Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I know we see 'Long Covid' hiding in all the nooks and crannies but one can't help wondering if the advent of Covid caused as big an upset in the world of viruses and immunity as much as it upset us. Some of the current ailments seem strange, not quite what we were used to a couple of years ago. I wish you well Sue....
I shall be working on my bearings for a couple of hours. Not sure about later, the forecast is dry but overcast and cold. I shall take a view later. All the cooking is done and I have a load of washing running at the moment so standards are being maintained!

[Sue]

Morning

Stanley I think it is a case of not mixing enough so our exposure to common viruses has been minimal and the normal process of immunity being boosted by constant exposure has not occurred, thus our reaction us much the same as when a child catches things for the first time . This second batch of medicine appears to be working, I slept without coughing last night, but then I also had an afternoon in the fresh air gardening.

It was a lovely day, temperatures a pleasant 21 degrees maximum. I managed to clear a bit of veggie patch to plant courgettes, and cleared weeds from round the potatoes and raspberries. Today I have to find another patch for the tomato plants and sweet potato plants I bought on the local market. I cleared the asparagus bed of weeds, fed the patch and watered it well . Bob has cut the hedge in the main garden and it is all beginning to look tidy apart from all the weeds in the gravel .

Today will be more of the same, the weather looks promising. We shall have a BBQ for tea.

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

That makes sense Sue, thanks for a clear and concise explanation. (They are thin on the ground these days....)
21C seems sub tropical here, we have 12C today and are promised 11C tomorrow. I'm glad you're having good weather and I note that for the first time for a while you have no mention of the cough.... I hope that means it#s improving!



One pic tells the story. I spent the morning measuring, marking and milling these two pieces of bronze to make the bottom elements of the main bearings. This is knocking off time. The bronzes are fresh out of the mill and need finishing to a perfect fit. That will be the first task tomorrow morning. Quiet careful work and no mistakes. That makes for a good morning.

[Sue]

Cough still their but calmer Stanley.


As for immunity we need to keep mixing our immunity wains

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

Bob's Bits is right up your street today Sue.....

[Stanley]

Two hours shed making bronze bearings, a short sleep and then a foot spa. At that point I shall take a view on walk and bookie watch, it depends on the weather. (At the moment the forecast is dull and cold, only 7C with the wind chill...)

[Sue]

Bob's Bits is right up your street today Sue.....

Morning

Thank you, interesting little article. Butterick patterns in the sewing world are well known for nice designs but complicated techniques for assembly of the garments. Perhaps thats the tailoring background coming out. The sizing always is a bit odd too, but that is possibly because of the American sizing influence. From what I can make out many of the companies that produce patterns are more or less owned by Butterick now but I may be wrong. Personally I prefer Simplicity and NewLook, and if I am feeling rich or there is a sale on then Vogue.

Its another nice day today. We spent most of yesterday in the garden. I managed to clear half of my main vegetable bed and planted my three tomato plants and two sweet potato plants. I put a mesh wire frame round the tomatoes to try and contain them as they grow. As we we are not going to be here for 6 weeks anything could happen and many a time we have arrived to find the plants flat on the ground and spreading furiously. I replanted my strawberry plants in a trough we bought on Saturday. I took them up out of the ground last visit and grassed over the bed. It was always full of weeds. The pots I put them in were too small hence replanting them, not the best time to do it but needs must . To round off the day I picked rhubarb and made rhubarb and yoghurt ice cream, made some bread rolls and some beef burgers, so we had a hearty home made BBQ tea. Hearty was the word, they were big.

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Today is the market at Questembert, one of our favourite local markets, about 30 minutes away. The fresh food and veggie plants are magnificent. We don’t need anything much but we like the atmosphere. I hope to buy some more veggie plants , mainly leeks. I still have some beetroot seedlings to plant as well but if there are beetroot plants I will go for that easier option. We want some grass seed too as we have decided to grass over a path in the lawn that is a pain to keep weeded. So that will be our day gardening and shopping. We thought we had a task sorting the garden after 6 weeks of Spring growth. Bobs cousin has just visited his french cottage after 5 years ( many reasons why it has been so long) to find the field that the house is in had almost become a wood !

