Third year meadow.

Oh dear Retired, I hope that you can get your ointment.

 

I used to live on the Isle of Man Colin and that was always wet and windy. My son used to say, the wind always blows your hair in your face whichever way you're facing. It's not a problem for him now, he's bald and lives in America.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan; another day another problem so everythings's normal; today I think I'll go ointment hunting; the pharmacy I emailed hasn't yet replied and I know from past experience not to try contacting a pharmacy by phone; I'd have more chance of joining hands to contact the dead. Back home this morning before 7:30 having done the shopping; the rain has finally quit and the wind has dropped so I had to defrost the car before driving away. It's not all bad news though I got a green traffic light coming away from Morrison's; perhaps I should record the dash cam footage because its so rare.

Thanks Sheal. I'm not quite like your son but I do have a wide solar panel; my hair started to recede whilst I was at school; I've not attended a barbers shop since I married Bron; Bron cuts my hair using the kitchen scissors; they do say the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is two weeks; I just ask Bron to kindly cut it when I get fed up with it. I'm a tight Yorkshireman so it's win win all round; I don't have to travel to the barber and the haircut costs nothing.

This morning out of bed at 6 o'clock and shopping done by 7:30; now to tackle the ointment problem; one day I'll get out of bed without a problem facing me but I can dream on and without these constant silly problems I'd have nothing to moan about.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

It's now 10:30am and I've just returned from ointment hunting. Success because Asda Supermarket in Fixby; Huddersfield don't stock the ointment but have been most helpful; they are ordering it in for me and I can collect this afternoon or tomorrow; I'll collect tomorrow to give it time to come in.

All this frustration just to obtain a prescribed tube of ointment; zero marks to our local pharmacy for suggesting I try other pharmacies or even having the prescription changed to another ointment by my GP. Top marks to Asda.

Betamethasone Valerate Topical: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD

This is the ointment and how interesting to read "Uses" Do not use on the face but avoid using it near the eye's; I'm quite normal with two eyes located to my face? What a palaver and now on to the next problems.

Bron and I like dark chocolate mint creams which we bought whilst out some time ago but they aren't stocked nearby which is normal given my luck; well over a week ago I bought 1KG online from a candy store; where are they; many weeks ago wanting to buy something special for her I asked if she fancied anything; I've now bought her a years subscription to an artists magazine from W H Smiths online; where's the mag; weeks ago I received an email stating the first mag was on its way?

21 years retired and I still can't get any peace to do as I would like.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

I think it's par for the course these days Colin. I like yourself, am fed up chasing things that don't turn up when expected. Also, orders that are wrong when they turn up. It's taken three attempts recently to get the right latches for my doors. I'm currently changing all of the interior door handles and mechanisms as they are starting to fail.

I'm glad you tracked down the ointment you need.

 

Hi,

Thanks Sheal. Things aren't what they used to be are they. Good luck with your door hardware; you'll get there in the end but it's difficult to accept all the hassle involved these days with the simplest of jobs. Things seldom fail on their own; one thing fails and it sets off a chain reaction; our first thing to fail was whilst Bron and I were courting; we were viewing the house we eventually bought when the immediate neighbour approached us asking us what we were going to do with the broken fence and from then on it's never let up.

This is now day three of trying to get my hands on the ointment and until I do get hold of it there's every chance the company making the ointment has gone out of business; I always expect the worst these days then I'm seldom disappointed. Bron and I will have a trip out to Asda this afternoon to collect the ointment assuming it's available; only a twelve mile round journey. I can't really complain though because it's so easy to take our NHS for granted so I'll accept the hassle with good grace but still have the pleasure of moaning.

Another frost again this morning and at tea time yesterday heavy hail; I bet all the plants I've put in the garden feel really welcome.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

WOW; 3 days of frustration and now I've finally collected the ointment; well done Asda Pharmacy and top marks for both excellent service and friendliness.


Just for information with you mentioning door handle problems Sheal; I think few will know door handle springs of this kind shown in the picture are cheaply and readily available; obviously there are many types and shaps of door handle but these springs fit quite a few; I always have spares in the workshop.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Retired, glad that you got your ointment.

 

Hi,

Many thanks Logan; such a simple thing like collecting a tube of presribed ointment caused me so much trouble and wasted so much time; it might sound like a trivial thing and normally I'm OK just using Dermol cream moisturizer (excellent moisturizer) but when I suffer a skin flare up I really know about it.

Back to the plot now at last; since buying all the shrubs and plants from J Parkers the weather has done it's best to destroy them; yesterday teatime they were peppered with a heavy hail shower and it was so dark it was like night time. Frosts still persist too.

Perhaps I can now concentrate playing around with my multitrack Tascam recorder/mixer; I've recorded a violin/keyboard practice session and can play it back through the amplifier but as yet I'm unable to play it on my PC even though the session is on the PC; it just won't open but then with my luck I'll do it the hard way. Whilst playing the violin with it on my shoulder I thought I was starting to do better but when I play it back through the amplifier it sounds totally different. I need practice and lots of it because it's down to me and not the violin or bow; time now to read the Tascam user manual.



The YouTube video shows the Tascam recorder I'm playing around with.

The 1KG Buchanan's dark chocolate creams arrived at last from The Candy Cabin so I'm scoffing a couple of them; just Bron's artists magazine now outstanding; when this arrives I'll need something new to moan about.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

I didn't play with the Tascam after all this afternoon. Bron spoils me rotten and for quite a while I've been asking her if there's anything at all she would like with no limit on funds. We bought our sofa when I retired 21 years ago it then costing £2,000. This sofa is starting to show wear and tear and we did look into having it recovered but recovering it would cost £2,000 so we've been looking for a new sofa for a while but without success in finding just what we would like.

