Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Looks like another good day for it all Sue. Full sun here at Barlick even though we were only promised sunny spells in the forecast.

[Wendyf]

We have been replacing the cover on the polytunnel, glorious day for it. Our neighbours came over to help get the polythene over the frame then Col and I spent a few hours securing 2 sides and one end. Just the other end to go if we have the strength left tomorrow!

350484847_638293874828760_3758520046094755611_n.jpg

[Stanley]

Looks like a very tidy job Wendy. I seem to remember someone saying the tidier the job looks the longer the Polythene lasts.
I shall be in the shed working on my valve train..... After that, apart from sleep, I have nothing urgent planned.....

[Sue]

We have been replacing the cover on the polytunnel, glorious day for it. Our neighbours came over to help get the polythene over the frame then Col and I spent a few hours securing 2 sides and one end. Just the other end to go if we have the strength left tomorrow!

350484847_638293874828760_3758520046094755611_n.jpg

Morning

Will you be back to growing veggies , Wendy. I see your beds outside are now flowers. Talking of veggies my seeds have not progressed as far as I had hoped before we go away on Thursday. This means I cannot plant them out, but do not wish to impose on our neighbour to have to water them. Today is plant sorting day, therefore. My geranium cuttings seem to have taken so I will sink those pots in the garden. We are only away just over a week, so they should be ok, the same goes for the poppies I transplanted for Claire. The trays of seedlings I will put in our front porch which is north facing and cool. They won’t dry out and won’t grow excessively or become pot bound.

Our BBQ with the family ended up being at lunchtime rather than tea time. That worked out well, then Erin and I went for a short walk, just under a mile. She chatted non stop explaining the intricacies of POKEMON. I was promised a detailed lesson when we next visit There was lots of uncooked food left over as we had bought a BBQ mix for 4 from Bacup market on Saturday, so that is destined for the freezer, but Bob and I did have the small peppered steaks and salad for a late tea.

Today is also pilates and yoga in the studio, and perhaps starting to sort out the packing for an early departure Thursday.

Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Morning Sue. Erin seems to have had her own agenda for conversation on your walk! Looks like another good day today.



Today I started on the rest of the components in the valve train. First thing was to gather all the stock together. I was missing two items, the stock for the clevis on the valve rod and the valve rod itself. Luckily I have a mixed lot of silver steel that I bought years ago from K Steels when it was on offer. I had the necessary rod and needed to reduce each end and thread 4BA. All that took an hour and a quarter. But I now have the valve rod.

[Wendyf]

We have been replacing the cover on the polytunnel, glorious day for it. Our neighbours came over to help get the polythene over the frame then Col and I spent a few hours securing 2 sides and one end. Just the other end to go if we have the strength left tomor

350484847_638293874828760_3758520046094755611_n.jpg

Morning

Will you be back to growing veggies , Wendy. I see your beds outside are now flowers.

Sue I still grow veg in the tunnel and in one of the deep beds, it was so much effort and so many failures! The flower garden gives me pleasure and a place to sit and enjoy.

[Sue]

We have been replacing the cover on the polytunnel, glorious day for it. Our neighbours came over to help get the polythene over the frame then Col and I spent a few hours securing 2 sides and one end. Just the other end to go if we have the strength left tomor

350484847_638293874828760_3758520046094755611_n.jpg

Morning

Will you be back to growing veggies , Wendy. I see your beds outside are now flowers.

Sue I still grow veg in the tunnel and in one of the deep beds, it was so much effort and so many failures! The flower garden gives me pleasure and a place to sit and enjoy.

Yes I agree about the failures so my veggie spaces are rapidly now flowers. I have extra spaces this year because Suttons let me down with a perennials plug delivery. Sadly the labels faded on my butternut, patty pan and courgette plants, I am not quite sure which is which but I have kept the rows of seedlings separate so that helps. I have visions of butternut squash hanging from my rose arch

[Wendyf]

Sue, being a newcomer to flower gardening I quickly forget what my plants are, so in autumn last year I bought some lovely big labels, identified everything and wrote the names on the labels in indelible pen. This spring I have completely blank labels!

[Stanley]

That was a problem that the Budenberg Gauge Company had with the black ink used on the faces of their pressure gauges Wendy. Their solution was to send a director once a year to China for a small bucket of a black resin. (They found that if they just ordered it and had it sent to them they didn't get the highest quality). The other solution they used was black Letraset as that was virtually permanent also.
What comes to my mind is the Dymo embossed labels that I have seen commercial growers use. Many of them on Aluminium strip. They are permanent Wendy!
I shall be in the shed with my non-ferocious elements in the valve train. Close fiddly work and a sore trial for my eyes but it has to be done! I shall have a walk later as I need some Stilton and some apples!

