Hi Jules,

Welcome back; you have very much been missed.

I hope you have had a great holiday and have truely enjoyed yourself and the weather has been kind to you. Your hubby would be so proud of you.

I spent last Saturday morning at a drop in a local library. Our wood club was invited to do this and I spent time talking to people about our club and have five possible new members and one who has already come along to our meeting last Wednesday. I was also asked to give a talk about our wood club which I agreed to do. When I found out it is for 1 1/2 to 2 hours I wonderd what I had let myself in for ha ha. But it is for an enviormental group so I will also talk about drone planting of trees and how we are developing what is called Super Trees. Reckon I can do the full two hours if required and hope I have not bored them to death by then.

It is now much too hot to get out in my garage; Its like an oven in there. I have decided to remake the tables I take to certain craft fairs. I spent one day out in my workshop last week and thought I had sprung a leak, I have founf more than enough timber (Ex hardwood cills)  to make two six foot tables and have only had to buy a few fixings. I looked at buying the tables and the cheapest was £32 each. I rekon these two will only cost me less than £10 in total plus my time.

I still have more new lines I want to try out when it cools down. Mrs B is suffering with this warm weather as it does affect her.

I hope your daughter is settling in at her new property. Also how is your mother getting on? How does your Mum like this hot waether? 

Take care and I wish you a pleasant week, Brian.

Hi Jules,

So pleased you had a good time and congratulations in managing as well as you did, Glad you also enjoyed spending time with your family. I am please everything is going well for them.

I spent all of yesterday clearing up in my garage, started early and finnished late and boy did I know it when I did come back indoors. Still it needed it and I didnt need rocking to sllep last night ha ha.  Today I have mortised and tennoned the first table and glued it together. All went rather well so am pleased with myself. Have only got to sand it up then router to allow for the top and then fit the legs. I also put some spare wooden handles I had on my new wood chasing tools and re organised the cartons where I keep my part turned pieces. We buy walls ice cream in plastic cartons and I use the empty catrons to keep my bits and bobs in. I also stuck some sticky labels on them as when I did the last lot of key rings, yesterday I found I had a carton with some wood allready part turned.which I could have used.  I have got to make another trip to the tip as both my bins are full of sawdust and shavings yet again. Once the tables are finnished, I have lots more turning to do and several more new lines to try. At our last show one of our members asked how I keep finding new lines, as he struggles with this. He used to make beautiful dolls houses but cant do them anymore, as his back is so bad so like me when I used to do mainly clocks and barometers, he has to find new lines. We also try not to duplicate other members work as we dont want to all be doing the same things allthough there is allways a certain amount of  crossover.

Sister in law has had her other knee replaced a week ago and this one is causing her more pain than the last one. Hope it soon improves. My sons ankle is still playing him up and he is seeing his specialist next week or so. I spoke to my youngest siter in Canda and had a long chat to her. Mrs B has lot of nice carnations in bloom which she grew from off cuts from shop bought ones. I have still to make her a bird table which I promised her some months ago. I shall be getting my ear bent if I dont do it soon ha ha.

Take care. Sending kind thoughts to you and all your family, Brian.

Hi Brian,

Well the promised deluge has arrived but thankfully made it to visit mum in the dry. Ten minutes of me talking and she nods off but good that she is still eating well. 

Nice that you have been cracking on with the tables and no doubt the cooler weather helps. I have mowed the lawn and weeded the front garden so back kn some sort of routine. Had my son and Darcey for company yesterday and was lovely to see them. She is standing on her own now and taken a few steps so will soon be running after her! :-)

Sorry that your son still having problems with his ankle and hope the specislist can offer help. So frustrating for him. Hope you, Mrs B and rest of family coping ok and that your sister in law's pain lessens soon. Take care. Jules

Good afternoon Jules,

All four section of my tables are now glued together and sanded; all that has to be done now is to fit the hinges, top, legs Handles and catches and apply the laquer. So the worst is now done. One problem is the foam filter on my hoover came off and now the motor housing is full of sawdust and shaving and not working. I have had to buy a set of torx screwdrivers so I can take it apart to clean it out. Grrr.  

At least I shant have to water the garden after yesterdays rain. Went out to mow the garden yesterday but it started to rain. So came back indoors. Have cut back on crisps and even reduced the amount of nuts I eat and My weight is about 5lbs less as a result. Have to say I do feel better for it.

Sorry to hear your mother doesnt talk much anymore but at least she is still eating. Your grandaughter is growing up fast. I am glad you liked the story on the other thread.  I just wish stories like this recieved more attention in the press.

Sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian.

Hi Brian,

You really have been pulling out all the stops to get your tables completed. Well done. I can imagine you were not too amused when the filter came off the hoover and made even more work for you. Hope you were able to solve the problem and all is well again.

Well done too on the weight loss. It only takes a few pounds less to make a difference.  I know the scales will not be so kind to me tomorrow when I go for my gym assessment and I do need to find my willpower again.  It's very annoying as whilst I was on holiday everything was fine  but since I got back the naughty snacking habit crept back. Still tomorrow is another day to try and 'be good'......boring but necessary!! Weather permitting I will go walking at the weekend which should help a bit as long as I do not find a reason to pop into the cafe at the nearby garden centre.

Very busy day at work today so am glad that's it for this week. Manager and a couple of other staff are on holiday next week so expecting it to be equally busy.  Still does make the work days pass quickly.

Have a lovely weekend with Mrs B and take care of yourselves.  Regards to all. Jules

Hi all

Having spent a couple of hours relaxing in my back garden thought I would share some pictures I took 'in my own backyard' during this beautiful day. Hope everyone has had a peaceful day.  Juleses

Don't know about relaxing, you must have been up and down like a yoyo to get all these lovely photos, Jules, and literally down for the shot of the clover!  

(I have just had a giggle, my predictive text put 'Toyota' instead of 'yoyo ')  :-)

Thanks for sharing all these.

Take care, Hazel xx

 Hi Hazel,

Don't you just love predictive text;  it has got me in a spot of bother in the past!!

Thanks for your kind comment on my photos and I suppose I did get a bit of exercise whilst taking the photos.Mind you I was sitting down when I took the clover shot as my camera has built in zoom lens.  Cannot afford to wander across the lawn in bare feet at the moment as the bees are loving these flowers.Also means I have refrained from mowing as do not want to spoil their feast!!  I am sure you have been enjoying your garden too and no doubt that new parasol has been keeping you shaded.

Taking my camera out with me today just in case!  I am going up to London with a friend. First port of call is the Bank of England Museum (quite apt as we both used to work in a bank!!) and then see what else takes our fancy (and depending on the weather).  We will meet up withher husband on our return and go out for a meal so looking forward to socialising too.

Take care my virtual friend enjoy the week ahead. Off to the gym shortly so I get my exercises in before I catch the tube. Jules xx