WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

Cathy, you're right. I have seldom seen two people running a farm so sensibly and productively outside the commercial sector. I knew that farm 60 years ago when it was poverty farming and what Wendy and Col have done there is a credit to them.... I nearly bought a farm up there, at that time any of those small farms could be bought for £50 an acre, buildings and house thrown in.... That gives you a good idea of how poverty stricken they were. Only the larger ones like Dowshaw and Howshaw were going concerns.
The frustration of trying to find out who is actually editing the BET. Even their website is totally out of date. Looks like a failing enterprise to me..... Question is should I bother? I am torn, only yesterday a lady stopped me in the street and told me how much she had enjoyed yesterday's article.

[Wendyf]

Oh dear, I must be giving the wrong impression with my photos! This can't be said to be a farm...we have a neglected 5 acre field that needs some tlc. I am overrun with weeds and the place is very untidy!! We get a few eggs from our hens but have no other productive livestock, so I can't claim to be any where near self sufficient.

[Stanley]

Stop knocking yourself! Plenty of others will do that for you for free! All right it isn't a 'farm' but I see the place I knew 60 years ago transformed. Look at the pic you posted in Pets Corner and think what Mrs Butterfield's reaction would have been to it. It would be inconceivable.
Three drunken lads wandering home as I was walking Jack. Shouting foul language, micturating in the car park behind Barclay's Bank and all this at 6AM on a quiet Sunday morning. I have grandchildren older that they are and I wondered if they were in work. How can they afford an all-nighter?

[Tizer]

If they'd done that in the old days they'd probably have got knocked on the head by some older blokes and relieved of their wallets. And these days they're probably carrying credit cards and expensive iphones!

[PanBiker]

Both related to our bike ride today which took us out through West Marton and on to Nappa. We had to dog leg down the main road to pick up the road to Halton West. I thought it a good idea to switch on my flashing rear light and ride behind Sally as we went down the mile or so on what some drivers use as a race track. When I went to switch it on it was virtually hanging off the mount, (I only fitted it a couple of weeks ago and it was fully tight then). I tightened it up OK with the multi-tool I have in my seat pouch but realised that would only be a temporary fix as the nut and bolt arrangement was a non locking type, don't know why I didn't notice that when I fitted it in the first place! Note to self to replace all the fixing bolts with hex head screws and Nylock nuts, I have plenty bought for my construction projects.
The other thing was the strength of the wind when making our way back from Paythorne via Horton. Really dark clouds coming off Pendle and I reckon the winds were gusting to about 50mph. There were a few branches down on the back lane through to Horton. We did very well to get back in the dry, just started spitting as I turned up onto the Croft. Good ride anyway 18 miles in just short of 2 hours with fully manageable hills on the route. I'm ready for my tea now once through the shower.

[Stanley]

I was out in the back yard doing good works between 3 and 4 yesterday afternoon and it got quite gusty just before the rain. I thought we were in for a big thunderstorm....
The good works were part of making room for the power saw in the shed.... I manage it in the end. Considering calling it the Tardis.....
What a good race at Silverstone, full of incident but the right result.

[PanBiker]

Andy Murray through to the final eight at Wimbledon. Some fantastic point winning lob shots against his 6ft 11" Croatian opponent helping to take the match.

[Stanley]

I watched some of it, I can't get engaged with tennis and competition on that level. I am definitely wired up differently when it comes to sport....

[Pluggy]

Some worthless slimeball has signed up to twitter using an email address that belongs to me. Of course I get the email to confirm "my" Twitter account. Apparently I've been renamed to Zina Mohaddisa in the process. Its an STSR email which all come to me and I use it as a spam trap, its an address that was sold by some unscrupulous outfit I dealt with several years ago.

Sorry Zina, I won't be confirming your twitter account....

[PanBiker]

I watched some of it, I can't get engaged with tennis and competition on that level. I am definitely wired up differently when it comes to sport....

Not sure what you mean by "on that level", surely they are just competitors at the top of their chosen game. Same as F1 or any other popular sport at the professional level unless of course you only follow the amateurs in any given discipline.

[Stanley]

Pluggy, it's obviously a morning for internet related events. (No, the printer hasn't burst into flames!) I logged in as usual this morning and found my internet connection was running at less than 1mps. Valuable experience because it reminded me of the olden days with Dial up.... Believe me it was salutary! I did all the sensible things but no joy then unplugged the router, brewed up and switched it back on again. The usual interminable wait while everything re-established and hey presto! 17mps again. Computers are funny little buggers aren't they....
My mind went to the fact that if someone hasn't got a clue they would be knackered and ringing for a Pluggy. I wonder how many times that happens in a day.
Right, back to normal routine......

