Today I shall be Mainly...

[Marilyn]

I am the same, Big Kev. I do a lot of my work/ancestry/hobbies such as painting/jigsaws, stood at the billiard table. I have a board that can be slanted for painting/jigsaws so there is no bending forward.It is a good height with a lot of room and I can work my way round it without sitting. You get used to it, time passes and there are much less aches and pains. In fact, no pain at all for weeks. I am in a good place.

[Wendyf]

We have a very simple stepper machine, probably from Lidl, which Col uses to build up leg muscles and lower his blood sugars. A gentle 10 minutes walking on the stepper is more effective for him than a harder workout on the exercise bike. Kev, try getting one of those inflatable balance discs and put it on your chair to sit on while you are working, they improve your core strength while you are sitting there!

I have a 'stand up' desk Wendy, I sit down for my lunch but other than that it's 11 hours on my feet
Can you stand on the inflatable discs?

Yes, but you wouldn't be able to balance for long enough to do any work!

[Big Kev]

We have a very simple stepper machine, probably from Lidl, which Col uses to build up leg muscles and lower his blood sugars. A gentle 10 minutes walking on the stepper is more effective for him than a harder workout on the exercise bike. Kev, try getting one of those inflatable balance discs and put it on your chair to sit on while you are working, they improve your core strength while you are sitting there!

I have a 'stand up' desk Wendy, I sit down for my lunch but other than that it's 11 hours on my feet
Can you stand on the inflatable discs?

Yes, but you wouldn't be able to balance for long enough to do any work!

[Stanley]

Reading all that information about exercise has been quite tiring.....
I think it's a bit late for me, I mean what does one expect for my age. My current direction of travel is to lose weight, I reckon that will help anything!

[Wendyf]

Litter picking achieved this afternoon though it was unnerving with the amount of traffic on the road. I presume everyone was avoiding roadworks on the A56. Glad we had hi viz vests on! 5 black bags full of cans, bottles, plastic bags etc etc

[Big Kev]

Litter picking achieved this afternoon though it was unnerving with the amount of traffic on the road. I presume everyone was avoiding roadworks on the A56. Glad we had hi viz vests on! 5 black bags full of cans, bottles, plastic bags etc etc

No roadworks down here today Wendy, we went for an exploring walk to Laneshaw Bridge and there seemed to be a lot of traffic everywhere.

[Wendyf]

You wonder where everyone is going! What did you discover in Laneshawbridge? There is a nice walk through to Wycoller.

[Big Kev]

We didn't venture too far, only got to Alma Road then turned around and came back. 5 mile round trip but it was easy walking.

[Wendyf]

We didn't venture too far, only got to Alma Road then turned around and came back. 5 mile round trip but it was easy walking.

Didn't realize that you had walked from home. What route did you take?

[Big Kev]

Along the A56 into Castle Road, right into Venables Avenue and down to the Morris Dancers then onto Keighley Road, there are some big old house along there. Just walking and chatting and before we knew it we were a good couple of miles from home. We'll need to find a good cross country route once the weather warms up.
We wandered up Noyna a few times last summer, need to do a bit more of that this year, I have some new walking poles to help my knees that I need to use.

[Wendyf]

We always enjoy doing a circular walk from Kelbrook to Foulridge, up Cob Lane, down past Noyna then back by Old Stone Trough Lane. It's about 4.5 miles sticking to the roads.

[Big Kev]

Once the drier weather is here the plan is to vary our usual 'almost' circular to include the old railway track back to Foulridge. Currently it's Skipton Old Road, Old Stone Trough Lane to Kelbrook then back along the A56.

[Wendyf]

Try Cob Lane instead of the A56, we have never walked that section of the railway line.

[Big Kev]

Just checked it out on the map, looks a much better route than the A56. Will have to give that one a go.

[Marilyn]

Another bike ride, 16kms. One house guest leaving today due to work commitments and the other is staying one more night.
Hubby has been very good on the dishes...

[Stanley]

Laneshawbridge. When you turn up the lane to Wycoller, just behind the proven mill there is a very good village midden that has been cut into by the stream revealing all sorts of goodies.
That's if you like that sort of thing.

[Sue]

Morning

I look forward to when we get in the car and go and find some of your walks. We have certainly walked to Wycoller from Laneshawbridge and walked along the canal a few times. We are now getting to know all the routes round here like the back of our hand but the moors ,within a 10 minute walk, are criss crossed with old routes which interconnect so it is possible to do lots of variations. We did a different variation yesterday, only 3.5 miles, but enough for the day. I had done quite a bit of gardening after our trip to the market, planting a couple of dwarf lupins that I had bought there and preparing and planting a few trays of seeds. Today I shall continue with planting seeds, and sifting some more of the compost.

