Today I shall be Mainly...

[PanBiker]

I had a session with a heavy cold which started after my flu jab as well, just about getting shut.

[Stanley]

Thankfully I am Free From Infection. ( Work out for yourselves why this phrase reminds me of a man with a wooden pencil bent down in front of me.....)
I shall be threading two holes 3mm X .5 very carefully! Disaster in the shape of a broken tap is a possibility. High stress!!

[Sue]

Off to the Christmas market with the grandchildren. This afternoon, number three grandchild is coming over to play and the three will have tea together. We will eat later. Its been an early start. Not early to be awake or to have my cuppa but conversation ususally doesn’t commence for another hour!

[PanBiker]

I will be donning walking togs before having lunch down at Esse then going for a walk which will include visiting our Dan at Gill.

[Marilyn]

That is nice, Panbiker
Do you feel his spirit in the places you left him?.
( gosh That must sound awful for people who don't know your story! But you considered where to place your son's remains and, five years on, I hope it brings you both comfort)
Thinking of you...

[PanBiker]

Thanks Maz, it never leaves us and I can still imagine him walking through the door as if nothing had happened. We see a lot of him in Ruby as she is growing up, thankfully we still get to see her regularly, we collect her after Christmas this year and will take her home in the New Year.

[Stanley]

Bit of a triumph yesterday for a bloke with dodgy eyesight. Marvellous what you can achieve with care and a modicum of luck! I'm nearing the point where I can finish the broach and see if it works!
Today I'll have an hour in the shed but the main event is using as much free leccy as I can! I have all my veggies and meat lined up for cooking and the washer is ready for a run.

[Marilyn]

Gardening today in shorts, t-shirts and sun hats.
A beach walk and, later, a river walk.
Should sleep well...

[PanBiker]

Family meet up in Silsden, afternoon walk and then back to our Carla's for tea.

[Stanley]

More cooking and washing than shed yesterday. Today I shall make the cutter and try it out perhaps.... The broach is looking quite tidy!

[Sue]

Yoga, french, art, and a bit of ironing . It was great having the famuly at the weekend, but I was worn out after they left. They certainly make me feel my age

[Stanley]

All visitors tire me Sue!



The wobble broach is finished and it works so today I shall be playing out while I think of my next project.... By the way, all tool finish, no polishing. I think I'm still improving....

[Sue]

I didn’t go to yoga, I seem to gave pulled a muscle in my side. Mondays yoga is very strenuous. I will try the quieter version today. I am shopping in Bury this afternoon, I want some gold sandals to go with my knew jacket, and a couple of Christmas presents.

[Tizer]

We thought today we would be able to dispose of a lot of stuff to the British Heart Foundation. We had them collect a month or so ago but than van would only take certain items and they left most of them. We were told to contact BHF for `the other van' to collect the rest. We did and several weeks later they were coming to get it. Now they've been and we still have lots of stuff! This driver said the other van should have taken most of it. Also they rejected a lot because of H&S reasons - they wouldn't take a bathroom cabinet or SS shower soap holder `for health & safety reasons'. I asked what those reasons were and they didn't know. Two stools were rejected because they had been repainted and the paint might have had lead in it - but they're not that old! It's dispiriting when we're told that lots of people can't afford stuff but charities are rejecting so many good items.

My spirits were knocked down further when the post arrived and I found a letter from the County Council was a £30 fine for driving through a bus gate. I'd never even heard of a bus gate! It's on a road into the town that was closed for months while a housing estate was finished. We were coming home from a visit to another town and saw it had re-opened so I drove through that way. About a quarter mile further on we found ourselves on red tarmac with the words Bus Lane but there was no way out other than straight onto a roundabout. Apparently a lot of people have been caught out, some of them even getting caught twice when they turned around to try and get out. I now know there are another two bus gates on the other side of town and about 2500 people have been fined so far, so I don't feel so bad about it.

[Stanley]

Bus gate.... sounds like a cunning wheeze to me! Another reason for not driving! That's rations for one man for seven days.....
I shall be pottering in the shed and looking forwards to a visit today from Muthomi and his mother Demeris who is visiting and goes home tomorrow. She looks like a lovely woman from her pic.....

[chinatyke]

Bus gate.... sounds like a cunning wheeze to me! Another reason for not driving!

I don't drive either Stanley, except when I'm in another country and hire a car, and then I notice how much my standards have deteriorated. I keep my driving licence up to date but I don't miss driving. The roads are probably safer without me on them.

[Stanley]

I suspect that applies to me as well China, at my age you have to have deteriorated! But worse than that is my mistrust of the other drivers, a lot of them aren't fit to be on the road.

