know what to take. Bob and I said to her to just eat anything they wanted as it all really needs to be cleared out. Its the least we can do, they have been so good looking after things for us. They are a family with 4 hungry teenagers/children and life has treated them badly over the years. Laetitia is the only one who works and employment has been intermittent this year because of the virus. We usually try and eat most of it by our November visit so we would prefer it to be eaten anyway as it is likely to be at least March if not later when we get there I said to take some round to our old friend Roland as well.

Today is pilates at 10.30, otherwise nothing planned. The day looks promising so we may get a walk in. We shall probably go earlier than yesterday, as it was getting chilly on our 3.30 return, and the sun was going down. Otherwise I may be doing a sewing room re- arrangement!

Hava a good day, keep busy, smile lots, stay positive.