Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

The eccentric is fitted, the grub screw fitted and the bed for the eccentric strap is polished. I can bore the strap now because I can get an accurate measurement. A nice hour and a quarter with no errors, my sort of a morning!

[Sue]

Morning

I spent a couple of hours in the garden, it was very cold. Its looking very tidy this morning. I picked up leaves, dead twigs, swept and cut back the fuchsias to ground level . I can actually see the bulbs coming up. I had a look online and I can plant my new roses and transplant the others. Thats a job for tomorrow. Today is Bacup market, then a trip to the cemetery with flowers being both my brothers and Dads birthdays this week. We are meeting my cousin Trish then having the last meal out of a very busy eating week. Yesterdays meal was very successful so Keith and Wendy have decided to book the place for their 80 th birthdays.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed working on my valve train..... I see nothing to prevent a walk and a sit at midday and the rest of the day will take care of itself.

[Stanley]

Today's task was to make the eccentric rod. The drawings speak with forked tongue and you have to check everything twice! 5BA at the valve end becomes 7BA. And the other end comes in at 5BA. The gap in the clevis started at 3/32" but had to be opened to 1/8". So if you are making the engine, check everything carefully. I finished up ready to finish each end of the rod and to make the housing on the strap for the end of the rod.

[Sue]

Morning

A bit or ironing today , followed by planting my new roses and moving three others from the back to the front garden

[Stanley]

Should be a nice day for it Sue. Even a bit of sun perhaps. I hope the gardening goes well. Don't forget to have a sit and a relax!

[Stanley]

I had my walk and a sit. The sit was acceptable but surprisingly cold given the relative warmth and the light wind.

[Sue]

I had my walk and a sit. The sit was acceptable but surprisingly cold given the relative warmth and the light wind.

We had a walk too, nearly 5 miles. After a sit I moved my roses and am now having a brew. Despite the forecast there is no sun

[Stanley]

Same here Sue, the promised sunshine never arrived.
I shall be in the shed working on the valve train and once again, nothing in the forecast to stop a midday walk. It would be nice to see the sun but I am not holding my breath!

[Stanley]

This morning was refinement of the eccentric rod, a flat bar actually. It had to be rounded at the ends. The eccentric to be drilled and tapped and cut out to accept the rod. And then all to be fitted together. All this is fiddly and takes time but I am ready now to bore for the fit of the strap on the eccentric. That's the job for tomorrow.

[Sue]

Morning

Pilates this morning, yoga this evening and a bit of pottering on my new sewing machine. Oh yes I shall water and feed the plants in the greenhouse to budge them out of dormancy

Have a good day

[Stanley]

You could have some sun to help you today Sue....
I shall be in the shed as usual chasing my valve train. Nothing to spoil a walk and a sit later as we have a good forecast. February is being very good to us.
Privately marvelling that I have got this far.... . 87 years and counting...... (and still making steam engines....)

[Wendyf]

A very happy birthday to you Stanley, it hardly seems a moment since your 80th! Is there a party?

[Big Kev]

I think we should all go to the pub

[Stanley]

Thanks to both of you. No, no party and no pub. Susan is having a flare up of the Sarcoidosis. Sorry to be a kill joy I have had messages from both daughters.... that'll do me!



The job this morning was to bore the eccentric strap to fit the eccentric and make sure it fits. All went well, a good hour and a quarter with solid progress.

[Sue]

Morning

Happy birthday Stanley, may you have many more

Its jolly cold out there this morning but promises to be a nice day. We shall have a walk into Rochdale after breakfast as we need a few bits and pieces from the shops. This afternoonI think will pop over to see Wendy and Barry. I usually try and go on Wednesdays but we seem to have most Wednesdays booked up for the foreseeable future. This evening its pilates and yoga in the studio.

Thats my day, have a good one

[Stanley]

Thanks Sue, I'll do my best.
Yes we have a white frost here and no consolation prize of a colourful dawn thanks to Saharan dust which I think is happening further west.

[Gloria]

Happy Birthday Stanley, enjoy your day.

[Cathy]

Happy Birthday Stanley

[Stanley]

Thanks to all of you. I wonder how many more I'll see....
I shall be in the shed with my engine, getting very close to a finish. Must start thinking about the next one because as long as I have a set of castings on the go I can't die!
Not sure about my late morning walk, we have rain promised, I shall see when the time comes.

[Stanley]

This morning I fitted the steam valve in the steam chest. This meant marking and drilling the valve body and doing the same for the driving bar but tapping that to take the 4BA valve rod. More fitting needed tomorrow but this morning I have the valve installed. Just some adjustments to make. A good and productive hour and a quarter. A nice morning.

[Sue]

Morning

A good day yesterday, we had a very pleasant walk into Rochdale, bought what we needed, treated ourselves to a coffee and walked back. In the afternoon Bob was boiler testing at the park and I visited Wendy and Barry who were looking to be in very good health.

Today will not be so pleasant. It is my friend Linda’s funeral , a Catholic service followed by the crematorium and then the wake. I am not looking forward to it as it is such a sad occasion. I feel there will be quite a few ex colleagues there who I have not seen since I retired over 17 years ago, it will be nice to see them. The request is to not wear black if possible so I am glad it is not raining as I will be able to dispense with my daily waterproof black coat. What little rain we are promised is around lunchtime. We should be back mid afternoon. I have the last of my pilates classes for the week, this evening and I think I will be ready for it.

Have a good day

[Stanley]

Commiserations on the funeral Sue. They are not my favourite occasions and except in exceptional circumstances I don't go to them. I often have a feeling that people spend more time at funerals being upset because they have been reminded of their own mortality than remembering the deceased..... I suppose that's only human but it upsets me. Anyway, have good weather and enjoy meeting your friends Sue.

[Tizer]

Stanley, belated Birthday Wishes from Mrs Tiz and me. I was off OG most of the time in recent days and not noticing the date. You'll be glad to know I was investigating our options for upgrading Ubuntu and downloading, burning checking out the next two versions (though I haven't done a full install yet and I'm still on the present version).

Sue, sorry for butting into your conversation with Stanley. I hope the weather remains good for you and the funeral isn't too depressing. (I notice you're going to pilates tonight - that's where Mrs Tiz is as I write this. She says it makes a noticeable difference to her flexibility of joints.)

[Stanley]

Thanks to both of you and you're not butting in!



I've just come back from a walk and a sit on traffic duty at the end of Albert Road. Always something happening but this morning that wind is cold. I think they are right in the forecast when they put the wind chill at -4C!