[Sue]

We have donated a number of items to the British Heart Foundation and yes they are choosy for Health and Safety, as is the hospice shop I work at. We have ended up giving away alot of almost unused baby stuff ( bought for visiting grandchildren) as the shops won’t accept it. Nothing wrong with giving it away but it tends to be to people who are in a position to buy new. At the moment we have an almost perfect set if old, of conservatory chairs, but no fire certificate on the fabric. Not thinking I cut the label off when it was new as it measured nearly 15 cm square, rather like IKEA labels. Advertisements for private sale have been unsuccessful so they will have to go to the tip. They are not wonderful chairs, only a cheap set but perfectly useable. I hate to throw them away but we have upgraded.

Anyone want some cane chairs and a table, free to a needy home.

[Tizer]

My cousin has managed to dispose of some stuff for us through Ebay and Freecycle but it's surprising how difficult it can be. I guess that Mrs May's `Only just managing' and even the `Not managing at all' people are buying new stuff on credit rather than buying S/H for cash or acquiring for free. I said something like that to the BHF men and they simply said "That's how life is now". Like Sue, I get the impression that charity shops sell more to the comfortably off and older folk.

Returning to my bus gate fine mentioned above....The County Council will have outsourced the collection of photo data to a private firm. I wonder if that firm is then selling it on to insurance services to make more profit, who then add it to their database that we've been talking about. And then people like me will get hit with a higher premium next year or accused of not telling the company that we've committed the serious offence of accidentally driving in a bus lane. (I noticed in some of the news media comments that the County Council officers had said that people will get fines `if they choose to drive through a bus gate'. I didn't `choose' to drive through one, I accidentally went through it.)

[PanBiker]

What we should have is a modern equivalent of make do and mend but rather than being imposed it should be a state of mind. Sally's mother had a lot of disability aids when she was still living independently all obtained new as her needs increased. No one would recycle them at the time we needed to get rid of them despite the fact that many were just simple mobility and safety aids such as a bed rail or a walking frame. I know that there are now specialist organisations that do collect and recycle such stuff but they can be hard to find.

It's all in the same boat as sell by dates and the amount of food that's is supposedly unsellable and runs the risk of being dumped if not covered by local schemes to redistribute. A complete travesty when we have people having to rely on food banks. No one should have to go hungry in this country regardless of circumstance.

Being involved with a charity shop so to say, there are regulations that do have an impact on what they can handle. Bosom Friends shop does not recycle electrical goods to do so would require PAT testing and certification for each item, that negates to some degree the profit you could expect to make from the items. No point selling stuff that you might make a loss on. Availability of storage space for donated items will also play a major part in what charity shops may be able to accept as well.

[Marilyn]

We had a few garden ornaments (not our kind of thing) and excess outdoor furniture when we moved in over 3 years ago.
We placed them out the front with a big "GIVE AWAY" sign on...gone in less than half an hour!
We had checked with our kids first. None of them wanted the items.
It feels good to just give stuff away. ( so what if they make a few bucks out of it at the local market...your problem is solved and you didn't have to pay to dump it!)

[Sue]

I do agree Ian, the charity shop I work in has very little storage space. Some of the stuff donated is pretty bad, I know, I sort the bags. Some electrical stuff is good but needs a PAL. Certificate.Bob was going to do the exam to help out but it was going to be really expensive. Our chairs are on the way to the local tip. I feel I have failed someone but without the fire safety it could have killed someone too! They don’t bother in France!

[PanBiker]

Sally does the same regarding the donations, she sorts the bags daily and removes any items that have potential to make more money by online auction. There is a limit to what you can charge or what people are prepared to pay in a charity shop. Since doing this she has sold hundreds of items for the group via Ebay and raised thousands more than if they had gone into the shop. Antique and unusual items, branded designer crockery and any designer label clothing and accessories. It's always worth a bit of time researching an item if it has potential. It normally equates to just a few items each day but over time makes a huge difference. She has sold some items that would have typically gone for no more than a couple of quid in the shop for £50 or more on Ebay, buyers pay postage of course so it's a good way of increasing the revenue for the charity.

[Stanley]

You all know where I stand on repairing stuff rather than ditching it but even I have been forced into the ditch and replace route now with most white goods and electronics. I suspect you're right about the really poor not being the main customer flow in charity shops. Logical when you consider they haven't got the spare cash anyway.
I have nothing clearly in mind for the shed so I think I'll be writing for a day or two to get the Xmas articles lined up. At this time of year I tend to draw up a time line and write topical articles that will carry the paper though until late January. It's one thing off my mind as I deal with the Xmas cards!

[Sue]

Ian, we do the same. There is someone who deals with all the jewellry for example. It makes quite a difference.

art and writing today, with a light lunch inbetween we are out for a meal with a friend this evening.