Today I shall be Mainly...

[PanBiker]

Giving my blood donation in Burnley, voting, oh, and picking Sally up from Skipton.

[Stanley]

I have just come back from Voting, getting meds at Well pharmacy and shopping for next week's veggies. That wind is bloody cold! I had a sit and was warm enough but only because I had my £700 coat on with the £200 waistcoat on underneath it. If anyone would have told me I'd ever pay that much for a coat and waistcoat I'd have said they were barking. Times change don't they.....

[Stanley]

I shall have my hour in the shed making a tiny crankpin bearing, then early doors shop at the Co-op. After that is up for grabs.

[Sue]

Morning

We are registered for a postal vote and have been for some years as we are nearly always away at this time of year. I know who will have got in. I noticed that the last few years no local councillors bother to come door knocking on our street, indeed on our estate. Probably because they will all get an earful about the traffic condition, being a cut through between the only two main roads into Rochdale. They speed through and the parking causes a blockage at the top of the road going on to Whitworth road. There are no speed restrictors and we are the only main road through an estate on this side of town that is not 20 speed limit. None of our local councillors live anywhere near and we feel like a forgotten area over all sorts of issues. There are two ways into the estate at Whitworth road end, and a bit of a one way system would resolve an awful lot of issues plus no parking . All the houses have garages but they are in a courtyard behind the houses so no body uses them. The road is narrow and winding and sometimes there are so many parked cars the bus can’t get through. It takes another route leaving elderly passengers at the top or bottom of the road , with a long walk down the hill, or up the hill.

Yesterday was a busy day, shopping done, peas and beans planted, washing and ironing done, chair finished and table legs painted to match. It was sunny but in the afternoon very windy indeed. As I write it is raining hard but not due to last more than a couple of hours, then sun and cloud. I shall be preparing a lasagne and rhubarb crumble this morning ready to cook tonight when Joanne and Paul come for a meal. Then if the ground isn’t too wet to kneel on I shall attempt the last flower border which is much easier to dig over after it has rained. Not too much gardening though or I will not be able to move this evening. I am feeling the effects of not much pilates forthe last three weeks. It really keeps me more flexible and less prone to aches and pains.

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue! I hope you have better weather than you expect. It looks as though it might be improving here at last.



I carried on with the second half of the crankpin brass. This is the most difficult because apart from some simple milling I have to set it up in the lathe to do some fiddly jobs putting the oil gallery in shaping the to and tomorrow drilling and tapping for the plug and making it. You can't rush jobs like this because nothing centres itself, everything has to be adjusted manually. Slow but sure, no errors. That makes it a nice morning.
I've done the shopping as well and put it away. I'm looking at veggie cooking later.......

[Stanley]

I've had my sleep. now for some Veggie cooking.

[PanBiker]

I have been asked by my daughter Carla to produce some scones for a clothes party at her house tonight. It's a charity event being run by one of her friends to qualify her entry into this years Great North Run. Carla and another friend, (and one of our Bosom Friends trustees) Carly already have their entries. It will be the third time for Carla as she has already run it twice before.

[Stanley]

I shall be cooking my chicken, doing an hour on me engine and then having second sleep. After that it's catch as catch can!
06;00. The chicken is in the oven for its 4 hour roast.

[Sue]

Morning

It was a very showery windy day yesterday with intermittent sun so no gardening was done. I spent the morning cooking, then cleaned the downstairs bathroom I spent a lot of time sitting crocheting but also cut out the dress I brought from home. It was a very pleasant evening with Joanne and Paul.

Today is the market at La Gacilly and a bit of essential shopping. I hope to see a little of the coronation and the rest of the day will depend on the weather.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope the weather is kind to you Sue.



This morning I made the stopper for the oil reservoir on the crankpin brass. Straightforward but tiny and fiddly. I include the knurling image for David.... Ready now to join the two halves of the brass and bore it to fit the pin.

