OneGuyFromBarlick

When we first came here 1973 , we were surrounded by farmers fields. We regularly had horses, cows and sheep on the lawn, even peering in the lounge window. Now its a rare event as the farmers fields are a school and housing estates, being a ´desirable’ location for Manchester commuters . This sheep must have crossed the main Whitworth road , being the nearest farm . It was probably blanketed with snow and the sheep crossed when there was next to no traffic.

Still no snow here, just cold rain. Horrible day and no way am I going out in it. I have dealt with my chicken and the gravy and am cooking the last of the veggies, a cabbage and a swede. They are steaming gently on the hob. I shall deal with them quickly and put the pans away.....

I shall spend an hour in the shed on my castings, quiet careful progress. I have noted the amber warning for ice and am not even thinking about a walk let alone a sit. I will not seize up if I decline exercise for a day or two!.

I'm ready for some serious fitting now that the base and bed are mounted on a temporary wooden base.

Morning

There was no snow on he whole of our journey to Coventry once we had navigated the turmoil of the slippery roads down into Rochdale, and avoiding the cars trying to come up the hill. On our return the fresh snow had gone but we still have the frozen snow that was underneath.

We had a good day with the family and in general my cold was not too bad though I still struggled to eat and by the time we were back home my legs were shaking again and I felt quite sick. This morning after a good nights sleep I am ok but will take it easy. Bob is at the park doing a Santa Special on the little train. I hope its not too cold or wet. I will run the vacuum round but will not be doing much more cleaning. I may try to do some more Santa if I am up to it.

Have a good day.

Morning Sue. Glad you made it yesterday. Now have a rest! If your forecast is near ours there will be some nasty cold rain this afternoon and some of it could give black ice. I shall not be taking any chances. I will not die if I miss my walk for another day or so....
(I've just got up after second sleep.... )

And again, there were more round the corner

He's finished. Fully reversible and now hanging from the lounge window…he is big!

That's really good. Well done. I like it.

Thank you. Its been a bit pf a toil of love. In the first one I used silky fabric but it all frayed out of the seams, so I used felt this time. There are 7 pieces in all, each taking a good 45 minutes to make, then they have to be joined …very carefully…. on the machine. I managed 3 pieces and the final assembly this afternoon. It was slow work as I don’t feel on top of the world but also a sedentary occupation. I have learned from experience to never leave the machine working automatically, unattended, its bound to go wrong

Excellent. Always amazed by peoples artistry talents.

Reminds me of 'Old Chap' at work who every Christmas would dress up as Santa and his workmates would drag him down the yard on a sledge. Higher management took a very dim view of this and told him in no uncertain words if he did it again he would be sacked.

I love that Santa Sue. Well worth all the angst and starting again.
I shall do my hour in the shed and have my second sleep and then if it's dry I'll go for a walk but not if it's raining. Very strange not having a hard frost....

Morning

Yes he was worth it Stanley, I am very pleased with him.

This morning I was up at 6.15 am to go online to the Dr to try and get an appointment as requested by the Dr 4 weeks ago. By the time I had typed in the reason for the appointment it was gone. Try again tomorrow. There is no point phoning today as we are out by 11.45 pm for a few hours and thus not available. We are being treated to lunch by Wendy and Barry for Barry’s 87 th birthday. We are picking them up at noon. I shall try and do Pilates at 10.00,and yoga at 5.15 pm but my nose is now like a dripping tap despite medication. At least I feel a bit better in myself and hope to manage lunch today. I have not eaten a good meal since last Thursday.

Thats about it. Santa is finished and I have one more embroidery project to do then its operation sewing room tidy as it will be needed next week when Julia and family come to stay.

Have a good day.

It must be the season for frustrating telephone calls. I am having one here!



This morning I used the front lid as a template for drilling the four clearance holes needed in the target casting. Then I sharpened my 1/4" HSS cutter and cut the exhaust port in the cylinder valve face. I shall drill for the exhaust pipe tomorrow. A quiet and careful hour and a half. Good progress and no mistakes.

I shall be in the shed with my engine castings for at least an hour. The weather forecast looks good so I shall have my walk at midday. I shall enjoy watching people rushing about spending money on things they don't need and often for people they don't really like. (You're right.... I have a slightly jaundiced view of Xmas!)

Morning

We had a really lovely meal with Wendy and Barry yesterday , though I did not manage to eat all of mine. I did pilates in the morning but not yoga as I felt too tired. I did bit of sewing but otherwise not much. Today I shall try phoning the doctors again, then make up the spare bed for my sister who is coming and staying over tomorrow. The rest of the day will be sewing. Pilates and yoga this evening though I may only do one. It transpires that 5 of my Tuesday pilates group have been ill since Friday with this bug. We obviously caught it at our meal last Tuesday.

Have a good day all.

This morning I drilled and tapped the exhaust passage into the piston and then made a piece of 1/4" brass pipe and threaded it to fit the Cylinder. Tomorrow I shall make the steam passage into the steam chest and fit it with a steam pipe.
Just seen your post Sue. Good Morning! Sorry you haven't shaken that cold off yet. They are persistent! Keep warm and don't try to do too much.....

And thats the last

Hee hee! It looks like your avatar....
I shall be in the shed as usual, that hour or so in the shed each morning keeps me on track! Later this morning I shall have my walk and call in at the pharmacists to see why I have not received word of my prescription.
Apart from that the usual round of keeping warm and eating healthily! (It's a full time job looking after pensioners!)

Only one image this morning and that's the steam pipe I have made ready for the steam chest. I had to make it from scratch and the morning has included harvesting the non-ferocious metals from the lathe and one or two small jobs that needed to be done. (We have to do a bit of running maintenance every now and again!)

Morning

Ha ha, I don’t think I can describe myself as angelic. Anyway, thats it. Christmas sewing done. It was not a cheap occupation as I consumed lots of special thread ( I ran out of silver and had to finish the angel in gold, i used up lots of backing fabric and blunted several needles in the process. I certainly won’t be making these again.

Pilates yesterday was cancelled as more than half of us have the lurgy. I had decided not to go any way. So thats finished now till the 3rd January.This morning I am at the hairdressers, then a bit of room cleaning, my sister is coming over from Liverpool for tea and staying over.

Have a good day all.

Sounds good Sue. Rest and recuperate!

I shall go in the shed and do useful things to my engine. I have to go to the pharmacy for my meds (Don't want to leave it until tomorrow as we are promised heavy rain) but will leave it until this afternoon to give them a chance to find the missing third prescription. I think some veggie shopping at the same time to ease the load tomorrow.

Today I was refining the steam chest and starting to fit the gland and valve rod. A nice error-free hour and a quarter....