This afternoon we visited a well established family owned furniture store and finally Bron will have the sofa she chose in about 20 weeks time; during our 46 years of marriage Bron has never ever wanted anything for herself so I'm delighted to buy the sofa and if she fancies anything else at all it's hers; time now for me to spoil Bron who well deserves it; I love Bron to bits.

Something happy for a change rather than a moan.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Retired
Good that you can spoil each other and get a good sofa in a few weeks.
Maybe it's the post that's holding up the magazine that you want for Bron, we've been waiting for some flower seeds but I think that royal mail was having problems with staff. The post man that we have wasn't working and it would arrive late in the afternoon, now they seem to be back to normal and we got the seeds.
Have a good time with your violin.

 

Enjoy playing with your recorder/mixer. I don't like technology and having to use a computer is bad enough. If my three children didn't live so far away I don't think I'd bother with it but I need to stay in contact with them.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan. It's strange that now in retirement Bron and I are better off financially than when we were working allowing us to indulge in our various hobbies and to spoil each other; this has come at a price though because we've not had a single night away on holiday for 45 years and have spent our time learning many new skills whilst improving our lifestyle year on year; it's now paying off though when we see our neighbours going on foreign holidays every year and they will be working right up to retirement age; I retired aged 53 but still wonder what retirement should be like; so far it's been hard graft.

Thanks Sheal; I struggle with TV remote controls and can't stand mobile phones however for ten years after first retiring I did adopt vintage radio restoring as a long winter hobby starting from scratch not even knowing how to use a DMM (Digital Multi Meter) I was soon into resistors and capacitors and joined my first forum.


Here's the last restoration I did it being an Ekco TV/Radio of 1957. This has been the only TV I ever restored and when I'd finished I lost all interest because having reached this stage the challenges had gone. I really went to great lengths restoring this making it unique by replacing all the bland veneers with these stunning veneers then french polishing it.

I did all the cabinet work on my own but received a huge amount of help/advice from highly skilled TV engineers on the forum who led me by the hand daily whilst I followed their instructions to the letter resulting in a fully working set as seen. I wouldn't encourage anyone to attempt such a restoration because these vintage valve TV's and radio's can prove lethal.


Here's a picture showing the restoration underway.

Here's the same TV as bought; it was a lovely project. I've posted these pictures a number of times but I like to show it's possible to adop a brand new hobby and start from scratch; I'm a mechanical engineer and have no training in electrics but I adhere to full safety measures in anything I do; if I don't know I won't take a chance but do some research; a simple mistake in a number of my hobbies could kill or seriously injure me but I do like doing something totally different.

This TV is about to be collected by a guy who is opening a new museum so I'm delighted it will be on display rather than just being another item at home needing dusting. I'm decluttering.

I know what you mean though Sheal regarding technology; many five year old kids have a mobile phone welded to their ear these days and are happy with texting which I dislike preferring email on my computer.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

At last not a moan. The TV was collected as arranged this afternoon and as it's going to be displayed in a new museum I decided to let a fully restored vintage radio go with it.


This is a Barker 88 vintage radio generously given to me by my friend to play around with; here it is being worked on.
Here it is with new Burr Walnut veneer having just been french polished but still needing the chassis installing. Both the TV and this radio should look attractive on display.

I've also managed to sort out my Tascam recorder to computer problem; it's been another learning curve with lots of frustration but I can now play my very first electronic keyboard practice on my computer; I've just tried adding it to YouTube having firstly converted it to MP3 which was rejected then MP4 which again has been rejected; as usual I'll do it the hard way so another learning curve ahead of me; it's better than being bored.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan. Have you now sown the seeds or are you waiting for some rare warmer weather without overnight frost. The wildflower meadow seeds I broadcast a short while ago appear to be showing interest; there are thousands of very tiny seedlings showing which looks promising; the wildflowers usualy start growing like this popping up to have a look around then suddenly I've got a full blown meadow which is usually a beautiful sight but not last year when our dire weather destroyed it just as it bloomed; I strimmed the lot in disgust fed up of seeing it look so bad.

I checked W H Smith's website regarding the artist's magazine and it states it can take up to six weeks before the first magazine arrives; it's a monthly magazine so perhaps they also wait for the new issue to come out; once the first arrives then I'm sure everything will straighten itself out.

After no end of fun I've now got the Tascam recording on my computer and can play it which I'm delighted about; I had to convert the file on the Tascam to export it in WAV format. I've spent quite a bit of time playing around with YouTube this morning trying to upload the music but so far as usual it means another ballistic learning curve; YouTube won't accept WAV files so after lots of playing around on the web I finally converted the the file to MPEG which YouTube accepts but not from me; I'll do it the hard way and hopefully by the end of the year it might play on YouTube; ignorance they say is bliss but ignorance is costing me no end of time and hassle; I'm on my own so have to research every little thing I try to do which is new to me.



Just out of curiosity I tried to add the music file to the forum and this error message appeared; I've already found out how to send it by email but it needs then opening under the email attachments "Browser" I'm too stupid to know when to quit so I'll stick with it.

Little about all this has nothing to do with gardening other than it occupies so much of my time. Yesterday in the garden whilst weeding I noticed our immediate neighbour has planted a small Scots Pine in the corner of their garden about 2' away from our boundary; once it gets its feet it won't be small any longer and need treating to a chainsaw just as our trees have just been treated having to fell them because they grew too big for the garden; it's their garden and I'll keep my nose out.

Kind regards, Colin.