Hi Sue,

Having a pretty lazy afternoon having done 4 mile walk plus gym session this morning.  Was going to return to front garden for next bulb planting session but rather chilly here and only a few glimpses of the sun so am enjoying sport on tv instead! Have got a support for the thumb which is slowly improving and am managing without pain relief now so am sure it will be fine in a few days.  Yes, lugging paving slabs not the easiest of jobs to do alone but isn't hindsight a wonderful thing ha ha.

Unfortunately working in retail, the Christmas word comes around quite early (planning usually begins behind the scenes in May and next month will see the 'big push' to get everything re-arranged in the various departments). Am not at all sorry that I only do 15+ hrs if I am  honest.  Would  not mind reducing to two mornings but do not want to rush into something I may later regret.  Always know when the 'silly season' is approaching when Strictly Come Dancing begins though I do enjoy watching it and listening to the music.  I have a few days leave at the end of this month so will probably plan a few day trips out if the weather looks reasonable.

Sadly heard that one of hubby's old school pals passed away (his ex wife was one of our bridesmaids) and so will pay my respects by attending his funeral this coming Friday.  Bless him he came to hubby's farewell even though he he had been poorly for some years(heart condition). His daughter is in the 'caring' industry and know he will have been well looked after but like my hubby he was only in  his early 60's.

Well, I spot blue sky so will pop outside and do some pruning and take in the washing.  Enjoy your weekend and hope the nap was refreshing. Take care  Jules x

Good afternoon Jules,

It was a lovely bright morning if a little chilly for your Sunday morning constitutional walk. We had a real autumnal nip in the air here first thing this morning.

Sorry for the late reply but have been very busy the last few days. I went to the topping out ceremony for Macmillans new drop in centre in Brighton the other afternoon Which they have named The Horizon Center. They put a small yew branch on the highest point of the building as this is tradition as yew tree symbolized longevity. Also clippings from yew trees are used in some of the cancer drugs so quite apt. I have also visited our late club members wife and found the trolley wasnt broken at all. The glue had dried right out so as she still had some wood glue there, I was able to fix her trolley for her right away. She wanted to pay me but I refused as she had suppled the glue. She has given me some clock parts which her husband had started to make so I will finish it and give it back to her. This morning I have found a quick way of making the parts for my O and X game. I allready had the wooden boards made, complete with 9 holes but just needed 2 x 5 wooden dowels of two differnt colours woods to complete them.

Mrs B is now walking about without her walking sticks so things are almost back to normal. Tommorow afternoon I am taking her to see her brother but we have to travel over that road where that jet crashed at Shorham and she is not looking forward to that part. Her brother is not well at the moment and is not eating at all much. He has stomach pains and is waiting for a carmera up the Suez Canal If you know what I mean.  Hope they can sort the problem out for him soon for theve allready had to cancel their holiday to Devon. Will have to mow both lawns tommorow morning as the grass had grown very rapidly.

Take care Jules and well done for getting through another First

Sending kinds thoughts and best wishes to you and your family, Brian.

Good morning Brian,

Well, I left my walk till after the gym at 10 am and by the time I came out I was able to pack away my gilet and it was a beautiful day.  The farmers' market was in full swing and I treated myself to some spelt wholemeal croissants(sp?) and two small pieces of cheese (if I buy less I eat less ha  ha) - sheep's mature cheddar and cheddar with black pepper. The farmer always has 'taster' dishes and I like to choose something new from time to time.  I also got a jar of rhubarb and ginger jam.  Shopping done I headed to a small cafe on the High Street that has a courtyard garden for coffee before heading back home.

Wearing a support on my thumb (improving) and my garden gloves for protection, I spent most of the afternoon in the garden and planted another 60+ bulbs in the front garden.  I then managed a two hour sit down with a book so very pleased. Once the sun was off the garden the chill air began to return so I did a bit more work tidying/dead heading.  The week ahead looking good weatherwise too so my plan is to mow when I get in from work today.  As you say with the rain we have had the grass is growing quickly so need to keep on top of it.

Glad that Mrs B is walking easier now and bet she was pleased to set the sticks to one side.  Sad to read about her brother and do hope they can find the problem and give him some appropriate treatment asap. A worrying time for all the family. It is very difficult when eating becomes a problem but I know he will welcome your company, love and understanding.

Good news about the new cancer centre.  They are a much needed facility  I was lucky enough to be close to good amenities in this respect for hubby but know from reading other threads on the forum that not everyone is so lucky.