[Stanley]

I am on track, two hours second sleep and my chicken is browning in the oven. As soon as that is dealt with I shall be off out for a walk before it starts raining....

[Big Kev]

Sitting out on the terrace, at Nidd Hall, in the sunshine listening to the house band and drinking some beer

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[Stanley]

That looks like a good way to avoid Coronation overkill Kev! I never went for my walk I got diverted into other things. Today I shall have my hour in the shed working on my crankpin brass and will definitely have my walk to take advantage of the sub-tropical 17C we are promised.....

[Sue]

Morning

Well it was a a pretty damp day here yesterday. We got wet queuing for our veggie plants on the market and it was certainly not fit weather to plant them, i didn’t change and wash the bedding as it would never have dried. Both those two tasks have been deferred to today which promises to be warm, dry and intermittent sun. Instead I set my sewing machine up in the sejour and sewed my dress as far as I can take it before I see Maxine again on the 24 th . From the table I could see the TV and watched the procession, the ceremony, and the fly by on the balcony. Thats it for me. We have avoided all the build up and will avoid all the repeats.

I was actually very interested in the ceremony, and indeed the history of it all. Not everyones ‘ cup of tea’ but as we say on this site, each to their own. I certainly would not have missed it, and so much work had gone into making a traditional hundreds of years old ceremony be as modern as possible and very inclusive, girls, women, members of other faiths all having a part to play. Now its another day, I doubt we will watch the concert tonight. No doubt we will spend the evening surfing the freeserve channels to try and find something we have not seen before or have seen but cannot remember. Last night we managed to find Michael Portillo on the Great American Railways and later a programme about Fawlty Towers. We gave up on this at 11.00 and went to bed.

So Sunday again, no meal out today but will probably have one next as we pack to go home. I shall garden, the weeds after all the rain are horrendous, i need to bank up the potatoes again as they have doubled in size since I did it a week ago, and of course plant my veggies, and change the bedding and move through to our summer bedroom.. Bob is constructing a window sill and skirting boards in the new room.

We must arrange to go and see Roland. Perhaps Bob will phone Nicole today, then we can plan next week, which at the moment is forecasting rain most days but this seems to change on a daily basis.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

As usual a well managed day Sue! I hope you get better weather today. We're looking at the warmest day this year here, we could hit the dizzy heights of 17C with a bit of luck.



Would you believe it took me an hour to adjust the size of the two halves of the bearing, match them exactly and measure and mark the holes for the bolts that hold them together and attach them to the connecting rod? I shall check measure once more tomorrow before drilling the holes.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed at 06:00 as usual working on my tiny crank pin bearing. I may find a dry window for a walk later but doubt it. Apart from that; wonder at the fact we have a Bank Holiday even though we can't afford it......

[Sue]

Morning

It was a warm humid day yesterday with next to no wind. Even so three loads of washing did eventually dry despite the occasional drops of rain. I gardened most of the day and feel satisfied with the results. The veggie plot is now complete with well established potato, onion and garlic plants plus tomatoes courgettes, watermelon, butternut squash, gerhkin, beetroot, mangetout, french beans, coriander, basil and wild flowers. Its fingers crossed that they all survive as no one can water them but I work on the principal that if they aren’t watered they develop deeper roots and better overall survival . I now have little left to do in that domain which is a good thing as we are heading for three days of rain and a damp morning. Bob did some strimming in the morning and in the afternoon constructed a raised window sill for the new room.

Today will be a bit of the same for both of us. I want to cut away 45 cm tall grass from the raspberry canes which are struggling to break through then its back to the dreaded flower border which I tackled yesterday and gave up. Temperatures will be about 17-18 degrees , much more pleasant for gardening

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Sounds as though once again you had a good day Sue. That's good to hear and I hope today goes well. Don't forget to have a sit down every now and again!



More refinement of the crankpin bearing. Routine but careful accurate work and we have finished up with a serviceable bearing ready to have a connecting rod made and attached to it. That's for tomorrow.

