Today I shall be Mainly...

[Wendyf]

A trip to Trawden Show for me.

[Stanley]

Nice day for it Wendy but a bit warm......

[Stanley]

I decided that today was veggie shopping day from the Co-op so I have been in there and done it. That means I shall be cooking on the hottest day of the year, tomorrow! (That's what they are promising us....) I have put the pork belly in the cooker and it is looking after itself.
Expert planning.....

[Stanley]

The pork has been on low all night but is switched off now.... I shall put my chicken in to roast before I go in the shed and later, after second sleep, I shall be cooking veggies...... (Unless I can find a way of putting it off for one more day!)
Later at 05:45 The chicken is in the oven, the pork fat has been harvested and 4 meals set out which means that I can postpone veggie cooking until tomorrow when it will be cooler.....
Later at 06:20. I must be getting old. Going in the shed has gone off me after a very busy morning. I have had a shave, am having breakfast and I am then off to bed.

[Sue]

Morning

Oh my what a hot day. It was 36 plus at Nantes airport and 33 in the shade in our garden. I did my jobs in the morning whilst it was the coolest. On the plus side I was able to wash and dry the heavy cotton throws I put over the single beds to protect them when we are not using them. Today I will do the one over the double bed that we don’t use very often.

Today is a generally a do nothing day otherwise. Jane needs to recover from her long day yesterday and its going to be another hot one, though cooler than yesterday. I will probably tip out the bags of compost we bought the other day, only a 5 minute job but it will allow me to judge how much more we need for the new flowerr bed. I shall but some on the rockery where I am going to plant the small lavenders, but I will not plant them until the weather cools down later in the week.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. I#m glad to hear you are going to take account of the hot weather. We don't need to bother here, at the moment it is very dark out there, we have extremely heavy overcast. I think I might disconnect the computer as I go to bed early. I hope you have a good day....

[Stanley]

Back up and dealing with the chicken. I can feel a change of mind coming on and I am going to cook my veggies even though I could get away with leaving it until tomorrow. .....

[Stanley]

A bit later..... That was a good call. I have finished cooking and am just waiting for the hob to cool down so that I can clean and polish it. A bonus is the fact that dealing with all this food means I have no desire to eat dinner and that's a good thing. I am not in danger of suffering from malnutrition!

[Wendyf]

I've got a pan of runner bean chutney on the boil. No matter how few beans I plant there is always a glut! My annual batch of chutney keeps me going through the year, but it doesn't half make the house stink.

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[Stanley]

A clean smell though Wendy! (That's a good family size pan!)
How was Trawden show yesterday? I thought about you and wondered whether it was a bit warm.
Good for the show committee though, I'm glad they had a good day. It must be so dispiriting when you work all year and then get washed out on the day.
I have no other matters on my mind having done all the cooking yesterday so I shall be able to concentrate on the shed at 06:00 and then doing bugger all for the rest of the day!

[Sue]

Morning

At last a more normal day today with temperatures back down to 25. Yesterday was about 32 and oh so very humid. It was cloudy so possible to sit in the shade in the garden reading which we did a lot of the time. Today is mixed cloud and sun.

This morning we shall food shop then this afternoon Bob is putting the final coat on the flooring in the new room, Jane has some online work to do and I have decided to paint the remaining cupboard in the new room to match the other furniture.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

As usual you are making the most of the day Sue! I was a good boy this morning and went in the shed.....



I had a day off yesterday because I had too much to do but back on the job this morning. First thing I did was make sure my vise was truly square on the table. That piece of ground tool stock 18" X 2" is very useful! Then I squared both ends of the bed and set up to face the target end and take it down to the required thickness. Lots of small cuts and patience but I have it right now. Time for breakfast I think.

[Wendyf]

Trawden Show was enjoyable and not too hot as there was a bit of a breeze up there on the hill. It was probably more than a bit uncomfortable if you had to spend all day in one of the marquees, we were glad to get outside after looking round the art & craft tents. It was good to see the poultry tent back now bird flu has retreated and there was a decent turnout of livestock.
I would have liked to see better entertainment in the main ring and a more generous supply of straw bales for seating but that's being fussy! My friend and I had a good look at the cattle who get so primped and preened it's ridiculous, one large, black heifer even had glitter sprinkled over her curled coat! It was good to see the dairy cattle, belonging to the daughter of a friend, spotlessly clean but otherwise as nature intended.
I saw the now magnificent looking Minnie, the mini cob I borrowed for a while after I lost Dennis. She was being shown by her new owner, an eleven year old girl who absolutely adores her. I exchanged a quick hello with Helen, the vet from Stanley House who came out on that dreadful nightmare night when Dennis had his twisted gut, and managed to get close enough to inject him.
We also bumped into my farrier, and I got a lovely hug, which was a treat. So a good day was had!
The pan is wonderful, stainless steel with a very solid bottom which makes it great for doing my chutney and for making soup. I can only think that we bought it in a sale as it would have been an expensive buy. It is a Tramontina brand, made in Brazil.

