Today I shall be Mainly...

[plaques]

Mrs P's Pyrex bowl now over 45 years old. Embossed in the bottom is PYREX Made in France. and some numbers.
Now I'm wondering what to do with it.

[Stanley]

Just carry on as you have been doing for the last 45 years Ken!
I shall be in the shed as usual for my hour and a quarter working on the castings. After my sleep I intend to go out on to Church Street and do my pics of Barclays Bank for the record. The forecast says it will be sunny ........

[Sue]

Morning

Well its due to be showery all day today and much cooler, about 13 degrees. There will no drinking beer in the garden in the sun today. We have made the most of the last few days with hedges cut m flower beds weeded and veggies planted.

Today its back to the wall. I have done quarter of one end of the wall and Bob had done most of the lighting. Its really coming together now.I shall start the day with putting so e apple in the dehydrator as we have more than we need for the next few days so may as well give it a go. This afternoon is Roland's birthday party and entertainment. We have to be at Nicoles for 2.30 to walk cross and surprise him before 3.00pm. It will be good to see him. I think he is 93 today. We usually take him chocolates or his favourite biscuits but Nicole says he must now have sugar free because of his diabetes, so we managed to get a couple of packets of biscuits, sans sucre, in the supermarket, along with a simple birthday card. They cost an arm and a leg in France.

No further news on the strikes except the militants brought the ring road in Rennes to a halt yesterday by setting fire to wooden palets on the carriageway. People were fleeing their cars and running up the embankments. I don’t see the point of such action. The only ones affected are the general public, and dangerously so. The government will ignore it. As for the government they won the vote of no confidence against them . The raising of the retirement age has nearly gone through to become legislation imminently. The demonstrations are more to do with how the legislation was passed than the law itself. The prime minister used some antiquated rule and pushed it through without a vote, as he thought the vote would be lost. Now all hell will be let loose. Just hope we can get home on Monday. Todays ferry is cancelled apparently .

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Not good news about the ferry Sue, I hope they get their act together before you sail Sue....



I cut the other end of the cylinder back and then cut the Exhaust port in the valve face. I ended up by sharpening my normal cutter before re-installing it in the VM. A nice quiet hour and a quarter. Steady progress..... Notice the blowhole in the end off the cylinder and the uneven steam port into the cylinder. Neither of them is welcome but they are not fatal. I can live with them.

[Sue]

The trouble with the ferry is that the dockers are on intermittent random strikes. It looks like, even the alternative port of Roscoff is affected today .

[Stanley]

I've had my short walk and a sit at the end of Albert Road. Here's the view on traffic patrol....

[Big Kev]

Bit of blue sky there

[Sue]

Never stopped raining today, all day, that incessant drizzle that obliterates the view

[Stanley]

Yes, and there was some heat in the sun Kev. Almost warm sitting there..... (but not quite!)
I shall be in the shed as usual and will be on with boring the cylinder this morning. Exciting stuff....
Not sure about later, the forecast is for showers......

[Sue]

Morning

It was a miserable day yesterday not helped by one of my gut flare ups. I did not go to Roland's party but I persuaded Bob to go. He said it was a nice do. A concert and singalong with a guitarist , rounded up with a cheesecake gateau. Bob s presence was a cause for conversation everyone wanting to know how he knew Roland. I stayed here and did a jigsaw and just pottered .

Today there is more rain forecast, mainly this afternoon and evening. I shall plod on with the wall this morning but this afternoon our french friends Bertrand and Elisabeth are coming for a cuppa and a chat.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I hope your tummy gives you some respite Sue. I am so lucky with mine......



A nice quiet morning boring my cylinder out to 1.5" diameter. It turned out nice and parallel.

[Sue]

I hope your tummy gives you some respite Sue. I am so lucky with mine......



A nice quiet morning boring my cylinder out to 1.5" diameter. It turned out nice and parallel.

I am fine today, Stanley. Its just a recurring problem after my perforated appendix and its permanent side effects due to the removal of part of my intestines. I can’t take a lot of rich food and tomato sauces any more and have overdone it a bit since Sunday. My fault, I am doing most of te cooking

Its mighty damp and cold outside. I just went out to top up the bird feeders and got blown across the lawn . We have all sorts of tits and chaffinch nesting in the hedge round the lawn. It is lovely to watch them. They don’t seem to be bothered by our presence either.

[Stanley]

Good! I don't like to think of you having problems. I feel the same about Peter's problems as well with spices.
Bit ironic you were doing the cooking. Bit like me having to revise my behaviour after having that sugar spike.....
Good luck with the weather. Our forecast has turned out to be accurate, we have wind and rain...... Deep Joy!

