Today I shall be Mainly...

[Marilyn]

We are over 100 kms away, Cazza. Beautiful sunrise this morning, made even more beautiful by the smoke haze. Today we put more distance between us and the fires.

[Stanley]

Sad story about the neighbour Sue....
The shirt is now in the workshop cut up for wipers. Shirt buttons harvested and two heavy cotton shirts bought online in a sale at £10 each.
Glad you are nowhere near the fires Maz.
Set-off to Ilkley to cobblers today with Susan and Mick. What a busy life!

[Sue]

Good news about the shirts Stanley. What a bargain.

Today we are off on an all day coach trip over towards York with the U3A. Its with the wine tasting group and we are off on a tour of a vineyard and winery, plus wine tasting and a meal. Hopefully the rain will have stopped for our trip round. As this will take all day and we won’t get back till about 8.00 thats it!

[Sue]

It will be sunny but cool Sue. Hope you have a nice meal.....

Lovely meal thanks. She was doing a review for the newspaper she works on. We were invited along to make up a table, not too much fun eating alone especially on a Sunday.

So, Breda Murphy Whalley, was where we went and the review was part of this

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[Tripps]

I like looking at the menus of these restaurants. I'd say this one was bit 'toppy' - or am I hopelessly out of touch? I didn't know codfish had cheeks, and truffle oil on the skinny chips would not be my first choice.

[Marilyn]

Not the Truffle Oil!

I've just checked our location. We have travelled 1,800 km since leaving Townsville...and have 1,150 kms to go to get home.
My bum is now shaped like a car seat!

[Stanley]

What a lovely mental image to carry forward into the day! Thank You!
Recovering from yesterday and looking to see if Hebden Cord are still in business. I shall go the whole hog and buy a new p[air of cotton fustian trousers.

[Marilyn]

One night in Orange tonight (yes...the town is called Orange)...then drive to Wagga Wagga tomorrow for 2 nights.
Nicer countryside now, not so scrubby and drought ridden.
A humble tea of Fish Finger, Cheese and Mayo sandwiches, but it's just what we fancied out of onboard stocks.
We had scrambled eggs last night. Enjoyed those ( blood sugar stable at 5.4 after those).
David is currently sat enjoying my TENS machine on his neck pain. He is a bit sore tonight and it is wonderful drug free treatment. ( I packed it in case the long hours of driving messed with my back, but haven't needed it.)
P.S. He is enjoying it SO much, he is snoring!

[Sue]

I like looking at the menus of these restaurants. I'd say this one was bit 'toppy' - or am I hopelessly out of touch? I didn't know codfish had cheeks, and truffle oil on the skinny chips would not be my first choice.

Out of touch I am afraid. Cods cheeks feature in many ordinary restaurants these days. The menu was delicious and enticing. I had traditional roast beef dinner. It was extremely good, followed by my favourite of creme brûlée. It was all delicious, beautifully presented. If you didn’t want the truffle oil, you only had to ask I am sure. She is a top chef and worked as head chef at a top restaurant for years .( so I understand) . Here she not only cooked but brought the food to the table too, vary rare. She has had the place 13 years, recently extended and modernised.You expect different menus from places like this but it wasn’t way out. Most of the food ie from the descriptions I have eaten at a local pub in Todmorden , for the same price. Nice surroundings, good service and one of my main ways of judging any food and drinks place was the state of the toilets. They were sparkling. £26 for three courses was very good for what we had, drinks extra. Its by the bridge at the station in Whalley


Art this morning, creative writing this afternoon and yoga this evening.

No news on our elderly french neighbour. No-one has replied to my texts and our other friendly neighbour has been unable to find anything out.

[Stanley]

I hope you get better news of him Sue....
Just spent half an hour culling clothes. I have two black bin bags full for the Salvation Army. I shall take them to the collection bin now. It's surprisingly hard to cull good clothes, or is that just me?
Am I the only person in the world who oils the brass zips on his coats when they have been washed? Is this sensible or OCD?