My daughter had a difficult Saturday. First she had her follow up appointment (re fainting spells) with her neurologist and had been expecting to be 'signed off'.  Instead she has to have further scanstests and go back in three months.  In the meantime she cannot drive so they have decided to sell her little car which will, she says. give them the bonus of a few extra pounds to play with. Luckily she walks most of the time and only used the car when absolutely essential - will now have to make contingency plans as and when necessary.  Thankfully we have a good transport network.  The next 'blip' was with eldest grandson. He was at a birthday party playing with friends and as usual not watching where he was going, collided with a wire basket which caught his eye and he was in pain and bleeding. Son in law ended up in A&E with him but did not have to wait long and he has been very lucky. Just a minor scratch but quite painful bless him. Spoke to my daughter yesterday and he was fine - boys will be boys.

The chilly mornings are bringing more birds to the table so am now off outside to top up their supplies before I head into work.  Sending peaceful thoughts for a good week ahead to you, Mrs B and the family.Jules x 

Hi Jules,

Have had a very busy few days. It was our clubs 30th aniversary meeting on Wednesday and we were shown a slide show of members work right from the begining up to the present day.  Plus I

had been given a large piece of Cedar of Lebbanon to yurn for our annual show/ exhibition/ competition. When iI started to turn it I found it had a split on both faces. I managed to turn one off but the other was quite deep coupled with the fact it wad wood worm. I started off with a block about 9" square by 4"deep but eneded up with a bowl 8" by 2 1/2" deep and was almost knee deep in shavings. The timber has a lovely smell to it and with my new sanding gadget has a really nice smooth finnish. I now have a load of recently turned items that need packing in my boxes ready for our show on Saturday 19th

Mrs B is now almost back to normal. She really enjoyed seeing her brother but is quite concernes as he has lost a lot of weight recently and looks quite ill. On top of that, he has to buy a new boiler as his cant be repaired and now his tv also needs replacing. I have a block of thich ubber somewhere in my garage which I want to use for a mark 2 version of my sander but despite turning my garage uoside down still havent found it but I did find the spare blades for the fymo that I lost and which I had to buy new ones for. Grrrrr At least I di find them when I excavated the dust of of them ha ha.

Your mention of how quick the grass is growing is spot on. I mowed our lawns early part of the week and our back lawn now needs doing again. I only wish the flowers grew at the same speed. After all your bulb planting, I bet your garden will be alight with flowers in the spring. I was sorry to read about your daughters and grandsons hospital trips and hope they can soon resolve your daughters situation. Have you booked any more trips yet Jules? Mrs B would love to get me to take her to Lulworth Cove but is concerned the trip would tire her out and she also says she thinks it would be to much driving for me to do it and back in one day.

The weather dosnt look to be that good for the weekend so I bet your glad you did what you did last weekend. Wishing you and your family a peaceful and relaxing few days. Kind thoughts and best wishes being sent your way, Brian

Hi Brian

You have been a busy boy but the results of all your hard work will, I am sure, make your stall a pretty sight on the 19th. Good luck with the show.  It must have been great looking  back over the long history of the Wood Club too - how long have you been a member?

Pleased that Mrs B is feeling 'almost normal' but can understand her concern about her brother. Not easy seeing him looking and probably feeling poorly.  Why is that appliances always break within days of each other and not cheap to replace either unless covered by insurance. Fingers crossed he can get things sorted without too much hassle.

I am slowly on the up again.  Found our friend's funeral service(held at the same place as hubby's) so very hard and was emotionally spent at the end of it so made the difficult decision not to go on  to the commital/wake. So many memories came flooding back and the picture of him on the order of service was one taken at our wedding.  It was a small gathering and very poignant. He was only the same age as hubby (they met at school and hubby was his best man and his then wife was our bridesmaid) and everyone had assumed that it was his heart condition that took him early but he had been diagnosed with throat cancer just after Christmas (only immediate family were told at the time). To be honest I had not cried that much for a while and needed time to compose myself before coming home. Thank goodness his family totally understood and even text me later to check I was okay bless them.

My daughter has her MRI appointment through for early October and still awaiting EEG appointment which will  have to be in central London/ She is pleased that they are being thorough but. of course having driven for some years is already missing the indepence that gave her nd will take a period of adjustment I am sure. Eldest grandson seems fine and he is spending today with my son and girlfriend together with a sleepover for the first time (with them).  Plans are afoot to take him on the thames for a boat ride and then enjoy Windsor Great Park.  So far the weather has been kind to them as its a lovely sunny, if a bit breezy, day here so far.

