Today I shall be Mainly...

[Tizer]

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.

Even here in Somerset wind has become a constant factor in recent years and we've had strong and gusty wind continuously for several weeks now.

[Stanley]

I hope you get off lightly with the thunderstorms Peter.
I shall be in the shed working on my engine and later may go for a walk.... We'll see.

[Sue]

Morning

We arrived home last night about 9.30pm. The garden was baked, so did a quick water of some of the pots. I am not sure what can be saved. We had no rain all the way home apart from a little heavy drizzle at Stafford, even though the skies were dark and heavy.

It promises to be another warm day today, with thunderstorms forecast this afternoon. I shall wash and then try and tidy up the garden a little, it looks a mess.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

The garden will soon recover Sue if we get rain today.



Another hour and a half on the valve train. Almost everything has been adjusted! I finished with the valve properly adjusted to be equidistant at each end of the stroke, tomorrow morning I shall match that to the position of the piston. Once again, many small adjustments.....

[Stanley]

I have been out for my walk and a sit at the end of Albert Road. No complaints about the wind today, there isn't any and it is very hot. Nice to be back inside in the cool.

[PanBiker]

Took a friend to Skipton railway station this morning, she's off to Sheffield. Then back via Carleton to visit Sally's mums grave and pop some flowers on she would have been 97 today.

This afternoon we will be walking down to Salterforth Fun Day then back on the canal bank.

[Stanley]

Salterforth have a good day for their event!
I shall be in the shed moving slowly but surely towards a finished engine. Later this morning Susan and Mick are dropping in and we will go into the Square for a coffee. I have an appointment with Dracula at the surgery this afternoon.

[Stanley]

Red letter day.... The engine is finished. I spent the morning making the final adjustments and fitting. This is good. However the bad news is that it isn't a runner. I think it's because I haven't built enough throw into the eccentric but I am not going to make life difficult by trying to cure it. Somebody else can have that pleasure. It's a handsome engine and will be a good conversation piece. I shall have to do better with the next one!.
(The miracle is that I have built it at all at my age!)

[Sue]

Morning

Washing and ironing done but it took nearly all day. I was just starting to tidy the garden when we had a 90 minute heavy thunderstorm. The garden now looks battered as well as untidy. Not my usual June garden. Todays ask is to try and rescue it. I have pilates this morning and yoga this evening.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

More thunder promised this evening for us in Barlick Sue.....

[Sue]

More thunder promised this evening for us in Barlick Sue.....

And here

[Stanley]

I've been thinking about the engine not running and think there may be a very simple reason. I shall have a bit of a furtle this morning.....

[Stanley]

I decided I was a bit too quick to abandon the engine yesterday. I was pissed off because it didn't behave. I took another look at it this morning and put right the obvious problems. The first thing I did was to make sure that the valve could float freely on the valve rod. Then I eased the working of the valve rod in the gland and finally adjusted the valve setting and made sure it was correct. It still wouldn't take off but it was trying, the problem was that the pressure was leaking through the seating of the valve on the face. So it's obvious that the cure is to make a better job of finishing the surface of the valve face on the cylinder by lapping it in properly, something I evidently failed to do. So the message for Ashley, (Whose engine this is) is to get a set of BA spanners, remove the cylinder and make a really good job of lapping the valve to the face. I promise it will run! (He told me he likes a challenge.... )

[Sue]

Morning

No thunderstorm here yesterday despite living so near Manchester which had a real downpour. I think we had light rain during the night. I did a fair bit of garden tidying and it all looks a lot better. I will do a bit in the front today.

This morning I have a one off visit to Maxine as I have problem with a dress I have just made. Its not a long session just a problem solving exercise. This afternoon i have pilates and yoga at the studio. If its anything like yesterday it will be very hot. Otherwise I am staying indoors and shortening two new t shirts. They seem very long these days when you buy them.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I shall have a tidy in the shed and look at a small problem I have with my stove door. That wants doing outside as it will be a mucky job.
I may go for a walk later but am not too bothered as this hot weather is catching up with me. Lots to be said for sitting (or lying!) still and doing very little.......

[Sue]

Morning

I spent most of the day inside yesterday, sewing. My sewing room has a ceiling fan and it was very pleasant underneath it. I finished the two summer dresses I was making and shortened one t shirt. I am thankful for the dresses which are cool and light weight. Pilates and yoga were cancelled as the studio was too hot.

