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Hi all, Thanks Phil - just to add a little more detail and context.. It's fair to say that so far we have noticed no significant change, but it is early days. And the caveat is that on a day to day basis we don't really see consistent orders coming in. They tend to come in surges when we open up the order book for a new product, or have an order deadline coming up. We'll get a stronger feel for whether this has had any appreciable impact on our supporters from the response to the Mk5 coaches in N, which have just opened for ordering, and the IPA car carriers in 00 which will be opening for orders soon. Naturally we have sympathy to anyone who may have lost money with the various DJM projects, but as far as Revolution goes we would point to a track record of transparency and delivery. Crowdfunding certainly *can* work, especially for niche projects, the important thing is how it's managed. cheers Ben A.

It won't and such sweeping statements are unfair on other parties who demonstrate an ethical and transparent approach. It could be considered a good thing that, to avoid comparisons, businesses who utilise the method will work harder to communicate with stakeholders about progress and mean more clarity. If they can't do that then, yes, some will suffer if they cannot adapt to the environment.

It's raining again, and the peonies have been battered to death. Smart meter to be fitted today, but I pity the poor person who has to work outside on it in this weather. Still, by this evening I should have yet another gadget which is smarter than me. At PN, A4s rule again. Silver Fox has backed onto the Glasgow. and then Mallard rolls through with the Talisman.

Morning all. A 'guest' monochrome image from Ivor Peterborough this morning. Rob.

Good morning and as GDB says its been very wet in the early hours. I looked out the window and the shed security light was on. I must have changed the settings from PIR to nighttime on. After the short walk to ' work' I have now altered the settings so hopefully it will be OK tonight.Talking of ' work' I may have more on Monday when the last batch of sound decoder installations are collected. Hopefully by then I will have more of the furniture set up once it arrives. All network cables are now in the trunking but need to put the speaker wires in a better location before the final trunking covers are fitted. This morning I will be off to a friends on the coast to help him set up his DCC system on his new EM gauge Scottish layout as a return favour for helping me start the shed walls. Its a large exhibition layout with superb Oban style looking buildings. Hes been working on it for many years in his larger sheds and is still a way off being ready for its first show but its going to be well worth seeing based on whats done so far.

It's time to announce our next wagon in 4mm scale; the iconic Redpath Dorman Long built PTA/JTA/JUA bogie iron-ore/stone tippler wagons. These characterful wagons were built in three batches by the British Steel subsidiary Redpath Dorman Long from 1972 for transporting iron ore to Consett, Llanwern, and Ravenscraig. The tough looking tipplers stood out further with attractive liveries and rode on distinctive BSC ‘Axle Motion’ bogies soon became a favourite of the enthusiast as they became synonymous with the heaviest trains on the British Rail network. The Port Talbot to Llanwern trains saw 27 British Steel PTA tippers triple headed by Class 37s, before the introduction of pairs of the then new Class 56 on 30 wagon trains. Following the closure of Consett in 1980, a batch of PTAs became temporarily redundant before being snapped up by Procor. These soon found work on Mendip stone trains, going both to Foster Yeoman and ARC. Their use was in block formations from quarries at Merehead, Whatley and Tytherington to depots in London and the home counties. Once again, the PTAs found fame as wagons in the heaviest regular freight trains in the UK, with 43 wagons being hauled by a pair of class-56 locomotives from Merehead to Acton for Foster Yeoman. The wagons would be painted in distinctive house liveries of Yeoman grey and ARC mustard, and see service behind the then new Class 59, as well as a wide range of BR locos, much like their British Steel counterparts which were enjoying electric traction haulage on the WCML with pairs of Class 86 and Class 87 locomotives. The PTAs continued to provide sterling service for British Steel across Britain as well as Yeoman, ARC and its successor Mendip Rail into the 2000s when age began to catch up on them. Wagon leasing company VTG took on rakes of JTA/JUAs in the mid-2000s and they were used on spoil trains as well as sand and sea dredged aggregates until withdrawal. These long lived and widely travelled wagons are the subject of the fifth new 4mm wagon model from us here at Accurascale. like all our previous wagon announcements, this pattern of PTA/JTA/JUA is a wagon never done in RTR format in 4mm scale before. CAD for the wagons is compete and is now in China with tooling underway. As with all Accurascale models, a high specification model laden with separately applied detail will be produced with the following specification: OO Gauge / 1:76.2 Scale Models NEM Standard Coupler Pockets in ‘kinematic’ Fittings NEM Narrow Tension Lock Couplers Provided on outer wagons, with knuckle couplers on inner wagons as per prototype Sprung Buffers BSC Axle Motion bogies Designed for easy conversion to EM and P4 gauges Etched metal factory fitted detailing Extra fine factory fitted detail plastic parts Extra fine factory fitted Pipework Individual lettering, logos and codes from real wagons for authenticity Flashing tail-light on one outer wagon per pack A whole host of liveries will be catered for in the first run, including British Steel, Yeoman, ARC and VTG. The wagons will be sold in ‘book’ sets of 5, with both outer and inner wagons. There will be additional book sets of 5 inner wagons in both Yeoman and ARC liveries to boost rakes to prototypical lengths. The price of each book set is £149.95, with a 10% discount if you buy both the outer and inner sets of the yeoman or ARC wagons. Delivery is expected in January 2020. You can place your order now by clicking here! Cheers! Fran

