Imprisonment - Day 71

Imprisonment - Day seventy one
Sunday May 31st 2020

Cars - 6
Motorbikes - 1
Bikes - 6
Dog walkers - 1
Walkers - 1
Runners - 0
Horses - 0
Horse walkers - 0
Molehills - 0
Cycling temperature - 10.9c

Lots a Bikes out again today and yes I did see Cross Over Man who seems to cycle one way turn round and cycle back from whence he came. Double Dog was also out on th prowl. This month I have cycled 427.20 miles against 373.98 miles last year. This months mileage is the maximum I can cycle in a 31 day month when keeping to my daily route. Year to date I've cycled 1,283.17 miles compared to 1,192.33 last year. I will be well ahead come the end of June as last year we were away for half the month.

I bought the Bentley up near to the garden furniture to start looking at sewing the upholstery but before I started I promised Ros that the next time I used the sewing machine I would make a leather case for her new phone. I'm afraid that this little job took most of the morning but was well worth it as Ros is very pleased with her new bespoke hand made leather case.

After lunch I got round to doing the Bentley and started making a new seal for the bottom of the windscreen. I've made one before which is basically two pieces of nylon rope covered in leather cloth which joins them together one rope on the outside of the screen and one on the inside. Having the previous one as a pattern made the job a lot easier. I then started to experiment with the half round brass bar working out how I can cover it with leather and attach it to the door trim. I cleaned off a piece of the old stuff and covered it in leather using Mitre Bond a super glue which has separate glue and a hardener. I put the glue on the strip of leather and the hardener on the brass then pushed and pulled it into position and ten seconds later the leather was stuck just where I wanted it. I'd already drill holes in the brass to accommodate the small stainless steel screws which will hold the brass and the upholstery to the door. I made the screw heads smaller by grinding them down on the grindstone as the hope is that I could put a small slit in the leather over the top of the countersunk hole then tighten up the screw which would sink below the leather allowing me to carefully glue the slit back together again to make the screw invisible. After half a dozen attempts I'd perfected the operation using a very sharp blade. I think it will work well.

I finished work early today as we were Skyping the boys and I was cooking our tea which at home is unheard of but when camping I cook all the time. So as we should have been camping I said to Ros I will cook Sunday tea and duly made one of my curries that we have whilst we're away. I got all the ingredients ready before we Skyped but just as we were about to Skype I was notified by eBay that there was a bed like ours for sale. I'd put a search on eBay last Monday as we said it would be nice to get one of our classic beds for Ashley's old bedroom. We really didn't think we'd get one so I bought it and as it's just 30 miles from Ashley's flat in London he said he'd pick it up for us. We then chatted on Skype to the boys with a glass of Prosecco accompanied by poppadoms some home made mint yoghurt dip and mango chutney. Ashley was in a National Trust Park somewhere in Kent having a fish and chip picnic with his new girlfriend who we caught glimpses of as they shoo'd away a deer trying to steal a chip. Hayden Astra Nevan and Ari as usual were all over the place. After our quick chat I cooked the curry and fortunately I'm glad I can say it was a success.

It appears that for a lot of people lockdown or imprisonment as I call it has finished. If this disease is as virulent or as bad as suggested I think a second wave is definitely on the cards so Ros and I are staying in and are going to continue to live as we've done for the last 71 days. This really isn't a hardship for us and we feel that it's best to stay safe and see how everyone else gets on.

Tomorrow it's lawn mowing strimming and fly mowing day.