Weekend Round Up

A few weeks ago Whiffler developed a liking for my spectacle case and made quite a good job of stripping off the outer cloth covering. A few days after that he had another go and the net result was a mangled pair of titanium armed, frameless spectacles … Little Sod!

Being of an age where glasses are necessary for anything happening up close and personal I felt somewhat exposed with only a single pair, so first task on Saturday was to head in to Redditch for an eye test. This activity took a good chunk of the morning as there was a side trip to the supermarket too. It was agreed* that ordering my new specs would be deferred for a couple of days until such time as a trip to Tesco was necessary as, apparently, Specsavers' frames are crap.

Back at home the first activity in the afternoon was a wander around the Three Miler with the dogs. Actually it was twenty minutes with my head in the February issue of Bike Magazine then a wander around the Three Miler but I'm trying not to let detail clutter the narrative. It will come as no surprise that the dogs were bloody disgusting after a walk around the lanes but fortunately TP and 30% were on hand to assist with washing them down.

Late in the afternoon I finally settled down with the Enfield and carefully assembled the steering stem, head bearings and casquette. When I say carefully I mean carefully as the bearings are loose and each of the 38 steel balls needed to be cleaned and greased before inserting in to the appropriate bearing race and then all of the components slipped in to place. It all went very well and I realised that I need to get my arse in to gear and get some spares ordered so I can fit the forks.

Sunday's first mission was a trip out to the local feed store followed by the second trip of the weekend in to Redditch. Tesco was our destination and I soon had an order made for a couple of pairs of replacement specs. There was an obligatory wander around the aisles to collect a few items and, after using the self-service till with 30%, I would like to suggest that they add a new phrase to the machine's vocabulary … Keep that woman away from me would definitely make progress much more straightforward. **

Back at home I had some time to kill before lunch so I headed out to the garage and lugged the bacon slicer in to the warmth of the kitchen. The cured loin was taken down from the meat hooks and an hour was spent converting it in to five and a half pounds of back rashers. This job took longer than expected and, with an interval for lunch, the bacon sandwiched lunch rather than the more normal reverse.

I then got out around the Three Miler for the second time this weekend and returned for a much needed session of dog washing. A fire was then lit and I must admit that I settled down to watch a film but actually ended up snoring on the sofa for an hour.

At some point in the day I refitted the steering lock to the Enfield and the latest lurch forward can be seen below.

I also got my spares ordered so next week may well see forks installed and the front wheel set between them.

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* I was informed by TP and 30%
** 30% and the Bagging Area are not a great combination