And on the seventh day.........

I knocked off early!

You know about all the wood and everything, well, I cut the wrong piece and now I haven't got enough to finish the framework!!!!!!! I could just SPIT! Today, being Sunday, the Christians don't work, so Mena the wood man won't be there until tomorrow. Today, I've been finishing off the corners and checking that all the spars are at the same height and angle (yes, it's going to,have a slight slope so that the rain runs off). I'm short of one long spar (3m 15cm) and one short one (1m 65cm), trouble is that I think nearly all of Mena's wood comes in at 3 metres, so he'll have to machine down a great big bit for me, "Ohhhh, the expense!"

This shows where the missing spars are to go, the long one runs from above the right hand A/C to the cross piece on the two pillars nearer the camera, and the short one is for about where the thin white stick is near to the left hand A/C. Never mind, it's gained my poor old aching body a rest for tonight.

I suppose that I should show you the pictures that 'A Certain Person' took, you would have thought that after 40 years she would by now know on which side her bread is buttered, apparently not! (Seems she is hoping for a job with that Jonathon Routh bloke on 'Candid Camera'.) Mind you, you'll note that along with my best white boxers, I'm sporting a very stylish 'Welcome to Luxor' baseball cap! I don't often resort to such proletariat headgear, but this was presented to me on behalf of our beloved Governor of five minutes; General Khaled Fouda, on the occasion of the 'Luxor Clean City' campaign. I knew it would come in useful at some point!

Freda snapped the first one just a moment before the jig-saw cut my thumb off at the knuckle!

Before I leave the roof for the time being, I've just got to show you the following picture!

I spied this from the top of my steps, over the roof of our little hovel, it's on next door's roof. I haven't seen anything like it before! A kiddies pedal powered Vespa, would you believe it?

And now for something completely different!

Anyway, I had promised to bore you with some holiday snaps from England, although I fail in all sorts of other ways, I do try to keep my promises. (When I was little, my Dad once promised to take me to the swimming baths, and he never did! I forgave him, but I haven't forgotten it.)

We travelled home with our good friend Christine (the owner of Tuttie Frutti in Luxor) who just happens to belong about 8 miles away from Windy Nook. Small world! We flew with Easy Jet, the flight was OK but when we were looking forward to our bacon baguette and cheese and ham toasty, we were frightfully disappointed to be told that there were only cheese salad sandwiches left! (Rabbit food, uuurghh.) However, after Freda had taken all the disgusting green stuff out, it was quite nice, really. We thought that it would be nice and cheap to hire a car between the three of us, and drive up home, big mistake! We were all tired and ratty, and it wasn't all that cheap after all, same on the way back down to Gatwick. It won't happen again!

When I saw this coming along our street, I thought it was a funeral, but then I noticed the white plumes and realised it must be a bridal carriage. I rushed to get the camera, and just managed to get this poor shot.

The building at the extreme left of the picture is our local Anglican Church, St Alban's, where the wedding was to be held. Queer place, Windy Nook, originally a pit and quarry village with various Methodist Chapels and the one Church. When I was a nipper, there were five families called Stephenson in the village, and none of them related! 

We were one of the posh families, with an INSIDE toilet, and a bath that wasn't galvanised tin and didn't hang on the back of the scullery door!

Took Mam and little Brother Richard to the Hancock Museum in Newcastle to see their Egyptian exhibition.

(It's now called the 'Great North Museum Hancock' or some such tripe!) But the exhibits were very good. Of course, you'll recognise the Rosetta Stone, which proved to be the 'missing link' as far as hieroglyphics were concerned. (It's not the real; one.)

I was quite taken by the 'Pylon', with the projected carvings, very original idea, I thought!

I have quite a few more pictures, along with some that our Richard took as well, but I think this posting is getting rather long, and there's still more to write!

While we were home, we were invited to Dear Sister's house to celebrate the 60th birthday of  Brother-in-law, Uncle Roy. His cake came all the way from Harrogate, where it was made by the artist mother of our eldest granddaughter Kezia. What do you think?

The masts and yards are made of wood, but everything else was edible! She's a marvel that girl (Emma).

We used our Benjamin's car quite a bit, but with petrol at this price..............

we didn't go as far as we would have liked!

Mam and I had a trip out to view the coastline one day. First at Marsden (very near to where Christine Tuttie lives) .....

and then  across the Coaly Tyne, and out to Whitley Bay, past the Spanish City (which used to be a huge funfair) and on to St Mary's Lighthouse.

We also went a bit farther north to Seaton Sluice, where a relation of hers used to live in a house right on the little harbour, but it's all gone now!

It was a very pleasant day out, we both enjoyed it.

Well, I'd better stop, I think. I've done enough rambling to warrant joining a rambling club!