How's your day?

[mary1947 2,099]

Well it cant get any better than this !!

 

My yougest grandson Jenson and partner Hanna ask us, that instead of taken us out for a meal, was it OK to bring all things needed and cook dinner for us. Yes of course .

Well 10 mins later they were at the front door  Chicken with all the trimmings was on the menu, first things first I was orded out of the Kitchen. 

It was all go in the kitchen but I was very good and left the chef and 2nd chef to it.

It was an excellent meal and afterwards they stayed for about 2 hours and we all just talked. 

What made the day was not having to lift a finger but most of all was the Company young generation with matur (OLD_UNs) Generation.  Oh!!! lets not for get the meal.

[nonnaB 4,909]

In our village at the moment are a lot of things going off. Yesterday was a presentation of Caritas and immigration. I hadn’t any knowledge really of exactly how many immigrants we had in the village, I thought there was only a big handful , I was in for a surprise. A few weeks ago my husband was approached by one of the organizers and asked him if he would recount his experience of being an immigrant. Not from UK but from Sicily when he was a young person starting out in the world. He recalled when he was the eldest of 7 children and his father had no job. He started work at 11 yrs of age and because he refused to kiss the hand of the Mafiosa boss ( as was the custom) he got sent away and had to find his own way back home . He walked all the way home in the scorching heat and travelled a full day.Years later he came to Piemonte and was refused permission to enter any public place because he was a Meridione ( from the south) he couldn’t find accommodations but eventually a “ guardian angel “ came along and took him under his wing. He told them of many other things that happened to him in the years leading up to when we got married. When he stepped down from the stage the presenters were in tears. He had made the locals appreciate how hard it was for Sicilians to find work and accommodation here in those years.  Besides my husband was a lady from Macedonia whose husband left her alone with her children while he came to find work here. She was on her own for 3 yrs before he joined her . She spoke no Italian and had no friends but now after 26 yrs she’s part of the village community. A similar thing was a young man from Senagal who came over as a boat person and is now married to an Italian girl. In the hall where this assembly was had photographs of many many persons who all have had a dramatic life in their youth but are happy and content now. Some of the stories were so sad. On the road leading to the hall the school children had drawn their interpretation of their lives and journey to Italy. It made me cry because these children as young as they are have understood what life was like for them. 
on a happier note afterwards the 3 people that had contributed to the telling of their stories had suggested a dish from each of their countries and offered a meal for all the  people who attended. There were little tartlets of roasted peppers and aubergines from Macedonia, couscous from Senegal and Penne alle norma from Sicily. Caritas had brought samples of their beer that they had perfected using left over bread. ( not scraps I hasten to add) I must say it was different still with the beer taste but it was very good. A lovely day made into a thoughtful event.

On a different tack this morning all the 80 yr olds were presented with a certificate , rosette and a lovely little momento of the event. A sort of medallion in glass . A beautiful momento of being 80 . This is the first year they have given a momento like this. ( I didn’t get one last year … boo boo)

Sorry it’s long but you don’t have to read it. Just thought it was nice to show you that village life isn’t dull. 
We have wine festivals. music nights every Friday in the streets.  Many more too. It would be nice to see a meet during the wine festival. 

[MargieH 7,617]

Nonna, very touching and fascinating stories.  Thank you for sharing this x

[katyjay 5,091]

What a lovely post, Brenda.

[nonnaB 4,909]

Thankyou I found the day sad but at the same time rewarding to hear and see what the immigrants life has become. Some from sleeping on the ground to being put into a house with a front door and the face of this man peeping round afraid of what he might have seen. A blind boy travelled on his own and found happiness , he was only 13. 

[mary1947 2,099]

Thanks for sharing nonnB  you never forget moments like this, I agree with what MargieH and Katyjay  say

[DJ360 6,743]

Bit of a catch up post..

Last Weds I had another Cardiac Rehab session in the morning.. 

In the evening we went to the Lowry Theatre complex at Salford Quays to see our 8 year old Granddaughter Grace playing cornet in her school band..along with about a million other Salford school kids. It was moving and hilarious in equal measure.

