Today I shall be Mainly...

[chinatyke]

There was a wet oily patch where the car was parked in France and try as we might we can think what else it could be.

Sue, did you use the car air-con a lot in France? Could the wet-patch be condensation from the air-con unit mixed with a bit of oil from the exterior of whatever it runs over?

[Stanley]

Two doors down at no. 14 Sue. I've had an hour and a half in the shed and am going to post on Shed Matters... I'll be back!

[Sue]

There was a wet oily patch where the car was parked in France and try as we might we can think what else it could be.

Sue, did you use the car air-con a lot in France? Could the wet-patch be condensation from the air-con unit mixed with a bit of oil from the exterior of whatever it runs over?

No we hardly went out and we don’t use air con on short distances it dries the air too much and It affects my voice ( may be a good thing). We actually had the roof down most times we went out. However I will mention it to Bob

[Stanley]

Solid progress today on the steam valve. Tomorrow I shall make the gland and the clevis. Fiddly work but a good hour and a half.

[Stanley]

In the shed for more work on the steam chest and valve. That couple of hours in the shed is so good for me. It was pointed out to me the other day that I am not supposed to be capable of what I do in there 'at my age'. That's the whole point, if you want to keep it, use it!
Good weather forecast so bookie watch is safe. Tomorrow Susan and I go to Clitheroe and I shall do my early doors shop as well so less shed.

[Sue]

Morning

Nice day yesterday, and it looks promising for today. We went for a 4 mile walk in the morning and even though it was one of our regular routes it was very enjoyable as it must be a month since we did it. A trip to the hairdressers in the afternoon trained my wild hair which had grown furiously over the last month. The trip also completed its transformation to a nice natural grey colour. Its a bit darker than I wanted but should fade to the lighter colour of my own hair after a few washes.In the afternoon I picked some of my tomatoes which this year I am very pleased with and I sat and did some of the piece of hand embroidery needed to complete my embroidery course.

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This morning I have pilates, again a pre recorded you tube session. Once I have started I quite forget it isn’t live, though I find it more intense as there is no chatter between us all. A nice thing about it is that I can time the class to suit myself. This afternoon our friend Kath is popping round for a cuppa and a natter, now we have had our DAY 2 test result back, which as expected was negative. No doubt she will tell me about the first Monday art class which had a full attendance apart from me. We met one of them, Lyn, walking her dog in the churchyard yesterday. She said it was good to be back. Over the last few months the community rooms have had an overhaul, it will be interesting to hear what they are like as Bob and I have observed the transformations from the outside on our walks.

This evening I have a zoom chat with my university friends Jean and Sue. Hopefully we will be able to arrange a live meeting soon.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

You're just like clockwork Sue. That sounds like a slightly less frenetic day than those you had in France! Glad your second tests came back OK. I've had an hour and a half of fiddly work but have made headway. I'll post a pic later when I have posted on Shed Matters.



I'm making progress on the valve and steam chest. Lots of finishing to do yet but solid progress and no mistakes, always makes for a nice hour and a half in the shed....

[PanBiker]

Continuing to bring down camping equipment. I am making a new check list for the gear as I check through the kit.

[Stanley]

Ditching the shed as I overslept two hours. Going to Clitheroe with Susan later this morning for a set-off!

[Sue]

Morning

Its a bit cloudy this morning. I have a pre recorded dance exercise class this morning, then its shower, change and we are out to lunch with Wendy and Keith. We will probably spend most of the afternoon chatting as we haven’t seen each other for several weeks. That will be my day, not very eventful but I probably need it as I had rather a bad nights sleep. No reason I just did. I slept for about 30 minutes then awake for a couple of hours on and off. I tried reading several times but it didn’t work.

Enjoy your day out in Clitheroe Stanley

[Stanley]

I will Sue thanks. A cloudy day is better than blazing sunshine for walking round! I had exactly the opposite sleep pattern to yours, I slept for almost 9 hours. Could be an age thing I suppose......
I've not been in the shed but I have done my early doors shopping and made my breakfast. I shall get second sleep in before I scrub up for Clitheroe!

