Good morning Jules,

Have had another busy week. On Wednesday I and three other wood club members went to a local church as our council was organising an event for local groups for the over 60's to show what local groups have to offer them.

It went very well and we had five people exxpress an interest in our club. I had taken our club stand and a few of my turnings and was very surprised when people asked me if I was selling them I did very well in the four hours. I have another three day show at the end of next week. Yesterday my  mini soldering iron arrived and I now have two of my windmill with turning sails. I have also have some flickering candle light arrive that are about six inches long and very impressed with them I can see I will be making something for Christmas out of them. I bought them to go in my smaller lighthouses and they will be ideal for this also. I have ordered two 4 inch solar powered turntables that have batterry back up so I can add even more tmovement to my stand. I also turned the bases for 7 penguins and three sit up and beg mice I still have to turn the heads for the peguins but the timber is all glued up for them

Dont think you will be able to do mich in your garden today.Sounds like it is going to get very wet and windy. Hope you have a great weekend and sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian

Hi Jules,

Hope you are well and not too tired after all your efforts at the weekend and work today. Hope your mother is still as well as can be. It must be so hard for you noy being able to get a response from her bess her. 

I have just finished picking which items I want to take with me for Sat and Sun  show. It is only a two day event not three as I had been told. Have now completed a model of a V2 racket and all the penquins now have heads ha ha. Have another meeting of our woodclub tonight so will take the windmill and rocket along to show members. Have ordered parts (Motor, pulleys and blades) to make a model of a tall 3 bladed wind turbine which like the windmill will hopefully have turning blades when completed. Have also started work on another watermill. I just have to turn the parts for the wheel. I use lollpop sticks for the blades as they are just the right siize. Then assemble all the parts and wire it so so the wheel turns round, hopefully. I found my mistakes on the first one and know I can do better this time around. (I wired the motor up the wrong way and the wheel kept falling off ha ha)

My son has found out in the last few days he has been chosen to shoot longbow for Sussex on Saturday. He has wanted to get in the team for ages and has beaten most of the people who shoot longbow for Sussex. So we are very proud of him and know he will do well.

Hope your daughter is recovering well from her op but I bet your grandchildren look forward to your visit. Sending best wishes to you and you family, Brian

Hi Brian,

Mum about the same thanks and district nurse seemed happy with her (she popped in whils tI was visiting on Tuesday).

Very pleased to have my two work shifts over and done with.  We are changing the department around in readiness of a new area being created so lots of moving shelves/books/sections as well as usual service being provided.

Hope the weekend's show goes well and sounds as though you have some lovely things to put out again as well as plans afoot for new items.

Congratulations to your son being chosen to play for Sussex and look forward to hearing how it all went. Shame you cannot be in two places at the same time so you could cheer him on!

Just ordered the cab to take me to my son and daughter in law's tomorrow as need to be there before 8.30 and there is no bus service that covers their address..grr.  The grandchildren are happy enough to have someone to play with and little Ethan (a year next month) is finding his feet so will be walking soon. For now he crawls at speed and finds it hilarious when I am on all fours chasing him!!

Take care and regards to you, Mrs B and the family.Have a successful weekend.  

Jules 

Good morning Jules,

Hope you have had a good weekend. Bet your grandchildren have loved having you there  with them.

Our show went off very well especially on the Saturday. Lots of nice comments and both of us sold well. Unfortunately on the Sunday it rained hard all morning, The pergola we were in wasnt very waterprrof and today I have to go through my stock checking for the odd bit of water damage. The afternoon turned out sunny and sales picked up and almost caught up with Saturdays. The orgarnisers must have worked hard for they had the morris dancersa, a steel band, Parachuting teddy bears from the church roof and an orchestra plus a dog show.  We had a further surprise in the afternoon. We all heard some low flying aircraft coming and much to everyones delight we saw the Red Arrows fly over in a V formation.They must have been performing somewhere but everyone let out a cheer when they saw who it was. 

My friends was carving a Mahonia root and is going to make it into an octopus. I unloaded it from his car and stood it on its branches and he has changed his mind about how to display it because of it. where as he was going to lay it horizontally, he is now going to turn a round wooden base and have a star sheel cavered on it. He now wants to create the carving as if the octopus is fwimming up from the seafloor. The wod is a bright orange colour.

My son did very well and came fourth overall in the archery but he did come second in the 100 yards long bow event. He hadnt been able to practice at all during the week because of the weather so he was very pleased. Mrs B and I are very proud of him.

At the moment we are on the edge of the countryside but shortly they are going to start work on building 3500 to 4500 houses to the north of us. We are not very hapyy about it but cant do anyting about it. 

Hope the worst of the moving arround is finished and you dont have more disruption ormheavy lifting at work this week. You are lucky to have chosen  a good care home for your mother.

Sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian

Hi Brian,

Thank you; I certainly enjoyed spending time with the youngsters and got to go out to 'soft play' centre with the family too.  Roast dinner completed my visit before my son ran me home.  My daughter in law has now recovered sufficiently to be able to lift the baby and so today I was able to stay at home in the sunshine and sort the garden out before the next deluge is forecast!!

