Your Day (apart from gardening) - what took place?

That's great @Upsydaisy about your hubby and some people are like that. Yes your right about our hormones, since I've gone through the menopause i find that my weight stays more stable, even though I'm a bit lighter when I was in my 30s.
Walking the boys 4 times a day doesn't keep my weight down but i must be fitter doing it, they say brisk walking is the best exercise.

I don't normally eat chocolate so it's a treat for me at Christmas, along with a bit of sherry and some sparkling wine with the dinner.

@Mike Allen yes it's worrying about the food allergies but i think that it's all down to us being too worried about germs. Our bodies are made to fight them and if there's none around it turns on itself.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan. Yes prices are stealthily going up; same price or higher but less by way of goods. Mars bars used to be a lot bigger and many goods used to be made to a much higher standard than they are now where many last as long as their warranty; I have good old heavy cast iron machines built to last many lifetimes with just a change of bearings but lots of machines are now so "tinny" and they are covered in masses of safety stickers because it's taken that no one knows what to do unless told; what happened to common sense? Do we now need stickers letting us know a machine is dangerous.

I laugh each time I visit Morrison's supermarket; "Price Crunch" yes on a few selected items but they never state the other 99% of items have gone up in price or been reduced in size but still charged the same price; Morrison's are also full of silly gimmicks; get a bit off your next bill if you spend over £40; never pay full price for fuel again; get 5p per litre off petrol; sign up for a loyalty card; I checked this and with my twice weekly shopping at Morrison's it would take 15 weeks in order to be awarded a £5 voucher; packs of items at special prices but if bought as individuals they are cheaper; Bisto gravy powder on special offer but only two flavours with the standard flavour in the middle at normal price so shoppers think this is also special price until they return home; lots of little tricks.

Aldi & Home Bargains located near Morrison's no gimmicks and no loyalty cards just pick up goods that are clearly price marked and pay at the checkout. We use lots of fresh Soya; Morrisons at £1,10p per litre Aldi at 59p per litre; I buy packs of 8 at Aldi and on this one item save over £300 per year by just driving a short distance; I like all three stores but Morrison's are taking the Mickey.

I don't know why some people remain slim throughout their lifetime Logan but I was ill for the first 53 years of my life until Bron found the cure; I was suffering from dairy intolerance having had many tests and hospital admissions; I even suffered major surgery for Crohn's disease all because of the intolerance; I suffered severe asthma as a child growing out of it when aged 11. Now I'm Soya powered I'm fit and at 72 am still extremely active but perhaps this is partly why I remain slim because I like to keep busy; not walking or jogging etc but busy doing lots of jobs/projects many heavy; I'm more busy during our short summers because I then go mad catching up on outside maintenance on the bungalow and lots of heavy gardening cutting back and digging stumps out; it's bitterly cold today but I'll wander down to the workshop later and practice TIG welding. If I'm not physically busy my head is always working overtime either learning or planning; I can't switch off and I don't want to; I see too many who sit around putting lots of weight on only to die mostly because of sheer boredom.

If I sit then I too am prone to nodding off unless something has got my full interest on TV; we choose our viewing through YouTube so mostly I can stay awake. I often put a B&W movie on TV for Bron via YouTube when I'm at my computer; I spend too much time on forums and emails but I also do lots of research regarding projects whilst at my computer; I've been arc welding for 55 years but now I'm learning TIG welding and confess it isn't as easy as I thought it would be; I'm welding thin aluminium which takes real concentration; here's one of dozens of TIG tutorials I've watched; interesting to me but possibly highly boring to others;



I enjoy leaving my comfort zone to learn new skills otherwise I'd quickly become bored; I've so many hobbies to play with and keep collecting more.

I'm just scoffing some IKBAL Turkish delight rose & lemon flavour; it's a shame to just look at the box.

During our long miserable winters I busy myself indoors; perhaps I remain slim because I'm active; here are a few examples;



Solid oak chest of craft drawers made for Bron to store her card making material.



Homemade power supply designed and made in order to power up vintage battery radios needing assorted voltages in positive/negative high and low voltage ranges.



Fully restored and now highly modified Union Graduate woodturning lathe bought in scrap condition; now also used for metal spinning another new hobby. It's now powered by a 1.5hp 3 phase inverter rated motor giving forward/reverse and full variable speed.



Pencil drawing done for a bit of interest.



I wanted a new desk for my computer so here it is nearing completion.



A number of metal spun items these being reflectors for two vintage coach lamps I restored; I needed reflectors so I learned how to metal spin.



