Today I shall be Mainly...

[Stanley]

The 80 mile round trip was Manchester. The Colne one they offered was spiked by other factors. The one I have now is an evening one at Colne and fine in all respects. End of story.
Wendy... "It's been a tough couple of days for Col so it was a treat to chat with old friends. "
That's a bugger..... For both of you. That's all I can say.
Local vaccinations. I agree with Sue, it's doubtful whether Earby will get vaccination status in the foreseeable future. I have been digging and what has happened in our area is that, like the National Government, the local Primary Care Trust who are in charge of the vaccinations have gone 'hub' potty. There has been a battle and the bureaucrats have won. They want their hubs and centralisation as it makes it easier for them to control the process. The local doctors and nurses have all complained but as yet to no avail. The weapon the jobsworths are using is the 15 minute wait which they say is vital even though they have been told it is not necessary, particularly with the new vaccines which also are free of the need for hyper low temperature storage. My view is that, like the Winter Flu virus, this will inevitably change but that is going to take time.

[Marilyn]

( are you sure it is an evening appt? You wrote 05.46 on the previous page!)

[Stanley]

Yes.

[Marilyn]

( didn’t know if they were working around the clock)

[Wendyf]

I said Earby Surgery because that's where I am registered but vaccinations are being done in Colne Health Centre.

Earby Surgery is actually now called the Pendle Medical Partnership and is largely based in Colne Health Centre.

[Sue]

I said Earby Surgery because that's where I am registered but vaccinations are being done in Colne Health Centre.

Earby Surgery is actually now called the Pendle Medical Partnership and is largely based in Colne Health Centre.

Morning

Ah. Thats why we were called to the new council offices hub, thats where the patients from our surgery go. Also as I understand it if you reject an appointment you have to chase up a second one yourself or wait till the phases are finished and appointments are re offered. I know here in Rochdale there was a number you could call and if there was a vacancy you got called straight in. Two or three of my friends got appointments on Friday tea time by doing that, and my friend in Stalybridge phoned her surgery to arrange a second date as she rejected the first because she and her husband did not want to be Vaccinated together in case they both had side effects. We have had no side effects. A tender arm yesterday, fine today. The Pfizer vaccines and these other very cold storage ones have to be used up on the day so some centres keep a reserve list and phone you when they need to make the numbers up . Perhaps just mention it to someone Wendy .

Lovely dawn sky, and much brighter than previous mornings. Yesterday we managed a 4 mike circuit by following the railway track in the opposite direction from the Dell, and then doing some fairly random loops of paths we know and finding others we didn’t. This mainly kept us away from the mud, though I did manage to sink one foot into a watery mess, on the old St Wilfreds school playing field , now recreation field, behind our house . I spent some time making Eves bag and should finish that today

Other activities today include changing the bedding and ironing, no precipitation forecast, but very cold. A walk should be possible. We are now 10% in on our virtual walk to Paris, having reached 41 miles yesterday. Thats a very wet muddy 41 miles. According to the map we follow on the site for the walk we are still stuck in the suburbs of London. We are now on the A2 heading to Canterbury. Its certainly much flatter with less views than where we are actually walking. We think we should get twice the miles for each mile we walk , the amount of comparative effort it takes.

Jigsaw number two is coming on well.

Have a good day everyone.

[Wendyf]

I think the call I missed on Tuesday must have been about making the numbers up, because by the time I rang them back I'd missed the opportunity. I'm sure I'll get my chance soon!

[Stanley]

Wendy. I'm sure that if they know about your problems they will do what they did with me, keep you in mind.
Sue, it's a bright frosty morning here as well despite a forecast of cloud all day.
I've done two hours in the shed so I am having breakfast and posting on Shed matters.
Sue, Bob was asking about blue vinyl gloves. Here's a LINK to the ones I buy. I notice they have gone up in prices. Might be worth doing a bit more searching. I expected them to be about £8.



I've made a start on the first carronade. Lots of hand turning and swarf!

[Big Kev]

Not sure on the other vaccination 'hubs' in East Lancs but my work colleagues' father queued for 2 hours at Blackburn Cathedral yesterday. Once inside the process was very quick, word is they were doing 300 jabs a day but had increased that to 1000 (I only have that information from my colleague). Being stubborn he decided he'd only need his 'big coat' and it took a while to thaw him out apparently

20210131_104619.jpg

Pic from Facebook yesterday

I've not heard any similar reports of the smaller vaccination centres being as busy.

[Stanley]

Kev. I see reports like that and wonder which is the more important, looking after the high risk clients or getting the vaccination numbers up. How can it do any good to have someone that old queuing two hours in bitter cold weather outside?
My instructions are to arrive at Colne Health Centre at precisely 5:46, their wording. I am not expecting any queuing.

[Sue]

Not sure on the other vaccination 'hubs' in East Lancs but my work colleagues' father queued for 2 hours at Blackburn Cathedral yesterday. Once inside the process was very quick, word is they were doing 300 jabs a day but had increased that to 1000 (I only have that information from my colleague). Being stubborn he decided he'd only need his 'big coat' and it took a while to thaw him out apparently

20210131_104619.jpg
Pic from Facebook yesterday

I've not heard any similar reports of the smaller vaccination centres being as busy.

My cousin is at Blackburn today, I warned her about the wait. There must have been well over 300 at Rochdale Riverside on Friday, there must have been over 100 in there when we were there, but waiting was minimal . We were inside no more than 30 minutes and that included our 15 minute waiting at the end. They were open for 12 hours I think. I am sure I read a figure of over a 1400 on Friday. We were called for within three minutes of registering, then we waited for a form, then someone took our medical details then a couple of minutes before we went in for the vaccine. Queueing what little there was, was organised and comfortable on chairs used in strict rotation then they were wiped down with disinfectant wipes.

