Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

I am just aiming for some light machining in the shed not building a railway but I think I'm getting old, it gets more and more difficult to get in there.

[Sue]

I was going to finish my gardening marathon with a garden fire in my little incinerator today but we had a horrendous thunderstorm in the night with really heavy rain, so I think everything will be too wet. It will do my garden flowers good though. I sprinkled some small annuals in each of my garden pots as they won’t be getting any geraniums this year. Having said that Bob managed, very unexpectedly, to get a caddy of 6 red geraniums at the supermarket on Wednesday. That gives me one per pot. They look a little lonely in there but the begonias from last year appear to be growing back so we may get some colour.

Yesterday I planted out my 6 courgette plants and 6 sunflowers grown from seed in my makeshift cold frame. They are only a few centimetres tall , but roots were coming through the cardboard pots I had used. I then covered them with folded pieces of chicken wire to keep the birds off them. The veggie plot is now beginning to look alive with the potatoes showing and the garlic shooting. My runner beans are doing really well too and should start climbing in the pots at the front of the wisteria pergola. We may not be here to eat them ( or we may depending on Macron!) but it gives me something to do out there now all the weeding, pruning, hedge trimming and lawn trimming are finished.

It should be a dry morning, 20 degrees but showers this afternoon, I feel some sewing coming on as I really have run out of gardening after 5 weeks of hard labour! No doubt i will have some weeding in a couple of days after the rain.

It would have been my Mums birthday today and I always go to the cemetery and leave some flowers. I feel so sad that I can’t go there.

Yesterday at my sisters request I reopened my group messenger with my brothers, despite not having heard from them for a week. Both Jane and I managed to out some subtle suitable comment about their absence. Almost within minutes there was a pleasant response from both of them. I think they got the point, how long for remains to be seen. As Jane says, we have reached out to them for Mum and Dad, but Mum particularly, on her birthday as she would have been so upset to see family rifts. A lovely, lovely lady.

I often have that double posting problem, Stanley. I have started copying my post before I post it, so I don’t lose it.

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy , stay safe and have as good a day as you can

[Sue]

How exciting one of my parcels is to be delivered. I wonder which . Best get up its due soon. Will it be clothes, fabric or undies

[Stanley]

It'll be the one you need least Sue.
I've had an hour in the shed and now I'm looking forward to a short walk on an overcast morning, a spot weeding patrol on the front garden paths and some breakfast!

[Sue]

Two T shirts, I am so excited, my enthusiasm can only be surpassed by new knickers!

[Stanley]

What a lovely post! Good luck with the knickers Sue!
Avoiding the news of the virus, getting some progress in the shed on the beam engine and looking after me and Jack!
Sue, what was the answer to the question of motive power on the railway?

[Sue]

I must ask, is Bob's railway. peddle powered, petrol or steam? Only 10 metres short! You're kidding this is just a start.

Sorry I missed the question
The one here in France is electric, due to the difficulty of getting the right coal here. He has a steam one at home that he is building and another half finished that his friend who died left him in his will, and another electric one part finished and one working that he uses at the track at the park ( and he has a hat and a whistle )


It was a quiet day yesterday. Bob spent the day boxing in the plumbing in the en suite he finished last summer. I finished the top I was making from the material my niece sent me and then completed an art project for my U3A class. I did most of my sewing, which was hand sewing, sat outside under the wisteria. I wish I could put my sewing skills to good use like Sally. I am not aware of anything like that happening in France although ALL the issues about PPE, testing etc are the same as at home. As far as I am aware they have made no attempt at increasing ICU beds and they are in lower numbers than the UK . Their death rate and infection rate is considerably higher. It seems to be a very wide reaching problem. We just keep our heads down and out of the way of everyone.

I had a bad nights sleep as every time I straightened my legs I got cramp in both legs. I tried massaging them, and walking around, sleeping without the weight of the bedding on them but nothing worked. This morning my legs are tender.

Today is thick mist but should clear to a warm sunny day. Last night I remembered the pile of soil that was going to be the melon patch. It is still there as Bob only used some of it so today I will be donning my gardening gear and barrowing it to the unused veggie patch. It can get rotivated in next year.

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy, stay safe and have as good a day as you can

[Sue]

I forgot the wine tasting tonight

Tonight is U3A wine-tasting on line. We have to guess where peoples wine is from based on what they are wearing. If its anything like last week it will be chaos and fun, especially as our convenor is forgetful, and not very technologically savvy. Bob has a Californian wine and an American baseball hat( from a BBQ party when Julia and Ed lived in Milwaukee) mine is from Provence, so I shall wear MY NEW blue and white striped T shirt to represent France and a floppy straw hat to represent a hot part of France.