Ey up! Misty here so far this morning. Off to Castle Eden (once the location of Nnimmos Brewery and a little Railway Station) to watch the rain fall. Pah! Dave, I have a sharp scalpel or my Swiss Army knife at the ready to rid you of your toe lurgy I have to warn Sister and Nurse Drac to stay well away when they do the annual tickle test. I have very ticklish feet! Nearly launched Nurse Drac into next week first time she did the test. Just a thought though, John, could Sandy do a cushion with Collies on for Debs??? Have a great Day everyone! Baz

Good morning from a rather warm land. It certainly got warm enough yesterday for us to venture into the pool for an hour. After tea we went for a drink with the friends who had been for dinner on Sunday. A good evening was had and we did eventually roll home. Breakfast will be taken shortly then at 10.00 the dreaded dentistry starts. Three appointments over the next fortnight. Regards to all. Jamie

North of Newcastle today, with some photos taken from Heaton Depot on an arranged visit in January 1990 ago and a couple around Benton. An explanation of the lines at Benton Quarry Junction is included in the caption. For those who don't know the area a railway atlas might be useful. Heaton Depot 43038 up ex pass going away 20th Jan 90 C13952.jpg Heaton Depot 43197 Kings x to Edinburgh 20th Jan 90 C13941.jpg Heaton Depot Class 143 Newcastle to Morpeth 20th Jan 90 C13943.jpg Benton Quarry Junction 43070 up 15th Feb 88 C9322.jpg The line going off to the right is the Blyth and Tyne to South Newsham, North Blyth, Lynemouth and Morpeth. The HST is on the main line. The line to the left was the line to South Gosforth, Rowntrees factory, Callerton and originally Ponteland. The connection, which also gave the Tyne and Wear Metro a connection to (in those days) BR has since been removed. The line itself is now part of the Metro system, to Newcastle Airport. The next photo is a little further north and shows the Metro line from Tynemouth to South Gosforth going over the ECML, then through Newcastle and across the Tyne to Sunderland and South Shields. Benton Metro Tynemouth to Heworth crossing ECML May 83 J7957.jpg

Good morning all, Very dull and dismal and was raining heavily earlier but it has stopped. Should be a mainly dry day with some bright periods and the chance of an occasional shower. Didn't get around to posting yesterday. We were away for the day on Sunday and stayed overnight and had a very enjoyable time although I ate far too much. This morning I too have to go to the dentist but only for a check up. Not heard back from the doctor regarding last week's blood test and X-ray so will follow that up later. The Knee is much the same and causing a lot of discomfort. Hoping to get into the shed later for some more woodcutting. Have a good one, Bob.

Good morning one and all, with fingers crossed to Lightengine and his mum, Professor Oncologist does not give much away but yesterday he let slip that my hormone injections should have stopped working two years ago. As I am due to have another one on Friday, this is not the most reassuring of news. What is reassuring is that my PSA reading has more or less stabilised at 3 point something and if it does start to climb he has an armoury of weapons to unleash on me. He asked me how much walking I do. I was able to tell him that I will be on a 1.2 mile march in less than a fortnight and a 2 mile one the following week. Thank goodness for Pride! I am next summoned to the presence just before I go to Switzerland at Christmas. I chanced to meet two former workmates in the street yesterday. One had come to Bedford for a haircut. Takes all sorts, I suppose. The other told me that he is planning an 80th birthday party and that there is a threat of my receiving an invitation. That’s quite a good incentive to keep on keeping on. The buses were not having a good day, for one had expired at Tesco and had not been rescued by the time the one behind turned up. Those screens on bus shelters which tell you how long you have to wait for a bus are a bit hi-tech for Castle Road in Bedford. The absence of news of the next bus, and indeed the absence of the bus itself, is far from reassuring when you have a hospital appointment to reach on time. Best wishes to all Chris

