Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Good..... I hope it continues to improve.
I have walked into town, waited for over half an hour for the pharmacist to turn up at Well. Got my meds and then walked to Garlicks to order and pay for two halogen oven bulbs that cost £15. Ian says he will see they are brought over from Skipton and popped through my letter box. That's quite enough honest endeavour for one day!

[Stanley]

After some alarums and excursions I cooked my chicken yesterday but lost my shed time as a consequence. This morning I shall be in the shed at 06:00 for and hour, call Kath to order my meat, have second sleep and after that, cook my vegetables for the week.
(I tried switching the oven on this morning to see if we have a working cooker. It's OK. I still don't know exactly what happened yesterday, as far as I can see it was only a broken filament on a small halogen bulb. Whatever, all seems to be well now.)

[Stanley]

I started the morning by using the setup I already had to mill the face of the target end. It wasn't a good setup. it would have been far safer if the casting had been fastened directly to the bed but doing it this way had the great advantage that it was automatically at right angles and perpendicular to the centre of the bed. So I did some careful patient milling and got away with it! The next job was to take the vise off and wipe the bed with my diamond hone to take off any dings. After that it was into the vise and some filing with the biggest roughest files I had to make the casting more civilised. I've ended up with a casting ready to have some final milling done on it but that's for tomorrow. A good morning and I'm ready for my breakfast.

[Sue]

Morning

February 1st and another couple of weeks before I shall start seeing signs of growth in the garden. I have random snowdrops and crocuses in flower but I like it when I start to see shoots from my perennials appearing in the soil and slowly the garden turns green from vegetation instead of from moss.. i have just noticed the sky is colouring up beautifully outside as the sun rises and catches the clouds.

I am hoping for a dry morning at least as I am doing my trial drive to Christies down the M60 and M62. I shall join it just outside Bury as I know that road like the back of my hand, the real plus being that I shall miss all the long queues from Birch services to Worsley. I shall drive clockwise via Stockport rather than go over the bridge at Barton. Bob has to have a quick health check and collect a variety of medications before Monday ( the sky is looking stunning).

We are not sure how long we will be the appointment is 10.30 so we may well lunch there and back about 2.00 pm. This afternoon I shall the redraft my pattern with all its modifications. I have no more pilates this week and probably little more over the next few weeks, Taira has waved my fees for the period and said to join any class I want when I can. So nice. Anyway what I was about to say was that following a day off yesterday my back feels ok today.

4-6 degrees and no rain forecast Bob says. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Nice to see someone looking forward.... I heard on the radio this morning that some cultures see February 1 as the beginning of Spring.Good! We need some optimism. February is such a short month and March will really cheer us up
Good luck with the practice journey Sue..... It'll be like starting work again!

[Wendyf]

I can't help but think about the time Col went to Christies for radiotherapy back in the 1970s. He was treated as an inpatient but was allowed home at weekends. We were living in North Wales with no telephone and an elderly Reliant 3 wheeler for transport, I managed to visit occasionally but it wasn't easy!

[Sue]

I can't help but think about the time Col went to Christies for radiotherapy back in the 1970s. He was treated as an inpatient but was allowed home at weekends. We were living in North Wales with no telephone and an elderly Reliant 3 wheeler for transport, I managed to visit occasionally but it wasn't easy!

Phew that doesn’t sound nice

[Wendyf]

I can't help but think about the time Col went to Christies for radiotherapy back in the 1970s. He was treated as an inpatient but was allowed home at weekends. We were living in North Wales with no telephone and an elderly Reliant 3 wheeler for transport, I managed to visit occasionally but it wasn't easy!

Phew that doesn’t sound nice

I went down the road to the phone box the next day and spoke to him, and will never forget him telling me that the treatment could save his life but we wouldn't be able to have children. He asked if he should go ahead!

[Stanley]

Morning Wendy. Once again you give me cause to reflect on how lucky I have been. I never had to face a choice like that!
I've just re-surfaced after second sleep and am gathering up the energy to start cooking veggies.... Word from Margaret and Susan that they are struggling in temperatures of over 41C. I think I'd rather have the -5C wind chill!