All good fun to help the time pass

Oh and yesterday we had our first rose, first lavender and first clematis flowers appear. A thunderstorm overnight changed Spring into Summer

And bringing a few tears , my pilates teacher contacted me and said she would take flowers to the cemetery for me but she didn’t realise it was Burnley not Rochdale. She said she would have gone there if she could have done. Some people are so kind

[Stanley]

Thanks for the answers Sue. I think you mentioned the electric loco before when we were talking about the railway, I remember the comment about coal quality.
Cramp during the night.... I very seldom have a problem but it has happened and I can remember that I was at a loss identifying what had caused it.... I hope it doesn't get to be a regular problem.
As for me here.... You'd better read shed matters later... I have not had one of my best mornings! I shall have a walk and a bit of breakfast and then come clean!

[Tizer]

Interesting but I would like to read the scientific article to follow the biological reasoning Yes covid 19 and TB are microorganisms that both infect the lungs and that js where similarity ends unless there is some genetic coding match or for some immunological response based on protein similarities. One is a bacteria and one a virus. Very very different. Big jump. Perhaps I need to read the article more carefully.

Sue wrote that in the `Today I Shall be Mainly' thread. She was right to be cautious...
`Coronavirus: BCG rumours and other stories fact-checked' LINK
`WhatsApp messages claiming the BCG vaccine prevents coronavirus infection are inaccurate....A WhatsApp message in Arabic says that if you have the circular scar from the jab on your arm, you could be "75% protected" against Covid-19. However, the World Health Organization says there is no evidence that the BCG protects people from Covid-19 infection. The health body says two clinical trials are under way involving BCG, and when completed, their findings will be evaluated by the WHO...'.
In other words, just like the thousands of drugs currently be tested we won't know if any of them work until the trials are finished.

[Sue]

Thanks Tizer. I know its a long time since I studied all of this, and worked in bacteriology in path labs and ran my own research lab into disinfection of viruses and bacteria, but I have been doubting my own knowledge recently with some things that have been said. And as for waste disposal of masks etc by the general public, I cringe at the serious health hazards they could cause.

[Sue]

All set for our online wine tasting and guess where our wine is from

20200418_225059.jpg

[Stanley]

I see that alcohol consumption has risen during the lock down.
The design committee met last night and have come up with a completely different solution to the beam trunnion problem. I will put it into effect today.

[Sue]

I see that alcohol consumption has risen during the lock down.

Actually I think ours has stayed the same with the exception of a beer in the afternoon on a hot day whilst gardening. Otherwise its a glass of wine with our evening meal, and thats it . We only do that here. At home its a glass or two over the days at the weekend. It was wine tasting last night, mainly a night of fun and chatter. The corks went in our bottles early on and they will be drunk with food through out the week.

i successfully moved the pile of soil yesterday raking it into the veggie plot. I then raked the ground over and reseeded with hardy grass seed. It was a job well done and it took all day. Bob decided to cut the laurel hedge on the road side of the house, indeed half its height leaving us with another waste wood dilemma.

It was another night with cramp, in fact the calf was still tender from the day before. I must keep my fluid level up today. That may help. Yesterday was hot and humid whilst digging and the perspiration was streaming off me, although the day before I was not energetic but was sewing or drawing all day.

It was a good wine tasting session last night. Well it was a fun session, lots of laughter, especially at our friends Bill and Barbara who sat in yellow dressing gowns and cycle helmets....Tour de Yorkshire apparently, ( dressing gowns =yellow jersey) and Yorkshire wine from the Winery the group visited in September last year. Ours, well Bob was a Californian red, mine a Rose de Provence. The photo was our first ever selfie, rather pleased with it.

We had a really long chat with our neighbours from the farmhouse, over the fence at the bottom of the field. Laetitia takes so much care with her speech so that we understand, and we understood all of it. She was laughing about our online wine-tasting as I described our outfits to her. She also said she had read about my shortage of clothes. Later she brought some round for me, they are rather large but it was a very kind thought. I may find the black cardigan useful in the evenings,at the moment I have to wear a grey tracksuit top when it gets chilly as it is all I have here


No plans today, I have yoga at 11.00 . I may do some sewing or another art project. It depends on the weather. Showers are forecast for this afternoon, and 20 degrees. Rain overnight and tomorrow

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy, stay safe and have the best day that you can have

[Stanley]

Morning Sue! Busy as usual and sorry to hear the cramp bit you again. I often wonder how come the muscle doesn't tear because the tension must be immense.
I wasn't thinking so much about you and the wine, more of a report I heard about alcohol sales online being very high. Never mind the size of the clothes, it was a nice thought.
The Design Committee did a good job during the night, they came up with a plan that popped into my head when I woke this morning and if you go to shed matters after I have posted you'll find that it turned out to be perfect!

[Sue]

I realise that about the alcohol Stanley. I think some people are a bit lost with time on their hands, helped my sunny days, a quiet glass pf something becomes two etc. My thoughts exactly about the clothes, kind lady.