Sounds as though your weekend went well despite some 'leaks' and hope not too many of your exhibits were damaged.  It also must have been great to have so much going on with the added pleasure of the Red Arrows overhead.  I will be seeing them at the RIAT Tattoo in a few weeks before they depart for the US.  

Congratulations for your son's archery success and not surprised that you are both super proud. Quite an achievement.

I go away this weekend so will be off-site for a bit but will catch up on my return all being well.

Hope you and Mrs B have a peaceful week. Jules

Good morning Jules.

 I wrote a reply yesterday only to lose it all. so will try again today

My car is in for its MOT today so have my fingers crossed. Have glued up timber to make 16 more penquins and have enought timber cut to make loads more as they are a popular line for me. I have also completed making the buildings and roofs for two watermills. The roofs are triangular shape and have been heavily wire brushed and then stained to make it look like a thatched roof. Peopl often ask hoe I do this as it does look quite nice. I only now have to make the water wheels and  I use lollipop sticks to make the paddles.Then its a question of housing out for the battery pack and the switch plus turning the round window frames. I learnt from my mistake last time I made the first one.I also have a hot air baloon under way as well. My next exhibition is not until the end of next month so have plenty of time to complete all these.

Luckily only three of my items needed an extra coat of finnish, so not to bad at all luckily. I have just bought 10 battery packs from China for £2.31 inc free posatge. To get the same thing in this country I had to pay more than that price each. I dont know how they do it. 

Looks like you should have good weather for your weekend away. Hope work has been easier this week and not too much heavy lifting to do. People dont realize books are surprisingly heavy. Pleased your daughter is recovering welland hope she soon makes a full recovery.  

.Sending kind thoughts to you and your family and hipe you really enjoy your weekend, Brian

Hi Brian,

Such a nuisance when you lose a post!  You have been very busy with all your wood projects and can understand the penquins being a good selling item as they are very endearing.  It must be very rewarding seeing your hard work sell well apart from how much pleasure you get from making them in the first place.  Certainly the Chinese imports are worth waiting for at such low prices.  No doubt their profits come from the quantities  they sell.  Hubby worked out there for his employer on several occasions and said how disciplined the workforce was.

I am actually away for longer than just the weekend as this is my main Summer holiday.  Will be in Italy and so far the weather looks okay with just the possible chance of a small shower. I am certainly looking forward to a break from the usual routine and a chance to see some of the country I have not been to since I was a child.  A little jittery but hopefully will be another tick in the box (a few nerves in that this is the first package deal in many a year and just hoping the tour rep is at the airport arrivals to meet and greet!!)

Hope you and Mrs B have a lovely weekend as the weather looks set fair and a pleasant week ahead.  I am going to try and enjoy the garden before I set off tomorrow.  Take care.  Jules

Hi Jules.

Hope you have a lovely holiday and that the weather is kind to you. It will be nice to see what changes if any have taken place. Dont think they allow as much development as we do over here. My Canadian father was sent to Italy during the war but I have no idea what parts he went to as he never wanted to talk about the war or his experiances which I fully understood. Can not have been nice. 

My poor car failed its MOT and is going to cost a lot to put right. But it has been a very reliable motor so cant really complain. Have just worked out a way to put the eyes in my penquins and birds without getting super glue all over my fingers, hopefully. They eyes are just about the same size as the inside of drinks straws so can put one of them just inside and then put them into the hole in the penquins head which I have filled with super glue. I have a very fine wood dowel which also fits inside the straw so will use this to hold the eye while I take the straw away..Have tried using gloves in the past but they dont work. Has got very hot in my garage so have packed up for a while I have a low slung asbestos type roof and if there is no breeze blowing gets like an oven very quickly but also acts like a freezer in winter ha ha.

Have come up with ideas for two more stories. One is about a guy whose marridge has broken up and he is a keen enviromentalist

He hears about how India planted 50.3 million trees in one day by getting the public involved. When he hears about all the school pupils walking out over climate change issues he decides there must be a way to use their concerns and startes a huge campain. He gets them all to collect hardwood tree seeds and to plant them up at their respective schools in plastic bottles which have had the tops cut off so saving the cost of seed beds and re-uses plastic bottles He goes round schools, colleges and universities giving talks and gets a lot of backing as everyone can see how enthusiastic he is.

Had had to help Mrs B dead head her roses this morning. One of her bushes is more like a small tree its grown so tall. It is a mass of blooms but as I found out to my cost also has very sharp thorns.

Take care and hope you have a great time, Brian

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Hi Jules,

Hope you have had a great holiday and have not been roasted. Looks pretty hot in that part of the world at the moment. 

I finially got my car back yesterday and to my great surprise, found it had cost me £80 less than they had quoted which is why I use the garage as they have always been honest with me. That was a nice surprise and very welcome I can tell you. It has seemed strange not having to put my tools away in my garage every night to get my car in ha ha. Hadnt been shopping all week so had to take Mrs B out yesterday afternoon as soon as I got my wheels back as the cupboards were getting empty ha ha. Mrs B always like to keep her cupboards full and in all the years we have been married have never known her to run short of anything. She is a good house keeper. 

I now have two working watermills and am very pleased with them. The wiring was so much easier this time as I pre wired the motor and the switch. That little mini soldering iron works a treat.Very pleased I bought it.  Will post a picture once I have had time to take some.

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