[Stanley]

I got a sad little letter yesterday addressed to 'The Occupant' at 10 East Hill. It was from a man enquiring about Dennis, my late next door neighbour. I had to write back to him (he enclosed a stamped addressed envelope) and give him the bad news that Dennis had died, the house was cleared, sold and under refurbishment. I apologised for having to give him what I am sure is bad news so impersonally....

[Stanley]

The fact that I could be one of the Co-operative customers who were charged twice on their debit card transaction on Tuesday. I shall be watching my bank statement very carefully when it comes later in the month. (I always keep my till receipts....)



My old fashioned but very efficient filing system for daily receipts. Much to be said for it, date order and they can never get mixed up as long as they are on the spike. One of those brilliant ideas that were so perfect they never changed. I suppose Elfin Safety would say that the spike is too dangerous these days.....

[Tizer]

The danger could be avoided by keeping a wide metal tube, longer than the spike, placed over it.

[Stanley]

Yup but that would complicate a brilliantly simple bit of kit. My cure is to keep it in a cupboard where it can't be touched accidentally....

[Tripps]

The BBC seem determined to criticise the Government's decision to force all Brits to return from Tunisia. Having shown a woman in tears because the Tunisians will lose their hotel jobs, reporter Orla Guerin has just said -

"the British are returning to the UK where the threat level is the same as in Tunisia."

Really?

[Stanley]

I noted that as well Tiz. It's a puzzling decision and that logic hasn't escaped the Tunisian government either. Not good for us or the Tunisians......
Serena Williams.... Quite brilliant. Why do they keep going on about her advanced age, 33!!

[Stanley]

The first thing to grab me at 03:30 this morning was an extremely loud helicopter, police I think, circling round overhead for about 30 minutes. I have no doubt they were looking for someone.... No doubt we will get news later.
Further afield I have been watching the terrible case of the car that ran off the road last Sunday near Stirling, was reported immediately but the police never responded. On Wednesday it was reported again and when the police eventually responded they found a car off the road containing a badly injured woman and her dead partner. The woman has since died from her injuries exacerbated no doubt by kidney damage due to dehydration.
I don't know how this could happen and it appears that there is no record of the first report on the Sunday. Is this a result of reorganisation and cuts? I suspect we will hear a lot more about this terrible case. I can't even begin to imagine the experience that young woman had.... Are we going to see more cases like this as police resources are cut?
One of my mates told me he has stomach cancer....
On a lighter note, my power saw is on track to arrive around 14:00.

[Tripps]

The fact that for the first time in ages - the price of diesel fuel is the same as that for unleaded petrol - both are 116.9 p per litre.

[Stanley]

All I can say id that I'm glad I don't have a car any more.



Mick with the saw in the shed. A good heavy piece of kit. Well worth 50 litres of diesel.....

[PanBiker]

Nice to put a face to a name, so that's the bloke with the talented hands, nowt like I Imagined you Mick!

[plaques]

Colne cycle Grand Prix tomorrow evening.(Wednesday). Colne centre closed down for the races. Three events starting 6-30 but with the big race at 8-15. Weather should be kind and promises to be a good event for the cycling buffs. Cycle Race.

[Stanley]

Isn't it just Ian... He's a good lad We met through shed matters and thanks to him I am now in the loop with him and three other shed men in the NE. That's where the bargain power saw came from. Mick is at a woodcarving exhibition in Harrogate today, he combined that with delivering the saw. One of the others is on Youtube, if you search for doubleboost you'll find him. John Mills is a bit of a star on that channel and is a very good fitter and turner as well as being very funny. Have a look at one of his videos.....

I've posted this in computers but I'll put it here as well because it looks like a phishing scam to me. Click to enlarge....



Make up your own mind about it. If it isn't a scam it's incredibly inept marketing....
The other thing that grabbed me was how well built my new friend the power saw is.....

[Whyperion]

just hover over the links, the url should be visble somewhere and it most certainly wont end in an legit amazon domain. Delete, dump and forget.

Re the spike, H&S safe ones have a curved top, like a coat hanger, (just be careful picking them up)

[Stanley]

Did anyone get any clue about the noisy police helicopter?
The wonderful feeling I have now that I have a power saw in the shed. The ability to cut large chunks of metal without effort changes my view of many tasks.....