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Morning all. I have been up a while now as my daughter phoned just after 4 to say that they were waiting for an ambulance for her husband who is having difficulty breathing. We can’t even go and comfort her because she has tested positive too. Just sitting swilling coffee and twiddling thumbs. Feel so helpless. Damn this rotten virus. Make sure that you carpe your diems well.

Thanks for your thoughts. Things with SiL could be worse but could be better too. They didn’t call the ambulance but talked to someone on the non emergency line who decided a paramedic visit was necessary. They did various tests and told him that his results were just about ok and gave him the choice of remaining at home or going to hospital. He chose to remain at home and rest with the instruction to phone 999 directly if there is any further deterioration. Just a waiting game now then, as I guess it is for so many.

Somewhat ealier than usual today here are some photos taken on the preserved Great Central Railway running south from Loughborough in the 1970s and early 1980s. Loughborough Central N2 4744 March 81 J7334.jpg Loughborough Central LNER B1 1306 Sept 81 J7591.jpg Loughborough Class 14 D9523 Jan 83 J7783.jpg Loughborough RSH 7597 Jan 83 J7791.jpg Quorn Littleton No 5 March 76 C2649.jpg Quorn Class 5 5231 and D11 506 steam fair day Sept 76 C3015.jpg David

Morning. Best thoughts heading north-eastwards to BoD's family. A roasting 6c this morning, and that's outside not in. Not sure what the day will bring bar boredom. Mrs NHN going absolutely off it, she had an offer for a job interview (on Teams not face to face) which she confirmed acceptance of by e mail (its all done on line now in IoM Government) only to get a 'you didn't get selected' e mail an hour later. Presumably this is because they didn't take her off that list, but it is the second time this has happened in the last 5 years or so since this system came in - very poor show. One missus going bananas. She works in freedom of information/GDPR sort of stuff so accuracy is her middle name. You can imagine.....

Back to the usual time for this afternoon's photos. This morning's were early as I took Mum for her second Covid vaccination when I would usually have been posting the photos. I have to say that the process was very well oragnised at one of the local surgeries, in fact she was done almost ten minutes early. This afternoon we move to the extreme north of Cumbria, only just south of the Scottish border for some photos taken of the WCML at Floriston level crossing, north of Kingmoor. Floriston 156434 Carlisle to Glasgow via GSW 11th April 95 C20068.jpg Floriston 87017 down 11th April 95 C20073.jpg Floriston 90140 up containers Mossend to Channel Tunnel 11th April 95 C20074.jpg edited to correct caption, with thanks to Brain W (Fat Controller). Floriston 90145 up freightliner 11th April 95 C20075.jpg Floriston 37716 and 37684 down empties 31st May 95 C20229.jpg David

Went to assist with domestic tasks, switched on the Dyson and it wouldn't stay on. Ended up taking the switch assembly off and "fiddling" with it. Two small springs in there to start with and then, guess what? One disappeared. Found it on the floor eventually and after some more fiddling and a lot of cursing the thing sprang into life again and stayed on. I've decided that's enough assisting and fiddling for one day so will shortly settle down with a bottle of "Old Bob" and watch some rugby.

Morning all, Fingers crossed for Warrens family. Currently just about 0ºC but booked to get warmer soon. The mist in the valley is gradually clearing and the place is just about distinguishable but it definitely wouldn't have been the right weather for even halfway 'viewing' when the St.Trinians Sixth Form were getting off their 'bus. Although this would have been a very ordinary view compared with some - The GD was transferred to a new ward yesterday - only just opened; they started the day with 7 patients and end the day with 10. She's on what are normally cardiology wards and the normal capacity for that work has already been reduced by more than 20 beds. We occasionally have amorous foxes in the garden and we did havea litter of cubs one year - watching them was great fun but they gradually moved away as they matured. A couple of times there have been atempts to dig suitable earths in which to give birth but provided I find them at an early stage it is easy to dissuade the digger by simply putting a few sharp flints in the mouth of the excavation - they then give up and move on elsewhere. They are something ogf a mixed blessing because although they can make an awful mess they also deal with rats and some of those are living about 100 yards away and forever trying to migrate in our direction. i don't know how our present cats might cope with them (they spend enough time tracking fox scents) but previous feline residents have all been good at seeing off foxes - I think their trick is not to run when confronted. Hedgehogs are also very noisy during their amorous encounters but alas there haven't been any in the garden for many years. Don't know about the muntjacs although I'm reasonably sure that one gave birtjhh in the garden a couple of t years back as we had two adults with a small calf around for a while. The cats also follow their scent. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

Morning folks. Cuppa being drunk, then to the day. Grouting some tiles Dismantling some shelving More work on summershed; only the last remnants of a slight frost this morning Bingley, my Doggo, decided he preferred my bed to his at some point in the early hours; amazing that such a small dog can take up so much space....... He was 'encouraged' back to his own bed after about ten minutes of him getting so close to me as to almost push me out of mine. Thoughts with all, see you later.