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

I like the story about the five year absence.... Trees tend to grow.... I have often noticed this. You don't realise it when you are living with them but when you go back after an absence it stands out. Same applies to kids.....





These two pics tell the story. I have adjusted the two bottom brasses so that they are properly witnessed and fit the horns in the casting with enough room between them for the webs of the crankshaft. We are ready now to make and fit the top brasses and then bore for the crankshaft. Today wasn't speedy, fitting is never quick and easy. What matters is getting it right in the end. It's a good morning....

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed for two hours chasing the perfect main bearings. Then second sleep and after that I shall take a view on a walk and bookie watch, the forecast suggests it will be cold and wet and I can do without that!

[Sue]

Morning

Ordinary shopping this morning , we have accumulated a list of basics butter etc.We also need some lawn seed that we did not manage to get yesterday , various patches where the moles have dug need re seeding. Otherwise there are a few remaining jobs outside to do ie transplant the beetroot, tidy the rockery and bank up the potatoes. We are due three days of rain at the end of the week so we want these out doors jobs done before then.

Yesterday was a nice sunny 19 degrees, perfect for working in the garden . I managed to get the remaining veggie plants and geranium plants I wanted at the market and planted them out in the afternoon. I did at last remember to cut back the wisteria round the spare bedroom window before it became like sleeping beauties chateau. Bob cut back the higher bits before it disappeared under the eaves. Its a stunningly beautiful wisteria but grows rampantly of not kept under control

We want to visit Roland this week but have waited for this cough to go away. It seems like it is not going to and I finish the second bottle of stuff this morning. I assume I am not infectious after all this time so will possibly go to see him tomorrow or Thursday. We have tried to text Nicole but we don’t think her phone is set up for phoning abroad which technically our mobile phone is to hers. If we hear nothing Bob will phone her today. Otherwise have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, it sounds as though as usual you are heading for another productive day. I wish we could have 19C! Today once more we have a cold day and showers at any time....



Only one pic, the bed at knocking off time with the top brasses finished to size, drilled for the 4BA holding down studs and the bed drilled and tapped for the studs and the studs fitted. Ready for final tightening and boring for the crankshaft but that can wait until tomorrow. A nice couple of hours.....

[Stanley]

An hour in the shed this morning and an early second sleep as I have an appointment with Dracula at 11AM, she wants even more of my blood.... Apart from that I'll take a view later. It's a slightly warmer day and only an occasional shower.....

[Sue]

Morning

Another nice day yesterday and productive. I now just have the rockery to weed and a few root cuttings to transplant, taken from an area that was massively overgrown. I think it is due to be warm and getting warmer towards the end of the week which will finish with two days of thunderstorms. The soaking will help the plants we have put in, plus the weeds unfortunately. On the downside of all this gardening and nice weather is insect bites. I am covered in them.

I spoke to both Eve and Briony on Whats app in the afternoon. They were full of their week as Radio One had had a big concert in Memorial Park in the centre of Coventry . Its a big park akin to Hyde Park but not as big. There had been some big names in the pop world, Ed Sheeran amongst others. Drinks were sold with a 10 p return on the cup to encourage recycling and reduce waste. Eve tells me the kids returned them but many adults didn’t. Now we are very much a recycling family all being scientists and both Claire and Adam work as Environmental Officers with the Environment agency . Claires Masters dissertation sometime in the late 90s was indeed about recycling. So in the spirit of the family tradition Eve decided to collect cups and return them in bulk collecting the 10 p deposits. In total she made over £235 . I am super impressed. Briony was less enterprising but thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. She is over her cold but tells me she had a really bad cough that kept her awake at nights. Her cough has gone, mine not so but perhaps I did have her cold.

About 5.00 pm I noticed the lady across the road , she waved. We have never seen much of her but she is always very pleasant. Until last August we had never been in her house in the 17 years we have had this one. Anyway I popped over with some rhubarb which I know she likes. She insisted I went inside for a drink and the two of us chatted for a good half hour. Well she chatted and I tried to translate in my head. The gist of it was she had covid and was quite ill despite the vaccination which reacted badly to. She has a tooth problem but has been unable to see a dentist as many have closed. She had to go to Rennes which is 40 km away. She can’t get doctors appointments, when you do get them its a telephone consultation only . I asked if it was just in the rural areas and she said that it was in the towns and cities too. We know that in Rennes hospital they ran out of beds recently ( after covid had reduced) and patients were left in corridors for hours . Sound familiar?

