Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Two articles written yesterday of the six I need to carry me through to January 12th 2018. Yes we are that close to a brave new year. Today I want at least another two...... (My hands are getting clean!)

[Sue]

Craft today, I shall tackle my hand made Christmas cards. Friday lunch with friends, Wendy and Keith. I think it will be a light lunch, too much eating this week

[Tizer]

My cousin who lives locally is proving to be very good at re-distribution of goods, i.e. charitable giving. She's been taking stuff from our down sizing and keeping anything she needs then finding friends, neighbours and work colleagues who need items. It's proving successful and ensuring that stuff is recycled. It works in the opposite direction too. One of her neighbours gave her a bicycle for her daughter to use some years ago. Then cousin used the bike itself. When we moved here she gave it to Mrs Tiz to try out as a way of getting about locally. Now Mrs Tiz has decided that she doesn't feel safe enough on a bike on today's busy roads, she's got a free bus pass and we can reach most things on foot so the bike is going to a local charity that will service the bike and then sell it. It uses the funds from sales to train people to ride bikes.

[Stanley]

recycling at it's best!
I wrote another two articles yesterday and am aiming at another two today. Bad for the shed but good for my peace of mind!

[Sue]

We have snow, just a sprinkling but the sky is heavy. Off to Manchester today, wine tasting at the THREE WINE MEN event at the Town Hall

[Stanley]

These pensioners gadding about! I am just about ready to screw myself down to writing..... I think I have the ideas.....

[Stanley]

Right! Six articles in the bag, I can relax until January 12th 2018 on that score. This morning will be a little bit of shed then washing and cooking on free leccy and at dinnertime in front of the TV for the last F1 race of the year. Mind you I think it's a bit of a stitch up, Mercedes are letting Bottas have a bit of end of season glory I suspect......

[Sue]

Claire and Erin this morning, its not a day to take her out walking in tbe Dell, it will be rather cold, wet and muddy. After they leave I shall finish tbe toile for the long culottes to go with my new jacket

[Stanley]

Must look up some of these sewing terms! I hope it goes well Sue.
I shall be looking at bringing the Harrison horizontal mill back into regular use now I have freed up the space around it. Not a lot of point underusing an asset of that quality!

[Marilyn]

Febby accused me of having no Christmas Spirit, so I buckled to the pressure and put the tree up. I also decorated the sideboard, all while grumbling quietly under my breath. ( funny how he never decorates the house for Christmas or puts the decorations away afterward ain't it?)
One tree, and one sideboard. That's enough. Job done! ( Now stop your flamin' moaning!)

Oh...and the wreath thingy for the front door was looking a bit past it's best...so I have treated it to some Chrome Spray Paint. Just about to tackle the second coat in a jiffy, but it is looking rather marvellous already! So I recycled my own junk I guess.

[Stanley]

Not much chance of me doing that Maz!
I shall sort a cutter or two in the shed but today Pluggy comes to install the new solid state hard drive for my operating programmes so I shall be opening the box up and cleaning it out before he comes. I backed all my data up yesterday as belt and braces even though he isn't touching that disk...... I shall be reading the handbook for my tool and cutter grinder again because I have to do some different cutters on it. When all else fails, read the instructions!

[Sue]

I don’t do Christmas before December apart from collecting pressies through the year and organising getting cards together . I do the tree mid December, decorations minimal . Yesterday I did spend the day making cards from the linoprints of a Christmas tree that I made in my annual art workshop in the summer. The workshop was more about trying linocuts than making Christmas cards

We are off to France for a few days soon to close the house down for winter, I shall write the cards then and post them when we get back. We are doing a festive tea with Christmas crackers and cake for our neighbours whilst we are there. Its a bit cold and wet like here so the visit will be very short.

Yoga this morning, hospice shop this afternoon, pilates at 5.30pm, then feet up in the warmth in front of a nice fire

[Stanley]

That's a nice picture Sue! Have a good day. I have had my play out in the shed and now I have to get down to the serious matter of getting ready for Pluggy. It has struck me that it will be easier to clean her insides out because I now have the benefit of the hand held cordless cleaner!

[PanBiker]

I received birthday wishes in "What Attracted" but that thread has turned to more serious matters now so I will reply in here.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes and Maz, they are all special if you are still ticking,

I wont be able to sing "When I'm Sixty Four", well not truthfully anyway.

[Stanley]

I shall be in the shed pursuing sharp cutters for the HM and yes, I shall be wearing a mask!

[Sue]

A quiet morning, I should be going walking but would not be back in time for my sewing lesson at 2.00. Pilates at 6.30

Today I have done my ancestry DNA test. A Widdup friend and I are trying to connect. We are both descended from Widdups of Rochdale, but no amout of searching will definitely connect us, the main common link seems to be the date and baptisms at St Chads. I have managed to connect most of the Rochdale Widdups, but her family and mine seem a bit more obscure. Diane Who lives in Australia, is taking the test too. If we connect and we both think we should then I have a number of Widdup relatives still living in Rochdale, however distant the link you never know I may even find descendants of my missing grandfather Wilfred Widdup Marriott

[Stanley]

Sue, I think any of us that have dug into the family history will have been surprised by how many potential relations we have and the further back you go, the more complicated it gets! Add in the odd bigamous marriage that produced children and that further complicates matters. One of these days a supercomputer on Alpha Centauri will be capable of giving a complete list if requested.... That'll take all the fun out of it! I know that my dad abandoned a wife and child in Broken Hill when he came over here in the Great War..... That popped up when I was searching his very complete Australian army records, she applied for support as his wife and got it so I think the evidence is sound. Parents eh!?
I shall be quietly sharpening and organising a drawer full of cutters.....

[Sue]

Art this morning, yoga this evening. My sister is popping over from Liverpool for the afternoon so we are off out to lunch....YES LUNCH AGAIN! that is why I have to keep going to yoga and pilates!

[Stanley]

You've got to eat and be sociable Sue. Don't worry about it.....
I shall be rethinking my sharpening strategy after yesterdays problems..... It was not a good day once I got onto the next cutter. I have done some thinking.......

[Sue]

This morning I can’t move my head. I was fine when I went to bed, but woke at about 2.30 am with a stiff neck. I may not get to art, i definitely can’t drive

[Wendyf]

Hope it soon clears up Sue.
I have been thinking about getting the Ancestry DNA test done, especially as it was on offer at £49. This morning I talked myself into it, went to the website and found that the cost is back up at £71. I'll wait till next Black Friday.
History Soc this morning.

[Sue]

Wendy it will be on offer again soon, if not the New Year then Mothers Day

[Stanley]

Sue, I swear my daily Cod Liver Oil has a lot to do with my freedom from the aches that used to plague me.
I shall be fighting the milling cutters. 3 days on one cutter and I haven't cracked it yet! It ain't easy!

[Sue]

This was muscular Stanley, I think i twisted a muscle. Cod liver oil is supposed to help joints. I definitely pulled someting. It eased as the day wore on and the anti inflammatories kicked in. Its a lot better today. I slept without a pillow which helped, although it hasn’t helped my breathing! I shall continue with the same, not too much neck twisting and keeping it warm. I can turn my head today without yelling in pain.

Today, nothing much is planned. Claire and Erin are visiting this afternoon and this evening. I shall wrap a couple of presents that need to be despatched.

[Stanley]

I haven't used a pillow since I experimented with the rough towel..... My neck and shoulder pains are history.
Today I shall be in the shed for an hour but mainly cooking and housework. I'm going almost veggie this week I think just for a change. I have a fancy for an apple pie.......