[Stanley]

Susan and I had a nice visit to Clitheroe, so nice we are going again next week.
Today I slept in again! But I hope to be in the shed dealing with the lousy bronze casting for the eccentric rod. I shall be sending Stuarts a complaint about it.
Going to be a warm day so bookie watch is on!

[Sue]

Morning

I had a good 8 hours solid sleep last night, making up for what I missed the night before. I feel recovered. This morning is Bacup market , but other than that nothing is planned. It promises to be a nicer day than yesterday. It was rather chilly on the tops at Todmorden. It was nice to see Wendy and Keith, we had a good lunch and a long chat. The pub was the busiest I have seen it for a long time and there were noticeably new staff . Hopefully things are looking up for them.

I treated myself to an electric ice cream maker with my £100 hospice lottery win. I felt that if I did not treat myself to something the £100 would simply get consumed in daily living . I have an ice cream maker that I use a lot in france but this is a different style where the bowl you make it in does not have to be cooled in the freezer as I have no space in my small freezer here. When we had a new kitchen a few years ago we opted for a smaller freezer and bigger fridge as we no longer need a family size freezer here but we do the need the extra fridge capacity when they visit, hence taking my ice cream maker to France . Any way, today we are going to try it out, then we have to work out where we will keep it when not in use ! So that is our excitement of the day. I am not keen on bought ice cream generally as I find it too sweet but home made is different . I have been quite adventurous in the past

Have a good day

[Stanley]

Well, you'll be able to eat the results of your labour. I can't do that! I have had almost two hours in the shed with the latest lousy casting.



Things could be worse, I have an eccentric rod ready for boring when I have made the eccentric. No mistakes and it all fits. Things could be worse but it didn't have to be like this.

[Stanley]

I think I shall be discovering further deficiencies in the kit for the Number Eight. I shall be making pedestal bearings this morning and have an idea they are not cast but just a piece of bronze square stock. I shall have a furtle in my treasure chests if this is the case! As for the rest of the day, the weather looks similar to yesterday but cooler so bookie watch could be on.

[Sue]

Morning

It was a lovely day yesterday and was perfect walking conditions, sunny but a nice gentle breeze. We had lunch in the garden and afterwards had a lovely walk in the hills, combining several of our routes and completing a circuit of 6.75 miles dropping to about 500 feet then climbing to a thousand. We had a welcome beer in the garden on our return.

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My ice cream making was less successful. The instructions were vague. I interpreted them one way, Bob another. The company advertised a 7 day a week customer helpline, which it was not. I kept getting emails asking me to provide purchase of item before they could help me which I did several times.I eventually got annoyed and said all I wanted was clarification of the instructions. After 6 hours I received an email to say queries were dealt with in office hours of Mon-fri, 9.00 till 5.00 and I would be contacted next week . I was not impressed with an expensive mix of eggs , full cream milk and cream all mixed and ready to go. We tried Bobs version of the instructions , being the engineer he is I trusted his interpretation more than mine. It was a failure , a half frozen mix, stuck in the machine, after thawing we ran it through the machine again in a slightly different manner, same result. Being 8.00 pm by this time we covered the metal bowl of half frozen mix and put it in the fridge. Today we will try my version of the instructions.....which do not actually tell you how or when to use the three settings on the function switch. Watch this space.


Today Bob will be at the park from about 11.30 am. I am not sure what I will do after I have done the ironing, potter in the front garden probably and do some of my nearly finished embroidery .

Gave a good day everyone

[Stanley]

It sounds as though that ice cream maker was set up by the same people that did my castings! As you say, not impressed and I wish you well today.



I have a DIY kit instead of proper castings for the main bearings..... Makes for an interesting morning, have a look at shed matters.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed and will start with this set up, seeing if I can reduce the shank on this cutter so it fits my mill. Then on to the engine. I mailed Stuart's and told them what I thought about the castings, I also gave them a list of the castings I need to go with Keith's 10H castings so I can make that. It will be interesting to see what they quote.....
The forecast is for a cool, overcast but dry day so bookie watch should be on if I put my A2 jacket on....

