Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

There is a school of thought that says that the beauties of the Lake District can only be fully appreciated if viewed through a thin veil of falling rain.....

One can only agree but two are a bit tired of wet beauty.
We have however put our June Timeshare on the market, for other reasons too whilst deciding to keep the January snowy one. The one in June is big, 6+2 beds, too big for two of us. Grandchildren are now all at school and with the death of one of the friends who use to come and stay with us ( and her husband did not want to come without her as there are too many memories here) our needs are different.

I suggested buying a mobile home somewhere that we can access all year round as can the family but Bob is not keen. Obviously we have France but it would be nice to have something low maintenance to disappear to for regular long weekends. We shall see, the Timeshare may take years to sell. It was on the market for two years when we bought it.

Today we are visiting some gardens famous for Rhododendrons whilst the sun still shines then meeting my old art teacher Mike and his wife for lunch. They moved to Levens in March. Whilst in Levens we shall visit my daughters in laws who live at the opposite end of the village from Mike. I love the magnificence of Rhododendrons and as they are still in flower it should be beautiful. Often they have been over when we come.

[Wendyf]

Sue, my brother invested in a Holiday Property Bond many years ago now and book with them at least a couple of times a year both in this country and abroad. They say the properties are always excellent and the family can use any allowance that they don't.

[Stanley]

I'm getting to be a bit of a limpet. I have anchored myself to the ground here and never even think about a holiday. I suppose this might be seen as a distinct lack of imagination but I really do enjoy the town and up to now haven't got tired of it. (It's a good job the holiday industry isn't relying on me!)
I'll be aiming for a bit of shed. No cooking to interfere with things and my visitors later this week will have to accept the dust and cobwebs! I always think that cobwebs are good, after all the spiders are eating something.

[Sue]

Sue, my brother invested in a Holiday Property Bond many years ago now and book with them at least a couple of times a year both in this country and abroad. They say the properties are always excellent and the family can use any allowance that they don't.

The friends we met for lunch have these and have promised to send us the information. We have been on holiday with friends who too also have them. Bob doesn’t seem keen but I am.
I think he concerned how much we need to invest to get a decent place, having successfully stayed in 3 air BnB properties he feels we can carry on like that without the expensive out lay. ( He is his Bank manager fathers son! Very cautious when it comes to spending money). My attitude is to enjoy it whilst we can.

We are catching the bus to Coniston today. If its not too wet we will walk back to Elterwater. Otherwise we shall have lunch at the Lakeside cafe and visit the Ruskin Museum on the annual ticket we bought in January. There was so much to see we had hardly touched it. The rest of the week looks dire, coming in at 90 % chance of rain all days. The Boat Museum has reopened at Windermere after a renovation so thats another visit we can do. There are also a couple of National Trust places we can revisit that we haven’t been too for a few years.

[Stanley]

"My attitude is to enjoy it whilst we can."
I try to do that Sue and am getting better at it but I always have at the back of my mind the fact that some unforeseen circumstance might crop up. (These days it is usually the kids.) At that point having a backstop is very useful. I can see that Bob is on these lines as well!
I have a little project in mind for the shed.... I love rescuing things and I have something that has been waiting for TLC for many years.....

[Sue]

We have the backdrop Stanley, no problems there and we could still spend a little and be secure. We have always been very prudent, cheap holidays and the like. Bob worked away for 15 years so there was not much social life and recreational spending going on in those years. We reaped some benefits when working away left us with a second home to sell in Anglesey. They were rather stressful years, girls doing exams, with only me to give the support they needed, all 4 parents at opposite ends of the country very ill, and stressful long working hours for both of us. I believe we have earned a bit of luxury in our retirement.

Yesterdays walk was good, not too hot and dry. I saw a map of the wet weather and it was missing us. Today we shall catch the bus to Ambleside, take the boat down to Bowness and walk up to the reopened boat museum returning the same way.

[Sue]

We have the backdrop Stanley, no problems there and we could still spend a little and be secure. We have always been very prudent, cheap holidays and the like. Bob worked away for 15 years so there was not much social life and recreational spending going on in those years. We reaped some benefits when working away left us with a second home to sell in Anglesey. They were rather stressful years, girls doing exams, with only me to give the support they needed, all 4 parents at opposite ends of the country very ill, and stressful long working hours for both of us. I believe we have earned a bit of luxury in our retirement.