I think we are now planning to see Roland when the rain hits, so today will be another day pottering . I need to get the rockery done this morning or it will be too hot to work in that spot. Otherwise I have some ironing to do and thats about it. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, Here's this morning's offering....







Only an hour in the shed as I have other fish to fry but these three pics tell the story. The crankshaft is fitted and it's just as it should be, reasonably tight before the bearings are fully tightened. It's an exact fit and it will soon wear itself in. I did some running in with the drill as you can see. The last pic is closing time, it begins to look like and engine. Quiet accurate progress.....

[PanBiker]

Making Cherry scones and jelly at some point during the day.

Afternoon Tea at out Carla's tomorrow. Originally planned for family and a few friends. Now truncated to just family as their new kitchen arrived, all of it, in boxes which are piled floor to ceiling in the space they will eventually occupy. Not room to swing a cat as Carla says.

Sally and Isla are currently down in Stratford visiting our Ruby. Jelly responsibility is on me now as Isla was due to make it for a trifle and they wont get back until later tonight, pressure is building to do a good job on that one.

I will time making the scones so that I can pop my home made meat and tatie pie in at the same time.

[Sue]

Good luck with the jelly Ian. Not my forte. Its a family joke that they never set no matter how careful I am !

[PanBiker]

Thanks Sue, It's a big responsibility, Isla has a good wagging finger if it goes pear shaped

[Stanley]

Boring I know but I shall be in the shed with the engine..... The forecast is good so it looks as though a walk and bookie watch are on. After that I shall take a view....

[Stanley]

That forecast has fallen to pieces! I got into domestic matters and found I had lost the urge for the shed and I am not fighting it. I shall have an early breakfast and go back to bed. An easy morning won't do me any harm!

[Sue]

Morning

Hope the jelly turned out ok Ian

It should have rained last night but didn’t. Its a common problem with forecasts here. Rain rarely arrives when forecast unlike Rochdale when it arrives even when its not forecast. Its a dull day , warm, with rain forecast at lunch time. I have finished all my out door jobs, plus a few extra not on my list like tidying my gardening tool caddy and sweeping out the stable that I keep gardening stuff in. I think Bob has finished too, including chopping down and cutting up a tree, which took both of us most of the day to clear. We are rapidly running out of storage space for tree prunings and logs, and still have another few self seeded trees that need to be removed . Our 4.00 pm beer sat under the trees was most welcome

Today will be a bit of a domestic day, i shall hoover upstairs, and clean the bathrooms. However what I really want to do is pickle some chilies. We have bags full in the freezer from a bumper crop some summers ago. They have been hardly used because we have not been here. I have found a recipe to pickle chilies from frozen so that is what I shall do. Then I can take some back home for use there....or indeed give some away. At 4.00 pm we are going round to Nicoles and then over the road to the home to see Roland. I hope Nicole has her dog under control. I have quite a scar from that bite.

Thats my day, have a good one. Bob has just said we have run out of bin bags, and we have an order for goodies from Julia in Coventry so slight change of plan, shops first.

[Sue]

Oh yes I cut more rhubarb yesterday and took it to our new neighbours, who live in Roland's house. I had to explain how to cook it, using my best french...... In return I was given a dozen quails eggs. We had two each with our salad at lunch time though a three minute boil was too long. We still have 9 eggs left from the ones Laetitia gave us last week. I think it will be omelette for tea today

[Stanley]

"I hope Nicole has her dog under control. I have quite a scar from that bite. "
I should have thought it was better left at home!
My lazy day continues. I have finished my breakfast and am going back to bed early for second sleep....

[Sue]

"I hope Nicole has her dog under control. I have quite a scar from that bite. "
I should have thought it was better left at home!
My lazy day continues. I have finished my breakfast and am going back to bed early for second sleep....

He won’t be with us but we call for Nicole on the way to see Roland. He runs out of the house which is what happened last time, he bit me as I turned to close the gate

[PanBiker]

Oh dear that not good Sue, they should keep better control.

Scones turned out as they should, risen well and the jelly is set!

Problem now is that Carla can't find any clotted cream, we will have to have a look at our Coop.