Today I shall be Mainly...

[plaques]

I am a member of an online group for people with second homes in France. I was name called and all sorts last week when I said this on the site. No one would listen.

Some people can't see logic even if it was the size of an elephant. In some respects it may be because that they have made an investment in France that is turning a bit sour at the moment. In the long run it may all get back to normal but as they say 'in the long run we are all D...'!

[Sue]

I am a member of an online group for people with second homes in France. I was name called and all sorts last week when I said this on the site. No one would listen.

Some people can't see logic even if it was the size of an elephant. In some respects it may be because that they have made an investment in France that is turning a bit sour at the moment. In the long run it may all get back to normal but as they say 'in the long run we are all D...'!

I think some are just being very naive. We too have an investment there but not worth risking my life for at the moment. What we have there is worth the same as what we have here, but here we know how to cope when the chips are down as they say, there not so much so . So many still just see the idyllic lifestyle and not the problems of actually living there longterm . As I have said to many recently, there is more to my life than just going to France, I think some have nothing else and just live for the day, denying all obstacles

[Marilyn]

We have holiday investments. One has to wear the loss at present.
Luckily, we own them outright, so there are no mortgages to upset us....

[Sue]

We have holiday investments. One has to wear the loss at present.
Luckily, we own them outright, so there are no mortgages to upset us....

Us neither. We bought France outright with the money from Bobs Mums house. Just concerned that no one has been in the property since we left on May6 th. , just in the garden. We will get it checked over, we have lots of friends and contacts who will be happy to do so.

[Stanley]

I have enough trouble with looking after here!
Today is going to be veggie cooking I think as I get my ducks in a row preparatory to serious parts making in the shed.

[Sue]

Morning

No dance exercise yesterday. Taira is on holiday and could not get a signal. So after doing a couple of loads of washing we packed a picnic and went for a nice walk from the golf course at Whitworth over to the reservoir at Wardle. We found a lovely spot in an isolated corner for our picnic, overlooking the reservoir and the hills. I rather like walking over there as if my genealogy research is correct it is an area often walked and lived in by the Widdups as they progressively moved over tge centuries from Heptonstall to Rochdale and later to Barnoldswick It was mid afternoon when we got back. I did some sewing on jeans number 3 and Bob was cutting tiles in the back garden for a model he is making. In the evening I had a nice long chat with Eve on Whats App. She wanted to show me all the things she has got ready for starting at High School . She is getting very excited.

This morning is Bacup market , then packing another picnic to spend lunch in the park with Claire and family. Later this afternoon its Briony’s turn for a chat on Whats App. Other than that I have no specific plans except doing the ironing, or possibly continuing with cutting back tired perennials in the garden .

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Sounds like a relaxed day Sue. Good luck with it.
I have been thronged dealing with Jack and cooking. Glad to have a break and a sit down!

[Marilyn]

Watched the “Soreen Story” tonight. I have tried it, and one slice is very enjoyable.

[Wendyf]

"Don't forget the Soreen Doreen!"
Loved malt loaf in the days when we ate cake.... with butter and Dairylea spread thickly.

[Sue]

Watched the “Soreen Story” tonight. I have tried it, and one slice is very enjoyable.

Yum

[Gloria]

Oh love malt loaf with loads of butter, not had it for years, might have to look for one.

[PanBiker]

I like it toasted with butter of course.

[Stanley]

The Artisan Baker does an excellent malt loaf, not as squishy as Soreen and I prefer it. I admit to having one for a treat occasionally. I don't need anything on it, just love the malty taste.
Aiming for the shed. F1 Quali on catch up and of course the snooker which is fascinating. My mate Ronnie is worried because he has lost his cue action but he's still leading 10-8 overnight.

[Sue]

Morning

Good picnic yesterday, but cloudy and a cool breeze. When the sun came out it felt warm, without it not so. In the afternoon I managed to finish my washing and do the ironing, so all done for another week. I also planted some winter pansies amongst my begonias, having bought them at the market in the morning .

In the evening we watched a film, Fishermans Friend, on Amazon Prime, and whilst watching it I noticed the funny fluid filled lump in mouth started to disappear. By the time we came to bed it was gone. This morning it has still gone . The area feels quite normal but just a little sore. The speed with which it went after being there for over two and a half weeks was amazing. It must have been a burn blister. I shall probably cancel the dentist in the morning .

I had a lovely chat with Briony on whats app. She had spent the day at a friends house. A thoroughly normal day, that is OLD normal. She was absolutely bubbling over quite her old self. I could not get a word in. 5 minutes afterwards I had a message to call her back as she had forgotten things she had to tell me. I could have climbed in that phone to give her a hug.
Today they are off on holiday for a few days down to Suffolk. The whole family is excited!

This morning is yoga, followed by my luxury soak in the bath, manicure and pedicure. Then I shall finish my jeans. I only have a couple of fitting issues to sort ( created by a rather stupid novices mistake!) , and the waistband to complete. I have no other plans. If the rain holds off we may go for a walk, otherwise I feel a bit of Christmas card craft making coming on. Not something I normally do, but we had been doing some way back in January at the craft group and as I have all the bits and pieces now I thought I would have a go. Its a sedentary quiet activity and one that will use up various scraps of card and paper in my art cum sewing room.

Have a good day everyone.

[Wendyf]

Good news about your gum Sue.
Today looks like an indoor day, it's damp and misty out there. I have soup to make and history society accounts to get up to date so plenty to keep me occupied without having to resort to cleaning. There is no hope of history society meetings resuming in the forseeable future but we are continuing to sell books and distribute the quarterly Earby Chronicles to our members.
I'm relieved to have cut all my grass yesterday whilst the weather was still good, it was thick, wet and hard work!

