Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I hope you get a result Sue.... I am back up after two hours of second sleep. I shall start to improve the shining hour by doing some extender cooking of cabbage, onion and garlic and after that frying my sweet potato chips. The cheapest good grub we can get these days.... I love cooking....

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed at 06:00 as usual and this morning I will not allow myself to be distracted by other matters and will have a well wrapped up walk and a sit!
(Why is it that my extender cooking so often leads to burning the bottom of the pan? Caramelised cabbage is a bugger!)

[Sue]

Morning

Its art at Haslingden this morning. Paula, who I normally take, is taking me today. Bob is collecting me then we are driving down to Coventry to look after Eve and Briony for the weekend. We will have a busy weekend as we will be doing the early morning swimming runs, as well as Friday evening and taking the girls out for a meal on Saturday evening. They will be at school on Friday so we have decided to visit Warwick. We have been to the castle a couple of times but never been to the town .

Have a good day all, its going to be a cold one

[Stanley]

That's a busy schedule for two conscientious grandparents! I hope it all goes well for you.



I spent over an hour on the cylinder milling it in the VM. It is now square and the correct length. Much more is needed of course but this is a good start. Now for breakfast.

[Stanley]

I am back up and listening to 'In Our Time which is discussing one of my favourite subjects, the Antikythera Mechanism. If you've never heard of it, look it up.... (LINK)

[Big Kev]

Completing the decorating in the hallway, just waiting for the radiator to cool down before I take it off the wall. Also awaiting delivery of the heat pump tumble dryer, the courier phoned earlier to say they'd be here between 1 and 3.

13:10 tumble dryer arrived and they even put it in the cellar for me, top job

Decorating has resumed, just stopping for a sausage sandwich and a brew then I'll be on with papering the panels.

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[Big Kev]

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[Stanley]

That sausage sandwich looks like rations for three men for two days!
I shall be in the shed as usual from 06:00 and am expecting Susan and Mick to call in for a brew this morning around 10:30. They are in the area for a day or two.....

[Stanley]

I spent over an hour this morning on the bed and the base. First I drilled the lugs on the base for the screws that will hold it down onto the wooden plinth. Then I drilled the lugs on the base clearance for the 2BA bolts that will fasten it to the base. Next I transferred the holes for the bolts in the bed onto the base, drilled the holes and tapped them 2BA. Finally I bolted the bed to the base and mounted it on the temporary wooden plinth it will sit on while I am going forward with the build. A productive hour and a quarter, now for breakfast!

[Sue]

Morning

I think the sausage sandwich was perfect…..

We had an interesting afternoon. We were just before Stafford on the M6 when we had a huge puncture. I heard something like a bang and something large flew past the window, at the same time we had a warning message on the car which started with there is something wrong with the tyre pressure then immediately a second message that told us to pull in urgently . We managed to get to a refuge area where Bob contacted the AA , which we have membership with through the bank. We discovered later we had a huge whole in the tyre. We had no spare tyre as the battery for the hybrid system is where the spare would normally sit. As we had luggage for the weekend we could not carry the spare in the boot.

It was mighty cold stood for an hour behind the barrier waiting for a pick up truck to take us to Stafford services, where the AA man arrived almost immediately. He did a temporary repair by plugging the hole and contacted a tyre place in Stafford. He followed us there to check we arrived safely . All very efficient and we were very impressed especially as it was already dusk and the chances of getting a tyre replaced at 4.30 seemed remote. We arrived at Julias at 6.30 pm , three hours later than expected though we had kept in touch with her with WHATS APP. Thank goodness for Ipads, I played a word game for an hour, stood there in the cold. We decided to have two tyres fitted as the last service said I would need new tyres before the next service.

This morning all is calm. Julia has done morning training and is now walking to the station for a train to Chester. The girls only have evening training today, and at the moment are getting ready for school. We are having a cuppa in the lounge before we have breakfast. The builders have just arrived. The forecast is cloudy and bright 8 degrees by mid day, its 3 at the moment. Have a good day all

[Sue]

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[Gloria]

Lucky you got to the refuge area, smart motorways are not my idea of fun.

[Sue]

Lucky we happened to be in the inside lane too.

[Big Kev]

My Yeti never had a spare wheel either, it came with a pressurised can of sealant. I did use it once but it's horrible stuff, the tyre fitter at ATS wasn't overly impressed cleaning it out of the wheel before he could fit a new tyre. I am pleased the Kuga has a 'space saver' spare.

Glad you got sorted safely

[Big Kev]

That sausage sandwich looks like rations for three men for two days!

There are only two sausages, they've been sliced lengthways so they fit better between the bread

[Big Kev]

Morning

I think the sausage sandwich was perfect…..

It was delicious, thank you. Butcher's sausages, from David Ingham's in Foulridge and a fresh loaf from Oddies' bakery.

