Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Morning

Kev, no he didn’t look like your friend, just a coincidence then

Yesterday was a lovely day, and beautiful up on Blackstone Edge. Its such wild countryside, punctuated with paths and reservoirs.I couldn’t help but think about those packhorse trains up there in times gone by. The path we wanted to take turned out to be much further than intended so we decided to save it for another day. Instead we followed our noses and just enjoyed the moment, eating our sandwich sat on the shore of one of the reservoirs. It was breezy up there but not cold. There were a number of walkers or at least a number of cars parked as it is part of the Penine way but we saw few people. We chatted to one couple who passed us twice and that was it. Back home in the garden we sat in the sun and had a beer.

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In the morning our little Irish man arrived selling manure. Not only does he deliver but he also spreads it for you. It was well rotted and quite dry this year so no stinky poos. After our beer I spent some time trowelling it in but didn’t want to disturb it too much till my plants grow through it. I am a bit wary of damaging tender shoots. He was rather late this year but at least has arrived before I start planting out my veggies which won’t be for another couple of weeks.

Today we are meeting Wendy and Keith in Todmorden at the pub we go to. Forecast is for about 18 degrees ( so about 15 up in the hills there) . It will be our first meal out and our first trip up there since the start of lockdown number 2 in November . We feel secure in the knowledge that everything will be done right and numbers are now lower than in September when we were eating out regularly. In Rochdale the numbers are as low as they were in July and are dropping by as much as 40% almost daily. ( about 36 per 100 000 now) I don’t suppose it will last now there is increased mobility , so we shall continue to take care. Our meal is 12.30 and we have to vacate the table by 2.30 . We wouldn’t normally go out on a Saturday lunchtime but Wendy and Keith couldn't manage any other day or us, for various reasons. In our case door changes and waiting for delivery of keys and new locks for the old doors. All now delivered and changed. House security is now re-established.

Have a good day, enjoy the weather, its due to be colder next week again.

[Stanley]

"its due to be colder next week again" But not much Sue, nothing to frighten the horses. A Full moon on Monday....
I haven't been in the shed, I had a walk instead. Clouded and not sunny yet and so quite cool but the wind is very light so not cold and no frost.
I've had breakfast and now I think we need second sleep..... I love getting up early and then having the luxury of going back to bed....

[Sue]

"its due to be colder next week again" But not much Sue, nothing to frighten the horses. A Full moon on Monday....
I haven't been in the shed, I had a walk instead. Clouded and not sunny yet and so quite cool but the wind is very light so not cold and no frost.
I've had breakfast and now I think we need second sleep..... I love getting up early and then having the luxury of going back to bed....

Dropping to 10 degrees here next week Stanley according to Greater Manchester weather.

[Tizer]

When you talk about “pungent” herbs, Tiz...is Rosemary among them?

Probably, Maz, but I've never eaten much rosemary. Coriander is off limits, as are the herbs and spices on the list in Sue's web link. I don't claim to be allergic to any of them, no anaphylactic concerns. It's all down to intolerance by my gut. Tiny amounts would be tolerable but nobody uses tiny amounts of herbs and spices these days! One thing I have learnt by having to avoid them is that if you buy high quality foods they will taste good without spices and herbs. Most people, especially the younger ones, wouldn't know what good food can taste like by itself!

[Marilyn]

I am with you Tiz...the volatile herbs are oil based. ( I can handle Parsley etc)
If you have ever been sat on the loo, thinking you are dying, at 3am....I totally understand where you are coming from.

[Marilyn]

Far out! Did you know that your image appears upside down in a spoon if you hold the bowl of the spoon toward you ( and no matter which way up because I checked). If you hold the bulbous side toward you, all is ok.
I am 61 years old and never knew that. Where have I been all my life.
I love discovering stuff like that.

[Sue]

Far out! Did you know that your image appears upside down in a spoon if you hold the bowl of the spoon toward you ( and no matter which way up because I checked). If you hold the bulbous side toward you, all is ok.
I am 61 years old and never knew that. Where have I been all my life.
I love discovering stuff like that.

Concave and convex images or something I seem to recall. The retina of the eye is a concave surface. The image received is upside down, the brain converts it to the right way up

[Stanley]

That's why my bad retina distorts, it's got wrinkles in it and so isn't perfectly concave.....
We're promised 12C Sue by the met office. I shall be having a walk again instead of shed. The nearest I got to engineering yesterday was to pick the wobbler up and admire it. It's useless but a nice piece of work!
I have a load of washing on the go and need to cook veggies today.... That plus second sleep and reading will keep me occupied.