[Sue]

Morning

A successful day yesterday. I managed to do quite a bit of tidying in the back garden and even watered with the hosepipe in the evening. I finished my piece of embroidery for my embroidery course, so I just have a couple of chapters to complete now, and I made ice cream successfully!

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Today Claire and family are coming for lunch. Although we shall cook outside we shall eat inside in the dining room. Its not due to be particularly warm and sunny. I shall get Erin to help making pizzas and another batch of ice cream . We can also plant up some tulip bulbs for a bit of something to do . I must get some more age related activities jigsaws etc for her for when she comes though art always seems to keep her occupied. The toys we had she has out grown over the last 18 months and we gave now passed them on to other people. They won’t stay late as they have to be home by 5.00 pm as Claire is on out of hours standby duty. She works for the Environment agency, as does Adam, and at weekends and bank holidays she joins the rota for dealing with emergencies that crop up. Usually something does !

This evening I will chat to Briony on whats app and no doubt Eve at sometime during the day. They are on holiday up in Speyside, staying in a cottage just into the Cairngorms. It looks a beautiful spot. Today they are going out walking for the day but yesterday they went over to the coast to see one of Eds university friends. Later in the day they stopped at a van selling lunches and bought snacks and a coffee. The chap serving said to Ed, ‘Don’I know you’ . Ed replied that he thought not . Then they both realised simultaneously they had been to university together on the other side of Scotland. Now how the man recognised Ed I will never know. He used to have shoulder length thick blond wavy hair and a beard. Billy Connolly comes to mind. Anyway he now has very civilised very short grey hair and no beard! Mind you one wonders what someone with a degree in Agriculture is doing running a snack bar van!

Anyway thats my day. Have a good bank holiday.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Glad the ice cream worked!
I haven't done any work on the engine but have had an exciting two hours in the shed. I have been turning the shank of a big cutter down amongst other things. It was so hard it screamed as it chewed up my toughest tools. But in the end it worked and I cleaned up.

[Sue]

I bet that was noisy work Stanley

[Stanley]

It was Sue and frightening as well, definitely beyond the limit of my equipment. Problem is I have an idea that I can improve on that and it won't take long to find out so I shall be distracted again this morning! Cloudy day again so a cool bookie watch. Amazing who you see when you're sat there, I had a nice encounter with Heather yesterday and we had a good catch up, she looks really well and says Elaine is good as well.

[Wendyf]

Yesterday I made runner bean chutney and visited Kelbrook Art Show in the village hall. Today I'm going to Kilnsey Show.

[Sue]

Morning

I love local shows and exhibitions Wendy but there is not much happening round here at the moment, hopefully things will pick up soon. We had a lovely day with Claire and family. Erin’s face glowed when I said I had left most of the preparation for lunch to her! . She set the table, sorted out matching place mats, organised where to put things like salad etc. She took the pizza orders and compiled them ready for Adam to take them out to Bob to cook. She was a little star. So polite, never stopped chatting. My smallest grandchild is growing into a delightful alert bright child. A credit to her parents.

I spoke to the other two in the evening on whats app. Briony gave me a guided tour of their holiday cottage, even down to the contents of the fridge! Eve and I just chatted by messages later. They had been out walking , proper walking, to the summit of the nearby hill/ mountain. It was over 1800 feet. I am impressed . Today they are all going on a 3 hour guided canoe trip down the river Spey. I am promised photos

It was generally a cool day yesterday, grey, windy and it looks like more of the same today. As I write I have no plans for the day which is a rarity. No doubt I will come up with something. I have pilates and yoga in the early evening.

Have a good day

[Stanley]

It'll be a good day for Kilnsey Show, nothing spoils a show as fast for me as too much sun, a lot more comfortable for both the stock and the exhibitors as well.
I have had 2 hours in the shed, the last cut on the big end mill worked.
Back later when I have posted on Shed Matters.