This morning I am at the hairdressers, this afternoon. I have , at last, the voice therapy appointment at North Manchester hospital . I have waited 6 months for the appointment, I think it is too late now for any voice exercises to repair the damaged vocal cords after my virus infection 17 months ago. I am resigned to having a croaky voice. This evening I have Pilates on zoom if I can keep the loung cool enough during the day.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Things are cooling down a bit Sue and the east wind is going to deliver a -4C chill for most of the day after 10:00.
I have spent my hour in the shed or rather working on the bench in the yard so nice and cool.



Something entirely different this morning. I have passed the problem of the valve face on the Stuart engine of to Ashley and spent over £600 out of the burial fund on another set of castings. So I felt free to move on to a current problem. This is that I noticed a while since that the ceramic insert in the door of my Morso stove had fallen out. This was due to the ceramic having cracked across the bottom two corners. So I set to to cure this. The screw thread on the adjustable vent on the door was terribly stiff so I took that off and attacked the screw threads on the two clips that hold the ceramic and the baffle on the inside of the door as well as the vent. That took up an hour and I have ended up with the bottom clips soaking in penetrating oil to see if I can free them. If I can't do that easily I shall leave them alone and just use them as fixtures to loosely retain the ceramic, it was the tightening of the grip on the corners due to corrosion that caused the problem in the first place. I have a new ceramic and packing and one way or another I shall finish this tomorrow.

[Stanley]

I shall get the new ceramic in my stove door and get it back on the stove. Nothing in the weather to interfere with veggie shopping in the Square later. Then take it easy in the heat!

[Stanley]

First job was to reassemble the stove door with a new ceramic installed. Loosely this time because it was the clips tightening due to corrosion that broke the previous ceramic. I used 'Never Seize' on all the threads. A bit optimistic but it does make a difference. Then I took the dirty tablecloth off the big surface plate, cleaned and oiled it and put a clean cloth on. The old inch and a quarter Whitworth tap is one that was laid on the floor rusting. I shall never use it again but it's interesting to see what the old fitters had to work with. That will do for this morning, I'm ready to move forward. (Unless I can think of any more displacement activity!)

[Sue]

Morning

Despite being 24 degrees it was a pleasant day yesterday because of the breeze I am hoping for the same today. I now have my summer haircut ie shorter than usual and a month earlier than usual, it will help to keep me cooler.

My appointment at the voice clinic yesterday was a complete waste of time. It was a group meeting to discuss the causes of voice issues and possible remedies but it concentrated on acid reflux issues which the other two clients had been referred for. They kept telling me I had mild symptoms, based on a questionnaire I had completed and what the remedies could be . After about 45 minutes of this I am afraid I got a bit annoyed explaining that though I had that problem it was being treated and this was not the reason I had been referred and the whole session had been irrelevant for me. I was asked to stay when the others left when they got up my notes on the computer and read them . This resulted in a bit of an apology and a different plan of action which because of being in France all summer any voice therapy itself will have to wait till September . Why didn’t they familiarise themselves with my history before the meeting . I was not impressed. By September it will be a year since I went to the GP with a voice issue and 10 months since the consultant identified the muscle damage caused by the virus was identified . Rant over

Today is art at Haslingden this morning, this afternoon I want to cut out and start making another dress. At 5.30 we are popping over to Bacup to collect some perennial plants from the plant man who used to be on Bacup market. These will help fill the spaces in my garden that the plants from Suttons should have filled. If you remember they promised delivery in May and changed it to the end of July…no good to me as we won’t be in the country.

Have a good day all

[Sue]

IMG-20230615-WA0000.jpeg

I seem to steam pressed my pen. I thought the iron smelt odd. Thank goodness for iron cleaners

[Big Kev]

Oops!

[Wendyf]

That could have been a mystery object!

[Sue]

That could have been a mystery object!

It was certainly a mystery to me when I peeled it off. The black line up the middle gave it away

[Stanley]

My castings arrived yesterday for the next engine so I shall be dealing with them. Then off to the Cathedral of Choice for early doors shopping and then on with the day. I'll take a view on veggie cooking later......