Today I shall be Mainly...

[Tripps]

I think I remember we spoke about chicken a long time ago. This from Tesco seems quite good value I'd say - £4.00 for a 'large' one with a Clubcard. Fresh Chicken We've all got one haven't we?

As mentioned elsewhere we also have access to the Ukraine market for really cheap small ones (£1.99).

I've always thought that the British retail market was astonishingly efficient, and having lived abroad for periods of time, I never saw its equal anywhere.

I'm a big fan of Home Bargains.

[Stanley]

My contribution to the price debate is on the total. I am a man of regular habits, cook my own food and don't waste any. My total food bill for the week has gone up to £65. Sue's prices are ferocious!
I shall be in the shed for an hour as usual and the only thing outside a usual day is that Robin the chiropodist comes this afternoon.

[Sue]

Morning

Nice day yesterday, good morning out and a successful clearing of the rockery in the after noon. Having bought the cabbage at the market. It occurs to me that my weekly menu does not allow for cooking a cabbage. The excitement of the find obviously over powered me . The day was rounded off with a quiet nights sleep. Its too soon to say the stone martens have gone but the signs are good, and Bob captured nothing on the wild life camera the night before.

Today I shall tidy the rhubarb patch and cut the fig trees back a bit. They have grown so much we cannot get in the stables where we keep gardening gear and the wheel barrow. I shall also clean windows inside and out , my twice a year task. The windows open into the rooms so it is easy to clean both sides from inside. Its due to be warm, though not sunny till late. Its clear at the moment but it was a cloudy night. We went down the orchard at 11 last night to spray a wasps nest in a hole in the ground. Without a torch it was impossible to see as it was so cloudy. It was also quite spooky with occasional insect noises.

Have a good day all

[Sue]

My contribution to the price debate is on the total. I am a man of regular habits, cook my own food and don't waste any. My total food bill for the week has gone up to £65. Sue's prices are ferocious!
I shall be in the shed for an hour as usual and the only thing outside a usual day is that Robin the chiropodist comes this afternoon.

We too cook all our meals, except our meals out. All fresh food and no waste, we certainly can’t afford waste here. This weeks menu consists of eating the left overs from yesterdays meal with the neighbour, that will do us two days, then it will be left overs from the freezer. We have a scone to have today, as I found a box of 4 in the freezer, the remains of a random baking day. They go well with my new plum jam. I say random as I rarely bake because it is one of the things I fail at regularly and secondly we are not overly keen on sweet stuff. I am afraid £65 would not get you much here Stanley

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. I gathered that from your earlier post. Ferocious prices!



This morning the job was to bore the crankshaft bearings. I went about it as usual, setting up in the compound vise under the pillar drill and after checking positioning, boring first 1/4" and then 1/2". As you can see I wasn't totally satisfied with my first set up so I reversed the bed and bored the other bearing from the opposite side. Than I ran the 1/2" reamer through from both sides and now I am certain my bores line up. Very satisfying because I avoided a serious mistake by being super careful..... A good hour and a quarter!

[Sue]

I've always thought that the British retail market was astonishingly efficient, and having lived abroad for periods of time, I never saw its equal anywhere.

I'm a big fan of Home Bargains.

I agree.

I used to shop in Home Bargains a lot when I worked at Bury College,as it was just across the road, as was the market. Here in Rochdale its a difficult across town car journey, so we use B&M, there is one in the town centre in the old woolworths store and a big one in the old B&Q store down Whitworth Road, walking distance if you are not carrying too much.

[Sue]

So we are now pretty sure the stone marten has abandoned the house. Last nights wild life camera caught it two or three times, heading towards the fig tree and returning with fig in mouth. We saw it climb up fencing next to the barn. Close examination shows they have dislodged a plank and are probably now i the barn. We are quite happy for them to stay there.

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[plaques]

Close examination shows they have dislodged a plank and are probably now i the barn. We are quite happy for them to stay there.

They must have borrowed a ...Crow bar

[Sue]

Close examination shows they have dislodged a plank and are probably now i the barn. We are quite happy for them to stay there.

They must have borrowed a ...Crow bar

Possibly, more likely a pigeon bar round here

[Tripps]

they have dislodged a plank

I'd be for putting the plank back - after dark of course, then (in the manner of Ken Dodd) shouting - "now how clever are you - you little b*****s?"

Let them out when they get hungry.

As Mr Dylan said "condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting"

[Sue]

they have dislodged a plank

I'd be for putting the plank back - after dark of course, then (in the manner of Ken Dodd) shouting - "now how clever are you - you little b*****s?"

Let them out when they get hungry.

As Mr Dylan said "condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting"

[Stanley]

It looks as though you have prevailed Sue and I think your attitude.... leave them there they are welcome, is the best one. Mind you, if they have kittens and they start looking for homes......(Sorry, but that thought did occur to me)
I shall be in the shed and will be checking to make sure the crankshaft is a fit in the brasses. The next job is painting the castings I think.We have a couple of days of bright warm weather so that might be a smart move.
Same weather makes me think that a walk and a sit could be on the cards!