[plaques]

Trying to find somewhere interesting to take our weekend visitors I thought just the job Heritage weekend. Only one problem, nothing in Pendle and really only Gawthorpe Hall in Burnley. Gawthope looks good Sat 14th 12 to 5. But whats happened to Pendle? has everything been closed down / sold off? Looks like they will have to do with reading Stanley's forgotten corners.

[Stanley]

How about Pendle Heritage? A walk round the Weaver's Triangle?
Just taken the two bags of clothes out to the Sally Army collection bin. Glad that's done, I shall need to sit quiet and recover from the sense of loss...

[Marilyn]

By the time I have finished with MY clothes, they are not fit for anyone! I cut up old T-shirts for rags in the shed. Hubby soon wears them out.
But I give lots of household stuff to charity.
I intend to die with just the basics of life. Have cleared much, but still have some to go.

We think we have just experienced a minor earthquake! True! Everything shook...and we are sat here looking at each other!

[Wendyf]

Woodend Coal Mining Museum in Reedley. I've never been but they are open on the Heritage weekend.


https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/vis ... ng-museum2

[PanBiker]

Clarion House is open every Sunday of course. You would need to park on the bend on Jinny Lane on the approach then there is a short walk up to the Clarion. Nice outing for a bit of social history and banter.

[Tripps]

. £26 for three courses was very good for what we had, drinks extra.

Thanks for confirming I'm out of touch - that's what I thought. I don't think I've ever spent that much on a meal out, though I never have three courses. My low self esteem wouldn't allow it. and I'd spend the whole meal working out the gross profit, and how much I could do it for at home.

I think that cod cheeks (still can't visualise one), ox cheeks, pigs trotters and black pudding seem to me to have been cheap foods raised in status, and promoted by chefs to mask the fact that traditional meat cuts (lamb chops, steak etc) are now getting too expensive to be on the menu.

[plaques]

Done the Weavers Triangle several times. but my friends wife is partially sighted and keeping her from having a quick dip in the canal would be a problem, The mining museum looked interesting but on the wrong date.

[Tripps]

.then drive to Wagga Wagga

Scobie Breasley was born in Wagga Wagga. Not a lot of people know that.

[Marilyn]

Trippy...kindred spirits...can't pay that much for a meal (considering I can only eat a main course). I never have "before's" or "afters". Can hardly do justice to a main course any more. (And I HATE wasting money!)

[chinatyke]

We think we have just experienced a minor earthquake! True! Everything shook...and we are sat here looking at each other!

You do have an interesting life. I didn't know they got earthquakes in Australia, are you sure it wasn't an overweight kangaroo passing?

[Tizer]

There are plenty of earthquakes in Australia: LINK

[Tripps]

Probably connected with the fracking near Blackpool.

A butterfly flaps its wing in the Amazon forest . . . . .

[chinatyke]

Wow, 4 quakes on 11th September, all very weak. But I notice there was one at 22:37UTC offshore of Elliston, SA, mag 2.9. Perhaps this is what Marilyn felt?

[Sue]

It was a ‘different ‘ restaurant Tripps but not extraordinarily expensive by present day standards other than pub grub, Harvester ( which I hate) etc. We pay that in France for a run of the mill ordinary menu that is not plat de jour. Many ordinary places these days have main courses at £14. 99 plus. I agree about the cheap cuts being glorified, nothing would persuade me to have neck of lamb or belly pork however it was dressed up. I think cod cheeks is odd as it is a very ‘meaty’ piece of fish. What was really nice was how informal the dining was for the quality of food we had. No worry about feeling out of place or under dressed. Some were wearing jeans in a smart casual manner. One elderly lady was eating by herself and doing the Sunday paper crossword perfectly happy. Very pleasant.

Still no news from France about Roland.

[Marilyn]

China, we had two kangaroos jump in our path and we very nearly killed them. The weird thing was, it occurred in the main street of a large country town! They just jumped out of nowhere into our path.
Oh...and we need a new windscreen when we get home. A passing road train kicked up a stone and we have a crack the size of a saucer now. Insurance will cover it.
Nothing on the news re an earthquake, but we felt the van shake (parked at the time).