Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

Next couple of days will be spent avoiding Storm Ciara. The Daily Express (!) forecasts thundersnow and -12C. Really.....

[Marilyn]

Lovely weather here. Went for a long walk around the coastal path. Just lovely.

Son drops his dog off later this week, for us to care for, for a fortnight while they go on holidays.
The dog is 12 now. We had bad news after scans last week that tell us she is not long for this world. She has an enlarged heart, end stage heart disease and her thyroid has given up the ghost. She recently went deaf also.
She is not in any pain...still enjoys her food...still wants short walks. So it is just kindness and lots of love for the dear old thing. We can do that in abundance.
Likely she will die in her sleep, in her bed. That’s what we all want for her. I just hope she makes it through until they get back from holidays! ( I know my son will find it difficult to leave her, in case he won’t see her again. I have to be strong and wave him off with confidence or he won’t go.)

[Stanley]

Sounds like a nice quiet end Maz. Just as it should be!

[Marilyn]

Well, we all had a good cry last week, and now it is just a matter of getting on with things at a quiet and peaceful pace. Lots of love and cuddles and good food. Small slow walks when she asks for one.
I thought we could sit quietly on the back lawn with a bottle of wine ( not for the dog!), and maybe a few nibbles ( for the dog!) and we can watch a few sunsets together?

[Stanley]

[Wendyf]

Sounds like a good end of life plan.

[Sue]

Cuddles and love always help.

Went out early this morning. First to visit our friend the patisserie on Bacup market and bought a few things for tea tonight. Then we drove to Oswaldtwistle Mills to buy a cheap portable sewing machine I can take to my craft group. On the way back we called at the butchers.

The machine was only £79 and does all the basics I need. The price is low as there is no hard or plastic cover, only two sewing feet plus buttonhole foot and very basic buttonholes. There are about 8 fancy stitches and the same for straight stitching. Perfectly adequate for craft makes and only 5 kg weight. My machine is incredibly heavy, and fitted into a sewing cabinet. It's a right performance getting it out and putting it back, and....more to the point....rather expensive and thus I would not want to risk damaging it in transit or at the group. I can buy a bag at Dunelm for £15, to store and carry it in, and big enough to store bits and pieces often needed like scissors, tape measures, Thread, pins etc. I can make up a travel kit out of my existing bits! As the machine is the same make as my big machine I can use the specialist sewing feet with it. I may even be able to use my extension sewing machine table.

Right, finished my coffee and off to Dunelm

[chinatyke]

Cuddles and love always help.
I can buy a bag at Dunelm for £15, to store and carry it in, and big enough to store bits and pieces often needed like scissors, tape measures, Thread, pins etc.
Right, finished my coffee and off to Dunelm

Why not make a bag instead of buying it?

Then I looked at my reply and thought "my use of the English language is getting to be like my wife's".

Why don't you make a bag yourself instead of buying it?

[Stanley]

I'll lay a small bet her English is better than your Chinese....
Avoiding the wind and rain, it's seriously wet out there.

[chinatyke]

I'll lay a small bet her English is better than your Chinese....

You win!

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

Enjoying normal life without BCG!
The shed is calling.......

[Stanley]

The shed calls more and more each day..... I shall crack soon and get back to normal!

[Sue]

Cuddles and love always help.
I can buy a bag at Dunelm for £15, to store and carry it in, and big enough to store bits and pieces often needed like scissors, tape measures, Thread, pins etc.
Right, finished my coffee and off to Dunelm

Why not make a bag instead of buying it?

Then I looked at my reply and thought "my use of the English language is getting to be like my wife's".

Why don't you make a bag yourself instead of buying it?

I was going to but didn’t have any suitable sturdy fabric, by the time I had bought it, it would have been nearly as much as a cheap bag. Also I didn’t have the time to go and look for fabric and make it as there is nowhere to buy the fabric locally.

Off to london today for a few days. Hardly a sprinkling of snow here. Still wild and windy. Glad you are feeling better Stanley

[chinatyke]

Enjoy your trip.

[Stanley]

Thanks Wendy. I have been in the shed!

[Wendyf]

You probably mean Sue

[Stanley]

You're right.... Getting old Wendy!

[Tizer]

..by the time I had bought it, it would have been nearly as much as a cheap bag.

That's because of all that cheap stuff being sent here from China's place of abode!

[Sue]

..by the time I had bought it, it would have been nearly as much as a cheap bag.

That's because of all that cheap stuff being sent here from China's place of abode!

Ha ha. I do try and buy local or at least European. No point in that now

[chinatyke]

..by the time I had bought it, it would have been nearly as much as a cheap bag.

That's because of all that cheap stuff being sent here from China's place of abode!

No cotton is grown in the UK so it is 100% foreign and should be processed where it is grown, hence you buy the finished article and not the raw material. The cotton industry should never have been in England. Your town stole the bread from other's mouths.

[Stanley]

That's why we import bananas.... China has a point, one made by many economists.
I shall be aiming for the shed again and watching the post for today's expected delivery of 6BA HSS taps, setscrews and nuts. I am getting serious again!

[Stanley]

I'm back in the shed again. I shall be aiming for more of the same this morning. A bit of light shopping and prescription collecting as well.

[Marilyn]

We had a tough few minutes when son had to leave the dog here today. A group hug and a few tears, but we managed to get him in the car and wave him off. ( I thought he might come back! I really did...)
Anyway...we are doing very well at our end. The dog is in pretty good spirits today and we managed a very small walk in the grass at the edge of the golf course. She is on steroids at present, so presents slightly better than she really is, and the dose is tapering down and due to end next Tuesday. Then we have a week of no steroids before they come back. Fingers crossed.
She sleeps a lot, wakes for food and cuddles. She enjoyed having her face washed today with a warm face washer. Other end is working as it should....so....we are doing well!

[Cathy]

Bless you Abby