My legs are twitching all the time. I had to take paracetamol before yoga and all the stretching exercises. They loosened up a bit but are still twitching.


It feels chilly outside, its 17 degrees, a slight breeze is drying my washing

[Sue]

We seem to be devoid of people writing on here at the moment Stanley

[plaques]

Sue just a bit concerned that you felt you had to take paracetamol before yoga. The pain is there to tell you to stop. Heat, massage and Voltarol is about the best I can suggest.

What am I doing today? The same as usual, sticking the spades, forks in and out of the ground to stop them going rusty. I try to split it up into two shifts, mornings for digging and planting, afternoons for vegetable patch leveling. That is until Mrs P comes along and says " I've had a good idea" and that's monday gone. Cup of tea at 2-30 then a bit of tinkering in the workshop if I'm lucky.

[PanBiker]

I have had a bit of experience with physiotherapy which is essentially what Yoga and particularly Pilates is all about. With physical or muscular injury it is common practice and advised by the physio's to take a mild analgesic which allows you to actually do the routines, dulls the edge so to speak. Your own pain threshold can become the limiting factor in recovery. No gain without pain as the saying goes. If you can mitigate that slightly with Paracetamol and make progress so be it.

[Stanley]

Sue, some people are taking a sabbatical for various reasons, mainly because they are getting worn down by the unrelenting misery of the times, all news is bad news. I understand that and wish them well but in my experience you can't run away from what I am afraid is reality. All you can do is stand firm and fight your corner. We have an example on the Coronavirus thread at the moment. We need to speak up.
One bit of good news. One of my big fluorescent lights went on the blink this morning. From previous experience I suspected that it was simply one bum tube. I am very bad working over my head but had a crack and it looks as though I have cracked it. Here's hoping!

[PanBiker]

Today I have fitted two out of the three new smoke alarms. One in the attic and the other on the landing. I can get to both of them of the short steps we have. I will need to nip into our centre and borrow the bigger steps again for the last one which is on the ground floor at the bottom of the stairs. It's a high ceiling there and sods law said that I only took the steps back recently after completing or front room decorating.

The alarms are all mains powered and each has battery backup, they are all linked as well with a separate cable feed. The alarms (up to 23 of them) can aslo be linked wirelessly but need an additional module and a controller. The hardwired link is already in so no point moving to wireless. The bases on the replacements are slightly smaller than our old ones so I have had to use new mounting points. They still cover the old holes in the ceiling though so no real problem. Two fitted, both tested and are glowing with their green OK LEDS now I have the power back on. They each trigger each other on test so all good so far.

[Sue]

I needed the yoga, stretching is what I needed, within correct limits, thats the benefit of yoga. It was better afterwards. The pain was not an injury it was cramp, probably bought on by digging for hours yesterday in the heat. I did the massage and heat bit also when I got up a d again before the yoga class. I am used to pain left over from cramp, as periodically I suffer from it badly and I know the yoga helps.As they say, know your own body and yoga is all about that.

Damp horrid day today. Did some sewing and transplanted my seedlings.

As for lack of people I avoid the other threads, I like this thread because it is more chatty. I find the heavy political threads are best avoided. I read the coronavirus for the science only.

[Sue]

I have had a bit of experience with physiotherapy which is essentially what Yoga and particularly Pilates is all about. With physical or muscular injury it is common practice and advised by the physio's to take a mild analgesic which allows you to actually do the routines, dulls the edge so to speak. Your own pain threshold can become the limiting factor in recovery. No gain without pain as the saying goes. If you can mitigate that slightly with Paracetamol and make progress so be it.

I agree Ian.

[Stanley]

"As they say, know your own body and yoga is all about that. "
I agree Sue. That's why I say the government instructions re. crumblies like me not going out for exercise is daft. The exercise is essential and all that matters is that you avoid contact with others. Without my walking I would rapidly become immobile and be one of these sad figures in an electric buggy. You do what you know suits you!
Monday again, another week. I shall be chasing Kahara's beam engine! He is 4 months now and on the verge of crawling, he's doing all the turtle movements, it won't be long!

[Sue]

My calf muscle still hurts when it has been immobile for a bit, a bit of gentle pilates this morning will help ease it up.

It has rained hard all night and due to rain during the day, good gor my grass seeds I hope. Anyway it will be i door activities today. I think I will sort out all my glass jars. A number of people have given us boxes of jam jars when they have had a clear out as we make a lot of jams and pickles normally. However over time many have lost their lids or they are too big or too small. They are taking up space otherwise there is writing to do both my book and the U3A writing group. The former will keep me busy for hours. I may even clean windows!

I made the toile for for my new dress yesterday afternoon and did a few minor alterations now I just need my fabric to arrive.

Think positive, stay cheerful , keep busy, stay safe, and have the best day that you can.