You may be right, Poly. It is a crepe job that is hard to recruit into, requiring specialist knowledge and exceedingly busy even before the CV19 attack, now completely bonkers. It also has a notorious senior manager, although her immediate one is great - and also trying to get out. If it is true then there will be hell to pay, as among my many old hats is an HR manager's one and I know how to invoke difficult processes - aka a tribunal.

Next you'll be telling us you support the Orange One.... Have a box of tissues ready for this afternoon Is Mrs NHN considered indispensable/difficult to find a replacement for by any chance? Sounds like they may be blocking her from changing jobs. Perhaps a visit to the relevant offenders from the Big Bad Bears (99th Armoured Infantry Brigade) and the Heavy Hippos (9th Special Armoured Force) may persuade them to rethink their recruitment policy? We are at your disposal, Sir - normal payment terms apply (oodles and oodles of cake....and yet more on top). Don't worry about the lockdown....we have our methods.....

Good morning everyone A dull and wet day here in the northwest of England. We've had some overnight rain, temperature is 2C and the snow has gone. I'm about to look at the possibility of adding that extra wiring so I can run the turntable motor continuously. Warren, I hope both you daughter and SiL recover from the awful virus, thoughts with you all. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Good morning all, Frosty and misty start here but dry and there may even be sunny spells later, Warren, hope your daughter and SiL recover soon. Foxes were driving me mad with the noise they were making around midnight so I went outside to scare them off again. They moved a couple of gardens away and were "at it" until about 1.00am. Two rugby matches watched and enjoyed yesterday and another is scheduled this afternoon. Just been asked what I'd like for breakfast so a decision will shortly be made. Shouldn't be too difficult. Have a good one, Bob.

A quiet day in 50s Ireland

Morning all. It is frosty and slightly misty this morning. Food will be arriving later, it is too early to know what substitutes will be arriving or what is unavailable. MiL is due to have her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine today. Some of the doctors in the the family have had their second dose this week. Tony

Ratty Rat, No 25285 works up from the old disused Station on Seven Mills.

Few more bits and pieces added. Steps, injectors, AWS and sand boxes. I should have fitted the sand boxes before I plumbed in the injectors, the pipework had to come off to fit some brackets to carry the sandboxes. Once this rather fiddly fabrication and fitting was complete, the plumbing went back on before the sandboxes themselves could be fitted as the pipework passes behind them. The sand boxes themselves were knocked up in styrene as those provided with the kit were of the wrong type being more suitable for a pannier tank.

Just had a message from my mate Russ next door: "Good morning to you, would you mind keeping your foxes under control and stop them fornicating in our garden please." Ten minutes later the bloody things were back in my garden but they got away before I could blast them. Apart from that I had an enjoyable breakfast. More coffee now and then I'm on latrine duty.

Sunday. A waste of a day me coming into work. But then at any moment, it could all go wrong. Getting a bit tired of this stupid weather now. I don't mind the cold but when it's just cold and wet for days and days, it gets boring. Where's the snow? I know we haven't had any proper snow for many years and it really does depend where you are geographically but I read Spain had 20cm!

Bear is very sad...... Bear likes Tufty....... Seems that even The Orange One won't give the poor little fluffy friend a break either: https://www.chesterbugle.co.uk/2020/06/01/trump-declares-the-tufty-club-a-terrorist-organisation/

