OneGuyFromBarlick

Suffering an over abundance of dog hair...

Oh dear!



Here's my test pump.Tell Bob hard luck but he will cure it!
Aiming for the shed again but I have some cooking to do....
Maz, join the club! I know the problem.

Later. A storm of cooking has overtaken the shed. I have just sat down for the first time in over an hour. Quite enough honest endeavour for one morning as we aren't finished yet. I still have to deal with (mash) the veggies when they have cooked. There is a limit even to my dedication.

Morning all

That was just the first test Stanley, I don’t think Bob was too concerned. It was a good photo opportunity!

It was my day off yoga/pilates etc yesterday. I have now reached the point , after last weeks back issue , when generally there are no after aches which is good. However it was still an energetic morning as we were at the market by 8.30 am and home again before 9.00 am , and before the queues , loaded with bread, veg, pies, eggs, meat and our french pastries and croissants. There was an extra stall which has been allowed to open so I indulged in some plants. The store holder says it was nice to be open again. He also said his business had expanded over lockdown as so many people have been doing gardening. He now has two more poly tunnels and is doing deliveries, including our area which is Tuesdays. We like going over to Bacup market, as it is small, friendly, and we are supporting local businesses. We feel very safe too. Its further to go than Rochdale but still probably faster as we can park by the market, get everything in one place then its home for breakfast, cereal , fresh warm croissants and coffee.

After breakfast and our usual leisurely coffee we cleaned through the house between us. By lunchtime we were feeling very virtuous In the afternoon Bob did his steam test and carried on with the work out in his workshop. I continued with Bob’s shirt but have reached a natural end at the moment. I received an email to say the contrast fabric , I had ordered, would be delayed for a week. I wasn’t happy as the day before I was told it would arrive yesterday. I have some more fabric on order from May 16th and every couple of days I get an email with a new delivery date . So I decided to look elsewhere. I found the same fabric cheaper in an outlet in Harrogate that I use often and ordered it. I then emailed the first company , cancelled my order, asked for my money back and said I wasn’t happy with continuous changes in delivery dates and couldn’t keep having unfinished garments waiting for fabric that had no clear delivery and that I had sourced the fabric from elsewhere.

On the subject of fabric, Julia emailed me to say Briony wanted to make herself something to wear, what did I suggest. I found a nice simple pattern online, ordered it and had it delivered direct to Coventry. We wish to indulge B here as it is the first time she has really shown any enthusiasm for anything for weeks.

Today is a light breakfast followed by yoga at 10.30 am . After the usual, larger , Sunday lunch we are planning a walk as the weather looks like it may be dryer, certainly fewer heavy showers. We haven’t walked in the hills for over a week. Hopefully the duller day will keep the crowds away. Other than that I think I may carry on with my patchwork.

The butternut squash and summer squash seeds I planted the other day are up already. There was certainly something not right about the first batch I planted which did nothing for three weeks. A bit of sun should start to ripen the strawberries and my courgettes have flowers coming

Have a good day, stay safe

By lunchtime we were feeling very virtuous"
I know the feeling Sue. For instance this morning I have no problems about missing the shed. Veggies are cooked and mashed (And includes Greens Maz!) and I have a big piece of mutton belly slow cooking in last week's gravy which has been safe in the freezer. I shall lose a lot when I defat it but it's no matter, I like the cheap cuts! This is almost the end of the mutton so I shall have to order another sheep!

Definitely shed! I have no cooking to do. I completed the building of the mutton and veggies yesterday and all is ready.
Later... Some household tasks can only be postponed for so long. Washing and vacuuming come under thus heading. I have done both this morning and at 06:45 I am having a sit and a cup of tea before the shed.
It doesn't do a lot for Kahara's engine but I feel better now it is done!

Morning

Well we managed our walk yesterday, a good two hours. We planned our route as we went cutting corners and taking the less popular paths around. Not the most interesting of walks but fairly energetic as it was mainly uphill, even coming back entailed an undulating path. It was dryish and cool but whilst out the little washing I had on the line dried, so I also managed to complete the ironing. A successful weekend house wise, bedding changed, house cleaned, all washing and ironing done. Now we can have 7 days of messing it all up again

This morning is pilates, another walk this afternoon and nothing else planned particularly. I may transplant my butternut and summer squashes from the seed tray, but think they will benefit from another couple of days. I think a useful occupation would be to tidy my sewing and art room. I’ll see how I feel later !

Have a good day, stay safe.