[PanBiker]

My Yeti never had a spare wheel either, it came with a pressurised can of sealant. I did use it once but it's horrible stuff,

You don't get the luxury of a spare wheel with a motorbike or the same stability as a car that still has three wheels to go at with a puncture.

If you are lucky you may get away with a rear wheel blow out on a motorbike but if its the front you are going to fall off with a tank slapper! The risk is compounded of course the faster you are going. I used Autoseal in both tyres on my 1100 Pan European as when touring in France on proper roads and folk who tend to observe proper lane procedure you can make particularly speedy progress.

I only ever had one puncture riding motorbikes which was on my previous bike which was a Honda 500 Four. That was a rear wheel catastrophic deflation cruising at about 60mph on the Richmond road which runs over the top of the Dales. Had camping gear and Sally as pillion and we did very well not to fall off, just missed the side of roadside barn though as I came to a stop. Scary to say the least! That was a trailer home job with a mate who had the wherewithal. Then a trip to Keighley with the back wheel.

When I got the 1100 which weighed nearly twice what the previous bike did and with a lot more torque it was an easy decision. I got no complaints at tyre changes from the lads at Appleyards.

[Sue]

My Yeti never had a spare wheel either, it came with a pressurised can of sealant. I did use it once but it's horrible stuff, the tyre fitter at ATS wasn't overly impressed cleaning it out of the wheel before he could fit a new tyre. I am pleased the Kuga has a 'space saver' spare.

Glad you got sorted safely

No room even for a space saver if you have luggage as it has to sit in the boot . Sealant would not have repaired thus hole. The AAm an used a large plastic plug

[Stanley]

Being an old-fashioned bugger the concept of not having a spare tyre is completely foreign to me, and I mean a proper spare, identical with what is on the wheel. I looked after my tyres and can't ever remember having a puncture or blowout in all those miles. I think most of my mileage was done on Michelin Tyres,
Susan and Mick called in for a brew yesterday and are coming again today. They both had doctor's appointments yesterday and so had no time for changing duvet covers! I shall dragoon them into action today. With a bit of luck I might also have them on Monday which will be handy for help with veggie shopping.
Apart from that I shall be in the shed first thing doing useful things to my Cylinder.

[Stanley]

This morning I set up the cylinder and bored it as I have to do that before I can address the lids and the piston. I spent a quiet and careful half hour boring it to size and then broke the setup down and reverted to my normal collet chuck on the mill ready for the next step. Then I measured the cylinder bore and found out two things, first that it was almost perfectly parallel in the casting and secondly that my eyes had let me down and I'd bored it to 1.4" instead of 1.5"! My first instinct was to set up again and bore that small amount out but then I thought no, we're not driving 300 looms! 1.4" is fine, leave it as it is. So I shall have breakfast and the engine will have a slightly smaller piston!

[Sue]

Morning

Its been a busy one. Eve was collected at 5.15 am for morning training. We heard her get up and left her to it. She will be back at 9.15 . We were up at 6.45 am for a cuppa. Briony was up at 6.55, had a quick light breakfast and we took her to training at 7.20 am. All running to Julias very detailed timetable that she left us. After leaving B at the pool we went to Asda to do some shopping, then back to the house for a well earned breakfast. Our organised timetable is now completed apart from picking up B at 10.00. Eve will have a shower when she returns , she then goes and volunteers at a recycling place for charity. She started doing this for her bronze Duke of Edinburgh award but has continued.

We bought pizzas for lunch as they are easy to eat with no access to a table. The dining area is full of everything from their loft as they are having a bedroom built in the roof space so B can have a proper room rather than the smallest box room I have ever seen.I should think the girls want to chill in their own space this afternoon after an intense few hours, but we will ask them what they want to do. We are taking them out for a meal tonight.

Its dull cool and there may be a shower of rain. I have promised to wash and recycle the girls school clothes for school on Monday but I will have to dry things in the dryer. Have a good day all

[Stanley]

This being a grandparent is complicated and exhausting. You'll be glad to get home and have a rest. Have you seen the cold weather warnings for Monday and Tuesday Sue?

[Sue]

This being a grandparent is complicated and exhausting. You'll be glad to get home and have a rest. Have you seen the cold weather warnings for Monday and Tuesday Sue?

Ah yes but a sit down afternoon, the girls are feeling like doing nothing. B went for a walk with Bob, Eve is tidying her bedroom after her mocks I am doing the washing and sitting down. Very relaxing

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed at 06:00 working on my castings. That missing tenth of an inch in the cylinder is nagging me but I shall be brave and ignore it!
I need some tomatoes so I shall have a walk later and on my way back pop into the Co-op. I shall be wrapping up warm!

[Stanley]

This morning I concentrated on lids. Very careful turning as I had minimum hold on the lids. All went well and I turned one face of each of the two lids. Tomorrow I will have a different set up for turning the inside faces but now the focus is on breakfast.