Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed refining the fit of my valve and the finish of the governor stand. Not sure what comes after that, I need apples and Duracell batteries. A trip into Town Square could be on the cards.

[Stanley]

I started by taking that shave off the side of the valve. I refitted it and it is now floating perfectly freely. So I moved on to what occupied the rest of my time in the shed. Getting square faces related to each other on the valve rod and governor support which isn't even symmetrical, never mind capable of being easily squared. So quiet milling episodes and repeated checking. I don't think we have made any mistakes!

[Sue]

Morning

Sounds like a man’s work is never done Ian i love home made bread and scones but find the best way to avoid eating such lovely grub is to not make it…… i can’t resist a bit of home made bread and butter.

Yesterday we did a bit of a cultural day, visiting Trebah gardens near Falmouth in the morning and the castle on Falmouth headland in the afternoon, rounding up with a sit in the garden with a beer and a little more crocheting. I have finished the back of my summer top.

Today we are going to the folk museum at Helston. It was closing when we visited on Friday so a return trip is required. We shalll have lunch back at the cottage, then visit a National Trust house and gardens just down the coast from Mullion. Its forecasting a cloudy 16 degrees till mid afternoon, a lot cooler than it has been. I see up norf the temperatures are much higher. There has been a daily cold breeze here, without the sun today I think we will really feel it.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

We'll only have 16C in Barlick Sue and Margaret in Perth is down on 14C!

[Sue]

I see Rochdale is forecast full sun and 19 degrees

[Stanley]

The further West and the better the weather. Today the cloud retreats towards the east coast a little quicker!
I shall be working on my fiddly little governor stand. Then a midday walk and a sit in the sun if all goes well.

[Sue]

Morning

Today is forecast windy, and a little overcast, though the forecast on the local TV last night did not imply that.

Today is possibly a cove visit and a tin mine museum. We are on the look out for a cream tea too. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to St Michaels mount. We would go today but the tin mine museum is not open on Thursdays.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope you find your cream tea! Have a nice day.



This morning was more on the governor stand. The first move was to get the Dremel out and do my best, within the restrictions imposed by my eyes, to make it look pretty! Then I had to take a leap of faith and decide whether I could drill the hole for the valve rod. I made a guess, drilled it and when I checked I am somewhere near right. That's a relief, it could have been so wrong!

[Stanley]

This morning I shall be in the shed starting the process of final building and adjusting the engine. A nice stage spoilt only by the fact it means I shall soon have to find the money for another set of castings. That's the price I pay for my daily incentive to get in the shed. Worth every halfpenny. According to the forecast it should be sunny by the time I am ready to go to Town Square for some veggie shopping. (Yes, it's that time of week again. Time flies!)

[Sue]

Sue, we've spent many happy holidays in and around Helston and the Lizard peninsula. If you're at Mullion today take note that the little island beyond the harbour is composed of volcanic pillow lava. The wall you pass when walking down to the harbour has lots of serpentine rock. (Once when we walked on the small beach at the harbour we found someone's wallet at the edge of the water. We left it at the shop in the hope that the owner would retrieve it!). South of Mullion Kynance Cove is beautiful. If you want to see native lizards go to the little cove at Poltesco on the east coast. It's a protected place with the remains of the old serpentine factory of the 1800s. We've watched lizards basking in the sun - I think they're used to the tourists! A couple of our photos...

Morning

Tiz we went to Poltesco cove yesterday as you suggested. We didn’t see basking lizards but did see jumping fish in the little pool. Its a lovely quiet spot and a great place for looking for pebbles on the beach that I can polish in my rock polisher. I found a fabulous small piece of green serpentine rock. Thanks for the hint. The road down to the cove was interesting ! In the morning we visited King Edwards tin mine museum. There we were treated to a 2plus hour guided tour. It was the best trip like that we have ever done. https://www.kingedwardmine.co.uk/. No cream tea though. Perhaps we can find a scone today.

This morning we are off early to drive to near Penzance to catch the ferry to spend a few hours at St Michaels Mount. We shall walk the causeway to come back. Then its back to the cottage, tidy up, pack and go out for a meal. What a fabulous week it has been

Have a great day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue! Nice to hear that you had such a good day. We're hoping for a better day here today but the forecast is for the wind chill to be more severe this afternoon. That wind spoils things.



This morning's job was to refine the finish of the flywheel and install it on the engine using Loctite Shaft Lock. I finished by cleaning up after myself and putting the lathe, chuck and cutter back to where they were when I started.

