Christmas 2012.

Christmas belongs to Una she loves everything about it, she starts shopping in September and stops on Christmas eve. Now both lads have left home she's having a ball, almost all of the presents are household items with a few luxuries thrown in. It's amazing how many times when the wrapping comes  off the next thing you hear is "I was just running out of that"

First to turn up to the door is our Steven, he's as bad as is mother with Christmas he loves buying presents just to see the joy they bring.

Next round is our Stuart he loves Christmas really but pretends not to be bothered with all the fuss and palaver. Sometimes he will stay and have his dinner with us, sometimes he goes round to his mates or they come round to his house. Either way he knows he's welcome here choose what.

 All the presents laid out at or Stevens, our Stuart got exactly the same with the exception of slippers he does not wear slippers.

 Una and her boys.

Five bags of wrapping paper to recycle.

Christmas dinner, Una's younger brother always comes for dinner. Their mother died in 1977 just before Elvis and their father died in 1984 so Graham as come to dinner ever since.

 Boxing day dinner we've adopted another for that day Ian a divorcee another orphan. His mother died 5 years ago he goes to is sisters for Christmas day then comes to ours for boxing day.

I don't know how Una keeps a smile on her face she gets very little help. I only peel the potatoes and wash the pots and pans. She does everything else.

This year was the second time in forty two year that we've been the only ones in the house on Christmas eve. The first time was when we had no children and this year our Steven finally left home,
our Stuart left nineteen years ago he was always an independent kid.

2012. Another wet one.

To one and all Merry Christmas.

Focus ignition coil.

 There are only four screws holding the coil in place.

 I just wrapped a bit of insulation tape on three of the HT leads so not to mix them up when I put them back on the new unit. Detached the side lead removed the four screws and took the unit off.
I attached the side lead to the unit before mounting it, I thought it would easier to do loose, screwed the unit in place replaced the HT leads and started the car bril.

 The only tools needed> a screwdriver with a star bit and/or a magnetic screwdriver so not to lose the screw when extracting them.

After repairing the crankcase breather pipe there was still a dead spot on the acceleration. I don't know why but I thought it might be the coil that was going down (years ago when car engines had moving distributors and rota arms and points we prepared for winter by changing the spark plus and points) and the coil is about as close to this as I could imagine.

First I tried to take the old one off just to check if there were any snags. Apart from the screws holding the coil in place being over tight, it was an easy job. So of I went bought a new one and fitted it, the dead spot has gone!

Watch this space.

It seems we have a new lodger, actually this is our Stuarts cat that has come calling it must know there is a vacancy.

This is not my work but it's true.

EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES * Pasta had not been invented. * Curry was an unknown entity. * Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet * Spices came from the Middle East where we believed that they were used for embalming * Herbs were used to make rather dodgy medicine. * A takeaway was a mathematical problem. * A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower. * Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time. * The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage, anything else was regarded as being a bit suspicious. * All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not. * Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky. * Soft drinks were called pop. * Coke was something that we mixed with coal to make it last longer. * A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter. * Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner. * A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining. * A Pizza Hut was an Italian shed. * A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie. * Brown bread was something only poor people ate. * Oil was for lubricating your bike not for cooking, fat was for cooking * Bread and jam was a treat. * Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, not bags. * The tea cosy was the forerunner of all the energy saving devices that we hear so much about today. * Tea had only one colour, black. Green tea was not British. * Coffee was only drunk when we had no tea….. and then it was Camp, and came in a bottle. * Cubed sugar was regarded as posh. * Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them. * Sweets and confectionery were called toffees. * Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town. * Black puddings were mined in Bolton Lancashire. * Jellied eels were peculiar to Londoners. * Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist * Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake. * The starter was our main meal. * Soup was a main meal. * The menu consisted of what we were given, and was set in stone. * Only Heinz made beans, any others were impostors. * Leftovers went in the dog. * Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of. * Sauce was either brown or red. * Fish was only eaten on Fridays. * Fish didn't have fingers in those days. * Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi. * Ready meals only came from the fish and chip shop. * For the best taste fish and chips had to be eaten out of old newspapers. * Frozen food was called ice cream. * Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one. * Ice cream only came in one colour and one flavour. * None of us had ever heard of yoghurt. * Jelly and blancmange was only eaten at parties. * If we said that we were on a diet, we simply got less. * Healthy food consisted of anything edible. * Healthy food had to have the ability to stick to your ribs. * Calories were mentioned but they had nothing at all to do with food. * The only criteria concerning the food that we ate were ... did we like it and could we afford it. * People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy so and so’s. * Indian restaurants were only found in India . * A seven course meal had to last a week. * Brunch was not a meal. * Cheese only came in a hard lump. * If we had eaten bacon lettuce and tomato in the same sandwich we would have been certified * A bun was a small cake back then. * A tart was a fruit filled pastry, not a lady of horizontal pleasure. * The word" Barbie" was not associated with anything to do with food. * Eating outside was called a picnic. * Cooking outside was called camping. * Seaweed was not a recognised food. * Offal was only eaten when we could afford it. * Eggs only came fried or boiled. * Hot cross buns were only eaten at Easter time. * Pancakes were only eaten on Pancake Tuesday - in fact in those days it was compulsory. * "Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food. * Hot dogs were a type of sausage that only the Americans ate. * Cornflakes had arrived from America but it was obvious that they would never catch on. * The phrase "boil in the bag" would have been beyond our realms of comprehension. * The idea of "oven chips" would not have made any sense at all to us. * The world had not yet benefited from weird and wonderful things like Pot Noodles, Instant Mash and Pop Tarts. * We bought milk and cream at the same time in the same bottle. * Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold. * Lettuce and tomatoes in winter were just a rumour. * Most soft fruits were seasonal except perhaps at Christmas. * Prunes were medicinal. * Surprisingly muesli was readily available in those days, it was called cattle feed. * Turkeys were definitely seasonal. * Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one. * We didn't eat Croissants in those days because we couldn't pronounce them, we couldn't spell them and we didn't know what they were. * We thought that Baguettes were a serious problem the French needed to deal with. * Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour bread. * Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging treble for it they would have become a laughing stock. * Food hygiene was all about washing your hands before meals. * Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning." * The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties …. elbows.

