Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Shed for a spell then early doors shopping. I never went out of the house yesterday, cold wet weather has no attraction for me! Might get a walk and sit in today.....

[Sue]

Morning

We too didn’t go far yesterday. After art and lunch we went to see Keith and Wendy for a cuppa and a chat. Keith has been auditing the model engineers books ( Bob is treasurer) . When we got back I cut out Bs dress pattern and then it was time to cook.

I spent some time on the phone to M&S. In July Jean and I bought our friend Sue some flowers for her Golden Wedding. When we met for lunch the other day and we asked about the flowers, it seems she never had them. After a short investigation M&S confirmed the flowers had been delivered but acknowledged they may not have gone to the right address. They gave me a full refund.

Back to the other Wendy, Barry is still in hospital and is being transferred to another nursing home for recuperation when it came be arranged. Needless to say Wendy’s spirits are low. Gill, who was going to do the prepared meals for this weekend has caught covid, little more than a very light cold she says but as she works as an Physio assistant in a hospital she cannot go to work. I shall try and do some more cooking, but time is short. We go to France on Monday for two weeks and because of my cold I have not packed anything yet. I am pleased to report it is my shortest mildest cold on record and i seem to be more or less fully recovered.

This morning is dance exercise, then lunch in Todmorden at the Shepherds Rest, with Barbara and Bill. Wendy and Keith are off to Wales for the weekend. Its new owners up there and a new menu, plus from what I can see rather new expensive prices, but it is everywhere now. We shall give it a try. . After lunch i may call at the butchers for meat fora potato pie for Wendy . Bob is out tonight, at the engineers AGM, I could do some cooking.

Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

Busy as usual Sue. I can see you are going to have very little leisure time before you leave for France.

I have had a good hour in the shed and done my Early doors shopping. It's all put away so I shall treat myself to breakfast now. Here's where I ended up....

[Stanley]

Back from my walk and a surprisingly pleasant sit in the sunshine for half an hour. Now for some serious veggie cooking....

[Stanley]

I shall do an hour in the shed and then second sleep. Chicken in the oven for roasting. Weather looks OK for a walk and a sit later. The rest of the day will take care of itself but will include at least one more sleep. (That's right, I find a third sleep works for me these days!)

[Sue]

Morning

I feel very stuffued up this morning but I am sure it will clear once I am up. Bob now has a cold....can’t think where he got that from

This morning is Bacup market, then we will pop over to Wendys, Bob to finish mending the lock and me to take the meals I made last night. I made a batch of small meat and potato pies , chicken casserole which made three meals and I have cooked a selection of vegetables to go with them . I want to change the bedding as its supposed to be a nice day today, then its a bit of packing I think. I would like to do Briony's dress today and tomorrow if I can then we can drop it off in Coventry on our way to Portsmouth on Monday.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I've had a nice quiet hour in the shed. The cylinder has been bored and reamed. The face cleaned up and marked and the central 5BA hole drilled and tapped and then the tool I made used to mark the 15/32" PCD for the steam ports. Tomorrow I shall set up and bore them.

[Stanley]

Later.... I've been for a short walk and finished stowing my roast chicken away and washing the tools... Now Guess what, I am thinking about a short sleep. It's my age I think!

[Stanley]

Quietly making progress on the wobbler. Walk and sit looks a bit sketchy at the moment, we are promised rain. I shall take a view when the time comes.

[Sue]

Morning

Oh dear, Bobs cold is much worse than mine was. He had a poor nights sleep as did I. Hopefully he will be better when he is up and about and we can both grab a doze if we need it.

We delivered the food, and Bob successfully mended Wendys door which now pulls shut with the slightest of effort. Nic sent me a photo of Barry in hospital and he looks well, he was due to be moved into a recuperation home yesterday afternoon. Bob spent the afternoon in his workshop and I cut out and sewed Bs dress which I finished by 6.00 pm ready for delivery tomorrow.

This morning I shall pack, and also speak to B on Whats App. Bob is at the park this afternoon which promises to be drier than this morning. I have no other plans

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope both of you improve before Monday! (Said he looking at the clock.....) Isn't it strange how these things happen at the worst possible moment.



