OneGuyFromBarlick

Stanley wrote: ↑07 Aug 2025, 05:45 Morning Sue! Hee hee, I'll bet you are counting how many jars you have! What a good problem to have. I hope you have a good day and another good night's sleep. Nothing like it.....

Very few jars actually, got rid of most of them last trip

So you did! I remember you saying so. Hard luck Sue, perhaps the answer is plum wine and distil that into brandy..... What are the regulation like in France for doing that. You might have a local processor, it can't be the first time there has been a surplus.....
I might not go in the shed this morning but prepare my chicken and get it in the oven for its roast. I shall take a view later on.

The shed has been ditched. Chicken in the oven, I shall have breakfast and go back to bed early...... (How nice to be able to run my own life....

Morning

We spent the day out and about, the market first then lunch out. On the way home we called for a cuppa with Joanne and Paul then a quick visit to the supermarket for a couple of needed items like toothpaste. We shall do a big shop today after having made a detailed list. It was 4 when we got back home. I made my apple cake and then we both did an hours gardening in the cooler temperature (26 degrees). The sun had moved round so we were both in the shade. This morning I will do some washing and a little more gardening whilst it is cooler. After lunch we will do the shopping. I think 28 is forecast again today. Have a good day all Ps Joanne gave us a recipe for alcoholic plum cordial

Stanley wrote: ↑08 Aug 2025, 02:22 So you did! I remember you saying so. Hard luck Sue, perhaps the answer is plum wine and distil that into brandy..... What are the regulation like in France for doing that

I don’t think distillation is allowed but once did concentrate some ajcohol in home brew by freezing it dow, we were on e in a village where there was a mobile distiller for lavender

That sounds intriguing Sue!
I am off to bed now with my chicken in the oven and no work done in the shed......

I shall not neglect the shed this morning. I shall be in there early doors doing useful hand work on my bottom crankshaft bearings.... Later after second sleep I shall go the Town Square for a veggie shop. I cooked some veggies yesterday but need some greens to complete the set!

Half an hour of handwork and the two bottom halves of the crankshaft bearings are correctly sized with witness marks and are fitted in the horns of the engine bed. That's enough for this morning. Now I chase my breakfast.

Morning

This morning is a trip to La Gacilly market early, then back to prepare some bits and pieces for home made pizza lunch with Laetitia and family. Bob will fire up the pizza oven around 11. 00 and it takes a couple of hours to come up to temperature. Another nice sunny day is forecast. Yesterday we did a big shop in the afternoon, then afterwards got out all the garden furniture and washed it down ready for today.

I don’t think I told you about my bee sting. A bee flew into my face the other day and stung me just below the nose. I got the sting out and treated it with vinegar, antihistamine cream and took an antihistamine tablet. It only hurt for a about half an hour and seemed ok but today I have a very thick upper lip and a swelling at the sight of the sting. It has been swelling up a little each day since it happened, Thursday I think. Its not painful but feels weird. I shall have to take more antihistamines. Google says it takes 72 hours to a week to wear off. I may look like a boxer soon . Have a good day all

Interesting Sue about your treatment of the bee sting. I get plagued with horse flies and mosquitoes, in fact anything that flies and bites. If I can get to it quickly with vinegar it stops them in their tracks.

My understanding has always been that Bee stings, Like nettle rash, is caused by an acid attack and therefore the treatment is an alkali, like the juice of a dock leaf. A wasp sting is alkaline and therefore the treatment is an acid like vinegar....
Have I been wrong all my life?

Stanley wrote: ↑09 Aug 2025, 07:35 My understanding has always been that Bee stings, Like nettle rash, is caused by an acid attack and therefore the treatment is an alkali, like the juice of a dock leaf. A wasp sting is alkaline and therefore the treatment is an acid like vinegar....
Have I been wrong all my life?

Thats what I thought but google advice was different.I always learned AB and VW. Ie alkali bee and vinegar wasp. Some sites said there was no evidence that vinegar worked. It did however work substantially. Within 15 minutes the stinging had gone and there was no lump at the site until the ne t day. The antihistamine cream and tablets have worked well this morning, the swelling is down considerably and its not as numb

Whatever Sue, it worked and that's all that matters!



This morning I started on milling the top caps of the crankshaft bearings. Careful cutting and now we need some even more careful measuring and marking to get the sizes right. That comes tomorrow. The goal now is breakfast.

Morning

Another 9 hours sleep last night though I think it was partly due to taking an extra antihistamine. I am pleased to report the over riding swelling is going down though the actual site of the sting is still swollen and red and I still have a strange sensation.

The pizza lunch went well with Laetitia and family . They stayed till after 5 and it took no time to tidy up afterwards. Then Bob and I sat in the shade in the garden for another couple of hours, a rare event. This morning I shall do a little gardening, only, then as it warms up ( 30 degrees is forecast for later today) I shall go into the cool of the house to do the ironing, then perhaps sit and read in the shade.

Its very quiet round here. Laëtitia's old place has not been re let as it failed the energy performance survey and a few other problems ( which we all knew about which is why they left in the first place) . I doubt the owner, the old farmers son, will bother doing anything so it will probably be sold for renovation ( hopefully). It would make a beautiful home if done correctly. The house next to us is still for sale and the next one along is awaiting completion of sale. The lady across the road hardly appears out of the door and the family at Rolands old place keep to themselves. So thats our news , have a good day all

Morning Sue.... It sounds like a state of flux.... Bit sad really because everything ticked over like clockwork a couple of years ago. Will you be glad when you get a buyer?
It's a bright morning here, but with enough cloud to keep us honest! No sun at the moment. I have a bit of green veggie cooking to do to finish the current batch. As soon as I have finished my coffee I will do that. I have a busy few days coming up with things like an annual boiler inspection, a chiropodist visit and daughter Susan visiting.....

I've cooked my greens and fried my sweet potato chips. Now I can have a read.....

receiving a 'royal visit' today, my mother is coming for a few days. My brother and his wife have rented an air b'n'b and are bringing her with them, she's not been for 13 years.

Was it something you said?...

Tizer wrote: ↑10 Aug 2025, 14:23 Was it something you said?...

Lovely Kev and I hope she enjoys her visit.
Coincidentally Susan is coming today and will be in the area for about a fortnight. We have hired a rental car and she is going to chauffeur me round as I tick of some visits on a bucket list. There are people I haven't seen for far too long so I am putting the effort in....
This morning I will be in the shed working on my bearings, later this morning Jonathan Greenbank comes and services my boiler and shortly after dinner Susan arrives..... So I have a full schedule!

This morning the task was further refining of the top brasses, the main part being to assign them to a particular orientation and give them witness marks and then reduce their width to match the bottom brasses. Now I want my breakfast.

Morning

It will be another quiet day for us with temperatures of 34 forecast. We are going to the market at Questembert not because we need anything just because we like the town and the atmosphere. We will join the locals sipping coffee in the centre of the market and watch the world drift by. This afternoon may be another one reading in the shade in the garden. Have a good day all

That sounds like a proper holiday day! I hope it all goes well and that you have a relaxed day, keeping as cool as possible. We are nowhere near that temperature.

I have completed the first segment of the morning, wash my bedding and hang it outside on the line and clear the decks for my plumber to get at the boiler to service it.

A few photos for you Stanley. This is why we go there