Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed early doors working on my valve train. Later I have a normal day, no fratching about the courier, my castings were delivered yesterday. All I have to do is cook my veggies which I shopped for yesterday.

[Sue]

Morning

The washing dried. The sun came out about 3 after a grey damp start but I persevered with the washing outside and when we got back home at 8 it was dry enough to fold and put away.

It was a fabulous birthday do, 18 of us in total. Paul had cooked a huge piece of pork overnight so we had a sit down meal that lasted two or three hours. We had a real introduction to a french outdoor party on what was also a public holiday. Joanne and Pauls daughters are both married to lively frenchmen who had us singing but not quite dancing and later playing a game similar to boules. We laughed all the time we were there and it was a lovely way to end our three weeks here.

This morning i shall clean the two bathrooms , mop through and then make an omelette for lunch. Before we leave for St Malo we will pop round to say au revoir to Laetitia and Yves who are just finishing their final clean and decorate before handing their keys back. We stay at St Malo tonight and drive down to the ferry in the morning.

Its a sunny start and due to reach 27 degrees. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue! Sounds like a good do. I can't believe you've been there for three weeks, the time flies past.



I drilled the bracket for its fixing studs, then transferred those locations to the casting. Now I have fitted the 5BA studs bedded in Loctite and left them to cure. I shall have breakfast now!

[Stanley]

I started the day with a walk to the Co-op for milk and a couple of other items. They have, to a large extent, re-stocked now. Still light rain but I am back home now, everything put away and after a hot drink I shall get stuck into the veggie cooking!

[Sue]

Stanley its 4 weeks on Tuesday since we left home, and it will be Sunday evening when we are back. Its hard to think its two weeks since we went to the Dordogne. Its 11.20 and all the cleaning is done, as good as I can get it and its taken a few days a bit at a time. We are having a cuppa then Bob is going to mow the lawn and I shall water the veg as no rain is forecast for nearly a week . Then its lunch and off to St Malo, if we can park a walk on the beach would be nice

[Big Kev]

Picking up the Yeti, it's been in for an MOT. Sailed through with no advisories

[Stanley]

I hope you get your walk Sue and that it's a nice day for it.
Kev, you and Mick and Susan are on the same page of the hymn book, they have had a trouble free MOT of the motorhome today. I'm pleased for all of you.....
Nothing so adventurous for me but I have cooked today's veggies and am waiting for the hob to cool down so I can clean it. All pots and pans are away..... Always a good point in the week!

[PanBiker]

Just back from the dentist. I had an appointment for late June or Early July. dentists rang yesterday with a cancellation so I took that up. called at the Coop on the walk back and picked up some toothpaste for the holiday.

[Big Kev]

Just back from the dentist. I had an appointment for late June or Early July. dentists rang yesterday with a cancellation so I took that up. called at the Coop on the walk back and picked up some toothpaste for the holiday.

Paulette had the same, a cancellation for lunchtime today.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed early doors and not doing any cooking today!

[Stanley]

It was difficult to find one picture to describe this morning's hour in the shed. It was spent in refining not only the fit of the valve rod support but of the crank pin bearing also. As you can see I have taken the flywheel and shaft out of the engine to get better access to the governor stand in situ. I've made good progress and will carry on with the same tasks tomorrow. Now for breakfast!

[Sue]

Morning
We are sat on the quayside having just booked in. We will be hereabout an hour or so. Its busy, lots of half term holiday makers going home.

It was later than we expected when we left the house so no time for a walk later. I had written a note to our neighbour Sylvie who lives across from us, very quiet lady who keeps to herself. However we wanted to give her our contact details in case there was ever a problem at the house and Yves wasn’t around. Sylvie likes to chat and hauledme inside. Chat is not the word its really listen and she speaks very quickly so my translation skills are put to the test.

Then we went round to say au revoir to Laetitia so it was nearly 2.30 when we lect and after 4 when we arrived at the hotel. We booked in then went across the road for a much needed beer. It was 29 degrees here . We didn’t do much else. By the time we had the beer and a sit down it was 5.30. We ate at 7 at the local Chinese buffet. Chinese food seems to be the foreign food of choice in France much as it was in the UK in the 60s and 70 s.

Its forecast a smooth sunny crossing but we rarely sit outside , we usually read in the cabin, or wander round the ship. We even have a TV these days. We stay in Portsmouth overnight, arriving at about 6.15. Have a good day all

[Sue]

Just back from the dentist. I had an appointment for late June or Early July. dentists rang yesterday with a cancellation so I took that up. called at the Coop on the walk back and picked up some toothpaste for the holiday.

