Today I shall be Mainly...

[LizG]

Making yet another batch of Ian's Energy Bars. I haven't bought a muesli bar since he posted the recipe.

I've also started this years batch of quince jelly. Once they cool I will start the straining process.

[Stanley]

Getting scrubbed up for the party. Cathy tipped me over the edge when she said she wanted a picture of me in the kilt, It's the Black Watch Kilt and Lovat Jacket this evening.... In case anyone is wondering, I was given permission to wear the Black Watch tartan by the CO of the First Battalion when they were stationed at Wavell Barracks in Berlin and I joined them to teach them the 17pdr Anti Tank gun when they came back from Korea. %0 years later I met the adjutant at a wedding in Cornwall and he brought a message from the colonel to say he was glad I was wearing it. The adjutant told me he had never seen a better kilt. Hand woven to my measurements in the Outer Isles. In a good kilt the cloth is never cut but woven exactly to the size needed.... God knows whether it would be possible to do it now. One thing is certain, it will outlast me!

[Marilyn]

( he still can't tell us apart, Cazza )
Twas ME that urged the kilt wearing, Stanley. Hope it fits if it was made to measure!

We have been for a long walk...about 2 hours. We couldn't decide between a bike ride or a walk, and in the end it was easier to walk...

[Stanley]

Sorry Maz.... Senior moment. Kilts always fit Maz because they are wrap round and as long as the strap on the waistband is long enough they will fit forever. I am thinner than when I wore it last so there will be no problem. I shan't be cold either, they are surprisingly warm due to the enormous amount of good woollen material in them. A good kilt like this has nine yards of heavy wool cloth, hand woven in one length and the width is to suit my measurements as the cloth is not cut during the making. God knows what it would cost today or even whether it could be made.

[Stanley]

Sorry Maz.... Senior moment. Kilts always fit Maz because they are wrap round and as long as the strap on the waistband is long enough they will fit forever. I am thinner than when I wore it last so there will be no problem. I shan't be cold either, they are surprisingly warm due to the enormous amount of good woollen material in them. A good kilt like this has nine yards of heavy wool cloth, hand woven in one length and the width is to suit my measurements as the cloth is not cut during the making. God knows what it would cost today or even whether it could be made.
I just looked the price up and for a machine woven 9 yard kilt the cost is £500. So you can add some more on top of that! I think it cost £120 from the Highland Kilt and Bagpipe Works at Luss on the side of Loch Lomond... Run by an old curmudgeon called Kirkpatrick who made me prove that I was entitled to the tartan.

[Sue]

Happy birthday Stanley, on a sadder note it's 4 years today since Dad died and it would have been his 99 th birthday today. However Stanley, enjoy your day. Hope you are doing something special

[Stanley]

Thanks Sue..... My main task today is to look after myself and hang Kev's magnificent montage where it will be a constant reminder of the day... I have a spot in mind.

[Stanley]

I wrote an article for the BET yesterday but did nothing else. Today I want to get back to normal so my sights are set on the shed!

[Stanley]

Keeping warm and dry and doing useful things in the shed!

[Sue]

Off to another funeral in Sheffield today. Sad, very sad but on a brighter note I will meet some of my mums relatives that I have not seen for nearly 30 years.

[Stanley]

Wrap up warm Sue, funerals are chilly affairs at the best of times....
You all know where I'll be. Making quiet but steady progress on Deb's and Sarah's engines.... I am so lucky I have such an interest in the shed, I'm sure it is a big factor in keeping me fit and active..... (That applies to Jack as well. my personal fitness trainer!)

[Sue]

I was well wrapped Stanley. Itwas however an all inside do, even the crematorium had a pleasant warm waiting area inside. I have mixed emotions I said goodbye to one Aunty and on the same occasion met about 6 new cousins and more second cousins that I had never met before. Emails have been exchanged as have Facebook accounts. I feel mums family has been made whole again. The branch, our branch, that had fallen off the family tree has been stuck back on. I was hugged by one cousin who she thought they had lost us for ever. Which is exactly the way I felt.another told me I looked 30 not 66. She could be a life long friend

[PanBiker]

A similar experience finding missing cousins at funerals from me as well Sue. It was a few years ago now but I found someone that when I met her for the first time I had the feeling I had know her all my life. She is family on my dads side and what she has researched about our origins in the dales is absolutely fascinating, packed with strong women, so much so, one particular episode could easily be turned into a drama or film. In my case, although a funeral always has sadness, In that case I found more than I had lost. In a way I can never think of my cousin Anne without thinking of Aunt Pauline who's funeral we were attending, I know she would have approved.

[Big Kev]

...going to the seaside. I fancy a bracing walk along the prom so we're off to Thornton Cleveleys.

[Tizer]

I'll never forget Cleveleys because as a child I once ate a whole pack of Sun-Kist chocolate coated peanuts and was sick on the way home. So avoid anyone who tries to sell you choc peanuts, Kev! More seriously, we used to go to Cleveleys or St Annes almost every Sunday, racing through the country lanes at 30 to 40 mph in dad's Austin 7, then Austin Devon and similar old cars. My Uncle George would come along with his family in his Standard and we'd turn tight at the bottom of the main street, onto the prom, then go into one of the fields where you could park and picnic. There was a house in one of these which sold tea and pop through a window. It was in a field next to what I think had been a boating pool. We played football or cricket on the field or went onto the shingle beach to skim pebbles. Happy days!

[PanBiker]

Three grandchildren today so the barns to wear them out and then Billy Bobs Ice Cream Parlour and Diner for our tea.

I fancy a New Yorker.

[Stanley]

"another told me I looked 30 not 66. She could be a life long friend" Flattery is always good Sue!
Cleveleys..... We went on holiday there during the war and I have never forgotten it. The electric train into Southport and a song that was all the rage, 'Give me land lots of land 'neath the starry skies above. Don't fence me in'. I seem to remember a complicated machine that produced a river of hot fat moving in a circle. Donuts were dropped in at one point and by the time they got back to the starting point they were cooked.



Notice the two ladies in uniform....
I shall be in the shed thinking about Mick and John making the third attempt to cast the cylinders!

[Sue]

Exactly Ian

[Big Kev]

...going to the seaside. I fancy a bracing walk along the prom so we're off to Thornton Cleveleys.

Didn't get to Cleveleys because of traffic and diverted to Morecambe instead only to sit in more traffic. It was a good bracing day, got some pictures with Eric now he's been welded back together. There's been a lot of work going on along the front, it's looking good.

[Moh]

Usually something going on in Morecambe every weekend in the summer - getting to be a popular place. With having the caravan at Heysham it is very handy for us.

[PanBiker]

When I was kid we used to go to a caravan park at Heysham, Ocean Edge. No nuclear power station then, just the SS Berengaria next door at Middleton Towers.

[PanBiker]

Not really a fit day for walking with the two Granddaughters so this afternoon we have mainly been baking biscuits. We have done human shapes and are going to move on to cat shapes, hearts and stars. Some will be suitably embellished to enhance the presentation. I had to encourage them to roll out with care rather than trying to bludgeon the mix to death with the rolling pin.

[LizG]

This is instead of hitting a 'Like' button Ian.

[PanBiker]

We used to have one of them Liz, thanks, it was fun. One of the legs broke off a human shape so Ruby decided to embellish (squeezy icing) him as a one legged pirate, he tasted well good.

[Stanley]

Moving forward on the engines now I have got news that the NE Mafia had a successful day yesterday, the castings are done!