Morning All, It is going to be another warm one today. The temperature is due to rise to around 33°C today, with up to 39°C tomorrow. Horrendous! At the moment, it is quite pleasant though - so all windows in the office are open. Have a good day everyone...

… and talking about buildings in the garden this is the latest building appearing in my garden sitting atop Big Mountain: Roof shingles currently being laid so still quite a bit to be done until its finished. Keith

Greetings all from a cloudy and close, but dry, LBG. I was having trouble rating people's posts yesterday but the problem seems to have gone now. A visit to the hygienist and dentist this morning was accomplished without any trauma - and so best wishes to Jamie who has now started treatment for his fangs - and Younger Lurker's sports day has been cancelled in case it rains, two weeks in a row. Mind you it rained so heavily first thing the field will no doubt be soaked and the fear of children Falling Over being what it is these days, they took no chances. Younger Lurker is generally having a tough time at school at the moment but little changes in routine seem to give him the space to recharge his coping; it's a shame that the school SENCO is against those little changes - seemingly because they're not her idea. I hope that Mrs Gwiwer has an upturn - and that Rick's medical reveals nothing untoward. And that all have a good day

It is warm and close here today, but no rain so far. Lawn has been cut, and while putting some of the cuttings into a compost bin, I discovered that it had been occupied by a nest of bees. They weren’t too impressed with me disturbing them, so I quickly left them alone! Most of the rest of the morning has been spent tackling the weeds that have invaded over the last 3 weeks. More of the same this afternoon I suspect.

Hi everyone Here’s a quick update on the Class 55 Deltic to keep you all up to speed on progress on Accurascale’s first locomotive. Tooling of the locomotive is continuing but has taken longer than originally anticipated due to the sheer number of detail variations we are doing, which as you know, has not been attempted on the Deltic before! We also made several corrections to the CAD along the way as we want to get it 100% correct. We’re quite fussy like that! The aim was to have the models for the end November, in time for Warley, but we will miss this deadline by a couple of months. Updated timeline is as follows: EP Sample due early October Decorated Samples: Mid November (in time for Warley) Delivery: Late March 2020. (allowing for Chinese New Year break in early 2020) We apologise for the slight delay, but as we explained we want to do the definitive Deltic model, and it’s very important we deliver a first-class model that we can be proud of. It must be right, and it must cover the entire history of the class, from construction to modern preservation. We will of course keep you up to speed with development as it progresses further. Cheers! Fran

Hooray! Managed to secure a good price on a loco and coaches, which will be my first electric loco (even though I have no overheads!). Arriving tomorrow. The lucky lady doesn't know it's the same sort of loco we travelled on... although she didn't sleep very well on it so might be better not to tell her about it. But I was very good and saved up by selling a bunch of things on eBay and Facebook, so managed to save up £395 over a couple of months. Decided that was close enough so made up the difference. But then just today I sold something else for £50, so I've done it! Just got to wait for the 2nd decoder to arrive now

Thanks for all the sympathies, suggestions etc. about The Toe everyone. Baz, I may give you a ring so keep the knife handy. Oz, I do tend to agree that once the diagnosis of ingrowing nail was made that it would have probably been a good idea to do something about it there and then. I did have one way back in my teens and the GP did the minor procedure on the spot but these days it has to be referred to the area podiatrist team and, as I posted earlier, they have a long waiting list - up to 3 months. What I didn't state in my previous post is that as a result of my GP's intervention yesterday I now have a podiatrist appointment on July 30th but in the meantime the situation just has to be managed by the health centre. Should the infection get a lot worse and call for emergency treatment, that would be another matter. For now, though, the best I can hope for is that the latest round of antibiotics will sort out the infection and that it doesn't turn out I'm diabetic. Oh, and it's raining again. Cheers All. Have a good day. Dave