Making more firewood out of the conifer we pulled down yesterday. I say pulled down because I always prefer to to pull the roots out and use the space for more choice shrubs etc. Conifer number two in our sites which is only 2ft away from the first one making part of the roots exposed. Easy-peasy as they say. What could go wrong.

Morning Sue. Just having a sit down after walking Jack round the Green and that was after an hour in the shed. I shall post that now while I have me breakfast!



This was the result of an hour in the shed. I am happy.

Normal routines and measuring the eccentric rod for the umpteenth time before attaching the fork!
08:00. Having a sit down after a very productive hour and a half in the shed. Pics later.....

Morning all

Having just completed my personality self assessment on the Covid forum I shall now plany my day!

No pilates etc till teatime when I do a two hour double session so the day is my own. There is a watercolour demonstration with Jeremy Ford on facebook live this morning which I may watch. We are planning a walk but apparently rain is forecast this afternoon, our usual time for walking. We did a nice loop yesterday along the old railway track , now bridle path, and up through the renovated hamlet of Prickshaw, on to Rooley Moor and back through the Dell, and the old railway track .

Bob spent the afternoon burning the old fence. We have bought one of those little dustbin incinerators we have in France as we cannot yet take the wood to the tip. He hopes to finish that today. I spent some time chasing up lost orders and getting my money back. My replacement order for the contrast fabric for Bobs shirt is yet another one out of stock. However I have sent a photo of Bobs shirt and the shop says they will try and match up one of the colours. This morning I had an email to say so e shoes I ordered are out of stock. Not an issues, I just saw them and liked them . I have too many shoes.

Yesterday I also received an email from the great grandson of the brother of my great grandfather John Widdup . Its only the second time I have been contacted by another family member.

Have a good day, stay safe.

I did forget one thing. This morning I am driving to a shop to buy an anniversary card and some yoghurts for lunch. It occurred to me yesterday that I haven’t driven since the first week in March so thought I had better do so. It will give my car an outing as well.

And check your eyesight!



Nice morning in the shed. A mock build to see where I have to go next!

Stanley wrote: ↑09 Jun 2020, 08:13 And check your eyesight!

Ha ha, Stanley I need to drive 30 miles to check my eyesight! All went well, the shop was as good as empty and well organised . I hadn‘t been in a supermarket since March 17 th. I was more worried about going in the shop than the car I think. I only went in today be ause we couldn’t think where else we could buy a card

Model looking good

Morning all

Busy day today. I have an online history class today and we are looking at the Civil war in Lancashire. Being a two hour class that pretty much takes care of the morning. This afternoon I need to do a piece for the twice monthly project of the U3A Creative writing group. Its due in today and I haven’t even thought about it. It seems to come round fast. Pilates is late, 8-9 pm followed by the Great British Sewing Bee. We may not get time to walk

I also need to try and put up some sort of support for my tomato plants in the greenhouse. I tried canes but as they are in grow bags there is no depth to support the cane. In fact on my first attempt I went straight through the bag and had to try and patch it underneath. There is nowhere on the roof of the greenhouse to support strings so I have come up with an idea. If I tie on tall canes to the corners of the table and greenhouse shelving I can tie string or another can horizontally cane between them. I can use that then for strings to support the plant. The plants look very sturdy and may not need much support as they won’t be growing very tall because of the slope of the roof.

My runner bean seeds came yesterday. The first lot never arrived lost in the big black Royal Mail hole, so I had to re-order. They are now planted and once big enough will be grown on cane wigwams in a very large pot like I grow them in France. I do not have the garden space for anything bigger.

Yesterday we managed a nice long walk from Whitworth golf club over to Watergrove reservoir, round the reservoir and back a different route. We had never done that walk before and discovered new things. At a push on a good day, we could manage it from home if we took a picnic with us.

We picked our first strawberry, and have a female courgette flower but no male flower to fertilise it. Its years since I have grown veg at home, its quite exciting, in a rural sort of way!

Have a good day all, stay safe.

All fixed

That'll work Sue.



I've started the build, getting excited now! I'll be in there today.

Morning all

Its a wild windy morning and although the ground is dry, rain is forecast. I shall take the opportunity between showers to have a walk to the post office as I have a small parcel to post to my English friend Joanne in France. Its pilates at 10.00 but I think the best time for walking is going to be early afternoon. I had a bit of a sort out of children's dressmaking patterns yesterday and found about 8 for years 6 months to 5. These are all no good to me now, but Joanne has a 6 month old grand daughter. I tidied all the packages up as I am not good at folding used patterns and tend to stuff them back in the envelopes. Anyway, having the time, I ironed them where appropriate and folded them all neatly, the main reason being I could then get them in a smaller jiffy bag for postage.