[Sue]

Morning

Thick. Thick mist this morning. Typical of a sunny day this time of year, which is what we are forecast, sun and 29 degrees. We need to do some shopping and I need to tidy the lounge and clean the bathrooms but then we can sit back and enjoy the day .My sister arrives tomorrow afternoon and hopefully we will be ship shape as they say. I managed to sort the rhubarb patch yesterday though sometime I need to turn the soil over ready for an application of manure later in the year. We buy dried horse manure from the supermarket as we have no contact for a farmer for anything else.

Our roof friend gave us a shock last night, just after midnight, when we heard scuffling above us. I changed the light switch from intermittent to continuous and we heard nothing more . Hopefully. It departed as fast as it came. As for kittens Stanley, hopefully by the time any arrive the loft space will be full of the smell of naphthalene, if Bill manages to get any.

Have a good day all make the most of it.

[Stanley]

I've got my fingers crossed for you Sue! It's as bad as having a rat problem!



The first thing I did was install the crankshaft and check it for fit. It was fine, so I stripped the castings down preparatory to painting them. This was where I ran into trouble. I have been using the same black paint for 40 years and I reached the end of the road today. It is all unusable so I have binned the lot. I managed to do the base, bed and flywheel with a new can of black spray paint. The cylinder has to be done with a small brush and I will get a new can of black paint to do it, preferably Humbrol which is excellent for small jobs. Not a perfect morning in the shed but no disasters and still a step forward.

[PanBiker]

Going to the pictures this afternoon to see Oppenheimer. I'm going to the 16.10 showing, it's a three hour film. Sally and Ruby have booked for tea at the adjacent pub to the Reel Cinema at Burnley, they will have a spare hour before the film they are seeing starts (Barbie), not my cup of tea but apparently quite amusing. We should all finish at more or less the same time, give or take 10 minutes.

[Sue]

Going to the pictures this afternoon to see Oppenheimer. I'm going to the 16.10 showing, it's a three hour film. Sally and Ruby have booked for tea at the adjacent pub to the Reel Cinema at Burnley, they will have a spare hour before the film they are seeing (Barbie), not my cup of tea but apparently quite amusing starts. We should all finish at more or less the same time, give or take 10 minutes.

Not been to the cinema in years, the last film we saw there was Dads Army. Almost as good as the series

[Stanley]

I solved my black paint problem at Redman's this morning. A quarter of a litre of Hammerite smooth black for £10.....
I know, ridiculous isn't it. £9 plus postage off Amazon but at least I've shopped local.....

[Big Kev]

Collecting new glasses from Specsavers in Colne. I usually use an independent optician but Colne is closer since moving to Foulridge. Very pleased with both glasses and Specsavers, they were over £150 cheaper than my previous pair too.

[PanBiker]

I solved my black paint problem at Redman's this morning. A quarter of a litre of Hammerite smooth black for £10.....
I know, ridiculous isn't it. £9 plus postage off Amazon but at least I've shopped local.....

A better deal than Amazon on Ebay.

250ml Hammerite Smooth (all colurs) Free Postage

[Big Kev]

I solved my black paint problem at Redman's this morning. A quarter of a litre of Hammerite smooth black for £10.....
I know, ridiculous isn't it. £9 plus postage off Amazon but at least I've shopped local.....

£10 is pretty good for 'local', it's £13 in B&Q.

[Stanley]

The money stayed in Barlick as well Kev....
Speaking of better deals, no sooner had I paid £40 for a drill index for my letter drills than a random search turned up a set of split point Letter Series drills in an Index box for £30 from Tracy Tools in Torquay. Don't understand how they can do that but I bought it anyway, cheaper than the individual drills from RDG I need to make up my set! So don't taunt me with cheaper deals Ian, I know all about them!
I shall be in the shed working towards a set of newly painted castings mounted on a baseboard. Then later, veggie shopping in Town Square.....

[Sue]

Morning

It was a beautiful day yesterday, reaching 28 degrees but with a gentle cooling breeze. It was so pleasant that we even managed to eat our evening meal out side for the first time since we came.

This morning I shall wash the garden furniture and do a small repair on a cushion on one of the chairs. Bob is planning on finishing cutting the hedge by the front gate.after lunch we are driving over to Nantes airport to collect Jane, who should arrive at 15.10 pm

Have a good day all

[Sue]

Ps

Roof space update….all was quiet

[Stanley]

Roof space.... Thank goodness for that!



I started the morning by sanding the permanent base for the engine and cutting the padding for the base to protect furniture. I mounted the bed on the base, re-installed the crosshead guides and then put the brasses back in, fixed the studs with Loctite thread lock, installed the crankshaft and oiled the bed. Next I shall screw the base down on the baseboard and then I can install the cylinder and and paint it. Lots of small jobs and steady progress.

[Stanley]

I shall be aiming for the shed before early doors shopping but because of oversleeping I am not sure how long this will be this morning.
Nothing in the weather forecast to militate against my late morning walk and sit......