[Sue]

I agree about the wind. We have had a very cold wind all week and our lovely garden funnels it. Even with the sun at times it has been hard to keep warm. I have worn my fleece a lot, and will be wearing it today too

[Stanley]

I did a reverse ferret Sue and put my vest back on again.....

[Tizer]

Sue, I'm glad you had a great time in west Cornwall and especially that you visited Poltesco. Yes, the lane down to the place is narrow but that serves to keep away the folk who might trash the site and its wildlife. Perhaps the lizards aren't out in the open this early in the year and, like us, they've probably been hiding from the cold East winds. Seeing the little cove it's hard to believe that it had a factory and a pier running out to sea where ships anchored to load large serpentine items for delivery elsewhere in Britain and overseas.

Also you made the right decision to visit King Edward Mine. We've done the tour twice and it really is excellent. On our first visit the man showing us around told us a tale about when they took over the site when it stopped being used for training miners. In one of the buildings there was a great big, solid concrete foundation block which had to be removed. After some discussion they decided to use their mining experience - and used dynamite to break it up!

[Tripps]

It was the best trip like that we have ever done

Well - given your record of visits - that's quite a recommendation. Looks an interesting tour and looking at the buildings in the film, it's not hard to see where Troika pottery got the inspiration for some of their pieces.

[Sue]

Indeed

[Stanley]

Today I shall have my hour in the shed before doing Early Doors shopping at the Co-op. I think I shall be veggie cooking at dinner time. I'll consider a walk and traffic duty if I finish in good time!

[Sue]

Morning

Wow it was windy yesterday. The ferry to St Michaels Mount was cancelled so everyone had to wait till low tide to walk across. The result was a queue the full length of the causeway trying to get in. The wind was so strong the sea was still blowing on to the causeway for a good half hour after it was supposed to be clear. Parts of the castle were closed as it was too dangerous to go in those parts. It was too windy to take photos , and when we got our scone and cream half of it blew away . We abandoned walking round the gardens. The meal at the local pub in the evening was very good indeed.

We have to be out by 9.30 this morning, but apart from breakfast things and our toiletries and overnight things we are all packed. We are heading for Bristol where we will meet up with friends and eat at their house this evening before heading for a Premier Inn near Gloucester. We are spending the day in Coventry tomorrow and driving home tomorrow night. Its the Cornwall County show this weekend so we have had to modify our route to Bristol,

Have a good day all

[Wendyf]

Heading home following a few glorious days at Ardnamurchan Point. We had a good trip down to West Lothian yesterday, made it in 6 hours with a lunch stop and leg stretch at Tyndrum. It should take us about 4 hours today to get back.
Luckily for us the Corran Ferry was just back in operation on Monday after having been out of action for about 6 weeks.

PXL_20230605_124210719.jpg

[Sue]

Your photos on facebook look lovely Wendy, beautiful blue skies. Col look good here

[Stanley]

He looks wind-blown on that ferry!
I saw reports of str4ong winds down in the SW but didn't realise they were that bad Sue. I mean, cream teas blowing away!! That's serious.



Nice hour in the shed, quiet careful progress and all is going well. There is nothing quick or easy about fitting!

[Stanley]

Later.... heavily into cooking next week's veggies. Four pans on the hob so time for a brief sit down!

[Stanley]

It's Saturday and the veggies are cooked so before I go into the shed I shall be putting the chicken and it's accompaniments into the oven for its four hour roast. I have a pound of steak mince to deal with as well (In place of the Scotch Eggs) but will leave that until I have dealt with the chicken later this morning.
Than of course an hour in the shed progressing my engine. The governor stand needs to be bolted to the bed and then we have valve adjustment and timing......

[Stanley]

The chicken is in the oven and here's what I have been up to in the shed.



More work on the valve train. First bolting the governor stand to the bed and then starting the process of adjusting and setting the valve. The usual excuses for being slow! There's nothing easy about fitting. I even had to run the die down the two 5BA bolts as they were slightly at odds with the holes I have tapped. The main thing is they are fitted! Now I have to make sure the valve train acts easily and accurately. More tomorrow of course.

[Sue]

Morning

We had a good drive to Bristol, no hold ups, and did a detour through the Cheddar Gorge. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening with Bob's school friend, Alan and his wife Marilyn then drove on to the Premier Inn at Cheltenham. After breakfast we are driving over to Coventry and spending the day there with Julia and family. Home this evening, rain forecast for the drive home. Have a good day all