[Sue]

What a journey. Road blocked by an accident on the way to Bury, alternative route road shut by major road works. We wasted 20 minutes driving back through Heywood to the Heaton Park junction. Now I was completely out of my comfort zone. I never drive motorways let alone the M60. I felt stressed and very tired when we got to Princess Parkway, another road I have never driven. However we still got here in just over an hour which amazed. Bob has gone for his medical, I am having a coffee and a bottle of water in the M&S outlet whilst my heart returns to normal. My watch says it got up to 130, its normally 58-62. Having done it once I will be OK the second time…I hope. I will drive back too.

[Sue]

I can't help but think about the time Col went to Christies for radiotherapy back in the 1970s. He was treated as an inpatient but was allowed home at weekends. We were living in North Wales with no telephone and an elderly Reliant 3 wheeler for transport, I managed to visit occasionally but it wasn't easy!

Phew that doesn’t sound nice

I went down the road to the phone box the next day and spoke to him, and will never forget him telling me that the treatment could save his life but we wouldn't be able to have children. He asked if he should go ahead!

….Iknow what I would have said

[Big Kev]

I went down the road to the phone box the next day and spoke to him, and will never forget him telling me that the treatment could save his life but we wouldn't be able to have children. He asked if he should go ahead!

Wow! I don't know if I would have asked (a purely selfish reaction on my part). It's difficult to say unless you're actually in that situation.

[Wendyf]

I think he was just letting me know the situation. There was no choice really, he was only 22 at the time and we learnt later that it was a very aggressive form of cancer and would have spread very quickly.

[Stanley]

As I said before, I think I have led a charmed life!
Today I shall be in the shed for an hour as usual but after second sleep I have an appointment for bloods at the surgery at 11:30 and then at noon I am meeting Muthomi with Kahara and Lily in the town square and we will have fish and chips for lunch. After that I think I will deserve a rest!

[Stanley]

The first job was to clamp the bed down on the milling table making sure it was lined up correctly. Then I spent half an hour milling those parts I could reach with the long milling cutter I had mounted. I changed that for my normal cutter and milled the crosshead slide and the top face of the horns that will hold the flywheel bearings. Then a bit of a diversion to skim the shank of an almost brand new 16mm end mill down to 5/8". Once it would fit the bushes in my Clarkson T&C grinder I sharpened it and mounted it in the mill. I am ready to cut the slot in the horns of the bed but that will do tomorrow. I have been meaning to bring that metric cutter into use for a long time, at last it's done!
Now for breakfast.....

[Sue]

Morning

The drive to Christies was not uneventful. We should have been on the motorway within 20 minutes, and quite a way down, however after an accident ( not mine) and having to turn round followed by a road closure and getting confused in Heywood on a road I do not know we eventually got on the motorway after 35 minutes but at least one junction further on. The motorway was OK though my stress level was high but we did make it on time. Next time will be better as I now know where I am going.

On the route back, Bob drove but we hit traffic problems in Rochdale as the route to our house was blocked ( for several hours as it happens) by a fatal accident which it seems had just happened. It was 1.30pm and we were hungry having had breakfast at 8.00 am so we did a detour to the converted mill where the pilates studio is. There is a very nice bistro cafe on the ground floor there so we had a pot of tea and a toasty. The traffic was flowing a bit better when we left and we managed eventually to get to Whitworth road and home. In the evening our Stalybridge friends popped over for a cuppa and brought some jigsaws to keep Bob happy if he doesn’t feel like doing much over the next few weeks

Today is u3a art and lunch out with Wendy and Keith. Then Bob and I are heading to a Premier Inn in Liverpool. We are going to a FINE WINE tasting do run by my sister, the wines are expensive and not the sort we would normally taste or buy. Its our birthday presents to each other. We are then spending Saturday morning in Liverpool plus having lunch in a French restaurant With Jane before coming home.

Weather forecast is rainy here today and tomorrow, Liverpool is going to be 10 degrees and light rain. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

Your account of traffic difficulties make me think that things must have got a lot worse since I gave up driving. If it#s any comfort to you you have my deepest sympathy!

[Wendyf]

Sue, I was surprised to learn that you hadn't done much motorway driving recently. You and Bob travel such long distances I thought that it would be second nature!