If you are around Manchester/Salford the Quays are worth a visit. The Lowry, a shopping centre,  Media City with BBC and ITV studios.. Even the 'Coronation Street Experience'....if you must...

 

Thursday I spent figuring out how to build a posh 5 shelf rack for my hi-fi kit. Once all the kit is transfered over, that is my system complete.

Friday, we had visitors. Neighbours who emigrated to Oz 27 years ago. It was good to see them.

Lazy day yesterday.

This morning our new window cleaner, who hasn't been seen for several weeks, turned up about 8:00 a.m. ...on a Sunday!! He had a couple of 'mates' with him to help out..mostly by shouting a lot it seems..and banging gates..because he's apparently on holiday tomorrow.

The whole street was dumbfounded and I think he may lose our patronage. No shortage of competition..

[trogg 2,032]

Today we drove down to the centre of Birmingham , never again, to see my eldest son and grandchildren near to where they live. The aim of the day was to see the canals especially Gas Street Basin, I have long had an interest in how they and the Railways were built, what a glorious area , Nottingham has a lot to learn, after a walk along the canal to the Basin and back the ladies left us for tea, it was cold and windy. My 2 sons, grandson and myself hired an electric boat to see the Canals the other direction, what an experience, a great visual experience and amazed on how grandson a 19 year old uni  student became the captain of the boat and tried to do wheelies and donuts in the boat , it was even colder and windier on the Canal., Laughing and joking off the boat and met the ladies and off for  a meal and to get warm, next time we will have to go in Summer.  Made my youngest son drive us back, kept my promise never to drive in Birmingham again and people complain about Nottingham traffic. I am tired and weary but a great day out.

[DJ360 6,743]

14 degrees forecast maximum and  persisting down..

 

Nothing for it but to finally tackle the job of changing the springs on my Michell Orbe record player.

It's a slow careful process, but not exactly difficult. I'll be giving the bearing an oil change at the same time.

 

So that's my day today.

 

For anyone interested. The Michell 'Orbe' is a development of the Michell Gyrodec. The Gyro has cylindrical gold weights under the platter which add mass and look amazing, but I find them very distracting..even migraine inducing when spinning.

 

 

 

 

So, I got the 'Orbe', which sounds better anyway....

 

 

 

 

The Gyro and Orbe both feature several major innovations in turntable design.. It's all here.

 

 

Quote

 

SPECIFICATIONS

Low contact area feet.

The solid aluminium feet of the turntable are shaped so the area in contact with the supporting surface is very small, this is done to minimise the transfer of vibrations from the supporting furniture into the turntable.

 

Three point spring suspension system.

Three suspension towers are fixed to the secondary acrylic base to hold the suspension springs in place and provide height adjustment for the sub chassis.

 

Weighted pendulum style sub chassis.

Hanging on the three suspension springs, this provides a rigid dense platform to mount the main bearing, platter and tonearm assembly, ensuring there is no movement between them, while also acting as a ‘resonance / vibration sink’ drawing away unwanted vibrations from the sensitive elements of the turntable.

 

Inverted oil circulating main bearing.

Contrary to traditional designs, our main bearing has the point of rotation at the top of the assembly, not at the bottom. This orientation allows us to fully lubricate the inside of the entire bearing while the platter is turning. We achieve this by way of a modified Archimedean screw that we machine into the inside bore of the bearing. The oil is drawn from a reservoir at the base of the main bearing up to the thrust ball at the top, fully lubricating as it goes, it then returns to the reservoir via a waste hole drilled into the bearing spindle. Lubricating the precision parts of the main bearing in this way means that any potential for noise or vibration created by the rotation of the platter is avoided.

 

Extra heavy Impedance-matched platter.

The platter material was chosen for its vibration dampening characteristics and because sonically it is a very similar material to vinyl, so it has a very neutral sound characteristic. The extra mass of the Orbe platter gives it great momentum when spinning aiding in speed stability.