[Stanley]

That's a good report Wendy and, like you, I'm not a fan of glitter on show cattle. I used to get 20 + cattle ready for the ring every Wednesday at Gisburn and never used glitter!
Glad you had a good day and what a treat seeing Minnie again!

[Wendyf]

Here is Minnie going into the ring with her rather overheated and stressed young handler. Photo courtesy of Steve Bradley photography.

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[Stanley]

Poor Lass! (The handler) She does look a bit stressed...... Minnie looks to be well cared for.
I shall be in the shed at 06:00 doing useful things to my castings and not wasting time later trying to get sense out of on line organisations. Would that everything was as simple as making steam engines!

[Sue]

Morning

A much cooler day yesterday and quite a chill breeze. I think it will be similar today. Today we are going to the lake Bob and I went to last week, probably lunch out.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, that sounds like a nice quiet day. I hope it all goes well.



This morning was all about refining the bed casting. First was hand work to prepare the bed for the nuts on the reverse side of the target end. Then milling all the surfaces I could get to and using the file to clean up what was missed. The milling included the beds for the crankshaft bearings and the crosshead slide. Then I polished the interior of the hole through the target end and finally drilled the mounting lugs clearance for the 2BA bolts that will hold it to the base. That;s enough for this morning's hour in the shed. Now for breakfast!

[Stanley]

Shed at 06:00 with a nice choice of tasks..... After second sleep I shall sally forth to Well and get my meds, Garlick's for a new electric razor and the Co-op for milk. Support local economies! After that I shall do bugger all..... I will deserve a rest!

[Sue]

Morning

I had the best nights sleep in ages, it was quite cool, just 11 degrees this morning instead of 18. We had a good outing yesterday but did not walk round the Lake, instead did a walk in a different part of the forest. We had intended walking up to ‘Merlins’ tomb, a Neolithic tomb supposedly linked to the legend of Merlin. It was a very rugged up hill path in a circuit of 2 miles but we did not have appropriate shoes on. We got so far, admired the view and turned back. We were home about 4. 30 pm and spent a sunny evening in the garden. Bob went off on his little tractor to start mowing the field/orchard which has not been cut this year but must be done otherwise it becomes a fire hazard.

Today is a religious public holiday. This morning we are off to an annual car boot sale….if you can call it that. It takes over a whole village and over the years I have bought a number of bargains such as my large floor easel. We will be back for a late lunch. This evening we are lighting the pizza oven again for pizzas with Jane. Otherwise no doubt Bob will be grass cutting , Jane will be reading and I will finish painting a cupboard for my newly decorated and nearly finished art cum sewing room which is beginning to look rather nice after its complete renovation.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

All sounds well with you Sue. A nice mix of entertainment and maintenance work. I hope you have a good visit to the sale!



Only one pic needed this morning. I started by reducing the thickness of the webs on my crankshaft, they were a bit too thick. Then I finished mounting the bed on the base, drilling and tapping for the four 2BA bolts. That took an hour.... Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed at 06:00 doing useful things to my engine. I have only two tasks facing me today, Post a letter and sow the seeds Peter sent me in the front garden. (If I can find it!) Otherwise I shall be looking after myself.

[Sue]

Morning

After a cold start it was a very nice day yesterday. We spent a pleasant morning at the car boot sale and I bought a plant ( agapanthus) and a couple of jigsaws. In the afternoon we both remembered that noisy machinery is not allowed on a holiday and on Sundays, so we picked blackberries from the hedge and ended up pruning back a few tree branches and long blackberry shoots. Despite my legs being covered this morning they are covered in little insect bites which are rather itchy .

Today it is warm and misty, and a few drizzly showers are forecast. They may come to nothing. This morning we shall leave Jane doing some work on her laptop and shall go into La Gacilly to book Sunday lunch and buy a couple of items we forgot when we went shopping on Tuesday. This afternoon we are taking Jane to the Museum of the Resistance where we went with Barbara and Bill the other week. In between times I will put the second coat of paint on my cupboard.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Hard luck with the insects Sue! My legs are itching in sympathy.... I like the idea of noisy machinery being banned on high days and holidays.



First job this morning was more refining of the bed and base castings, starting with hand work with files, then drilling the lugs in the bed for the mounting screws (Notice how handy a few long series drills can be.). Next I mounted the bed and base on a temporary plinth which makes it better for fitting. Then a complete change, I started on the refining of the flywheel casting. I made a good start on that, cleaned up the CI dust and left the shed in search of breakfast.

[Stanley]

Back from my walk. Letter posted and half an hour on traffic duty. The sun has just come out. It's pleasant but chilly, I have put my long sleeved shirt back on.