Diary > Tuesday 15th June

[Roobarb]

Viktoria, I agree with MH, I think you should tell the builder you don't want him to do the job, he doesn't seem to know what he's doing at all. How on earth does he price usual jobs if he doesn't know how to measure up properly?

MH, the comment about the car was in response to Mark's post. As for the blood red nail varnish, perhaps I'll have to wear some for next time. 

[Viktoria]

Thanks, you say what I know I need to hear.
The fact thst this is sold in small tubs tells you it is fir relatively small  areas.
Just spoken with Evostik ,who make it and yes linear metres .
It will do 11 .4 linear m to one kg .—
————57m linear m to 5.5 kg.
Batches may be different in shade and he has no transport as yet ,so could be waiting for more supply.
Meanwhile the scaffolding would be partly on next door’s patio in the way for getting to their shed .
He has been very ill but made a good recovery and I thought as he lives nearby would do a good job as his neighbour’s will see his work.
But no,I must say I have changed my mind ,I have good reasons beyong my nibbling doubts about him re calculating the coverage.
Besides,I have little time for  anyone who has not heard of the marvellous
Accrington bricks ,so hard it was thought to put the word IRON on them would advertise their strength.
But some pillock did it the wrong way round so now they all have NORI on them.
So he is not alone !
Cheerio.Viktoria.

[Viktoria]

Update ,have said I am not proceeding.
I need to find the right pointing mortar for these bricks ,technical details about the mastic if it really is OK.
Need son to drive  me so when he has the all clear after the angiogram ( I hope) I can get to places like builders merchants ,but Wickes were rubbish, had to go to manufacturers re linear or square metres.!

Mild day with some slight drizzle this sftrrnoon.
 Call from Drs, re XRay,nothing broken but a badly stretched ligament.
Not sure if that shows on XRay or going off symptoms.
Like it let’s me down from time to time and I have to side step to my left or fall.
But it is slowly getting better and a course of anti inflammatory tablets will help.He was surprised I took no painkillers at all.
A full review if medication , blood tests for sugar levels,kidney function and Thyroxine levels.So a result!
I told him l  love living in agony  ,but I don’t generally have great pain.
Hope you are all OK , has a chat over the fence with a young Mum, she as was I ,amazed at the football crowds yet the baby’s Christening was to be a bring your own pic nic after Church ,but not allowed.

Well must get on doing nothing ,well I did the bathroom thoroughly this morning.
Cheerio. Look after yourselves.
Viktoria.
My daughter has a very high pain threshold .
Oh folks very little achieved today but what the heck!

[Roobarb]

Glad to hear you've binned the builder Viktoria and that your doctor is sorting things out for you, good to hear nothing is broken.

[Viktoria]

Thankyou so much ,I am stiff today but all the kneeling yesterday clearing the border is accountable for that.
I feel very relieved nothing serious.
Have written to manufacturers of the mastic and asked for a written answer but an email will do ,I can then show the brickie exactly why I would not proceed ,It is awkward as he lives nearby.
It was his suggestion not mine to use the mastic.

I love hearing about your gardens and walks ,cocktails! Mmmmm
Families abroad and at home and your artwork.
Thsnks,it is almost like secret listening in ,covert nosiness!BUT all above board and OK.
Cheerio.
Viktoria.

[Mowsehowse]

VIKTORIA: A good thing to re-think!
There is a company my sons worked for years ago, called "Gun-Point" all about re pointing work.
Don't know if they might be worth investigating?  >  gunpointlimited.co.uk <
If the Nori bricks are a particularly local thing, the local contractors really ought to know how to work with them.
(I missed that you had a fall... good to know nothing desperate happened. My little grandson fractured his elbow... haven't found out how he did it so far. Hoping to catch them over the w/e.)

ROOBARB: ....As for the blood red nail varnish, perhaps you'll have to wear some for next time.... 
If you CAN do it, never go out without it!! 
On the rare occasions I paint my toenails I get a surprise every time I notice them... feel glam even in the shower.    It is a shame I was SO conditioned that, even now, (more than half a century later,) I still can't wear red!! 

[Viktoria]

Thanks, I was on stepladders , in a built in box room lined with shelves,a good
tidy, thinking I was on the bottom rung ,I just stepped off, but must at least been two high ,don’t think it was three.
So bang! Down on my left leg very hard ,pain shot into my hip joint but I walked - well hobbled away from it and sat down
I suppose I ought to have dialled A&E but could walk etc.
The XRay showed trauma consistent  with an upward force, but  that  was not until weeks later 10 the June. Accident 21st April .
No matter really ,it is improving slowly,and my new mattress is great .
I don’t seem to wake up in the night and back ache much improved .
Thanks for the info ,it could be very useful ,I really feel old when a fifty year old does not know about Accrington Nori bricks and black soot mortar.!
I mean, they are everyday topics of conversation in my house ,that is of course because I talk to myself.
Whilst I still get sensible answers I see no reason to give it up!
Red nail varnish ,I used to like the clear but pink tinted “ Natural “ , but with hands now like monkey’s feet, I do not draw attention to them.
To think my OH instructed the photographer at our wedding to photograph my hands !
He did a close up as I signed  the  register.
Never mind , look after your hands girls ,nail varnish away as much as you like,it really is the finishing touch isn’t it .
Cheerio.Viktoria.

[Mowsehowse]

Doh, l wish l could do joined up thinking Viktoria!! 
I remember the ladder incident, and of course general concerns over your pain and impaired mobility.
So now it has been decided that has been the aftermath of the ladder incident? .... Which is hopefully improving and not a symptom of anything worse.
That sounds like good news, if l have it correct, and l hope l do.

[Viktoria]

Yes Thankyou, much improved .
A cool day really and had a good laugh with someone who emailed an answer to my request for full and proper information re the stuff the builder wanted to use .
It is completely the wrong stuff.
He laughed at the linear/ square metres fiasco.
So now there  is a new measurement :- square linear metres .
Just like those  curly  bald headed wigs the Goon Show  had!
Also got immense help from a supplier of 3.5 Hydraulic lime mortar mix .
(I sound as though I know what I am talking about!)
Feel better about it all, I feel sorry I let the builder sweep along so quickly ,a sure sign I am not on top form.
Enough of that.
Spoke with number two son this afternoon , never know when to call,international  time zones mean working hours are odd.

Number one son is buying a Polo shirt with B/day money,navy with a silver Spitfire embroidered on the pocket.
His wife organised a flight in a Spitfire for his 60th B/ day but had to wait almost a year as fully booked ,He is now 64.
The shirt money is from me this year.

Did a double butter bean casserole for tea, will freeze half .
Cheese scone  /cobbler topping.

Got a gardening catalogue today, some lovely things in it and some bargains
too.
I love Michaelmas Daisies, the blue ones .
Will also get two roses ,standards to show above the lower evergreen plants .
Well I need a cuppa.
Just to say how much I look forward to the diary contributions ,doesn’t matter what they say ,they are welcome ,of course there  have been some sad ones  but how honoured I feel that  they  have  been shared so I can contribute my
little help .
I may go to bed early,into town tomorrow ( Ramsbottom ) and may not  stand  the excitement if up late so have jiggled my drops to have the last at
ten.Consequently have done not very much all day except sort out lime mortar etc 
Hence plans for garden centre went up or down the spout .
Cheerio folks, look after yourselves especially those working
.Viktoria.