[Sue]

Morning

Cooler today, not much sun and cloud at the moment. Today my eldest granddaughter, Eve is 12. I cannot believe it. She has grown up to be a beautiful, able young lady. We shall be speaking later this morning after present opening I think. My plans for the day are bed changing and ironing . Bob is going down to the model engineers at the park to take the boiler pressure testing equipment that has spent the winter and lockdown in our garage. I should imagine he will be there for some time, but we may walk later.

We had a lovely lunch out. It was warm even on the tops above Todmorden. We were impressed with the organisation, very covid secure. The assistant manager whom we have become very friendly with was saying how good it was to be back, but, although it had been a difficult time he had been able to spend 5 months with his new son, born just a few days before they closed last November. Every cloud has a silver lining. We spent the rest of the day in the garden. I bought a replacement tomato plant on the market and planted that in the greenhouse. I generally pottered and sat. At 4.30 I had a whats app meeting with Briony and she asked if I could do some art every week in our chats like Eve and i do cooking. It was successful and we chatted for nearly an hour.

Later whilst sitting in the evening I had a long chat with our neighbour in France. It certainly keeps me on my toes with french writing backwards and forwards, as I have to translate some very colloquial stuff. She was telling me that The empty house (Roland’s house ) has been sold and we have a new family in the hamlet. In 6 houses there are now 12 children . It should be lovely and lively. It seems Roland must have won his legal battle against his family who tried to block the sale by saying he was not of sound mind (which he certainly was and still is ) . Laetitia pops over to see him every now and again. He is now 91, we miss our chats with him, and the rest of our neighbours and friends there. Laetitia says they are going to plant our veggie patch with potatoes and beetroot and things that will look after themselves so that should we get there later in the year we will have veggies. There seems to be no end to their kindness.

The sun has come out and shining into my eyes as I write. I think we are forecast 14 -15 degrees. Have a good day everyone

[Stanley]

It's brightening up a bit here as well Sue but no actual sun yet. I had an early walk and it was very close to a frost.
Tell Bob that if he wants the brand new Vulcan test pump I have in its own box for the club he's welcome to it.



Brand new and unused!

As for me this morning, as I say I have had a walk, done a load of washing and cooked my veggies for the week. Now I'm having a steak mince pudding and veggies for breakfast and thinking about bed with Broadcasting House. It's a lousy job but someone has to do it.

[Marilyn]

Funny thing is, I had to reach for sleeves this afternoon for the first time in 7 months. That meant a trip upstairs to a wardrobe where I put my Winter clothes. I pulled out the thinnest thing with sleeves I could find, shoved it on...and when I came back downstairs hubby said “ I have always liked that top”. yes...ok...I have had it a while, but it is perfect for in-between weather. Not a winter top, but has the necessary long sleeves.

[Sue]

Funny thing is, I had to reach for sleeves this afternoon for the first time in 7 months. That meant a trip upstairs to a wardrobe where I put my Winter clothes. I pulled out the thinnest thing with sleeves I could find, shoved it on...and when I came back downstairs hubby said “ I have always liked that top”. yes...ok...I have had it a while, but it is perfect for in-between weather. Not a winter top, but has the necessary long sleeves.

I know that feeling Maz. The last three days I have been in short sleeved T shirt , today I am back in a long sleeved cotton shirt , but its early days, still only April . I look forward to getting out a whole change of clothes, winter seems to have been very long this year

[Sue]

Tell Bob that if he wants the brand new Vulcan test pump I have in its own box for the club he's welcome to it.



Brand new and unused!

Bob says yes please. We will try and get over sometime but it will probably be a couple of weeks . Busy week this week, and the next week we are away for a bit of a celebration break

[Sue]

Just done a covid antibody test for uk biobank research. Very strong positive which is good news 10 days after the second dose

[Stanley]

Understood about the goodies Sue.
Not sure what I'll be doing today. I know what I should be doing, vacuuming! But I have to be in the mood for housework.....

[Sue]

Morning

I too have to be in the mood for housework, Stanley, yet I love a good clean through and can really get stuck in, but with weather like this outside calls, and if you are outside inside does not need much tidying.

Its another sunny morning, with temperatures forecast at 3 degrees higher than yesterday at 15. Our back garden has a very sunny aspect and was certainly warmer than 12 yesterday. After my washing and ironing etc i enjoyed the tranquility . Bob was out most of the afternoon so I sat, pottered, sat in rotation. I am not a sitter so every time I sat down my eye discovered another little task to do .