Mooring Awl Inner temple hare, On leaving work yesterday, water started falling from the welkin, more I think of the intense humidity, having had enough of try to stay up there rather than real rain. After 6.5 hours solid sleep plus another hour on the sofa, I was eating breakfast when it started raining properly, Ben the terrified Collie bolted into his cage and hid, so there must have been some thunder somewhere, which I didn't hear. When Time for his patrol came, he did come out however, we went out into the rain, he charged around chasing the scent of the deer.. did what he had to do and ran back to the house leaving me 100 yards away in the rain.. It was steadily getting darker and wetter on the way in, street lights were coming on. The rain and humidity make a difference to the measurements I make, there will quite a few strange ones today. This is why we work using long term predicted values, from a series of measurements rather than instantanious measurements. Yesterday the partition men came in, the area the wall is being knocked down has a temporary partition 6ft out from the wall , steel framing and plastic. it butts end on to my room so I can see clearly into both areas. . It may seem strange using steel framing. But a couple of days ago I priced up building wooden shelving for the tin shed against steel shelving, steel shelving wins hands down on price. Time to stroll down the long tunnel formed by the partition and the rest of the lab to the sound of rain on the roof..

On a train to London and it’s not even 6am. Rain has started but I only have to see the outside world for the minute or so it takes to get from DLR South Quay into the office. I feel as miserable as the weather.

No trains were seen or heard at Rothley, probably because none were running. There is always something going on at PN, except when there isn't, and at 5.03pm the J11 starts away to Grimsby, and passes the D16 still waiting in the carriage siding. The D16 can't go anywhere yet, as the Glasgow takes priority, and duly arrives behind Duke of Rothesay, in normal New England condition.

There have been some very thought-provoking, honest and open posts here in the last day or two which touch on (or more than touch on) topics not often discussed. One of the best decisions I have ever made was not to marry. I was 28 when I broke things off and have never regretted it. I feel I would have ended up on a similarly difficult position to some others who have posted here recently. Perhaps if someone else had come along, things might have been different. Another very good decision I made was to get going on my layout project, which involved having a building constructed to kick things off. That was 23 years ago at a time when, without knowing it then, I was suffering from depression. The layout was built a couple of years or so later by Brian Kirby. It's been fully operational for 19 years now and still going strong. Life has its ups and downs and for me that included another period of depression in the mid-2000s, again without at the time having a clue what it was. The big thing I did then was to set up my Yahoo group on coaching stock, which has succeeded far beyond what I had imagined it could do. It's cost me a fortune in collecting carriage workings, though. I have come to understand a lot more about mental well-being in the last 9 years, much of which stemmed from a colleague having a breakdown. He called me into a room and said "I have been diagnosed with depression." That was the first time anyone had said anything like that to me. It took me about the next five years to really process the things that had happened to me and others in my family but now I understand it all much better. I also know the power of doing things, especially hobbies. If you used to enjoy something, try doing it again and it might help you out of a bad spot. A few years ago the late and much missed Roy Jackson gave a talk at Expo EM when he opened up about his mental struggles. The key thing that helped him to recover was to build 'Retford'! It's also important I think to have a few different angles on a hobby, or even two or more separate ones, so you can mix and match and not get too bogged down. It's also important not to let perfectionism become a curse. In my job, that can be a major issue too. Plus, have some downtime to just relax. I have taken to watching train videos on YouTube to help with that - much better than television. And, there is always someone to talk to, message or whatever. Mental ill health affects lots of people. You are not alone. In extremis, the Samaritans are there 24/7. Do not underestimate the power of talking and of listening to others without judging or mocking. You may not know how close to the edge they are.

Good morning everyone A bit late on parade this morning, I must have needed the rest. Thankfully Sheila had a good night's sleep, which she is still participating in at the moment. She mentioned earlier that the strapped up wrist is feeling much better today, so hopefully the worst is over. She's going to have some lovely bruises in the next couple of days. Off now to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, back later.

' Morning all from red dragon land. Misty misty morning, here. I received some pot plants a while back (three that were being thrown out from a certain diy store as they were doing poorly - lack of water by the look of it). With a bit of watering, they came back to life beautifully in no time, but a couple of days without rain and, hey, two of them look poorly again. I am thinking they are just a root ball and no compost. I shall soon see as yesterday, youngest kindly got me a couple of a larger pots and some water retaining gel so I can hopefully bring then back to life again with some of youngest's compost before planting out in the garden. I am holding back on this until the stonewaller has been and gone in a week or two's time. A bit of m*ddling also planned for later although, I get restless and impatient to finish thinkng it is summer and I should be outside / going somewhere nice... I know, any excuse... Have a settled day... Di Lema

Morning, blazing sunshine woke me over an hour ago so off to potter in the greenhouse for a bit and then into TOSH for some more laying of parallel bits of metal, have a good one all.