[Sue]

Sue, I was surprised to learn that you hadn't done much motorway driving recently. You and Bob travel such long distances I thought that it would be second nature!

I never drive when Bob is in the car. He has er a rather an annoying habit of telling me what to do next and I have never driven in France. His Dad used to do the same and Bob didn’t like it either….Bob also is a poor communicator when he describes things are gives directions I am endlessly confused, its easier to sit back and let him drive. Which by the way he is happy to do as he drove very long distances for his job and thinks nothing of it. We do now take far more stops and overnight breaks than we used to . One New Years Eve I drove on the provisor he sat back, said nothing, and let me drive. He was informed that the first instruction he gave ( as if I am a learner driver) then it would be the last time I drove. He did, I have never driven with him since unless I have to. I know he is trying to be helpful but it makes me nervous . Yesterday I gave him permission to give guidance and instruction. Generally he was well behaved

[Stanley]

Oh dear Sue! You would be all right with me. I have never had a problem about being driven!
I have had my sleep and now I'm having a hot pot of tea. I need to get geared up for doc's and my appointment with the two human dynamos that are my great grandchildren from Clitheroe....
I love them to bits but I'm glad child-rearing is behind me!

[Tripps]

In the golden age of motoring, which I got to enjoy - I'd have gone into Rochdale, up Drake Street, over Tandle Hill and down into Royton, turn right into Broadway, all the way to Oldham Road Failsworth, then along to Miles Platting, (Playhouse Cinema), turn left, Grey Mare Lane to Belle Vue, left at the zoo, - then right at the dogs, into Kirkmanshulme Lane, along to Dickenson Road - junction with Wilmslow Road, turn left and you're there.

Dream on - I guess it would take all day now.

Seriously though - how does someone who has no personal transport manage? Is that the sort of thing an organisation like Bosom Friends could help with? There is a scheme here which next door takes part in, where volunteers take people to Addenbrookes appointments. They charge 50p per mile though, which I guess is a lot cheaper than a taxi.

[Sue]

I was avoiding Broadway. I know the Heywood route its very easy from us. . .and know through Manchester toads forget it.Paula said it took her nearly 2 hours. Road closures queues traffic lights. Of course it depends on the time you are travelling

[Stanley]

" how does someone who has no personal transport manage"
I can answer that David for Barlick. If you have an appointment for Airedale at Keighley, one of the hospitals that serves us. You either spend £100 on taxis or you don't go. The journey by public transport is horrendous. I have friends and relatives who would take me but how long would that be acceptable and is it fair to ask anyway. That was one of the reasons why I declined any further treatment for my cancer. (Which incidentally has not caused any problems.... So far!)
As for today. I shall be in the shed for an hour from 06:00 onwards and have no social appointments or necessary shopping so apart from a short walk at midday or perhaps frying my sweet potato chips, I shall be doing nothing.
That suits me fine.

[Stanley]

I started the morning by cutting the beds for the flywheel bearings using the cutter I refined yesterday, it worked well and I shall use it for other jobs this morning. When I had done the beds I cleaned the outsides of the horns and part of the governor stand. Then I took the bed off the mill and bolted the base down so that I could mill the bottom face of the casting. That was as far as I got this morning. Tomorrow I shall mount it the other way up and mill the top face and the faces of the lugs for the fixing screws. More slow and purposeful work with no errors. So a good morning. Now for breakfast!

[Sue]

Morning

When my Mum was being treated for Lymphoma in Manchester and my Dad could no longer drive they were driven by volunteer drivers from Burnley to Manchester and back again. It might have been ‘buddies’ I don’t know , but they had a phone number and organised it. They used to get the same driver every time.

It was a very pleasant social evening yesterday. We are spending this morning in Liverpool and meeting Jane at 1.00 at a French restaurant. It was difficult finding a place where Bob could maintain his low fibre diet. We will then drive home. I think we are going to find a Park and Ride to get into Liverpool, we are in a Premier Inn on Switch Island at the moment. Last nights event was in Crosby, which is where Jane lives, we went by taxi . Her local beach just a few minutes walk away is where the Anthony Gormley man are, it has a name, can’t remember it .

Its due to be 10 degrees and dry here. Have good day all