I hoed in a lot of the manure we had delivered, pruned the excessive long branches off the apple tree now I can see where the flowers will be when they open, planted my runner bean seeds in the greenhouse, repotted my miniature pepper plants which are now growing again and positioned my large pots of geraniums in the garden. The latter I keep actively growing in the conservatory over winter giving them a severe cutback on New Years Day. I start feeding them in February so they are good strong plants by now. I usually put them outside as we go to France early May. Of course we won’t be going there this year but I wanted them outside before our week away next week so no one has to come in the house to water them. Last week I put them outside daily, this week they have been out overnight. So far so good. I don’t think the mild frost we are expecting on Thursday will do them much harm due to their size and hardiness. They are not delicate little bedding plants.

Today is pilates this morning. Our hairdresser friend who we are bubbled with is cutting Bobs hair this afternoon and if it is still nice we will probably sit in the garden over a cup of tea and chat. I think it is time I did another chapter and assessment of my embroidery course too, so may look at that when she has gone. Unfortunately my laptop no longer holds its charge so I will not be able to use it outside. The weather is on a downhill after today so that will send me back to indoor activities, although we have a busy few days planned.

Have a good day everyone, enjoy the weather while it lasts

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. We have sun and a light frost. I am not in the shed again this morning so I've been for a short walk and it's nice out there but as I say, still cool but calm. You're right, the forecast is for some more unsettled weather but we are almost into May! I think we can say we have wintered.

[Sue]

I think we can say we have wintered.

I go off our cherry tree.

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[Stanley]

Not sure about today, I have a lot on my mind. I might just be sitting and thinking.....

[Sue]

Morning

That sounds ominous Staley, hope all is well.

Its a cloudy dull start to what will be a cool damp day. I have a pedicure this morning and nothing else planned. At 5.15 I have pilates followed by yoga, so I have the afternoon to fill. I may put my mind to sorting some packing for next week, or I may do some sewing or my embroidery course. I shall see what I feel like doing later. Things crop up too.

Have a good day

[Sue]

There you go, just remembered I have plans to clean the fridge right out and the man is coming to fit the missing panel under the window at the side of the new door. The latter will not really affect me and my activities, we just need to be here

[Stanley]

"Things crop up too. " (Just seen your post when I was writing....)
That about sums it up Sue and some things are worse than others. At the moment we're under a big shadow waiting to see if we have a problem.
As for the day, I have done some cooking and tidying up and been for a short walk. We have the broken cloud that was promised and at the moment just the odd spit and spot of rain.
On with the day... With fingers firmly crossed.

[Stanley]

The Stuart engine arrived yesterday so I shall be having a look at the rabbit in the shed. Apart from that, looking after myself and watching and waiting for news from inside the family. I'll be glad when this week is over.....

[Sue]

Morning

Its a cool breezy morning. The forecast is sun and cloud . I have a pilates friend popping over this afternoon for a cuppa in the garden, I think we shall have to wrap up warm. I have been growing some herbs for her but they are so big in their pots now I thought it was best she now had them to plant and this afternoon is her only free time because of work. She works at a local pet shop which I gather has been quite busy throughout the lockdowns and restrictions. Its funny who you hit it off with. We used to lie on adjacent mats and would have many a long giggle together. Over time it transpired that she is the goddaughter of one of my ex work colleagues ( and good friend) the daughter of someone who I was friends with years ago in french conversation evening classes and a school friend of my eldest daughter. She also used to sit next to my son in law in chemistry classes at high school ( but not the high school my two went to ) .

I finally managed to get in touch with the dealer who , way back in January, had promised to buy all my knitting machines and accessories from me for £400. The money was going towards my new sewing machine. Anyway yesterday I spoke to him on the phone and regrettably he has had to give back-word. His business has considerably reduced due to covid and he has had to downsize and stop buying anymore machines for the time being. Later I found a site on facebook that is for buying and selling knitting machines and within an hour of registering I sold everything for £50 more than the dealer was giving me. Its all worth about £1400 if you sell it one item at a time but I have neither the time nor the inclination and am just happy to see it all go. I last used them about two years ago to make a baby blanket for a friend. So this mornings task is to get everything sorted and put on the dining room table. That way the items can be viewed and removed easily from the house with minimum access to the house by the buyers. I have asked them to wear masks. I am very pleased with my sale. Having scanned eBay and gumtree there are hundreds for sale and only a few with bids on. As they are coming this evening I will not be doing pilates.

So a busy morning and a social afternoon , have a good day all. I hope your family issue gets sorted positively Stanley.

[Stanley]

That sounds like a good deal all round Sue.
As for my morning..... Not what I expected at all. I realised last night that I needed to talk to check my funeral arrangements. Don't jump to conclusions, I am in rude health! Problem is I can't find any of the paperwork and I have been searching my files for over two hours. However, I know who they are and so I shall ring them this morning and ask them to send me a confirmation for my files. So the engine parts lie there neglected....
Funny the things that crop up isn't it.