Today I shall be Mainly...

[BillHowcroft]

You scrub up well for the photographer. Very much farming gentry in that suit & hat.

[Stanley]

Thanks Bill. The man who married my wife bought it from Bunney at Grassington and paid a fortune for it. He didn't like it and never wore it and when he died it came to me.... Lovely bit of Harris Tweed.
Today is free leccy and I shall have a monster wash with the new machine! Bedding and curtains are overdue....

[Sue]

Yesterday I went to the Sew and Stitch exhibition at the Event centre in Trafford, Manchester. It was good . Spent a fortune on Christmas presents and presents for me including a computer programme that enables you to design your own fabric and send away for it,plus fabric for a coat...my next big venture. The other day I received my new Coverstitch machine so shall have a play. That is AFTER I have reattached the skirt on a little 'princess' dress of Erin's. It was an accident grandma...! My brocade jacket is now waiting for rouleau loop button loops, that I have sent away for because I just don't seem to be able to make them tight enough.

[Stanley]

I hope it all goes well and you find you have yet more options open to you.
I am in the middle of an orgy of laundry, cooking and house cleaning. Isn't it marvellous that when you get up close and personal to take curtains down you realise how mucky the paintwork and windows are!

[Sue]

You may remember I did all the windows and frames inside and out in France, all because I cleaned the window in my new art room and realised how dirty the frames were. Then I realised how dirty the curtains were. That's for next visit. They are only voile and can almost be hung straight back after coming out of the washer. I do them every Autumn but it is so dusty in the summer they act like a filter and collect all the small bits and the tiny flies

[Stanley]

I always re-hang curtains while they are wet from the washer Sue. The weight dries them nicely into pleats. Same principle as washing a genuine woollen kilt. I once had a pair of Liberty, very heavy lined linen curtains and that was the only way to manage them, if you let them dry normally they were terrible! Even ironing couldn't help.
Today I shall do no housework!! I have a knotty little problem in the shed but I'm working on it....

[Sue]

Pedicure this morning and art this evening. There is no French class so I may attempt some creative writing for Thursday. I don't seem to get any inspiration these days

[Stanley]

Sue, you remind me that the U3A foot spa still gives sterling service! Time I had a session.
I am chasing down my series of cock-ups in the shed. I think I may get there this morning.

[Sue]

No writing done, spent the afternoon playing with a new computer design program for sewing. Yoga this morning, helping at hospice shop this afternoon. Pilates early evening ( just the way the classes fall) then perhaps I may write whilst I am sitting this evening

[Stanley]

Writing usually tells me when it wants to happen Sue. It goes easily then.
Not sure about today yet. I cracked my problem yesterday and have a broken morning as I have to go to the surgery at 08:50 for a re-take of bloods. Good thing is I have remembered the appointment!

[Stanley]

Quietly getting on with my knitting in the shed. I have ordered the wood for the bed and shall be making the valve rod.

[Stanley]

Popping into B&D later this morning for the wood they have cut for my beds.... In the meantime getting on with my valve rod which is going nicely.....

[Sue]

Craft group today, which I am taking this week with a session on encaustic art( painting with warm ) wax and a special iron, followed by lunch out being Friday

[Stanley]

That must be how they made the encaustic tiles that were so popular at one time Sue. I never really understood the term.
Main event today is daughter Susan coming round to report on the latest developments in the long running UK probate of Janet's will. I'll be glad when it is all done and dusted!

[BillHowcroft]

My dad managed to die intestate in Spain. Nice money spinner for the lawyers. Made me a believer in having a will written.

[Sue]

We were going to Gloucester today to see Bobs sister, but alas she died yesterday evening. Expected but still sad. We were still going to go but I developed a cold yesterday so I think we would have had to cancel anyway. My niece and brother in law have said not to go as they have a lot to do today.

[Wendyf]

Sad news Sue.

[Stanley]

That's sad Sue but the inevitable end, and my attitude is to take comfort that the suffering is over. Mind you, it is allowed to be angry at the random nature of fate...... Look after each other....

[Marilyn]

Rock and Roll Festival here today. Beautiful sunny day for it.
Our Main Street and foreshore are closed off and full of hundreds of beautifully restored classic cars, there is Rock and Roll dancing, music and those gorgeous clothes. We love Rock and Roll weekend. There are also some vintage caravans, which are just delightful.

[Sue]

That's sad Sue but the inevitable end, and my attitude is to take comfort that the suffering is over. Mind you, it is allowed to be angry at the random nature of fate...... Look after each other....

Yes. Jean didn't really want us to go, she said to come next week when she was less tired. I think she was putting us off, I don't think she wanted us to see her looking so ill. We couldn't go next week,it would have been the middle of October. Perhaps she knew, and would rather Bob remembered her as his well sister Jean

My cold was/ is quite bad. Rather than spend the day moping around we decided to go to Southport airshow. I have never been to an airshow. It was a lovely day, a great day out and we both felt better for it. Now we have to wait for arrangements . We were due to go to France for a week next weekend

[Stanley]

Quite possibly true Sue. Janet was the same, she was putting on an act at the end to reassure us. It's lovely really..... I know how you and particularly Bob, feel. The effort now is to nurture the memories but that doesn't mean you have to damage your lives, Jean wouldn't have wanted that. Lots of love.....

[Stanley]

In the shed as usual this morning. I've always subscribed to Socrates' dictum that the unexamined life isn't worth living and I was doing an examination yesterday and asking myself what the structure of my life is. Leaving aside the biggies like attending to my family and relationships, my day is filled with my routines, Oneguy and the Shed. It seems like a good balance to me and appears to be working, I am never bored and always working with purpose. My idea of hell is a chaotic life yet I realise how many of people are trapped in just that. Is it education, experience or how we were reared? Worth spending some time pondering!



A sane corner in a very uncertain world.

[Sue]

The effort now is to nurture the memories but that doesn't mean you have to damage your lives, Jean wouldn't have wanted that. Lots of love.....

What a nice thing to say

[Stanley]

It's a simple truth learned from experience Sue......
I shall be in the shed for a few hours in my own little world.... It's a very comfortable place!

[Sue]

Day off from yoga and pilates as I am still nursing my cold. I feel a lot better today however AND the sun is shining. I shall work on a pattern for a coat this morning. Bob has gone to Anglesey to check on things, hopefully the sale will be completed within the next couple of weeks. Helping at the hospice shop this afternoon.

It's certainly a lovely morning