[Big Kev]

All sounds very well organised, hopefully the Blackburn Cathedral queues were a one off.

[Gloria]

Both my husband and I have been to the medical centre at Buckshaw Village at different times, no waiting, straight in, injection done, wait for 15mins before leaving, job done and home. One at 4.20pm the other 8.30am no queues at all.

[Big Kev]

Good stuff, it's sounding as though Blackburn Cathedral was an isolated issue yesterday.

[Wendyf]

The problem at Blackburn Cathedral could be car parking, I don't think there is any on site so people would be walking to get there.

[Big Kev]

The problem at Blackburn Cathedral could be car parking, I don't think there is any on site so people would be walking to get there.

Good point.

[Stanley]

My minders and transport are lined up for Thursday and they tell me I shall be straight in and out as soon as possible. That's how they are running the show on precise times.
Today I shall be making more swarf in the shed. That's what these cannon are, little bundles of manual turning practice! I like it actually, very relaxing and nice seeing the shape emerging out of the solid steel. Human powered analogue 3D printing!

[Marilyn]

We dug up all our bulbs today, stored then in paper bags ready for a winter in the garage. Big job. They need to be replanted by Spring, as many had worked themselves too close to the surface. They don’t do so well when they work their way to the surface. It was a shovel job, then we mulched the soil. All looks very neat out there now, and the bulbs just need to dry out in paper bags, then go through the chill of winter, before replanting.

[Sue]

Morning

Today there is another lovely dawn. Yesterday was OK, dry , very cold, and cloudy. After a Sunday brunch, and with the washer on we went for a 4.8mile walk. We found another route from Healey Dell up on to Rooley Moor. I can’t believe we had never found it before and we were amazed where it came out. So the circuit was back down Rooley Moor to Turner brothers , stopping on the way for a chat with Maxine. Because of her immunity issues her Medical consultant has advised she waits for the Astra Zenica vaccination , otherwise she looked well and we had a nice chat. Down at Turners we used a different path there too. It all adds to the variety. On our virtual walk we are now just 15.8 mikes to Canterbury, our first ‘sight seeing’ stop ! Ie we are linked through to wikipedia to read the history of the town and cathedral.

In the afternoon I made progress with Eves bag but am having trouble with the last seam, I feel some unpicking coming on ! Other than that it was ironing, jigsaw and cooking a roast chicken dinner. Today is pilates then yoga, possibly a walk this afternoon then unpicking a couple of seams on the bag which for some reason do not match up, despite being cut from exactly the same pattern piece. I have obviously done something wrong somewhere.

Maz I am busy watching our bulbs come up. The snowdrops are in flower and some crocuses have buds.

Have a good day

[Stanley]

" I have obviously done something wrong somewhere. "
I think that's a very healthy attitude Sue. Too many people, when something goes wrong, will move heaven and earth to find an external factor to blame. Like you, I start from the base that it's possible I might be in error. As I say, a very healthy attitude I reckon. [And almost always correct!]
I've just done my two hours and will have my breakfast and post on shed matters. Back in a while....
By the way did you alert Bob to the vinyl gloves?



Here's where we are one barrel finished its first stage, one to start on and one in the lathe half way there. A good two hours.

[Sue]

Yes Stanley, I told Bob about the gloves , and took an image of the page so we can find them on amazon again

My cousin was 3.5 hours queuing at Blackburn cathedral . There were people from all over East Lancs and they hadn’t stuck to their appointment times. Today they are erecting a heated marquee and have adjusted appointment times. They had obviously underestimated how long the paperwork took. Trish had the Astra zenica vaccination

[Stanley]

Good Sue. I hope he can find them cheaper. But.... I've just checked and I'm afraid they have gone up, I tried my buy again link and that's the same increased price. I suppose that's the nature of the market.

[Stanley]

I shall be moving quietly forwards with the carronades. As its almost all cut on the taper it is hand work with the top slide. You have to be patient!
I could be avoiding going out in the snow, it looks like a possibility. I don't need any shopping and I did my cooking yesterday. I feel sorry for those who have to be out in it.

[Sue]

Morning

We have had very little snow but quite a lot of rain, a day for indoor activities. I have resolved the issue of Eves bag, well not resolved but found out the problem and have a solution. The bag is lined in a spotted fabric. In cutting out I kept the spots aligned so it would look right, but the fabric had not been printed straight. This meant it was actually cut on the bias and stretched and distorted with every seam I pressed. I have decided to recut some of the lining in the denim outer fabric, and alter the design slightly. That is todays project.

Yesterday we managed a 3.5 mile walk in the afternoon, this time finding a new route on to the moors above Syke. This means we can now do several different shorter circuits avoiding some of the worst muddy paths and ring the changes a bit more. We also finished the jigsaw we started last Thursday. Such an exciting life we lead. I have found another one to start. There are several more unopened jigsaws in the cupboard to keep us busy for a while.

So thats it, not a lot to report. Have a good day everyone

[Wendyf]

I had a 'getting things done before it snows' sort of day yesterday. A trip to the post office in Earby to pay some cheques into the History Society bank account and to post an Amazon return, then into the Co-op for a couple of items that I failed to get on Saturday. Before lunch I went down to Bannister's at the mill in Laneshawbridge to stock up on shavings for the stables and the afternoon was taken up with dog walks, mucking out and sitting down doing very little! Today i will be coping with the weather and being thankful that we dont have to go anywhere!