Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Sue, best thing to do with a cold, sleep it off and if possible have a good sweat! The virus doesn't like raised temperatures...
David, both Marie and the nurse who fitted my surgical stockings before my operation at BGH had a quick stroke of my calves and commented how good they are! These small reassurances are valuable at my age! Never thought about cats and sand pits, I'm impressed by your precautions.
I remember swimming in a domestic pool in the US once and the owner told me the brown fibres in the water were fungus strands from the pipework. I thought it best to keep stum!

[David Whipp]

Thanks Stanley; if people like stroking your calves, you could possibly get part time work at Thornton Hall Farm...?!

When we did the first Beach (5 times ago?), me and Lindsay thought through what could go wrong with it. Getting broken glass or other contamination in it were some of the risks we considered that (together with weather...) persuaded us to put a marquee over it. Putting a floor down, then covering it with carpet and visqueen, are other things that we do to protect the sand and the children using it. Maybe I'm too anal, but it's attention to detail.

The marquee is the most costly part of the set up, but it's that that's made Barnoldswick Beach a success when similar ventures have failed to thrive. But by using it for the Barnoldswick in Bloom Awards and the Heritage Weekend after the Beach has ended, my view is that we get good value from it.

Speaking of those events, I'm increasingly thinking through, and preparing for, post-Beach activities in the marquee today and over the weekend...

[Stanley]

I think you are dead right about the marquee, it makes all the difference and it's noticeable that the expenditure on it has never been seriously challenged (apart from stupid complaints about parking!). When I contrast an effort like 'The Beach' with the vapid advice given by Mary Portass the advantages are obvious.
I shall be doing all I can to pass the time within the limits set by the current state of my vision. Reading is just possible but a pain. Solitaire on full
screen is a godsend. I shall record the F1 at Spa and watch it this evening.....

[David Whipp]

Good luck with vision coping strategies Stanley.

Have to pop up to beach to put a top coat on six new boxes undercoated yesterday after beach closed (was too knackered to do it yesterday evening). After that, hope to get a decent walk with family.

[Marilyn]

On Friday the surveyors came to check the soon-to-be-built-on plot next door...to discover the rear part of our side fence ( dividing us and them) was 4 inches too far "their " way, whilst it was pretty well correct at the front.
So Febby and I spent at least 6 hours shifting the ruddy thing today.
We found the original surveyors peg and realised they were correct...nothing else to do...though we bought the house with the fence already in situ, it is unfair to trespass on their space.
Unfortunately it meant dealing with posts that had been concreted in and a side pergola that needs shortening along about 10.metres of it's length...by as little as an inch(!) and as much as two inches (!).
It is not the moving of it, as much as the expense of new screws etc....plus supporting the structure whilst it is adjusted.
Groan...
Buyer beware! At least it was easy stuff and not bricks and mortar.
( Febby now soaking in a bath of Radox)

[David Whipp]

Good fences... as they say...

[Marilyn]

True...

[Stanley]

Hard luck both of you. Now to find the original fence builder and sue them!

[LizG]

Shouldn't the owners of the other side of the fence have some responsibility for the costs you have incurred? after all the initial cost of installation is shared.

[Marilyn]

No...the fence was erected by the people who previously owned our house...we bought the house believing all was correct. The neighbour bought the block with the fence in situ too. It is only now he intends to build that his surveyors informed us of the four inch discrepancy.
We've done the right thing anyway.
Hopefully that will be the end of it. No big deal once we found the original surveyors peg, though why the previous owner chose to ignore it, we can't understand.
We wouldn't have bothered moving the fence if it had been in our neighbour's favour though!

[Cathy]

I would have been spitting chips, how annoying that you actually had to do all that when it was no fault of your own. It sounds to me like the surveyor was speaking for the next door owners without them knowing about it. When they finally move in I would be asking them! Ridiculous.

[Marilyn]

We spoke to the neighbour too, Cathy.
He had suspected his own measurements had come up slightly short. It had to be sorted, as the wall of his garage will be built on the boundary. Better to know ahead of time than wake one morning to find diggers munching up our side fence...
Neighbour across the road said he had a similar problem...his neighbours had 30cm of their carport constructed on his property!
Everyone seems a bit relaxed about measurements here in the country!

We got a shock yesterday when a 4WD vehicle came onto the neighbours block and drove up to us as we worked on the fence. The man in the car asked us what we were doing ( and we wondered who on earth he was because he isn't our new neighbour).
Then he said " I came to return the key to your house". Turns out he was a friend of the previous owners and he had a key to the house because he often popped in to check the home and collect mail for them! Quite an observant fellow, because on his drive past our letterbox he noticed we had a new lock on it...so we wouldn't be wanting the old letterbox key...would we? ( he said as he wound one of the keys off the key ring he then handed me).
Adding that key to the one we found under a garden ornament, we are wondering how many more are about.
He shook my garden-gloved hand, said he had enjoyed many a party in our home, and drove off across the block...leaving us somewhat bewildered...

[Sue]

Today started with drizzle, then showers, then heavy and now torrential. The garden path is now a stream

[Stanley]

Looking forward to my eye test at dinnertime. First stage in getting rid of the double vision hopefully! Probably why I woke up early....

[David Whipp]

Understand waking up with anticipation Stanley - it's a bit like Christmas in a sense - but it's a beggar with an appointment; you have longer to wait...

Yesterday evening, was mainly making third batch of strawberry jam, after Choudry's persuaded me to take some off their hands cheap...

[Sue]

I have been making jam too. 12 jars of apricot which I adore and 6 of plum. We have shelves of the home made stuff here in France, love it. That strawberry looked good.

[David Whipp]

Alison is about to ban me from jam making.

With blackberries burdening brambles I can hardly resist the urge... we still have several jars of last year's blackberry and apple though.

(In my photo, you can see we're still making good use of the Aldi satsuma crate for our citrus fruit...!)

Oh, and I treated myself to a new jam pan... from Aldi....

[PanBiker]

Going to work but in recovery mode from our successful completion of the Way of the Roses coast to coast bike ride yesterday, got back late so not the time or the will to post last night. I'll post a report somewhere else tonight in due course.

[Wendyf]

Looking forward to hearing all about it Ian.

[Marilyn]

I bet you hurt and have chaffed "bits", Panbiker.

Jam! Oh how clever you lot are! Made Quince jam for my father-in-law one year ( it was his tree and he didn't know how to go about it)...but now I don't know anyone who would eat it.
We stuffed ourselves with hedgerow berries of all types last year when over your way on holidays....and the memories of that ( and photos of stained lips and fingers) will have to do us.
But it is heart-warming to see those full jars. Well done.

[Stanley]

This a DIY post as you can start it off by inserting any swear words that come to mind..... Vision Express (?) rang me this morning to cancel my appointment and offer me another one for a week tomorrow. This triggered me into doing something I have been contemplating for a while for various reasons. I have made an appointment at Bontofts for this Thursday, let's see how they perform.

[Marilyn]

Bum! ...?

[David Whipp]

That's a beggar Stanley.

Bontofts have provided family with an excellent service since they set up in town.

Colin Holdsworth, who used to have what is now 'Vision Express' is part of the set up.

Both James Bontoft and Colin are local people who provide a professional independent service.

[Big Kev]

I use Bontofts and have found them very helpful

[PanBiker]

I bet you hurt and have chaffed "bits", Panbiker.

A bit of an understatement that Maz. I will reveal all (not literally) when I post details of our trip.