Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Morning Sue! 18C sounds positively tropical. We are going to bask in 10C with a -1C chill to come of that when you are in the wind. It all sounds good and I would be having the Portuguese menu as well. Other nations food can be so interesting. Having said that I immediately thought of the US and crossed them off the list!
I've had a nice quiet morning in the shed, here are the images. Getting close to a finish and a think about what to do next.

[Gloria]

We have been on two river cruises, once with Viking and once with Emerald, the latter we would certainly not do again. Viking was fine in every respect. We have never been on the Douro, might have to do that now. I remember a tv programme saying it was THE most beautiful cruise to go on. Enjoy Sue.

[Sue]

Cruising with Jane MacDonald did it for us . Just went under a very low bridge. Sun deck was closed to passengers

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[Stanley]

That's exciting Sue! I wonder what happens id river levels are high?
Today is a short visit to the shed, early doors shopping and after second sleep, Susan and Mick are taking me to Crawshawbooth to see my friends Vanessa and John Ingoe. On the way we are having lunch at the new Waggoners at Burnley. I'm looking forward to it.

[Sue]

That's exciting Sue! I wonder what happens id river levels are high?
Today is a short visit to the shed, early doors shopping and after second sleep, Susan and Mick are taking me to Crawshawbooth to see my friends Vanessa and John Ingoe. On the way we are having lunch at the new Waggoners at Burnley. I'm looking forward to it.

Morning

I think the river was high Stanley, but it did cross our minds. It was another nice day yesterday, we spent a pleasant morning just enjoying the cruise, watching the excitement and seeing the change from vineyards to olive groves. . We chose a light lunch, then it was the daily trip out. In this case we visited an ancient village up in the hills where in the 1100s Jews, Christians and the Moors all lived happily together. I have not yet uploaded the photos from my camera but will do so this evening. We were shown evidence of the community life on a guided tour, by one of our own guides whose grandmother lived in a similar village. On our way back to the ship we stopped at a view point where we could see across the plains to the Spanish border and mountains, with vultures and eagles flying below us.

We are up early this morning for an early breakfast. Are bus is departing at 8.45 am to drive to Salamanca for a day trip out. I have just done their covid test but also a rapid flow test (negative) that we brought with us. I have a sore throat and a drippy nose. I think I have caught our american friend Marys cold, despite almost living in a mask and washing hands with antiseptic etc . It was Portuguese night last night with a buffet meal of Portuguese delights

I believe the forecast is good today, 24 degrees. Have a good day.

[Stanley]

We have sun but only 13C according to the forecast.

One pic this morning. I have finished the carronade, touched up the paint on my No.9 engine and packed up John's engine ready for our visit later today. (PS and done the shopping and put it away....)

[Sue]

Mass production there Stanley, looking good. I have a university friend who has always lived in Crawshawbooth. When he was a student he lived at home on Goodshaw Lane.0ne of his daughters has a health clinic on the main street in Crawshawbooth. When I used to catch the X43 bus from Manchester to Burnley it really struggled up that hill but these days cars and buses go up easily. Whata change

[Stanley]

We shall be heading for Short Clough Lane......

[Gloria]

We shall be heading for Short Clough Lane......

Say hi to Vanessa from me, Gloria.

[Stanley]

Bloody hell! Do you know I was wondering if you two knew each other! Alex will be there as well, she used to sit on my knee at Dingle Farm and now they tell me she is 29. I'll certainly give V your love.....
(I'm scrubbed up and ready for the kids.....)

[Gloria]

Stanley, Been out, just got back to read this. Known Vanessa since before Alex, she used to ride a horse for a very good friend of mine, and I used to feed Alex cold sausage to keep her occupied . She’s getting married later in the year, time flies too quickly.

[Stanley]

We're looking a bit tired but this was at the end of the day. V is well and remembered you, she sends her love. We were favoured with the weather, it was warm in the sun sat on the dock looking out over the lake in their back garden! John is wonderful considering.... We got the whole gory saga of how he lost the leg. As I say so often, I am very lucky!
Today I shall take it easy. I have ordered the castings for another engine and that will keep me occupied for a while. Surprising how tiring it can be sitting in strange seats and talking!

[Stanley]

No real shed this morning. I am having an easy day after a long day out yesterday. I've ordered another set of castings for a No9 Stuart and will see whether I can do an even better job! The only thing I've done is change the tablecloth.

[Sue]

Morning

Yesterday reached 26 degrees, today 28 is forecast. With a gentle breeze it did not feel that warm. I have a really bad sore throat and put it down to the constant air conditioning. Last night we slept with the outer cabin door open which automatically turns the air conditioning off. I do not feel ill but it is making me feel tired. It was a long day yesterday, visiting Salamanca which is a lovely town, a little smaller than Rochdale . At lunch time we had a light lunch of cooked meats, cheese and fruit plus wine of course and were entertained by local Spanish dancing which was similar to Breton dancing but slower. We had a couple of hours to wander round the town followed by a one hour guided tour. Before leaving for the two hour trip back in the coach we had afternoon tea, breads, cakes and fruit, plus tea and coffee. Once back it was a quick change before our evening meal. I was in bed by 9.30 and asleep by 10.00!