Professional “sport” in a nutshell. Such “sportsmen“ should keep in mind that many of the great names in sport of the past were on salaries (if they were paid at all) that wouldn’t even keep a modern day sportsman in cheap champagne There’s a local dish in the state of Virginia called Brunswick Stew and it is an adaptation of a native American dish. The ingredients are not only vegetables native to the Americas (corn, tomatoes, squash, etc) but also things “shot for the pot” like squirrel and opossum (nowadays, unless you really go into the backwoods, it tends to be made with chicken instead of squirrel ) It also deters cats. Our neighbourhood has quite a cat population (and often, at night, you hear them “resolving” territorial disputes) and before we got the Wolfpack cats would frequently use our garden as a latrine. Given that Lucy and Schotty sometimes use the garden for an emergency wee, the incidence of cat incursion has dropped significantly (although with that arrogance associated with cats, one of the next door neighbour cats sometimes deliberately and provocatively walks through the garden when the cat knows that the French Doors to the outside are safely shut. One day that cat is going to get a surprise) And that’s the way it should be. Hunting should be all about putting food on the table and not about the indiscriminate slaughter of animals just to show off some perverse, morally twisted idea of “manhood“ (and vermin can be contained and controlled by reintroducing their predator species). I am not against hunting, in fact I am very much in favour of culling Deer and the like. It makes venison more widely available (it’s a healthy meat) and it keeps the deer population is under control and healthy (I’ve read that there are one or two US states on the eastern seaboard that have banned hunting of deer and their deer populations have ballooned out of control, invading and destroying suburban gardens. The deer are starving and desperate, a situation which is not good for either man or beast) Only 2 feet above sea level and they getting snow? Clearly climate change is worse than we could have ever imagined.... Apparently, the fining of these two women has caused quite a few repercussions and more than a few negative comments about the police. It does make you wonder about the calibre and/or training of the police nowadays. I recall from my youth (and I’m sure Jamie can provide an insightful insider view) that then a lot of the police were either ex-military or had been trained by policeman who were ex-military; in either case, life, experience and /or “proper” training had knocked some common sense into them. Something that seem to be conspicuously absent in the policemen who fined two people who were socially distanced in the open air. Finally, a thought about “invasive species“. Hom0 Sapiens is probably the worst one on the planet; not only found everywhere – filling every conceivable ecological niche going - but also displacing (either by extermination of, out reproducing or interbreeding with) our cousins: H. erectus and H. neanderthalensis. Sadly, for the planet, over population is unchecked as H sapiens has no known predator, is unaffected by starvation, which only leaves disease. To anthropomorphise a bit: it could well be that CoVID-19 is Mother Nature’s test run to see what spreads well before unleashing something really devastating upon our species...

Which was a total failure. It was radar aimed and computer controlled for rapid response. Some of the tests were hilarious, as long as you weren’t involved. In one demonstration, when the system was switched on, the gun pointed at the review stands. On another occasion, the system (it was meant to cope with low-flying helicopters) locked on a nearby toilet ventilation fan. It never did what it was supposed to do, despite all sorts of attempts to ‘game’ the tests and was eventually cancelled.

I was sent this today.. Have to say it would be great if this approach was set up in the uk Bas

45ft? Is that a typo? A thought that often enters Bear's head too, with some worry. As an example I've just added up my D&S unbuilt kits stash: 49. That's a pension plan alone. As for the location & security shutdown procedures for Bear's SCR, now who can I trust with that?? edit: Bvgger - I've just mentioned a subject that shouldn't be mentioned on ER. My time could be even shorter than hoped... Bear concurs. I'll stick with my local docs, thanks very much (they did my flu' jab very efficiently before chrimbo so I hope they'll be doing the C-19 jab too.) A pretty laid back day today - an already disassembled kitchen base unit was cut into smaller bits to aid disposal, then removal & washing of the dust guards fitted to the kitchen doorframes: http://www.dustguard.co.uk/ -these have proved invaluable during the kitchen refurb works; recommended. A quick visit to the Co-op followed - where no obvious evidence of cockwombleness was observed, amazingly. Post-din dins consisted of TV, a diddy snooze, a pair of jeans ironed and general faffing around. Tomorrow will see an opportunity for a quick wash of the car not to be missed, as tonight's & tomorrow's temp are predicted to leap somewhat. It'll only be a quickie though (no jokes) as I've no plans to knock myself out on a super dooper jobbie, only for it to end up looking like a farm tractor the first time out on wet roads. If I'm really keen I'll then fit some ply battens to the kitchen door sub-frame, which will give the plasterer something to "plaster up to". At this rate I'll be telling the plasterer that all should be ready for plastering from w/c 18th Jan onwards. I do have some concerns re: C-19 and such works going on; however the guy I'm using is nearing retirement (i.e. no rug rats at home, would only consider my job once he knew of my own personal circumstances and showed all appropriate precautions when he visited to view the job. I've plans to set up a polythene curtain right across the lounge also, which will separate me from him during works - and I'll also be sitting right next to an open window with a mask on. The alternative is to delay the job for x months - 6? 9? Who knows..... As for Marine? Sadly t'was not to be