Lovely day for a walk along the old GWR trackbed from Princetown on Dartmoor. Walked along it many times but today the sun was right and was catching on what looked like an odd bit of rock to the side of the trackbed. Cant quite decide if it is or not......... firebox clinker.......what do you think?

That sounds good about Sheila's wrist. I was thinking that maybe she has a # scaphoid as they are quite common in the circumstances described and tend not to be as painful or movement limiting as a colles # is. Does she have tenderness at the base of her thumb and specifically in her anatomical snuff box. This is located at the junction between the long bone in the hand for the first finger and the base of the thumb- it is covered by triangular section of skin. This was always a very difficult # to identify on an x-ray initially and we would it treat as a # based on the history and examination. This could result in having a POP applied from below your elbow to the knuckles but also including the thumb which would be maintained in an outstretched position. This could also be achieved with a splint or a crepe bandage. Usual review would be bring back to # clinic in 2/52 and re-xray. It would generally take about 5-6/52 to heal. I would suggest that if Sheila is still experiencing pain or it is limiting her movements or use of her hand then it would be best to get it checked out. Dave H- I have always had ingrowing toenails which cause infection. Antibiotics are usually only part of the treatment and need to have cleared up the infection before any surgical intervention is attemped. This is to prevent any infection cross contaminating any surgery. It used to be usual to remove the whole nail but it tends to grow back in the same so tends not to be favoured anymore. The replacement is a wedge excision where only the small section of nail which is ingrowing is removed and then a chemical is applied to the area and nail bed to stop it growing back. This procedure is done normally as a minor op under local rather than a full blown theatre case. Some gp practices do offer such procedured so it is possible that yours might do. If they suspect that you are diabetic as they appear to do this might impact on where any procedure may be carried out.

I've spoken to the liquidators this morning to ask why no consumer creditors were shown. Firstly it should be noted that this Statement of Affairs is that put forward by the Director and CG's investigatory process remains to be completed. At this stage they would not know an accurate list of who, and to to what value, are consumer creditors until any payment card refunds have gone through. The message is to keep pressing card isssuers for refunds as, whatever happens, there's not going to be realisable refunds from the process - if you don't get a refund you could become listed as a consumer creditor but it won't get you anything back.

Only just realised what was on the news when I took that photo and you have my sympathies

Mawning from a wet north Herts where sleep was interrupted by persisting it downs. Muggerteas consumed and just off to take car in for service then back and somewhat tied to house as various non railway modelling packages may arrive and need to be signed for. That may also provide an excuse to watch and panic over the sky-blue pyjamas against the green&gold pyjamas - have a good day Bill! Best to all, see you later.

The testing of the toes is a standard thing for diabetics - the purpose being to establish if there has been any loss of feeling in the toe which would be an early indicator of a circulatory problem. Hence at our surgery we get an annual toe tickling as part of Sister Diabolical's check up process. G'night all

I think everyone, no matter what their skill-set, is in 'danger' of falling into the trap of wanting to do that extra bit to get it better. However, is it always a 'trap'? I long ago gave up trying to build my 'best-ever model'. Not because they couldn't be bettered; no not at all, but because of getting older and, naturally, the bodily 'tools' for modelling diminishing in their usefulness. But that doesn't mean to say I still don't 'try', even though my 'best-ever model' was built years ago. Yes, it can be frustrating, but I have no alternative. My faculties will not improve, and I still have loads of projects I need to complete, so I'll keep on going. That said, your wise words will be heeded. I'll frequently finish a model and think to myself 'there's something about that I'm not entirely happy with'. However, perhaps with greater acceptance, I'll now leave it. Lo and behold, by the time I've finished the next one or two, I'll have forgotten what bugged me about a previous one! Is this my best-ever loco I wonder? Built nearly 20 years ago (when I was still in my 50s) from a Tower kit in O Gauge. Ian Rathbone painted it to perfection, of course. Regards, Tony.