Engine warning light.

The intake manifold with the breather hose removed.

 The same thing with the new hose fitted.

Showing the old hose to show what can't be seen when it is on.

The perished hose.

The new hose before fitting.

 One of the three nipples that the hose is attached to.

 There's another one there just about visible.

 New hose fitted two ends and a down pipe.

Monday, my engine warning light came on and stayed on so I booked the car in for a diagnostic check! Years ago we were all mechanics and could repair anything but now it's all computer management systems and diagnostics. First things first and the easiest thing to change was the lamba sensor after all if that had been faulty we would have been looking forever. Using the diagnostic machine the warning light was cancelled and off I tootled.

I was told the management system has to register a problem three times before the w/light stays on, it stayed on again yesterday. So today early doors I was back at the garage and after ten minutes or so checking hoses we found the crankcase breather hose had perished. A new one fitted and off I go hopefully this has cured the problem.

The crankcase breather hose is located behind the intake manifold and without a proper pair of pliers it would be a right job to remove and replace. With the right tools it was easy.

No more pets.

For want of a name we called her Gloria.

Another one of those days, she was semi feral where she came from we'll never know but she's lived in our back yard for eight years. She would not be petted and never came in the house but did come to the door when she wanted food, which was very often and regular.

Over the last five days she broke with her usual routine normally she turns up at 7am but lately it's been 10.30am. Then when we have put her food out she has not touched it. At first Una thought she must be getting fed somewhere else but today when she came I noticed she was wobbling on her back legs. I thought she's not up to the mark so an appointment was made at the vets.

He confirmed my thoughts, her heart had a wrong rhythm, her breathing was restricted, possible thyroid trouble and kidney trouble. To be sure what was wrong with her he would have had to take blood tests, the end result was inevitable and the kindest option was to put her to sleep.

Yesterday 12/12/12 I buried her two spades deep beneath the bird table in the garden close to the greenhouse the place she made her home.

1958/59.

Back in the Black & White days dad wanted a family photo so here it is.
At that time we all lived in a four roomed house > a kitchen 3x4, a living room5x5, two bedrooms above the same dimensions as the downstairs rooms. The toilet was across the yard and dam cold at this time of year. Mam and Dad had the little bedroom we all shared two beds in the big bedroom.

Two years after this photo was taken dad bought the house next door and the house we lived in and knocked them into one big house. He had one of the small bedrooms made into a bathroom and toilet.
We now had a three bedroom house with indoor toilet luxury living. The girls had their own room, mam and dad had theirs which left us five lads to share the two beds in the other.

It was not as cramped for space as it sounds because the three eldest of us all worked three shifts days, afternoons and nights. This meant we were rarely all at home at the same time together so sleeping arrangements fitted in OK.

Mam had it rough she was always cooking and washing and cleaning and keeping the peace she didn't have much of a life but she was happy.

Dad was a colliery overman and wanted all his sons to follow him into mining, which they did.
All but me there was no way I was going down the pit. I was always union minded and my dad being management wasn't, we used to argue like cat and dog at home, work with mi dad no way!

I got a job in the Steelworks, Our Richard left the pit and joined the army and our Walt got married.
That left us three lads and two beds, being the biggest of the three I had a bed to myself real luxury.
The family was getting smaller we were flying the nest never to return only on occasions.
When I was twenty five I married Una we had one bed our Robert and Joseph had the other.

Weird or what both our Bob and Joe worked down the pit our Joe was the same age as Una and there we were all sharing the same bedroom, it was like going back in time. Eight months later I bought my first house and left my mothers. I never had another meal at my mams and dads house after the day we left.

This was the way of things, I was now the head of my family the bread winner and decision maker I had made my bed and I had to lay in it. There was no going back!
It was the best move I have ever made Una and I have been as happy has Larry ever since.

Our Joseph got married at the same time that I left home, he got his house straight away and left home. This left our Robert all on his own in a big bedroom with the choice of two beds.

Our Sandra went off to University got married became a teacher and rarely came home again, she lived in Kent. I think I only saw her half a dozen times after that.

A few years later our Robert was about twenty three had his right leg amputated got courting and married. He doesn't live far from me.

Our Janet the last to leave home had a baby got married and lives not far from me.
   


 

A new start.

A new dawn a new start. I have had to subscribe to google to purchase storage space to upload photos to my blog. It turned out to be the easiest option. I did try opening other blogs and things but found what I had already got was the best. I'm not sure what it will cost me (not a lot), because I have to pay in US $'s compared to GB £'s it's a mystery once again it's a suck it and see situation.