I am trying to clear and level the corner as we have decided to move the compost bin and plant a small pear tree there as well as some of this years butternut squash and pumpkins. We ordered the tree, seeds for the squash plants and seed potatoes yesterday from Amazon. Because we have prime membership the postage was free from them but £7.99 postage direct from the suppliers. Same tree, same supplier and same price , just postage and a shorter delivery time were different. They will all arrive next week.

Our neighbour is busy chopping the trees down on his side of the fence there so both the greenhouse and that part of the garden will get a bit more light. We remember the trees being planted in the 1970s and will be sad to see them go, as they are now established beech and silver birch that the birds perch in, but we believe he wants to put a summerhouse there facing down his garden. I am afraid behind it will become a bit of a dumping ground and an eyesore for us, but at least the greenhouse will hide it. We have a climbing rose on the fence so that will help too.

So more gardening today, a walk, and a zoom meeting with our friends Jean and Bob at noon. We shall decline any further offers of jigsaws with aerial views of cities . In fact we have put the jigsaw board away now so the dining room table has re appeared. Hopefully outdoor activities will be less curtailed now we are approaching April. I also have my sewing to do when inside, my two courses, running side by side and from next week back to my daily pilates and yoga.

Have a good day everyone.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Nice to know all is going on as normal in Rochdale! I've had a good start to the day, an hour and a hlf in the shed being very careful!



The full range of measuring tackle came out and here's the result, a tiny crankshaft, no it needs an even smaller crank pin..... Deep Joy!

[Big Kev]

Filling out the census online, that'll keep me busy for 10 minutes. Need to go to Screwfix to pick up the exterior filler I ordered then on to B&Q to see if I can identify if my kitchen cabinets are theirs. The French doors are going in this week so the kitchen redesign can start after that, I need to get a drawer unit to stand the oven housing on.

09:30 Census submitted.

[Sue]

Filling out the census online, that'll keep me busy for 10 minutes. Need to go to Screwfix to pick up the exterior filler I ordered then on to B&Q to see if I can identify if my kitchen cabinets are theirs. The French doors are going in this week so the kitchen redesign can start after that, I need to get a drawer unit to stand the oven housing on.

09:30 Census submitted.

Did ours the other night. Sounds like adventurous work going on there . Washing and ironing finished, off out to the greenhouse for half an hour before our zoom chat

[Big Kev]

Sounds like adventurous work going on there .

I won't be involved in the door fitting, I'm paying someone to do that
Once the doors are in (they're replacing the dining room window) I will be be taking out the back door and putting a full height oven housing in, with a timber framed 'bump out' on the outside. This will then free up the space the oven is currently in so I can move the freezer from the dining room. I trust that makes sense

[Sue]

Absolute sense Kev, enjoy !

[Big Kev]

[Stanley]

That's an innovative way to gain space Kev......
Later... Off into the shed and my wobbler.

[Sue]

Morning

Another fine dry day as yesterday. I have yin yoga at 11.15 am but this afternoon we shall take advantage of the fine weather to do some gardening at the church at the top of the estate. We often walk through the church yard on our walks and have commented how sad it is that many of the headstones have been buried in brambles. We have asked permission to go and clear them back as best we can . At the moment the church does not have a gardener, just a group of volunteers. Until last year the ground used to be tended by inmates of the young offenders prison and community pay back in Rochdale but that stopped because of the pandemic

Yesterday I planted a few more seeds and after our zoom meeting we went for a 5 mile walk round and about, following where paths took us and finding another interesting route. At one point we found the public footpath had been blocked by a housebuilding programme. They had redone the path but it wasn’t accessible at our end. There was no need for it and I have complained to one of Whitworth councillors who is also a friend from pilates. We either had to backtrack by over a mile or climb over a fence near a reservoir and climb back at the entrance gate. We did do that in the end.

Just before we left for our walk I had a whats app message from Eve to say their cat had been attacked by the neighbours dog. Just as we were going to becd I had another message from Julia to say they had to take the cat to the emergency vet in the afternoon where she remains at the moment The news is not good . Apart from open wounds and visible injuries she is struggling to breathe as the sternum is broken and pushed back compressing the diaphragm. We fear the worse and are waiting for news today. Eve and Briony are devastated. She is the first pet they have had and Julia got her to help the girls cope with lockdown.

Have a good day all