My extremely rare fully restored German Lorch Schmidt precision lathe; it had been stored in a scrapyard for over twenty years. I've now modified it to 3 phase via a VFD giving variable speed; forward & reverse with a 1.5hp inverter rated motor. The drive is now Poly-V belt.



Front room extensive makeover nearing completion; I made the wooden mantle and wall framing.



Turned wooden lidded finial box. Main body Ash with wire burnt rings. The table it's sitting on is also made by me it being Meranti hardwood.

For many years I've taken images of work in progress; I'm not clever or smart in fact I can be quite thick so I make lots and lots of mistakes but what I lack in skill I have patience and new skills are researched and tried; I'll have a go at anything which attracts my interest; keeping busy is to keep young?

Sorry if I'm boring; I'm just passing a bit of time.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired it's great what you do and I'm amazed at the different hobbies that you do. Hubby goes to Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury's, mostly sainsbury's, have to be very careful with these offers. I agree things aren't like they used to be.

Every Saturday i go to my friend Keith he has MS and in a wheelchair, he can't do much but likes to make greetings cards. He has a chest of drawers, 2 of the drawers the bottom have almost fallen out from putting too much in them. I've looked on YouTube and can buy a support that goes under the drawer. His daytime career will have to sort it out.
Hubby has got to sort out Keith's smart plugs, but need a smartphone but Keith hasn't got one so hubby will have to use his.

 

Love your chest of drawers and desk @Retired . Beautiful. You have such a talent there. My kind of furniture. Also love the Tiffany style butterfly lamp ... I have a cat one.

 

cleaning out some parts of the basement, and parts of the attic for the trash heap, or burn pile.

 

Soaking the dried mixed fruit wiih sherry for the next Christmas cake.

 

What!!!!!!!! You sure love Christmas @Logan!

As we don't like Christmas cake, thankfully it means I don't have to think about it until December.

Why start so early? I know soaking is important as my Grandfather had his own bakery....my Mum also worked with him, she was renowned for her Christmas cakes and pastries.....but this early!

 

Hi,

C'mon Logan I'm already rapidly aging at 72.

Thanks for your kind comments Logan; I'm sorry to learn of your friend Keith having MS but fortunately he has good friends in you and hubby for support. Although I made the chest of drawers for Bron I also buy her shallow lidded plastic boxes from Rufforth Auto jumble to store card materials in so just an idea for Keith; pity I don't live near otherwise I'd be happy to sort Keith's drawers for him.

Many thanks Victoria for your kind comments; I enjoy furniture making and wanted to surprise Bron so I made the chest of drawers from offcuts of oak I've had to hand for years; just enough to complete the job and Bron was over the moon when she saw it. The Tiffany style lamps is a present to us from our best friends.

I'm just an old fashioned guy trained in old fashioned ways to use my head and hands; if it's not available then I simply make from scratch; these days with so much money around we're encouraged to dump rather than repair; I still repair and enjoy doing it.

Kind regards, Colin.


Our lovely neighbour Carole was almost in tears when she accidently spilled nail varnish remover onto the top of one of her nest of coffee tables; this isn't an easy repair for a novice but as I say I was taught the old way to use my head and hands.

I completely stripped the top to bare timber and started over using stain then polyurethane varnish; I can French polish but French polish wouldn't stand up to frequent use; polyurethane if applied like this no one would know it was polyurethane unless told. I enjoyed doing the repair it costing nothing other than time. Carole could smile again.


Another job I did for Carole; I had removed a security box mounted on a wall near the ceiling leaving a gap in wooden moulding; the moulding profile wasn't available so I made a length and after staining installed it.


Another job for Carole; this time needing a short length of picture rail; here's the profile being roughed out on the left; an offcut of the finished moulding shown on the right; again stained and installed.


Yet another job I did for Carole; our garden on the right so I cut back the laurels and removed and disposed of her old wire netting fence then I installed the new fence; Carole just paid for materials which I had to specify. I've now stopped doing all these jobs for Carole because I ended up looking after two bungalows although in an emergency Bron and I are always here for her as we are for any neighbour.


This time a job for us; I gave the master bedroom a comprehensive makeover installing wall paneling and a coffered ceiling including new matching window surround. I added two new double 13A sockets one each side of the bed location.



We like stately homes and admired the workmanship in coffered ceilings so now we've got a coffered ceiling and the blood has returned to my hands and arms; 7 full sheets 8' x 4' 18mm thick MDF was used just for the ceiling; very heavy quality Wallrock paper and correct adhesive was used for the ceiling panels hiding lots of fine cracks. An interesting project. Here's a coffered ceiling installation on YouTube;



I'm currently learning TIG welding aluminium and it's definitely not easy but I know I'll succeed if I stick with it; I'm too stupid to know when to quit so I make every mistake possible.