Yesterdays walk was good, not too hot and dry. I saw a map of the wet weather and it was missing us. Today we shall catch the bus to Ambleside, take the boat down to Bowness and walk up to the reopened boat museum returning the same way

Talking of renovating Stanley I bought a 1910 handcranked Singer sewing machine on the way to the Lakes for £36. I have been looking for one for ages. It needs a good clean and oil but all the parts are working. On Ebay even the poorest condition which this isn’t go for about £80 plus.

[Wendyf]

I still use my old Singer, but I think it will be 1930's. I left the treadle machine in the house in Scotland when we moved.

[Sue]

Is it electric. I looked up the number on this machine, the code indicates it was one of 120,000 made between July and December on Clyde-Bank in 1910. I bought it as 1896 but am happy with 1910. It has what is described as a coffin lid, it certainly looks like one. The lid has one latch missing and the machine has the wooden sliding cover to the storage cavity missing but other wise seems perfect. I found out that the enamelled design is called Victoria. It does not use a traditional bobbin but uses a type of shuttle. I managed to get a reproduction copy of the manual on Ebay and found loads of spare parts there. I am looking for the tools and accessories box.

DE5D011C-6CD3-473E-855D-F94D2FAD1974.jpeg

[Wendyf]

No it's hand cranked, but in a leatherette type case rather than the wooden one. I remember those shuttle type bobbins, I think I had a treadle machine that used them.

[Stanley]

Well done Sue. Those early machines are built like battleships and the quality of the steel used and the castings is superb. We used to have a shuttle machine and it was fine. I think that one was made by Jones and my mother worked there in the late 1920s. And yes, there will be lots of spares available even for a machine as old as that.

[PanBiker]

Sally has both a hand cranked table top Singer and a treadle version that sits at the bottom of the stairs, no belt on the latter but it makes a good table for gloves and scarves etc.

[Sue]

I have just put a bid in on some accessories in a tin...feeling chuffed and hopeful.

D0DF27D9-355D-4FEB-8FAC-1B34923CB813.jpeg

[Sue]

No it's hand cranked, but in a leatherette type case rather than the wooden one. I remember those shuttle type bobbins, I think I had a treadle machine that used them.

Its probably the next model up or the supposedly portable one if it has a leatherette type case. I am now looking for the little wooden lid for the side storage, otherwise Bobwill have to make one.

Ian, does Sally’s have the wooden lid on the side where you an see cotton reels on my photo

[Big Kev]

Is it electric. I looked up the number on this machine, the code indicates it was one of 120,000 made between July and December on Clyde-Bank in 1910. I bought it as 1896 but am happy with 1910. It has what is described as a coffin lid, it certainly looks like one. The lid has one latch missing and the machine has the wooden sliding cover to the storage cavity missing but other wise seems perfect. I found out that the enamelled design is called Victoria. It does not use a traditional bobbin but uses a type of shuttle. I managed to get a reproduction copy of the manual on Ebay and found loads of spare parts there. I am looking for the tools and accessories box.DE5D011C-6CD3-473E-855D-F94D2FAD1974.jpeg

I'm probably at bit late with this, there's only 20 minutes left on it

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3826518493

[Sue]

Thanks Kev, had a look. Its an older machine I think. The panel on mine seems to have a moulding round the edge with a slot in it so the top slides in and out.

[Sue]

This is the bit I am looking for now.

A8835535-179D-43D9-B439-94C81D275C75.jpeg

[PanBiker]

Ian, does Sally’s have the wooden lid on the side where you an see cotton reels on my photo

Sally is out at the moment. I'll ask her when she gets home.

[Sue]

If she has, I wondered if you could do a bit of technical measurement for me or to be more correct...for Bob

[Wendyf]

I've just checked the model and serial number on mine, it is a No 99 model with a serial number dating it to around 1939.

[Sue]

And still hand cranked!

[Wendyf]

Mum had an electric one in the '50s but it was very difficult to get it to operate smoothly, the foot control was a bit sticky!
I've just realised from looking at models on eBay that the machine tips back on the base.... I've never looked underneath.

[Sue]

Found a wooden compartment lid on Etsy for £6

[Sue]

Mum had an electric one in the '50s but it was very difficult to get it to operate smoothly, the foot control was a bit sticky!
I've just realised from looking at models on eBay that the machine tips back on the base.... I've never looked underneath.

Never looked underneath! All that fluff Wendy.

[Wendyf]

Yep, just lots of fluff!
I have another item of a similar vintage, probably late 1920's or early '30s. It's a Smith Corona "Special" folding portable typewriter which looks as though it would work with no problem ....not quite as much fluff. It belonged to my Dad's stepmother who was a "stenographer", in fact her father was a typewriter salesman in Bradford.