[Stanley]

Just for a minute Sue I thought it was a Fisherman's Friend that had cured your blister. Glad it's gone and I hope that's the back of it.



I have had an hour in the shed and made an arbor so I can use my unbalanced wire wheel on the pillar drill. I am fed up with my grinder vibrating! Now I'll have to spend money on a good medium grinding wheel....

[Stanley]

Calling the vet's and making the earliest appointment possible with my friend Gillian Marsh.
Aiming for the shed. Watching F1 on catch up. Otherwise surviving the day. (My fingers are crossed for Sue and her blister!)

[Sue]

Morning

My mouth is fine thank you Stanley, I shall be phoning the dentist to cancel my appointment . I am relieved to say the least.

I have pilates 10-11 am , then afterwards I shall pop to Dunelm to buy a reel of thread, I ran out yesterday when I only had the waistband, a bit of topstitching and the buttonhole todo on my jeans . All bits that needed the correct coloured thread. I shall make a detour via the postoffice as I have a letter to post to our neighbours in France. Yves has been looking after the garden so we have sent money for petrol and what ever else he needs as it will now be mid October before our next planned visit.

Yesterday after yoga was a bit of a patchwork in activity. I spent a deal of time and thread trying to correct the fitting error on my jeans and then had to abandon. I then spent a couple of hours using my craft die cutter producing masses of Christmassy images, ready for making Christmas cards. I also had a go redesigning the shape of my mask pattern. I decided it was too high on the cheekbones getting in the way if my glasses. Having studied the shape of equivalent bought masks I have curved the section that goes over the cheekbones and it feels much better.

At teatime Eve messaged me on Whats App, the girls were keen to give me a guided tour of the airBnB that they are staying at on a farm in Suffolk. I hope the weather improves, it was very wet.

Todays activities will be a similar to yesterday depending on the weather. Forecast is not good.

Have a good day everone

[Stanley]

It's not good here either Sue. You may see the rain clear before us as it seems to be tracking North. Glad to hear your mouth is still improving!
I'm sat getting a breather after almost two hours in the shed. Then a walk with Jack, Breakfast, call the vets and post in shed matters. I remind myself that shed is light exercise and is good for me!

[Marilyn]

You need a breather after 2 in the shed? Fair enough...

[plaques]

The secret is to do a bit every day, it doesn't matter if its only 10 minutes. I ran a similar regime with my motorbike restorations until my pal in Bolton died we had worked as a team for years. I thought I'd put it to one side until the memory eased. A big mistake, its been stood there for three years 80% finished. Keep going even if its only a small amount.

[Stanley]

I agree Ken, it's a bench mark for me that signifies I am still firing on all cylinders.
You all know what I will be doing today.

[Marilyn]

I finally got the sewing machine packed away, after 2 weeks sewing. I am “masked out” . No more masks...I am done.
It was good to finally Hoover in all the corners and shake the table cloth.
I made 90 masks in the end ( I thought I had stopped at 80, but hubby wanted some plain black ones).
Still awaiting elastic, but no stocks to be had. Did the hour and a half drive to a large sewing shop last Saturday, but shelves were stripped bare. So my only option is to wait and see what the Patchwork shop offers when the order arrives...any day now...they have been telling me for a fortnight.

Meanwhile...”Otter’s Noses Anyone?”.....” Otter’s Noses?...”

[Sue]

Morning

Excellent Maz, I will stick with my 8. I have to say, I don‘t find them easy to breathe in but the ones with thinner cotton (Liberty print) are better than the quilters cotton fabric, even though the latter was recommended. My new shaped front over the cheeks seems better in terms of not getting in the way of my glasses. I find the elastic rope is far more comfortable than the narrow elastic. I wonder if you can get that more easily. .

Today is pouring with rain, which is good because all the rain we have had recently has been little more than drizzle and hardly wet the ground. It will be indoor projects. I have a couple of ideas. I want to make a more sturdy copy of my jeans pattern as it is disintegrating with the various alterations, and I want to carry on with my Christmas card project. This evening is the double pilates and yoga session.

Yesterday I finished my jeans. I had run out of thread so went to Dunelm for some more but they no longer had the colour. I bought two reels of green but neither matched, so had to do my buttonholes and hand sewing in white. Luckily the trousers have a white stripe so it doesn’t look too bad. Despite my appalling error two days ago I have managed to rectify the mistake, and am pleased with the end result. I am particularly pleased with my pattern match across pockets and the NEW yoke which had to be cut out from scraps having damaged the first one.

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So a visit to the shops and sewing more or less filled the day. An extra visit in the afternoon saw us buying a new leather sofa from the Chesterfield outlet near us. Its not a chesterfield m actually much more comfortable and has recliner seats at either end. Perfect! We will have to wait several weeks for delivery but are not worried, our existing leather sofa is many years old and owes us nothing but is beginning to wear badly. The chairs that match are perfect and very comfortable but hardly used so we have decided to keep those, being dark green it is difficult to match the colour so we have gone for a neutral reddy brown contrast in the sofa to match the mahogany furniture. Also rather old now, but perfectly OK and too expensive to replace everything.

I have a red tomato forming!

Have a good day

[Stanley]

The jeans and the filling are brilliant Sue! (I am retraining [I'm leaving that typo because it is entirely apposite!] myself.)
This morning's normal routine has understandably gone overboard. So I am sat here as usual after a stint in the shed but I'll post now on shed matters and have a nibble in place of breakfast, I have absolutely no appetite.
Courage mon brave, onwards and upwards! (That doesn't help....)