Its another day of visiting wineries and local bakeries today, plus lunch . The coach journey is only 45 minutes each way. We are on our way back down the river now staying at places on the opposite side to our way up.

Have a good day

[Gloria]

Keep these posts coming Sue, they’re very interesting.

[Gloria]

Nice photo Stanley, thanks for adding it.

[plaques]

Keep these posts coming Sue, they’re very interesting.

I agree. Not everybody takes time out on a holiday to keep readers informed and the different sights they are seeing. Well done Sue.

....................

Watching the tree surgeon taking down next door's neigbour's 60ft beech tree. This man's an acrobat often hanging horizontal from ropes to cut branches that would be inaccessible from any other position. He will certainly earn his corn today.

[Stanley]

I'm glad he's got a good day, dry and little wind. Makes a lot of difference when you're working at height.
I agree about Sue's reports. It says something about me that my mouth waters when she describes the local food.....
I went back to bed and slept for another three hours, yesterday was tiring!

[PanBiker]

Picking our Finlay up from Silsden for a stop over. Isla and her mum our Carla are going to a Little Mix concert tonight and I think Ant is in a golf match somewhere. We will be having the afternoon at Billy Bobs 50's Diner and Ice Cream parlour over at Embsay. Finlay can have some time running around in the adventure barns to work up an appetite for our booking in the Diner for tea. Sloppy Joe Burger with Mozzarella and Jalapeño peppers and fries for me I reckon.

Billy Bobs Diner

[Sue]

Keep these posts coming Sue, they’re very interesting.

I agree. Not everybody takes time out on a holiday to keep readers informed and the different sights they are seeing.

Evening

Thank you for your comments. Tomorrows report is this evening as its an even earlier start tomorrow, but luckily only the morning, thus I will not have time to write. The afternoon hopefully will be spent sitting reading in the sun and watching the vineyards past by.

My throat has been easier today although I am a little hoarse. Official daily covid tests show I do not have covid, and neither does our American friend Mary who has spent all week in bed with, we gather bronchitis. Today the doctor came to see her, and has administered a steroid injection and given other medication. We feel this should have happened earlier in the week but she declined. We have ensured Jerry, a very quiet, mild mannered gentleman, has always had company .

We are now on the last leg or our trip and return to Porto tomorrow night, tomorrow being our 51st wedding anniversary. Today was a trip to the original moscatel wine producers of Portugal. We visited the village of Favaios. The village has just 1000 plus people and about one third are involved in the village cooperative making wine. The village is also famous for FOUR CORNER bread, we visited a bakery and ate fresh bread, a winery and drank wine, a museum and learned some history. Then it was off to THE Original winery where we were served a lunch of local food. I am not sure the americans like the local rural fodder, as most left it. We tucked in. Bread , salad,and local sausage, black pudding and battered cod. This was followed by a light vegetable soup. Then braised beef chunks with roast potatoes and cabbage ( the latter was not greeted well). Then a platter of deserts, chocolate cake, creme caramel, pineapple, and quince jelly. Finally a glass of grappa and coffee, plus the usual wine continuously flowing. We had been drinking moscatel all morning at every stop.

We were back on board by 3.30 pm so had an afternoon chilling out in 28 degrees and developing an appetite for this evenings meal . We are back in our cabin, sorry stateroom, drinking coffee and declining to go to the lounge for a music quiz and dancing. I am sure it is fun but we do feel that there are large tribes of Americans that have been travelling together for a month , its quite difficult to break into the social circles. Its a shame Mary has been poorly all week as the few days we were all together we had a lot of laughs.

So tomorrow is another day, not as warm, hovering around 22 degrees. Its certainly not been the wet week forecast. Have a good day all

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Today as written by a journalist

https://www.healthywomen.org/content/bl ... and-lamego

I think Lamego is tomorrow

[Stanley]

Lovely! Have a good anniversary day both of you. One thought strikes me, have you weighed yourself recently? Those menus look very tempting.
I shall be in the shed this morning starting to make a crankshaft for the new set of castings I ordered. This time I will try to make it opposite hand to its twin!

[Sue]

Lovely! Have a good anniversary day both of you. One thought strikes me, have you weighed yourself recently? Those menus look very tempting.
I shall be in the shed this morning starting to make a crankshaft for the new set of castings I ordered. This time I will try to make it opposite hand to its twin!

Just woken. One good thing about this cruise is the portions are quite delicate, very few potatoes, pasta, bread etc. Also there are set meal times rather than food continuously being available like other cruises we have been on. Water flows as freely as wine, there is always tea and coffee available and we have also walked quite long distances. We expected to put on weight but I am sure a week of being back to normal will soon resolve it. My clothes do not feel any different which is a good sign .

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, that's good to hear and I didn't think for one minute that you'd be making any big mistakes!

I've had a nice morning in the shed starting to make the crankshaft for the new engine. I will be chopping it out of the solid of course, not following their instructions to build it up and glue it together!



Today was all about preparing the blank. I'm ready for setting up and eccentric turning tomorrow.

[Wendyf]

Happy Anniversary Sue and Bob!

[Big Kev]

We're still 10 years behind you, happy anniversary. Got a boutique hotel booked and a table at a Greek restaurant in Lytham for tea tonight. The weather forecast is greatly improved to just a 10% chance of rain so all is good