The buttons arrived for Bob’s shirt and I am hoping the contrast fabric will come today. I also ordered some fabric for me to make a new top for a dress I love. As I have lost a lot of weight since I made the dress, the top gapes badly round the neck and armholes. The style is such that I can make a new top two sizes smaller and attach it to the old skirt, provided the new fabric is a good match. Otherwise I will have to save the skirt for making something else or simply scrap it

Today I shall also have to do a bit of art preparation as I have an all day online watercolour workshop tomorrow with Jeremy Ford. I also have a new art project for my two art classes that I normally attend. Looks like its going to be another busy day, completed with yoga at 6.30 pm

Have a good day, stay safe.

I've had two and a half hours in the shed interrupted by a trip to Co-op for essential supplies like Milk. But I've had a good morning....

Ever contemplated using a local milkman to deliver your milk? I know a bloke, we get ours Monday Wednesday and Friday, orange as well once a week, he does other stuff as well.

I wish we had one, we did look into it, but nothing local. My daughters have both managed to get milk men to deliver. It hardly seems worth our while as we don’t get through much in a week. We have ours delivered with our Tesco order , which we have managed to weekly since we came back from France.

most roundsmen stopped new customers from signing up, that has probably relaxed now, but the bottled, delivered stuff is priced more than the supermarket carton, quite substantially, and much of the deliveries tend to be of premium designer prices and products ( of course in the old MMB retail price controls delivery and shop bought were the same price ). Same really applies to Tesco, etc, yes a delivery but to get cheap delivery costs you end up padding out with more than you can eat, or use, and miss the end of day etc bargains and the quality of items is depended on the pickers.

Walking is a challenge and I have to make myself do it. Going to the Co-op (which is only five minutes away) forces me to get one more little bit of activity. That's why I call Jack my fitness trainer. Same applies to shopping, it makes me exercise. Shed is another incentive to be on my feet and doing light exercise. These things are so important!
More shed today, we are progressing well with the fitting and build. See Shed Matters.

Whyperion wrote: ↑11 Jun 2020, 17:20 most roundsmen stopped new customers from signing up, that has probably relaxed now, but the bottled, delivered stuff is priced more than the supermarket carton, quite substantially, and much of the deliveries tend to be of premium designer prices and products ( of course in the old MMB retail price controls delivery and shop bought were the same price ). Same really applies to Tesco, etc, yes a delivery but to get cheap delivery costs you end up padding out with more than you can eat, or use, and miss the end of day etc bargains and the quality of items is depended on the pickers.

Morning all
We have had Tesco deliveries for some years ever since we had the misfortune of Bob’s hernia and my slipped disc within a few months of each other. We were both unable in fact instructed not to shop or carry things. We are perfectly happy with the system, and I am not sure what it is but pay minimal delivery charges of about £7 per month. We have no issue with delivery times being reasonably flexible. At the moment during lockdown its free. We have always shopped at Tesco,and know their goods. We never buy things we don’t need to make up orders. We rarely if ever get daft substitutes rarely get poor stuff. We buy our fresh food at small independent butchers and green grocers. The delivery men are polite, helpful and help us unpack the shopping in the kitchen. At the moment the delivery comes in bags which are left in the front porch for us to carry into the house. To us its more than worth it. We have to travel three miles to a decent supermarket anyway so there are petrol costs. ASDA is our nearest which we don’t like so then Tesco is our nearest. We only have local high priced stores in walking distance. As for late bargains, not bothered in the slightest. Shopping for food and household stuff is a chore. All done in one sweep, list made during the week from our armchair as we run out of things.

Not much to report today, as I have an all day online watercolour workshop with Jeremy Ford. Its 9.30 till 4.00. Slightly more expensive than his normal ones I attend in Shaw but an hour longer. Same format. I am looking forward to it.

Bobs contrast fabric arrived yesterday so I managed to do a bit mor on his shirt. I only need to attach the collar and do buttons and buttonholes. Then we need some sun ( and a bit of warmth would be nice) as its a very sunny holiday shirt!

If I get chance I will pot on my summer and winter squash plants as I think they are out growing their seed trays.

Thats my day, have a good one, stay safe.