A view by Norman Lockhart of the visiting Beattie Well tank..

BBQ with daughter and SiL was disrupted by the nasty one, she has become really evil some one phone here this afternoon for IT and I told them we have spilt she doesn't live here anymore she went ballistic at me in front of the SiL he was shocked that she could be so nasty my daughter was in tears, I was bought up never to lie and I wont be starting to do it now just to pacify that #itch. I'm off for a beer sod HER.

Evenin' each. Dentist visited and all OK with no problems. Following that we "needed" to go to Sainsbury's to top up supplies. Both of those visits entailed walking and after that The Knee was exceedingly painful so b#ggerall else has been done today. I phoned the surgery this afternoon and no X-ray results yet but the cholesterol test has come back "satisfactory." I.A.M Pissedoff.

Afternoon all. Warm here. Low 30s, this is normal, the heatwave starts tomorrow. However we are going on a trip to Switzerland tomorrow which includes a train ride. The excursion departs well before breakfast but Aditi has negotiated a couple of breakfast boxes from hotel reception. Being the kind of person who needs to know I have found the place the coach collects us tomorrow. “Opposite the Q8 garage next to the traffic lights near the front of the hotel “. The bit that confused me was what was the front of the hotel but once I had determined that it was easy. Aditi has been swimming. I don’t like swimming and so haven’t been. Toes and feet. Aditi mentioned a foot problem to the diabetic nurse. She agreed that it should be seen to but to all intents and purposes there were no podiatry appointments locally. So she went to the chap who used to do her nails when first diagnosed with diabetes. Her nails were in poor condition then but since getting the diabetes treated and under control her nails are in good condition. He is the podiatrist for a Southend United but I don’t think he can be blamed for their performance! Not sure if a sports podiatrist would do ingrowing toe nails though. Has anyone suggested a bread poultice yet? Matthew was prescribed the modern chemical equivalent when he smashed his nail into his thumb. Tony

Can't we get away from talk of Boris anywhere?

As stated much earlier I believe this had had a big effect on the industry as a whole. Does anybody honestly think that Hattons can throw away nearly £20,000? Feel for them and everyone else who have lost money.

This has been an expensive day. Her indoors decided to "give" our sofas and chairs to youngest Herbert. We have ordered replacements for..how much !!!!????!!!!. Then to John Lewis to buy a new duvet and cover (extra Kingsize as she says I nick the duvet.(moi? Surely not!!) Finally off to look at a newer car. Deal done so we collect a 6 month old Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV on Friday. (Good trade in, Good price, 3000 miles on the clock used by Mitsubishi UK). Her indoors found out it had heated front seats and is easy to drive..job done. Celebratory tea eaten at moreasons. Cricket for me tomorrow at 11am. Red wine awaits! Baz

6 hours in the 'ambulatory' at the hospital yesterday determined that Mum didn't have a PE on the lung. The sun arrived lunch time but presently it looks a bit like thunder. Mid morning I popped into town to get some meds. I have never seen the town so full of females over 55. It was heaving with them. At one cash machine there was a queue of about 8. Maybe a convention of knitters or curtain twitchers is being held locally. If so Wetherspoons will be busy at 5pm.

Chewsday moaning. Quiet yesterday best I recall, just rolling along with work. THEN, off to IKEA, flat-pack haven, mostly to look at various options the Mrs is considering for a number of things, cabinet handles near the top of the list, the new place has an "IKEA kitchen". Ate there, as we were there, meh... 16 and sunny first thing, headed for 27 and a warming trend continuing with low 30s by the weekend and threats of thunderstorms - joy! Carry on.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The rain really hammered down last night but no evidence of thunder and lightening. Bright sunshine at the moment but very muggy so thunder and lightening is still possible. Tea has been drunk so its be back later.