[Stanley]

This morning I shall do an hour in the shed and then get my early doors shopping from the Co-op at 07:00. Not sure after that, it depends on what the weather is like after my second sleep. At the moment it looks like sunshine and showers.

[Sue]

Morning

Hopefully we are due for a better day today, having rained incessantly for two days. There is more forecast for tomorrow and Sunday. There will be no more lawn cutting but I swear I can hear it growing… we have however made progress with the wall though we are running out of PVA glue and will have to bring some more next visit. Photos to follow.

We had a pleasant afternoon with Bertrand and Elisabeth who had much to talk about. Elisabeth also brought us a box of eggs from her hens, so I feel an omelette will be on the cards tomorrow. Todays plans are a trip to the tip to dispose of cardboard, bottles and paper, none of which are collected by the bin men here . They do however collect mixed recyclable waste of plastics and metal. Then its a trip to the shops to buy a few bits to bring home and a couple of non food things we are running out of here . This afternoon will be more of the wall and then tidying the room up a bit. YesterdayI did do some general cleaning leaving only the bathroom and kitchen before we leave on Sunday. Bob checked the ferries last night and only one was not running so it looks like we should be able to get one from somewhere on Monday. Bob has just read that demonstrators have set fire to the Town Hall in Bordeaux. I am not impressed with such vandalism and disrespect for peoples lives.

Have a god day all

[Sue]

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One part of the wall work in progress, a close up of after and before. The white vertical marks are the stone masons marks from about 1850

[Stanley]

That looks like a tidy wall Sue.... Yes, the fire at Bordeaux is headline news here. I hope Bob is right about the ferries.



Only one image needed. I set the mill up for normal milling again and then started on the steam chest. By knocking off time I was on the last face...... A quiet productive morning because I have done the weekly shopping as well and it's all put away.

[Stanley]

Later, I settled down into veggie cooking despite having no cauli or sprouts. We will survive.....

[Stanley]

Veggie cooking over. Now for a half hour in the Baltic with Arthur and Evgenya....

[Big Kev]

One part of the wall work in progress, a close up of after and before. The white vertical marks are the stone masons marks from about 1850

That's quite a feature, I like that

[Stanley]

Today I shall put my chicken in the oven for its 4 Hour roast before going in the shed to do more work on my castings. If the forecast is correct we are on for a walk at Midday.....

[Sue]

One part of the wall work in progress, a close up of after and before. The white vertical marks are the stone masons marks from about 1850

That's quite a feature, I like that

Morning

Yes we are rather glad we have done this. The mortar was crumbling and the nature and appearance of the individual stones was lost because of the sandy covering. Now we can see the stones and their marks, the mortar has stopped crumbling and the dust level is considerably less. The largest block of the wall is now done as is the glue. We now have to tackle a shorter but more complex bit as it is punctuated by two small water tanks and electrical fuse box plus wires and pipes. Looking at the room below which is a sort of garage or store we suspect the previous owner did something similar. There is no doubt the crumbling mortar has been treated in some way.

This morning Bob wants to try and wire up the last three lights and We need to finish tidying up from the painting. I put the few bits of furniture back in place yesterday. I also want to change and wash the towels and bedding and am hoping for a drier day than the last three. We are going out for lunch in the local town and shall do some wine and beer shopping on the way back both to take home and because Laetitia and family are coming round for a drink this evening . That is our two weeks done. Tomorrow there will be minimal things to do before we leave after lunch. The ferry is still listed as running on Monday morning but it all depends on where it can land on Sunday evening.

Have a good day all

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[Stanley]

Good luck with the ferry Sue......



This morning I finished the valve chest by milling the last face and then cleaning the interior to size using files. Then I worked on the steam chest lid. I have finished the matching of the lid to the chest and tomorrow will machine the two faces to the required thickness. A nice quiet hour and a quarter....

[Sue]

When Bobs Mum died in 2003, and we emptied the house we tidied up an unfinished jigsaw, keeping all the pieces as she had sorted them. This week we have finished it.

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[PanBiker]

Excellent Sue.

Mundanely, today I will mainly be doing an Aldi run very shortly. On the wrong day according to our Jack! Apparently old folk like me should do their shopping in the middle of the week and leave the weekends and shops clear for those who are working. He always says its rammed at weekend because its full of pensioners getting in the way I get his point but we hadn't run out of butter last Wednesday.