[Sue]

Oh we do sit down often, many a cup of tea or glass of beer is consumed, though I was in bed at 10 and slept solidly till 6. Its raining hard outside and has been for an hour, we expected drizzle!

[Stanley]

We're promised mist and drizzle at first this morning but turning into a nice day later. I shall be in the shed at 06:00 looking at making a connecting rod. Question is do I use the rectangular stock Stuarts have supplied or find some round stock to make my life easier?
The forecast looks good enough to tempt me out for a walk and a sit later.... We'll see later this morning.

[Sue]

Morning

You seem to be having better weather than us apart from the temperature. It rained most of the morning and in despair I went out to garden in the drizzle all afternoon. There are no dry days forecast this week until Saturday, which has put paid to any more days out. In three weeks I could count the sunny days on one hand or even less. Even the temperatures are now dropping down to 16. I hope this isn’t a taste of the summer as we are looking forward to a relaxing holiday spent with friends and my sister who are all coming to stay together again in August.

So garden nearly finished, today I shall endure the rain and finish off but I doubt the lawn will get cut again unless for Saturday and a last tidy up before we go. I have never seen so many weeds in the gravel, trying to avoid using chemicals we have been pulling them up by hand randomly but this weeks rain has brought it back with a vengeance. We now use a mix of vinegar salt nd washing up liquid but it needs a dry day and young plants to use it successfully!

Bob has been finishing off DIY jobs in the new room, and I think he is planning on painting the door and new plasterboard in the doorway. I shall stain and varnish the new windowsill. On the positive the bad weather has forced a bout of indoor jobs and progress is being made. At this rate I will be cleaning out cupboards soon. I did tidy my wardrobe and drawers yesterday throwing out some old clothes.

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

I'm sorry to hear the weather is being unkind to you Sue, not a lot you can do about that! I hope it's better than you expect.



We are making the connecting rod and immediately run into the perennial problem facing us in the shed. We have to start with a piece of stock big enough to get the major diameter out of it. In this case it's 1.125" and the stock is a piece of scrap nearer 1.5" diameter. This means we are into muck-shifting and as you can see from the blue chips I have been doing my best with what is after all, a small lathe. I have got this end down to 1.125". Tomorrow I shall reverse the stock and shift even more muck to get the other end down to half an inch. Then I can start to actually make the connecting rod.

[Sue]

Often it brightens up in the afternoon after a cloudy start but there is next to no wind to shift this. The winter was the same, very wet. Looking at the forecast for Rochdale its warmer than here and sun. The next few days are all warmer and although rain is forecast it is not as much. I think what we are heading for is a few days of constant light to heavy drizzle. Lets hope its wrong but I doubt it. Onwards and upwards, there is always something to dd

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed at 06:00 chasing my con-rod. Not sure about a walk later, it could be showery.....

[Sue]

Morning

What a weird day yesterday. We had a damp sunny couple of hours when I achieved completion of the last big gardening jobs. After lunch we had the most horrendous rainstorm. Within seconds huge deep puddles appeared on the drive and later when we drove to the shops we could hardly see out of the windscreen . It lasted intermittently for a couple of hours , leaving everywhere, including my freshly dug soil, a right soggy mess, the soil resembling something on a potters wheel. It brightened about 4.30 pm, and was a pleasant evening, no lovely blue skies though, still the incessant grey that has dogged us since the day we came. Today is more of the same but with the rain, probably showers hitting about 2.00 pm.

This morning I shall take advantage of the morning and cut back some of the bashed forget me nots and wisteria, which need to be done before we go home. Otherwise I have a windowsill to varnish. Yesterday we bought some lawn seed to re seed bare patches, and some cabbage plants. I dealt with both of those yesterday evening on the premise that the intermittent sun and rain would help establish early growth. I think that more or less concludes my list of jobs. I am hoping that tomorrow we may go out somewhere taking advantage of the relatively dry day, but it depends on what Bob still has left to do.

So thats it. Have a good day all