[Wendyf]

Pencil would probably be better than ink for my plant labels, I use that for veggies and struggle to remove it when I want to reuse the labels. Mind you, now you mention it, Col has a dymo label printer which he uses for his electrical stuff......

[Stanley]

Resistance by Col will be useless.....



A lot of concentrated work put into one end of the clevis that connects the valve rod to the eccentric rod. It involved drilling and tapping for the 5BA clevis pin. (On the drawings it is stated to be 7BA which is wrong and I had forgotten so that held me up a bit....!) I cut the 3/32" slot for the eccentric road with a small slitting saw and actually got it in the centre! (A bit of a miracle with my eyesight!) Tomorrow I shall complete the other end of the clevis, mostly lathe work.

[Sue]

Pencil would probably be better than ink for my plant labels, I use that for veggies and struggle to remove it when I want to reuse the labels. Mind you, now you mention it, Col has a dymo label printer which he uses for his electrical stuff......

Morning

Thats a good idea Wendy, I have a labeller that runs on an app on my ipad. I use it for my painting stuff, the labels are waterproof. Perhaps next year. My plants are now sorted for our stay in Cornwall, I just have to carry my tray of assorted, unidentifiable squashes to the front hall this evening.

Today I shall pack, I did nothing about it yesterday. At lunchtime we are out for lunch with Wendy and Barry. Their treat as Bob mended their kitchen light fitting and would not accept payment. I have some sewing to do, though not essential at the moment. I have bought some new t shirts and they are all massively long and I shall have to shorten them.

Its a windy cool start to the day and showers are forecast, the afternoon should be sunny and warm. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed chasing my non-ferocious bits of the valve train..... Veggie shopping later as it is going to stay dry but at the moment it looks like another chilly day, not summer.

[Stanley]

Only one image this morning. I have put the finishing touches to the clevis and installed it on the end of the valve rod. Tomorrow I shall turn this rough casting into a valve that fits in the steam chest.

[Sue]

Morning

It was a lovely lunch with Wendy and Barry yesterday we got home at 4.30 pm to find the Tesco delivery van waiting at the door with our supplies for our holiday. In view of the time and the fact that I was rather too full to exercise I cancelled my 5.30 pilates class. I then watered the garden with the hosepipe, the second time this week. The windy weather we have been having is really drying the soil.

We shall leave after breakfast today, driving to Coventry and having lunch with the girls, then we shall drive to Devon staying at Newton Abbot overnight. Tomorrow morning we are visiting Bobs 93? Year old Aunt at Broadsands then on to Helston to the cottage we are staying in.

The forecast for the week is good ( though forecast warmer in Rochdale). Have a good day all.

[Stanley]

After our recent weather history I am getting a bit suspicious of these forecasts....

[Sue]

After our recent weather history I am getting a bit suspicious of these forecasts....

??, our forecasts have been pretty accurate, almost to within 15 minutes

[Wendyf]

The local forecast on the BBC website seems to be quite accurate at the moment. Barnoldswick must be under a cloud, yesterday afternoon was very pleasant up here, if you were sheltered from the breeze.

[Big Kev]

Off to Burnley General for the MRI scan on my head. I will be parking near Iceland and walking in, trying to park in the hospital grounds after 8am is a pointless exercise.

[plaques]

Off to Burnley General for the MRI scan on my head. I will be parking near Iceland and walking in, trying to park in the hospital grounds after 8am is a pointless exercise.

Parked there about three weeks ago. No problems but took a walk round the car park to make sure that it was still safe to park.

Best of luck with your scan.

[Big Kev]

Off to Burnley General for the MRI scan on my head. I will be parking near Iceland and walking in, trying to park in the hospital grounds after 8am is a pointless exercise.

Parked there about three weeks ago. No problems but took a walk round the car park to make sure that it was still safe to park.

Best of luck with your scan.

[PanBiker]

Have I missed something, what's the scan for? Best of luck anyway Kev.

[Big Kev]

Have I missed something, what's the scan for? Best of luck anyway Kev.

Part of investigations for unusual blood results.

[Big Kev]

Plenty of parking available on the street, opposite the Iceland car park. I was in the MRI unit for around 90 minutes so probably for the best, you never know when these shops suddenly get funny about using their parking

[Sue]

Plenty of parking available on the street, opposite the Iceland car park. I was in the MRI unit for around 90 minutes so probably for the best, you never know when these shops suddenly get funny about using their parking

Good luck with results