Good progress this morning, a nice hour. I drilled the steam passages and made the knurled knob that holds the cylinder onto the face of the standard. Ready now for the piston, rod and crank bearing. I'm getting on far too well with this engine! I shall have to spend money on castings shortly........

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed, the wobbler needs a piston, rod and crank bearing.... Not too sure about a walk and sit later as we have a showery day forecast. I'll take a view later in the morning.

[Stanley]

Small and very fiddly work to make the piston and its rod. I'm ready to make the piston now. If you think that's not a lot for an hour of work remember that I have to check everything multiple times, I can't trust my eyes. There was also the small fact that the material supplied for the piston rod was too large so I had to find something better. Another annoying fact was that I swapped to the 4 jaw SC chuck and then remembered it won't grip anything as small as the piston rod so I had to go back to the 3 jaw and change it once I was done with the rod. It all takes time.

I was surprised by the fact that Sue hadn't posted but then I remembered that she and Bob will be on the road on their way to France. I hope the trip goes better than it looked yesterday!

[Sue]

Morning

Bob had a much better nights sleep last night but is still blowing and coughing furiously. It appears this may be a different cold from mine, caught at the Model Engineers on Tuesday afternoon. I hope I don’t catch this one as well. Due to our colds it was a different Sunday yesterday, no park for Bob so we both did indoor things. It took some time to sort the packing and I finished the washing apart from the load I did overnight as I hate leaving dirty washing in the house when we go away. Apart from that I made my skirt from the pattern I bought from ebay.

This morning we shall leave after breakfast, buying a sandwich at the local ‘buttie’ shop here. They do delicious sandwiches. We will eat that with a cuppa at Julias when we drop off a few things, including Bs dress and the bits of fresh food we have left. The ferry is not till this evening so we can take our time with the drive. A warm wet fortnight is forecast but we will find things to do inside. Paul has finished the building work ie lining the walls and roof of the old grain store with plaster board cum art room so we may get some decorating done. Otherwise its a bit of garden tidying, we won’t be going out far as there is a fuel shortage due to strikes affecting deliveries.

Have a good day all. I am not sure of the forecast here.

[Stanley]

There you are! I was wrong again..... Have a good trip Sue and Bob.....

[Stanley]

I've had my walk and a short spell on bookie watch on a cold morning with light mizzle. Not very pleasant but now I have done it I feel virtuous....

[Stanley]

I shall have an hour with the wobbler....
The forecast says it will be dry later so walk and sit might be on. It was raining hard first thing but it's stopped now.

[Stanley]

This morning I finished the piston and made the crank journal and fitted it. The images tell the story, almost an hour and a half of very careful work. One cheat. I have not cut a groove in the piston for the 'O' ring, it was tiny, 5/64" and its omission will not affect the occasional running of the wobbler on compressed air.
A nice quiet morning with good solid progress.

[Sue]

Arrived, all good , but a lot of cleaning to do after builder and a lot of gardening after the rains came. Just unpacked but need to go and buy some milk, bread and something for tea

[Big Kev]

Arrived, all good , but a lot of cleaning to do after builder and a lot of gardening after the rains came. Just unpacked but need to go and buy some milk, bread and something for tea

Enjoy. My youngest offspring is in Berny-Riviere this week; is that anywhere near you?

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Glad you have survived the journey. How are your colds?

[Wendyf]

We have spent the afternoon stripping the old cover off the polytunnel. We will replace it in the spring.

[Stanley]

Wendy, if the winter carries on as mild as it has started your plants may survive until Spring!
I shall have my hour in the shed with me wobbler. I'll see what the weather is like before committing to a walk and a sit, we are promised showers. Yesterday I have to say it was cold even though I was well wrapped up.

[Wendyf]

There were only a few strawberry plants left in there Stanley and they will be fine outside.

[Stanley]

Noted Wendy.... Good!



Not a lot to report. I've made the top lid for the cylinder and have started on the bottom one. It's all small and fiddly!