TIG welding aluminium lap joints these done yesterday.



Same joints; shiny are 2mm thick dull on left is 1.5mm thick; just practice pieces that will be discarded with many more. I can weld corner joints and I'm very near to welding lap joints; three more kinds of joints to go but to me it's just so interesting. I like learning.

 

It's to get the sherry right into the fruit, especially the glace cherries. I only started to do it so early a few years ago. It kept getting earlier each year. It also makes the cake go really dark, even though i use the darkest sugar, dark molasses and 3 tablespoons of coffee in it. I don't eat much cake at any other time of the year.

 

@Retired thanks for the kind thoughts about Keith. He will have to get some sort of storage for his cards but he's only got a small flat.

It's good what you have done to your bungalow looks very professional with your woodwork.
It's very kind to help your neighbour but you can't do everything for her.

To do things well you have to practice at it and i can see that you wouldn't give up.
Have a good evening Logan.

 

off work today, paid holiday. washed and hung back curtains, some sorting and tossing again. made supper. glass of wine now. so goes the night. back to work tomorrow.

 

Hi,

 

Hi,

It's very sad Logan that there are now so many long term illnesses around such as Keith's; I told Bron about Keith and his card making; we both wish him well. I mentioned the plastic lidded boxes I buy for Bron to store card making materials in; I pay around £8 each at Rufforth Auto Jumble for each of them and Bron says they are perfect; plenty big enough for most sizes of sheet card material and not too deep otherwise lots would become buried; the size is 45cm long x 35cm wide x 12cm deep; they stack and take up little space; box seen here;


Bron likes these boxes and has a few of them.


Not too deep so material in the bottom doesn't get too buried.



One of Bron's cards underway; it's Bron's main hobby and it's surprising how much card material and embellishments she gets through each week. It's her hobby and she never tries or wants to sell any. Disabled people are often ignored and overlooked but every little bit of kindness helps; we're sympathetic.

Thanks Logan for your kind comments. Regarding not doing everything for our neighbour Carole we only help now if she's stuck otherwise we're blind and death. After spending hundreds of hours doing jobs for Carole it took a while before we realized we were just her unpaid slaves. After each job she always had another job lined up; the fence job took a full week and was very hard work only costing her materials in fact I supplied the concrete and all the boxes of exterior grade screws free of charge.

Carole knows I can repair most things and a couple of years ago she bought a vintage Singer sewing machine on a veneered cabinet driving a round trip of over 400 miles to collect it. Back home I was asked to help Carole to get the machine up to her bungalow; it was surprisingly heavy. Looking at the cabinet it needed extensive repairs; it had obviously been stored in damp conditions; the bottom of the cabinet in places was rotten and lots of peeling veneer; I could only guess as to the condition of the mechanics; I reckoned there were two months work involved in reveneering/French polishing and sorting the mechanics out; at this point I went blind and deaf and politely bid farewell; two weeks ago Carole had this machine collected it's going abroad through a charity that refurbishes such things; Carole has also put her bungalow on the market which surprised us because she paid £12,000 to have a lift installed from the garage into her bedroom for when she gets older; she's my age and retired?

I've done so much free work for Carole and don't begrudge it but I do begrudge being treated as free labour; she pays house cleaner; gardner; window cleaner etc. Carole is very selfish and self centred she admits quite openly she's lazy. One day she was complaining quite bitterly about the high cost of her npower electricity bill; I told her how much we had paid; she immediately phoned npower complaining that she had a neighbour who uses big machinery in his workshop but pays a lot less for his electricity also being an npower customer; shortly after npower contacted us to install a smart meter; the npower engineer arrived but couldn't install the meter because British Gas had installed their smart meter and he wasn't allowed to touch British Gas equipment. I explained about what Carole had done and could he please check if there were signs of illegal electricity use at our address and offered him free access to anywhere in or under the bungalow; of course everything was as it should be and we shook hands when he departed. I'm sure Carole never ever considered she was shopping me to npower for illegal use of electricity; she was using a great deal more electricity than us hence the larger bill; we're still very friendly and accept her as she is but no longer will we do general work for her and we are careful what we tell her. Who needs enemies?

Just rambling on whilst I have a mug of tea and bickie before wandering down to the workshop.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

I've just enjoyed a session in the workshop learning TIG welding; I'm working through the joints and this morning it was "T" joints; after lots of practice I can weld corner joints; lap joints and now can almost weld "T" joints. Better than sitting in front of the TV all day long.

Kind regards, Colin.


First weld and as expected a mess so try again.


Getting better after a few attempts.



Better still after more attempts; a bit of fine tuning and another joint learned. A very good morning and I'm happy.