Afternoon Awl, The keel is now in it's finished state, once attached to the boat it just needs anti fouling. I've brought the rudder in for a little bit of work. I was going to anti foul the keel now, but reading up, most say launch within one month of painting. The second shelving unit is now built, except for trim and painting. Once these are installed I suspect someone else will claim their use, my books won't find a home until there are many more built. They will be 45ft by 5ft high giving 4 levels of shelves in that area. I'm still trying to work out how to finish the corners (3), without wasting the space. My books will be catalogued as they get shelved, using " Book Catalogue" which is a very good free Android programme for the purpose. SWMBO, has been using the programme for some time since she claimed shelves in the muddling shed. Time I think for a long hot time in the white enameled metal tub.

Morning lads....My whole life is on repeat right now. Another week gone. Another two round trips to Oxford. Another arm full of blood taken and still no biopsy results. I rang them Friday and apparently it can take 7-10 days to get meaningful results so I don't expect to hear anything until next week. Another Oxford trip planned this week, so hopefully the ducks will fall in line and I might get to know what's going on. Bile levels in my blood are now four times what they should be but no one seems particularly alarmed, so I'm taking my lead from them. I'm still fine but sadly my BiL is slowly slipping away and may not make the next seven days. His family have all been there for the last few days, so the house has been full of happy memories and a mix of laughter and tears. In between all this I've managed to do a bit of soldering and what should have been four hours work has taken the best part of a week as I've had to push myself to do a bit now and again with all that's going on. Having crossed over from the down fast to slow at one end of the layout, there was was always going to be a need to reverse that route at the other end and half an hour ago saw this lifted from my work board and dropped roughly into place. Of course, now I've run out of all my good C & L sleeper strip, so I'll probably have another go at cutting my own strip from 1mm PCB sheet. The quality of strip from C & L is always high, but with 5 packs of sleeper strip now costing the best part of a £100, I'm going to have to consider cutting my own again. Certainly not the fault of C & L as the price of the raw material has gone up dramatically. Thinking back, I'm fairly sure I was only paying £6 per pack around 8 years ago. With a large radius turnout using one pack of strips alone, plus the rail and solder etc, the new kits from Wayne are looking more attractive every day. So two more to do and then I can start finishing all the boards and make a start on retaining walls etc. There's a traverser to build plus the whole shed board, so the good money is on a completion date around 2030...... Had to look up Marine FC for the game this afternoon as I had no idea where they were. The web came back with Crosby, Merseyside, so I hope there won't be a cup upset this afternoon. Enjoyed watching Chorley play yesterday, so they'll do in the fourth round if we can get past the lads from 'oop north..... Covid appears to be getting worse and the NHS are under tremendous pressure. Saw this first hand last week as one appointment with respiratory was cancelled as they clearly needed all doctors to treat Covid patients. I really feel for these guys as they are working under enormous pressure and yet you still see people who seem to be completely oblivious to the whole thing. Just all keep safe and well or I'll be talking to myself.....

-1°C W 5kt, gusting 9kt A bitterly cold morning however the freezing fog has now lifted – the ‘feels like temperature’ offered by the Met Office showing -6°C! An extended walk is planned after breakfast before settling-in for an afternoon of football – it appears I might be the only Spurs fan on ‘Early Risers’! The week finished working from home and imagine it will remain that way well in to February, at least. Little else to report though a local microbrewery, Missing Link Brewing, have introduced 'Doughnut Day' on a Saturday – a welcome opportunity to escape the house this week. Mrs C and I sampled a honeycomb and rhubarb & custard crumble, buying the same for my shielding parents and leaving them on their doorstep. Did enjoy Tuesday's announcement from Hornby and their 2021 range – for me, the nearest thing to being a kid at Christmas, despite the habitual ‘nothing there for me’. Watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy again last night – I’d forgotten what a great adaption it is (with a stellar cast). Stay safe.

It is W1 time again. Here it comes, with its normal morning duty.

The sun has made an appearance in North Somerset. Goodness me, I forgot it existed. Dry and frosty here with -2C. Sunday fry-up to be cooked.... yum.

