I had my eyes done over twenty years ago, coz of cataracts. Hated the procedure ( given the choice of cataract operation or watching Saints getting stuffed at home, I’d take 0-6 any time. 
). They sedated me for the second eye!
Sue had hers done about eight years ago. She followed my advice and let them give her the fuzzies.
Both of us are absolutely fine.
I need to rebuild/repair a wall. Been getting silly quotes. How did you approach it? Did you watch YouTube videos? You have done a great job.
When I retired from my job in the City I did a brick laying course. It is a skill and an art (one of Winston Churchill’s hobbies).
It makes you appreciate the skill and craftsmanship required. A weeks elementary bricklaying and a good sense of DIY would give you the skills for building a wall.
But if the wall is on show at the front of a garden then pay the going price whatever it is as the wall will be a showcase and something you are going to admire and be admired each day.
A few months ago I gave my cousin a brand new iPad .
She has dementia , it’s in its early days and the decline is perceptible but gentle, in fact I think she has had it for a few years.
Cutting a long story short, the machine was never set up properly and I have now had three fifty mile trips for something that needs now restoring to factory settings
Every time I tried that yesterday it locked me out for three hours , we will try today
Yarbles, no good deed goes unpunished
That’s very kind. I’ve had several jobs done by other people including an extension so I’ve just picked it up. It’s really not that great of a job but it is in keeping with the house so it will do. As long as you get your mortar mix right (3x builders sand, 1x cement and a squirt of washing up liquid) and you keep your gaps relatively even then there is not much that can go wrong. Tapping the bricks into place and keeping them level-ish is another consideration. Generally if the brick are old and not very square it’s easy enough to hide mistakes. If on the other hand they are uniform and you want it to look spot on it’s a job for the pro’s.
Agree 100%. I’ve done several jobs/repairs in and around my home and this is only possible because I live in a 140 year old cottage built with handmade Cheshire bricks so I can hide the my amateurish brick laying. Anything square or on show as a feature and it’s a job for the pro’s.
That’s very kind. I showed her your message and she really appreciates it. She seems perfectly fine at the moment although nobody knows what caused the pain. Hopefully an angiogram booked for next month will give an idea of whether there is a problem and, if so, exactly what it is. She’s taking precautionary blood thinners at the moment, but nobody wants to be on medication they don’t need.
The first house we bought, in sunny South Norwood, had a garden wall that leaned towards the house at a jaunty angle. One day we got home to find that someone had kicked it over. The bricks had all been laid upside down, with the indent on the bottom. No wonder it had no strength! Our neighbour Wally built us a lovely new one, with pillars at each end. No way was that one going anywhere.
And get an angle grinder or brick chisel to cut bricks to half-brick or size.
One guy on the bricklaying course asked don’t brickies cut them with a whack of the trowel. The tutor said yes and just see how many brickies have bandaged hands.
Here is what you do on a weeks bricklaying course - great fun and best money I have spent.
Getting the mortar mix (strength and colour match) and correct 10mm gap at the same level along a run is tricky stuff.
So Sorry, It was the Flos one, a bit of confusion, being them all almost side by side along Corso Monforte
The monthly walk of shame to the bottle bank. There’s always one wag(nker) who says ‘good party was it’.
We had a day with no appointments today so decided to potter around town. Lunch at our favourite pub, which is pretty much unchanged in the 32 years we’ve lived here, a walk around the millpond and then a visit to the veg shop - also pretty much unchanged in 32 years - for some flowers to take when we go to friends for dinner tonight. We can take these shops for granted but sadly most small towns no longer seem to have them.
The pub:
The veg shop:
As Eoin says good news on PSA and hope all goes well on eyes
You are so right to appreciate these things
That’s a lovely house, now rather strangely located among suburban housing.
Ordsall Hall in Salford (Greater Manchester) is in an insalubrious area and one wonders how it has survived. The area is better now I think as tower blocks have been demolished, it’s a while since I’ve been to the hall. It’s a lovely, and spooky, place 
High walls and fences kept the hooliganism to a minimum. There used to be a caretaker on site for security also. Thankfully it has survived and is still here.
From memory I think there’s only five such buildings of this kind in Lancashire left standing.
Had my Covid booster yesterday morning and woke up last night when I rolled onto that arm. Sore today but paracetamol working.