 

Free standing motor unit.

The motor unit used to drive the turntable is completely separate to the turntable, meaning it doesn’t touch the turntable in anyway. The only connection between the motor and the turntable is the drive belt that drives the platter. This stops any noise or vibrations created when the motor is running, getting through to the sensitive parts of the turntable.

 

Orbe controller power supply.

The most sophisticated power supply we manufacture, the Orbe controller uses a large toroidal transformer, Never Connected™ circuitry and servo motor control technology to make sure the platter is always turning at the correct speed. All the time the platter is turning, the motor is reporting back what the RPM is, if this changes even slightly, the controller automatically adjusts its output to correct the change. The result is that the speed stability of an Orbe turntable is absolutely rock solid.

 

Orbe record clamp.

The Orbe clamp is a screw-down design, which allows you to exert more force on to the vinyl when clamping it to the platter, than our standard clamps allow. This further helps flatten warped and uneven vinyl and eliminate resonance in the vinyl disk.

 

[philmayfield 6,232]

Our trip to Lancashire yesterday was a nightmare. We left at 9.30am and the satnav told us that the M6 was closed further north. We were diverted up the A6 through Preston and a journey of what usually takes three hours turned into six due to the volume of traffic. Apparently a milk tanker had crashed through the central reservation and both lanes of the M6 were closed. It was still closed for our return journey so we navigated through the narrow, twisty lanes of the Forest of Bowland. It was very scenic and scary at times with sheer drops at the side of the lanes. We eventually picked up the M62 and after four and a half hours of driving in pouring rain we made it home for 10pm. 430 miles covered for what would normally be under 300. It convinced me never to buy an electric car!

[Jill Sparrow 10,381]

Didn't even get a milk shake, eh?

[philmayfield 6,232]

We got fish and chips, the worst we’ve ever had. The chips were undercooked and the batter was soggy. I don’t normally drink Scotch but I downed a big one and retired to bed absolutely drained!

[Jill Sparrow 10,381]

No wonder you rarely go out!

[philmayfield 6,232]

I’m going to the pub tonight!

[Beekay 5,229]

Ya shoulda borrowed Rog's new bike. Ya woulda bin there in half the time.

[philmayfield 6,232]

What! I doubt I could get my leg over. 

[plantfit 7,665]

I thought he was on about my bike Phil 

 

Rog

[trogg 2,032]

I cannot complain about my meal when I was out for the day yesterday Phil, I had a filet steak in a place called Bank over looking the canal . As a steak lover it was the best I can remember having and what made it even more delicious was my eldest son picked up the bill. I offered but he insisted and then the youngest son drove back whilst I slept in the car. I cannot wait till the grand kids insists he invites us down again.

[MRS B 549]

We had our trip out for lunch to the newly refurbished Tap and Run at Upper Broughton earlier. It was really well patronised to the extent that they were turning folks away if they hadn’t booked. The food was as good as ever. Not somewhere you would go every week price wise but not typical pub food either. Well recommended for some special occasion though.

[philmayfield 6,232]

I used to go to Upper Broughton to get a Jack Bailey’s excellent pork pie. The very best. Sadly the shop is closed.

[MRS B 549]

Lovely village Phil, very unspoilt still and the older houses nicely kept. Do you know if the shop on the main road in Long Clawson is till open? They might have some nice pies and of course cheese. 

[mary1947 2,099]

To-day just keeps getting better

 

HAVE JUST WON £150

  on my

          Premium Bonds 

[philmayfield 6,232]

I’ve not been to Long Clawson for ages. That’s where my least favourite Stilton comes from. I find it rather bitter. I much prefer Colston Bassett or Cropwell Bishop. I think we’ve had the Stilton debate before!

[MargieH 7,617]

@mary1947  congratulations on your win.    It’s like a reward for buying those 12 scratch cards!!

[LizzieM 9,528]

And I got £125 from NS&I this month too @mary1947 It’d be nice to get a big win but I get a prize virtually every month so I’m satisfied.