Have been to the gym this  morning as well as doing 'supermarket sweep' and after lunch, weather permitting will potter outside. Tomorrow my son and other half will pop in after dropping grandson back home around mid morning.  Have some more bulbs on my list to get for October/Nov planting but now have a long handled 'planter' which should save my back a bit!! The garden seems to be offering me more 'busy' relaxation and it will be good to see the results if all goes well.  Have just added to the bird feeding area with a large donut shaped peanut feeder  - trouble is the neighbour's cat seems more interested that the birds so far - not cold enough yet ha ha.

Hope you and Mrs B have a relaxing weekend and hope all well with your family too. Best regards Jules x

Hi Jules,

I an one of the original founding members of the club so it's the full 30 years membership for me. It was started as a result of a sugestion I made to a good friend of mine who is the club secretary. I have enjoyed seeing new member develop their skills over the years and have got so much satisfaction fron what we have achieved as a small club. You mentioned about selling my sanding gadget the other day, well I have just bought some 12mm thick neopreme foam rubber as this is so much firmer than what I am using at present and have also got ten roller bearings on order that are meant for skateboards but will do just what I want. So I will be able to make some of these units up for other club members. I have also cut up a lot of 50mm sanding discs of differnt grit in readyness . I will use double sided sticky tape rather than the velcro method the shop bought version uses and as the new foam is much firmer the d/s tape should stick much better than it does to the foam I have used until now.

We will be visiting our son's place tommorow as it's our grandaughters birthday. I have also written a two page A5  story to go with the one I posted on here last year and Mrs B has suggested I send them to a couple of her womens magazines as they print a lot of short stories. I dont know if you have heard of Louis L'Amour. He was famous for writting western novels and had about eighty of his books made into films. When he started off, he used to write short stories for magazines and this paid his keep until he got hiself established as a writer. He used to do a lot of research on his stories, for instance if he talked about the main character finding a sweet water spring, he had actually been there and tasted the water hiself.

The weather has turned out much better than the forecast I heard so glad you have been able to get out into your garden. I can imagine your friends funeral was a very emotional episode for you and must have brought many memories flooding back, both of the past and also of your husbands funeral especially as it was at the same place and he had been close friends as well. I hope keeping busy will help. It's only in recent years I have come to fully realize what a powerful force emotions are and something we have no real control over.

Mrs B has once again excelled herself and has baked me some more delicuise cheese biscuits for my birthday next week when I will be 21 again; only kidding Jules. Did you hear that Kathy?????? Cheese straws and biscuits.

Glad your daughter has got her first appiontment through and hope she soon gets the other one through. Bet she will really miss her car. With regard to you grandson going to Windsor, before our son was married, we often used to take hin to Runnymead near Windsor and have a picnic alongside the river. One one of the areas near Windsor there are some very old Oak trees wh ere the middle of the trees are completely rotten but yet they still have leaves growing on them which amazes me.

Well once again I have rambled enough for one day. I hope you manage to do all you had plans for but that you also enjoy your time in the garden. Enjoy the weekend and take care of yourself Jules. Sending kind thoughts and hugs, both to you and your family, Brian.

Well Brian you have certainly proved to be an inspiration from the early beginnings of the Wood Club and clearly your love of all things wood has spurred old and new members on.  Some might say a 'chip of the old block'. I am sure many will appreciate your new sanding tool and it looks as though you will be kept busy 'manufacturing' in the garage/workshop in coming days/weeks.  Hope the weather stays warm enough for you!

Yesterday's weathe was a real bonus for us garden lovers.  I spent a few hours outside during the afternoon and dug over the children's 'digging' spot' (bulb and flower free ) ready for the next 'off roading' toy car event - they never seem to tire of it but eldest grandson said it was 'a bit hard to dig' the last time he was here so hopefully will be a bit easier for him to  'work' now ha ha. Tidied the lawn edges and wish now I had mowed again but it's not really long enough and I do not want a bald lawn.  The coming week looks dodgy rainwise so could well be a while before I get another chance at it. Fingers crossed the week after next will be reasonable (I have a few days leave to finish up which will actually give me a 12 day break).  It will start with both grandsons coming for a weekend sleepover. Have a couple of days out planned, one with son, another with daughter and son's partner and also a coach trip to the RHS Malvern Autumn Show. Also have my gym re-assessment which will be interesting I am sure!!! My daughter is holding a MacMillan Coffee Morning so will happily go along for cake and money raising. Looking forward to a break from work prior to the build up to the silly season!