Mooring Awl, again, Ben the alarm clock Collie struck again, getting me up an hour after the last posting, since then I've had an hour or so's more dozing.. Very cold , frosty, crunchy, outside with an increasing northerly wind no clouds, a starlit night. Plans for today, hopefully the last work on the keel itself until it's fitted to the boat. More shelf work. But first Time for muggacoffee No1

Ey up! @BoD.. I hope he is ok. Warmed up here overnight with the snow covering receding fast. A walk today may be a good idea. I watched Sunderland attend a kick ball game last night. They desperately need someone who can get the ball (by head or via the feet) into the net. Some parcels to prepare today ready for posting tomorrow. Other than that a steady away day is scheduled. Stay safe! Baz

Evening All, Not much else to report other then the lad next door had earlier in the day been to Holmfirth, about 10 miles away to go skiing with his mate on some moorland. With this kind of action you’ve got to feel sorry for the two lasses who got fined for travelling 5miles for a socially distanced walk. Tried to get the Vat return sorted but again it was a waste of time. Other than writing my chairman’s report for the MRCs AGM next week nothing else of significance was done, except downloaded some pictures onto my laptop. Goodnight, Robert

Almost all mi objectives for today achieved except for summershed work; did some housework type stuff instead. Just watched a programme on C4 about something unmentionable in Scotland presented by Julie Walters, not 'special interest' per se but more of a sociological anthology of tales associated with the 'unmentionable' quite interesting and easy to watch. Might not check back later, so just in case, although it's early I'll wish you all a good and trouble free night.

Am afraid not. All the joint projects I have been involved with are on a "my layout with your help" basis and Narrow Road is Ken's layout which I have helped with and Ken doesn't really do internet or social media. His son set up a website http://www.narrowroadlayout.co.uk/ some time ago, which has details of the station of that name but it hasn't been updated for some time and doesn't show the rest of the layout. It is still very much a work in progress and only two stations are substantially complete in terms of scenics but only have a few dummy signals. I am seriously thinking of starting my own workbench/layout thread to post details of all the various things I get up to and if I do, when I can get to Ken's again I will ask if I can take some photos and post them. Ken struggles a bit now and is conscious that his hands and eyes are not as good as they used to be and he has doubts about whether the layout is good enough for a wider audience and if the Wright writes critics got their teeth into it, his confidence would quickly vanish, so I won't be posting anything on this thread. It is a substantial layout and in order to quicken progress, we have decided to use card kits to get one station presentable quickly. Can you just imagine the comments that would generate! I will add a poor quality snap or two of one of the buildings I have been working on, a row of shops from Leigh on Sea as it may have looked in the 1920s.

I have tried to make a better job of the hand lettering. It will need to be weathered to take the shine from it.

Thoughts for Warren for Daughter and SiL.

Unboxing and shelving books I'd like to say that I have an eclectic collection of books. Other people may call it disorganised. They're probably right

I see they have allocated 7 mass vaccination centres.. The East of England one...... Stevenage... It shows a somewhat distorted idea of geography from HMG.. For those of us IN the east of England.. Stevenage is north London...

I like Tufty too, and do as much as possible to keep his pox ridden Grey cousin out of Tufty's playground.

It obviously wasn't a patch on the Mk1 eyeballs and mk 1 ears of it's namesakes fire control system. Good moaning one and all. First off, Warren, thoughts with your family. Here it's bright but still rather cool, the log burner is warm though. I did brave the shed for an hour yesterday and had a positive result in that a 5' length of parallel strips of metal is now nice and level. We may well head for the market this morning and at some point I need to investigate the drain from the kitchen sink. Apart from that not a huge amount on the agenda though daily orders have not been posted yet. Jamie