Good evening everyone This morning during her Zumba class, Sheila’s ankle gave way and she fell heavily on her wrist. She doesn’t think she’s done any serious damage but it is quite painful and after dinner it was starting to swell a little around the base of her thumb. She was able to continue with her class, but has now decided to take things easy for the next couple of days. Personally I don’t think that’s a bad idea, but I know that she will still try to do what she would normally be do. She’s had cold compresses on for most of the evening and the swelling has gone down quite considerably, along with some of the pain. Also, as the swelling has subsided her hand movement has improved as well as her grip. I’m going to bandage it up for her as we go to bed so that it has some support whilst she’s asleep, touch wood, it’ll be a lot better in the morning. I managed to get to Salford Quays tonight and did 1 mile in just under 45 minutes. The water is definitely getting warmer, but still not warm enough to stop using my wetsuit just yet. Once home, I poured myself a bottle of Doombar, really enjoyed that. Goodnight all

I have had my Black Dog periods but eventually was able to deal with it through the Model Railway, Tai Chi and meditation and it sounds stupid but by analytical self analysis. Now, my wife of 45 years is starting to exhibit fairly strong signs of Alzheimers. It is complicated because she refuses to see her doctor and due to the 'Privacy' Laws her Doctor cannot discuss it with me and cannot bring it up unless my wife does. At first I did not know what was going on because I would say something and a bit later (a day, an hour, ?) she would ask the same question or a variation on it and I reactly badly because I thought she was ignoring me. There was and is her attack response that really hurt but I now understand were a self defense denial type response. So now as i understand things for the most part I react OK but occasionally I blow it and then I feel really bad. The worst though is the profound sense of sadness because as the saying goes we will not be able to grow old together. Our children are all aware but they live several thousands of Km away. The situation is helped somewhat because there a few friends who are aware and willing to listen and talk about it, but as when my first wife died so many years ago in the end you have to deal with it yourself. I joined the local 'Nerd' group a couple of years ago when I wanted to learn about Arduinos and that helps because the discussions keep the mind active. The Model Railway is a fantastic because I can do it in the basement meaning that I am always around and also because it lets me plan for some future changes. In addition it, like the Nerd club keeps my mind active with new ideas. Finally I find Tai Chi is an effective escape because as one lady put it for a couple of hours you have to concentrate so hard that everything else is gone. Enough.

Evening. Quick look in. Wry grin at all the podiatry/diabetes chat - before I left the UK 17 years ago, I was the manager...….of a large (50k appointments a year) podiatry department. Shan't be giving any advice other than to say don't work for the NHS too long, it kills you. Read Adam Kay's book (This is Going to Hurt) to see what it dos to many Doctors. You will laugh and cry.

Well it started wet and has turned out not wet, apart from all the stuff that landed overnight/early this morning. Forecast seem to have been spot on!!!! Now Black Rat's clinker - well it definitely looks like clinker to me although it might be furnace slag. The line was built in 1876 so I doubt it was firebox clinker from the time of building but if it was found near the site of Ingra Tor Halt it could indeed be firebox clinker from the engine that got stuck there in the snow as its fire must have gone out and could well have clinkered due to lack of attention and poor draughts as the snow built up. The Good Doctor's flight appears to be on time as it heads westwards so all depends now on teh wind staying steady anfd Gatwoick not being in an operational shambles due to the weather. The next stage depends on her getting from teh terminal to the station in double quick time, fingers crossed. Enjoy the rest of your day.

I've had to adjust this joke as it was non pc. An Englishman, an Englishman and an Englishman in a pub. The Englishman said "England are the best 1 day cricket team in the World at present." The Englishman replied "Yes, they are favourites for the ICC World Cup." The Englishman agreed. And they had a jolly good drink and they ............

In case you have been wondering why it has been so quiet on this thread, we have been away for a few days We have been here.... here.... and here...... and back to something relevant.....

Evening all, I haven’t posted for about 3 weeks due to being away. I don’t tend to post when on holiday, as insurance companies have been known not to pay out on house theft claims if the absence is broadcast on social media! We had a week at Loch Lomond when the weather was rather iffy, but we managed to get out walking every day, and made the best of the weather. Our initial hope was to get a timeshare exchange for a second week, but nothing cropped up, so instead we got a late deal on a package holiday to Lake Garda in Italy. We had always fancied the Italian Lakes, and had a fantastic week there. the temperatures were around 30 degrees, and we had a hotel room with a Great Lake view and they did good food as well. Since returning from there, I have managed a day guarding on the Ratty, which had a new experience when a small dog decided it wanted to jump off the train. Just as I hit the emergency brakes, the owner managed to haul it back again using its lead. The dog was rather subdued for a while after that, for which I was grateful, as the thing had barked at most of the sheep and cows it had seen along the line, so was being pretty annoying! Loads of gardening to do now, as the weeds have made a serious takeover bid while we were away!

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/06/24/sandys-treatment-day-188/