Paulette had the same, a cancellation for lunchtime today.

We have the dentist on Tuesday I think

[Stanley]

Just back from a short walk and a couple of shelf fillers at the Co-op. Now I shall cook some buttered swede to extend the veggies.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed first thing doing more work on refining the fitting of my engine. My mind goes to the ferry from St Malo, I think Sue and Bob will be having a quiet crossing.....
Later we are promised a showery day so I doubt if I will be having a walk. Perhaps cooking some savoury cabbage instead!

[Stanley]

This morning I carried on with refining the fit so far and this morning I concentrated on the flyshaft, crank and piston. I stripped the whole lot down including taking the piston and rod out and after checking everything and refining the finish I built it all up including packing the piston and tested it. There's one tight spot on the crank but otherwise everything is correct and the tight spot will rectify itself with running. Before I move on to the eccentric and valve train I want to fit the plinth that it will live with because in order to do that I have to separate the bed and the base. So that's a clear path for tomorrow. Now that path leads straight to my breakfast!

[Sue]

Morning

It was a lovely crossing Stanley, though in places, particular round the Channel Islands it was a little foggy. We were on the new boat that we have been on tbree times now but that was our first day crossing. We are members of the Brittany Ferry travellers club and this new ferry has a lovely big lounge that as members you can use all day. Any one can use it at an extra cost , as members we pay slightly less. For that we get comfy chairs, continuous tea, coffee, soft drinks, a cooked and or continental breakfast ( though we had eaten at the hotel but that doesn’t stop Bob. I had some fruit salad):and a light 3 course lunch with table wine and later afternoon tea. This more than pays for itself as normally even a cup of tea costs about £2, coffee £2.50 and we had loads of them. We spent all day in there sometimes chatting to fellow passengers but mainly reading. We has a couple of hours sleep back in the cabin after lunch. From our seats in the lounge we had a lovely view from the front of the ship. The ship was dead on time, turning its engines off on the destination time

We have just woken at the Premier Inn, and after breakfast we are driving to Coventry where we will have Sunday lunch with the family before heading home. I shall be back in my jeans to deal with the cooler temperatures . Have a good day all

[Stanley]

That's a good report Sue. Glad it's all gone well up to now and I hope you have a good trip back home.
You're right about it going to be cooler. That's the picture for the whole week but quite a bit of sun as well..... It's Flaming June now so we have chance!

[Stanley]

I've had two hours of second sleep and now I'm sat down with two pans of savoury cabbage simmering on the hob.....

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed early doors but this morning I'll be working on the plinth for the engine. We are getting very close to another finished engine....
Later I shall almost certainly be having a walk and a spell on traffic duty because we have a good forecast.

[Stanley]

No single image describes this busy morning. I have been puzzling over how to cushion the underside of the plinth to protect the surface the engine is resting on. I had run out of sheet rubber but remembered some drawers that were lined with it and didn't need it so I robbed one... Then after cutting the pads to size I had to clear the nozzle of the glue bottle. Would you believe that took 15 minutes at least! Once I had glued the rubber to the wood I did some jobs on the engine to get it ready for transfer to the permanent plinth, like take it off the old one. Breathe on the fit of the valve rod in the support, the gland and the valve chest. By the time I had solved that problem it was time to go looking for my breakfast!

[Sue]

Morning

We arrived back home about 5.00 pm after a relatively easy journey both to Coventry and then back home. We unpacked and I washed what little there was. Most of it dried on the line before 8.00pm. I hurriedly wrote a quick report in French on our 4 weeks away ready for my french conversation class at Haslingden this morning. This afternoon I will have to do some garden tidying as everything is looking rather wild, and sadly somewhat devoid of its usual flowers at this time of year.

We have a busy week ahead with a number of appointements, such as Doctor, dentist and my car MOT. The forecast is dry, sun, cloud and about 15 degrees. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Sounds like a busy day Sue, why am I not surprised. The wildness in the garden is better than the dearth there would have been if the drought had persisted. I think the rain came just in time for immediate survival. What particularly impressed me was writing that report in French..... deep respect!
Let's hope the weather soon warms up a bit. My heating came on this morning.... This is June for God's sake!
Wishing you a good day..... I'm off to bed now.

[Stanley]

I've had my walk and got three swedes for 45p each at the Co-op. They are simmering in a pan on the hob, they'll make a very useful extender for my veggies. It all brings the unit cost down!

[PanBiker]

My next task will be packing.