Good evening everyone Must (but not all) of the stuff that I brought from the workshop to the cellar has now been put BACK in the workshop. Once I’d taken back what I wanted to, I set up the turntable and gave it a run, I timed how long it took to do 180 degrees and multiplied the figure by 2, giving me one revolution in just under 55 seconds. That doesn’t seem fast, but it does look quite quick when you watch it. I’ll have a play with it again tomorrow to see how it looks moving a bit slower and a bit faster. Unfortunately, the way I’ve set it up, it won’t rotate continuously, it stops at one of 4 exit roads. So, I might look into having an option for continuous rotation as it could have its advantages, I think a switch mounted inside the control panel, that bypasses the whole indexing system could work, it would certainly aid setting the rotational speed and could also be an aid to future maintenance too. It might just be a case of adding a few extra bits in the panel itself, something to think about there perhaps! Whilst I was in the workshop, I had a look at my Zeus chart, there is no price on it, just a date, I’ve got the ‘New 1970’ updated metric version! It was obtained directly from my old employer British Steel, who I suspect bought them in bulk and we apprentices were able to buy them at cost. I seem to recall I only paid a few pence for it, for some reason the amount of 25p springs to mind. This evening we opened and drank a nice bottle of Malbec whilst we sat and watched a film we recorded last night called ‘The Wife’ starring Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater, it was a very enjoyable film.

Morning, still freezing up here but there are bits of blue sky that might let a bit of warmth down from a rather pale looking sun, might go for a slip and a slide over the fields later. No fornicating wildlife to be reported round here.......................................

Greetings one and all Many thanks to John CB for drawing my attention to the video item centring on Vaughan Williams. I've watched just over an hour of it and hope to return to it later today. Already it has prompted some reflection on the extent to which melodies have been 'borrowed' over the years and the fine distinction between composers and arrangers. Clearly I am in danger of not knowing what I'm talking about but we shall see. Meanwhile my first new CD of 2021 has arrived. From his bunker at South Zeal on Dartmoor, Jim Causley has sent "Devonshire Roses", a set of 20 Devon songs of very mixed parentage. I am looking forward to enjoying it. Perhaps it will be this afternoon, or even over lunch. Today's repast will be a beef casserole with assorted trimmings. With the near zero temperatures outside it would be inexplicable not to make a batch of dumplings. I hope it acts as a sort of comfort food, for I was feeling more than a little despondent yesterday about things in general and nothing in particular. No doubt the feeling will pass in time. I know nothing about football and care even less but as an occasional champion of the underdog I might just be rooting for Marine today. Giants are there to be killed. Best wishes to all Chris

That's not a temperature - that's an offence! Speaking of offences some oik (or oiks) at 23 o'clock let off a dozen very loud firecrackers over the road. Waking up more than a few of us who emerged into a smokey haze after the event to hear cheering. It's too late for English New Year and too early for Chinese New Year. It's also too late at night for such antics and there should not be a gathering of people anywhere unless they are at home (and ideally inside) living together. Was there something else I missed? Squirrel-fest, perhaps??? G'night all.

For your delectation tonight, we have a tender first J6 heading to New England after a morning's duty on the Ramsey branch.

I don't think you can pick and chose where its done, Our Doctors is about half a mile down the road, but my wife received a phone call from the Surgery on Saturday to say that her allocated time was 10-20 at Emsworth Baptist Church, next Wednesday, which is about 4 miles away, and not on a Bus Route from here, so luckily there is a Taxi Service, ME.

Bear detects a man who's been taught the error of his ways on previous occasion(s), no doubt with added pain thrown in for good measure....

I'm not really sure how I could ever bring order to my bookcases although some stuff isn't too badly arranged but usually it's acbtest between shelf size and subject areas. So Study bookcase M No.2 (of three) has some reasonably well sorted shelves but because of different formats 'South Wales', for example, is on parts of two different shelves - In the dining room my books share bookcases with her books so the mix is rather eclectic and again format can dea;l a blow to grouping of subject matter however some organisation has been carried out in Bookcase No.1 with, for example, most of the signalling books together. (except original material which is of a different format so spreads between here and a shelf in the study. While bookcase No.2 in the dining room is even more eclectic in its mixture And I daren't show any recent pics of the shelves in the 'library' because exlectic would be a distinctly lacking adjective to describe what lurks there as there are publication dates that vary over about 150 years and subject matter which ranges from Victorian period railway timetables and Rule Books to contemporary fiction including a vast number of paper backs.

Don't worry - Mdrid is over 2,000 ft asl and does get snow in the winter. As for squirrels we have had - until they were rationalised - a profligacy of hazel trees in the garden and their nuts always vanish early on. Only good point about the rat with a fluffy tale is that over the years we've regularly had oak seedlimgs growing in the garden - nice little plants provided you don't let them get very big. not so good is that it nicks bird food even from allegedly rat with a fluffy tale proof feeders. The little s*d is far too quick for foxy or the cats to catch it and because its main route is along the top of next door's fence on our boundary I can't go for it with the air rifle.