I hope you and the family have a lovely day celebrating your grandaughter's birthday. Think you should follow Mrs B's advice (of course, you always do) and submit your short story to the magazines and you must let us know when you are in print.  I amsure the grandchildren would be thrilled to see grandad's name in print too. I am afraid Louis L'Amour was not known to me (we do not have any western  buffs in the family and do not see many books for that genre at work) but sounds like he did very well from his writing career.

So you are '21 again'next week and will be spoilt rotten by Mrs B with cheesy biscuits. Wishing you a scrumptious time and hope you have a lovely day (lots of your favourite things and people around you) and can find a moment to relax too.

Your mention of Runnymeade bought a smile to my face. Our daughter had her wedding reception there and it was lovely to be able to stroll the toll path the day after (quite a few guests stayed overnight at the hotel and we had a lovely breakfast on the terrace (bride and groom too). Have been back a few times but not since the floods so have not seen the refurbishment -note in diary as they made a great hot chocolate (my daughter even had her hen do there at the spa) - wonderful memories from eight years ago - where did that time go!!

Well must clear the breakfast things away, head to the gym and then have my son and girfriend popping in. Will be great to catch up with theit news (and see if they survived the day/night with his nephew) - I suspect they may be a little shattered as my grandson has boundless energy ha ha. Still I am sure their dog will have enjoyed the runaround.

Have a peaceful day and regards to you and all the family.Jules x

Hi Jules, thought of you yesterday as I was planting some bulbs I'd been given plus some others I'd bought to go with them. Needless to say, I chose an awkward spot under a small apple tree and behind some existing plants so I probably looked as though I was playing a game of Twister!!  I have you to thank though for reawakening my enjoyment of the garden and now that I can do stuff again rather than just sit out I am really enjoying my little space. It rained all morning but the sun emerged for the afternoon and I hope you too were able to potter?  I am due another shoulder procedure sometime soon so want to make the most of any nice weather we have in the meantime. I am told recovery time is just "a few days" but know from previous experience that this is medical speak for rather longer than that so want to get organised!

Enjoy your son's visit this morning and the bulb buying at the garden centre. Take care  Sue x

Hi Sue,

I think I shall miss the time in the garden when the weather makes is difficult (not one for 'muddy' and 'cold' gardening ha ha).  It's a great way to pass the time when the days feel longer than they should. I suppose I will turn my hand to some other tidying indoors during the Winter months. I do have plans to re-arrange the two spare rooms but there is 'stuff' stored that needs to be tackled first. A little difficult as some of it is Mum's (stored when she went into the care home ove two years ago!) and it would not feel right to move it on just yet.  In due time I can see our local charity shops enjoying the efforts of my recycling. I still find it hard to sit for long periods, relaxing during the day but the evenings are easier somehow.

Glad you are enjoying doing a bit of gardening yourself and hope your next op goes well.  With fingers crossed for a quick recovery you will be able to look at the fruits of your labours and enjoy a colourful view.  If I am honest the garden has seemed a bit like therapy this year. It was, on the whole, always down to me to keep it tidy (hubby did a few veggies when the kids were very little but then began travelling for business and pretty much lost interest). Now it is kind of a project that can change with the seasons and ensures I am not too idle!!

The weekend's weather was totally different to that forecast and no rain at all yesterday (made up for it overnight though!!) so in the end I did mow the lawn but waiting until after my son's visit.  We had a great catch up and now have a few plans in place for the next couple of months. October and November see a few family birthdays and our youngest grandson's Christening so some get togethers organised.  Three different diaries to accommodate ha ha.

Have slowly recovered from my 'emotional meltdown' on Friday thought doubt it will be the last! Emotions seem to come from nowhere and not necessarily when you expect them but that's life and  am having to come to terms with a new vulnerability. Chatted to my son and his partner (she had made me two lovely lavendar sachets (in the shape of birds) for my bedroom) yesterday when they dropped in.  In the end they stayed around four hours and we even had lunch in the sunshine in the garden - and added bonus. We are are coping with our loss in various ways but trying to give mutual support when needed.

Oops, just seen the time and seem to have begun waffling, so best wash up and get off to work.  Three days this week and then my 12 days off which I think I need for many different reasons.

Take care Sue and do not wear yourself out digging! Jules x