Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Good Morning from Weardale. The weather - same as ever, cool and cloudy. It may rain, then again, it may get sunny. Most likely it will do both, the only speculation is as to which order it will happen. Folks here say that this past March was one of the warmest and driest anyone can remember. As a result plants are leafing out and flowering earlier, and the lambs seem bigger than this time last year. This anomalous weather, of course, doesn't seem to have held for our arrival. If it had, no doubt some local authority would have declared a state of emergency due to drought conditions!

Yesterday was shopping day. Everyone was dragging their tails a bit upon emerging from their first full night's sleep in the new time zone, so it took a few extra pots of coffee to motivate anyone into thinking about the responsibilities now before us. Finally it was agreed upon that the first order of business should be a strategic strike on the Safeway in Consett. This was motivated, no doubt, by the fact that aside from a couple half-eaten bags of peanuts left over from the drive up the day before, there was nothing to eat in the house. Low blood sugar can really mess with one's priorities. Fluorite?, Food?, Fluorite?, Food?...The food idea won out, so off we went.

Despite it being a holiday, the Safeway was open and teeming with shoppers. Lucky for us as the only alternative is a convenience store in Stanhope, which is okay if you need beer, a can or two of Spam or some white fluffy "balloon" bread. Not much in the way of real food, though. In some ways I think the intrusion of things like 24/7 supermarkets into the rustic English countryside is a real shame - makes the place seem too much like the relentlessly bland commercialism we call home in the U.S. On the other hand, it saved me from the specter of having a spam and wonderbread sandwich for dinner. Can't complain too much about that!

After loading the trolly to the point of overflowing, we decided we had enough provisions to get us started for the summer. Made a stop at the DIY next door to look for some plastic garbage bins where-upon Jonina discovered a nice pine table-like construct that she deemed "just perfect" for a fluorite-cleaning work table. Add to the equation that it only cost 20 Pounds, and home one came. Getting it into the rental car without squashing either Jonina or the groceries was a trick. Fortunately, it was not assembled and all packed nicely in a flat box. On the other hand, this meant that someone would have to take the role of construction engineer when we got back to the cottage.

On the way back into Weardale the topic of conversation turned to getting some lunch. Unfortunately, it was going on 3 pm and most pubs that serve lunch knock off around 2 or 2:30. Byron offers that this wouldn't be the first time he's drunk his lunch, so we make a short stop at the Grey Bull in Stanhope. The Grey Bull, along with the Golden Lion in St John's Chapel were Isabelle's two pubs in the Dale. It seems that she has decided to retire from the pub business and has recently sold both to the Jennings Brewery, located in the Lakes District to the west. Not totally a bad thing as Jennings makes some very good ales, but we'll certainly miss seeing her around. Isabelle's son Noel had been managing the Grey Bull and looks like he is staying on in that capacity so it seems we will still see most of the old familiar faces.

Back to the Mine House and after unloading our provisions Byron and Jonina dive into the furniture assembly business. The wood was unfinished so considering the table will be getting rather wet when in use, Jonina decided to give it a waterproofing before putting it together. It also seemed to be decided that I was going to cook dinner while all this occurred, so off I went to the kitchen while the two engineers did their thing. Today's photo is of one of the engineers in action.

After getting on a big pot of spaghetti sauce to simmer, Byron and I went down to Dave's house in St John's Chapel to pick up the mine lights and some hardhats. On the way back we (of course) had to stop in at the Golden Lion to see how things were. Unfortunately it seems that Jeffery has taken a real job somewhere and is no longer behind the bar, so we will no longer be treated (or subjected to?) his drool and sometimes pointed sense of humor, but otherwise the place seemed the same as ever. Rob was there, as was Kirsty, who's little one Oliver isn't quite so little any more and was busy trying to steal chips off Rob's daughter's plate and make noise on a decorative brass horn he had gotten his hands on.

Back to the cottage, I put dinner on as Byron and Jonina finished the construction of the table. We then retired to the atrium for dinner and to watch evening fall across the upper dale, at which time Dave Rennison drove up. I wondered how long it would take for him to find us, and the answer is "not long". Seems he and Alex have long been out of any fluorite acquired from us last summer and are anxious for more. Cash flow is a good thing.

Having a few good things to take with me to the upcoming Ste. Marie aux Mines show would also be a good thing, so with that in mine Byron and I are planning on going down to the mine today and begin the opening-up process. We also need to stop by Watson's garage to see about getting the company cars back. Jonina has her work space to organize here, but yesterday she mentioned possibly going to the mine with us today, so it may be an "all hands" party.

Stay tuned for more...

Cheers,

Jesse, Byron and Jonina

The systems engineer at work.

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