grendel

it was a tad warm today when i went out so I opted for the flat route along the river, just 8.8 miles, called in the cycle shop on the way home and purchased some chain lube.

they seem to be readily available on ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284614084687?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjwvpCkBhB4EiwAujULMpWX9eb7GJlD64_SAngyBDf1YBz38O9jNFvrKrO8tOwyQ3zbrQEFnRoCCLEQAvD_BwE

really its just a case of realising that the flow there can be very fast, and as you say, getting their too early (going south) is the worst possible as you have outgoing tide and the river flow, I have found its better to be late as the incoming tide and river flow opposing mean the flow is a lot less.

well where to go today on my cycle ride, was decided by the postman, who delivered a letter for my daughter that I surmised had a new bank card in it, I contacted her and indeed that was what she was expecting, thus my mind was made up for me, a quick google gave me a route, which I instantly rejected, a because it has no cycling signs, and b, because last time I went that way the nettle monster got me, and now the nettles are twice the size, so an alternative main road route was planned (at least for that part of the route) I did stop a couple of times to get pictures en route, and I have added a few from my trip to Whitstable at the weekend, 16.5 miles total today, managed in just about 2 hours.

yes, all the patient has to do is sit there, its more dificult for the families to find something to do for the day, while the treatment is happening, unless they are able to sit and chat to you all day, but that wears after a while too., when we were taking my MIL to her treatments, we would drop her off then go for a day out- watching planes at heathrow or gatwick, or similar. MIL had a whale of a time chatting to the others during the treatment.

the tension is set by the spring and fishing line, the spring hooks over a hook at the back left of the part the bobbin sits on, the fishing line attached goes up and over the bobbin groove to a second hook,the wheel side, then round this to the wooden peg at the front, it should be tight enough that the bobbin just stops on its own, but as soon as you apply tension on the yarn it allows the bobbin to turn, this means when you relax your tension on the now spun yarn, , the tighter that tension, the bobbin stops and the flyer keeps turning, winding the yarn onto the bobbin, the tighter the tension the tighter your yarn will be spun. I used to attend events at the barn at one of our local railway museums, and helped teach seeral of the ladies there to spin (and how to set up a table loom.) it is one of those skills like patting your head while rubbing your tummy, which is why the foot pedalling needs to be automatic

I think its nice that I have national bike trails in every direction, and all of them within about 2-3 miles I can be in peaceful countryside, heading North I have the crab and winkle line route to whitstable, head north and slightly west I can be in the blean forest (ancient woodland) with some decent cycling trails, just off the crab and winkle route I can tour around some woods with nice wide trails. heading west along the stour valley towards Ashford, is a reasonably flat trail for the first 5 miles, then after a slightly hilly 5 mile section takes to the country roads along routes I grew up cycling from the other end. East takes me to herne bay and ramsgate way, I have yet to explore far in that direction, and finally if I head south I can head towards dover along some lovely bike trails and back roads, again through the beautiful kent countryside. I am really lucky that if I wish I can be on a woodland trail not more than a few hundred metres from my house, and that does boost the motivation a fair bit.

just logged on and reread the report, yes, my HDL was 0.93 and they would prefer it to be 1.03, my total cholesterol was 3.39, the LDL came in at 1.85 (smack in the centre of the green band) so my only sub optimal Cholesterol result was the slightly low HDL.

the biggest problem I have seen is getting the wheel turning and then keeping it going, learning this whilst also trying to spin is not easy so I always suggest practicing just keeping the wheel turning at first, once you can do that, then the spinning part is relatively easy. the worst wheels to keep spinning are the small diameter upright wheels as the wheel itself doesnt have a lot of momentum. I have 3 spinning wheels, an ashford wheel which is really nice, a small upright wheel (I converted back from a lamp stand and is tricky to keep spinning in the right direction) and by far the easiest to use, the motorised one I built from meccano (with 3d printed parts).

literally just checked my blood pressure, 127/73 isnt too bad I guess, and I know my cholesterol is good too (though I was told that the HDL (Bad) cholesterol was too low). not doing too bad for someone as overweight as I am.

well it will be 7 weeks that i have had the bike tomorrow, and today I clocked up a running total of 220 miles, thats an average of 31.4 miles per week, I dont think thats too bad really, my record day so far was over 23 miles. am I losing weight? well maybe a few pounds, but nothing spectacular

until you factor in the new piling and capping at £1600 per metre, thats just shy of £160,000 of toll payers money, even 13% isnt paying for that. its all swings and roundabouts, both sides put the argument that shows them in the best light, the end point is they didnt come to an agreement in the time available.

ah, now that depends, I can repair or make lathe dogs, or fire dogs, but the 4 legged hound variety is beyond my skills (I would leave that task to my Cats (though their idea of repair would probably start with ripping them to shreds first.))

what part of the dog needs repairing, and are you sure it can be done while sitting at home? I have a pretty reasonable knowledge of the construction and setting up of a 4 shaft table loom (that was my o level woodwork project)

surely the answer is to give each boat a mobile phone fitted with a tracker, and use the tracking app to see where they are?

I would agree with this, but the truth is that the new expanded ULEZ zone encloses all of the tube stations, so coming from outside London, you have to enter the zone to be able to proceed via public transport, and once you have driven into the zone and been charged, there is no longer an incentive to get the tube, I normally drive to hornchurch and get a tube in the rest of the way, but the new zone means that I will be charged to even get to hornchurch ( for the last 3 miles of the trip)

not sure how heavy the hunters yachts are, but they are fitting torquedos to those as an alternative to quanting, I have heard them referred to as the electric quant.

Building behind the staithe across the car park, right hand end as you approa h, go past the gents entrance and it's the door on the end of the building

I usually find the mobile signal there is tidal, non existent at low tide.

I once made a 2 foot model longboat for the very purpose of having someones ashes put aboard and then have it set sail alight into the sea. apparently the ceremony went very well. and do you know how difficult it is to keep arrows alight when you loose them, most blow out instantly, unless you have some special movie effects concoction keeping them alight.

well I hate to say this but I came home sunday and the weather changed

true as i sit here, I was on a wild mooring on the Ant, just up from How hill, wearing a red tee shirt, and this huge yellow butterfly came and landed on my shoulder, of course the camera was just out of reach, but it sat there for several minutes as I squinted at it trying to focus on my shoulder, then just flew away.

wear a red tee shirt and you may be fortunate enough to have a swallowtail land on you thinking you are a huge flower.

While I am at it, I suppose I had better do a before and after photo of Water Rail so top picture, before haul out, bottom pictures, the new stained and varnished look.

and now time for the well I got home and here are the photos from my camera moment