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Mainly closed lines around the north east this afernoon, plus one from Newcastle. The two Edlingham photos are taken from the road between Alnwick and Rothbury. Annfield Plain view towards Consett Jan 84 C6356.jpg Dunston staithes Jan 84 C6334.jpg I think I may have a better image than this, when I come across it I'll post it. Edlingham 16th Feb 91 C15586.jpg Alnwick to Coldstream line Edlingham viaduct 16th Feb 91 C15584.jpg Alnwick to Coldstream line. Fontburn view south NBR Scotsgap to Rothbury line 16th April 93 C18495.jpg Newcastle 47620 17th Feb 89 C11666.jpg David

The High Dyke branch and ex British Steel lines in the preservation period this morning. Stainby sidings preserved Class 03 D2381 having coupling rods fitted after delivery from BR, Bass Gretton No5 alongside April 73 J3162.jpg Sewstern preserved Class 03 D2381 shunting LMS parcels van into shed June 74 J3770.jpg Sewstern Bass Charrington No5 & D2381 shunting Mozambique narrow gauge Peckett 0-4-2T on wagon into Sewstern workshops July 73 J3248.jpg Mill Lane crossing Hunslet Primrose No2 hauling NER saloon and Pullman car up to Buckminster sidings June 74J3738.jpg Paines sidings Barclay 0-6-0T Harlaxton and Peckett 0-4-0ST Jan 74 J3538.jpg Market Overton 4472 Flying Scotsman arriving from High Dyke, CR saloon at front of train Oct 73 J3465.jpg Market Overton 4079 Pendennis Castle, John Gretton on tender. March 74 J3607.jpg David

Afernoon All And again, apologies for prolonged absences over the past few days due to various interruptions and issues of differing types which I won't go into here. However, the warmest of greetings are proferred to all ERs with a hope that none of us is suffering too much at present. 30747 has been feeling poorly for days now, and early yesterday morning (like about 2am) said that she wanted a Covid test, so onto the website. There is a large drive in testing site a few miles from here at the park and ride, and they had vacancies for tests yesterday at 12.30, so we both booked, and unlike the last test, where we were slung a kit and left to get on with things, and where I suspect that the results are a bit dependent on whether you actually hit the correct areas of your throat, we were offered the choice of an NHS staff member to carry out the test. Drive in, windows shut and read the cards held up by the staff, then a large A was put under the wipers, drive to the bay indicated on the card held up, large A removed and replaced by two test kits one under each wiper, and then two nurses in full PPE came out, and did 30747 first, then went in and two other nurses came out and did me. I could tell from both 30747's reaction and what I felt that this test was more thorough than the self test which we did last time - which makes me wonder about the effectiveness of the self test. This was very well done indeed, and was a real credit to our hard pressed NHS and all the staff, who were working in the open in the wind and rain were very professional. Results came in by email around 2.15 this morning, and by text at about 6.10, and luckily we are both currently clear. Good news on the guitar front, as my tame repairer texted me to say that my Tanglewood, which I took into him before the last lockdown is now ready (he's working from home, not the shop so can't do things quite so quickly), and is apparently playing very well indeed, and he's only charged me £40 to lower the action, lubricate and clean the fretboard, new strings, and give it a good polish. We are meeting in town tomorrow, and I can't wait. That's four of my guitars that he's fettled and none have cost a fortune - in fact, the Ovation which I was told had a passive preamp by two dealers, the one who sold it and another in Sutton, only needed a new battery, and he only charged for the battery. He did say that the Ovation needs attention of a more expert repairer as the neck needs to be reset, and he doesn't feel up to tackling it - so after lockdown, there's a very good repairer in Grange Over Sands. Regards to All Stewart

When our first son was born in 1977, we were living in a village in West Yorkshire with a population of about 1200. We moved away about 18 months later, lived elsewhere in England for a few more years and came to Vancouver in western Canada in 1982. That son has just met, in Vancouver, a young guy from that same West Yorkshire village (population now about 1600)! It can be a very small world at times.

Gordon Bennet. A bad day on Fraggle Rock, what looks like a domestic murder in a house about 50 yards from us in the village, a cyclist killed down south in an RTC which I won't speculate on but think will have repercussions, and 9 new covid cases, but they are all already in isolation as returners from medical treatment or known contacts from the outbreak a fortnight ago so at least no community transmission.

Good morning all from the Hill of Strawberries where not only is it a good morning but Sun Day is living up to its name. A woodpecker is busy pecking wood somewhere nearby. The sycamore branches are bending under the weight of more birds than I have seen together for some time. His Furrship is out for his morning walk. The Thai chef from the restaurant behind us is out (well before they open, I should add) for his morning smoke. Dr. SWMBO was out early for a pre-dawn walk and then produced breakfast upon her return. The warmed leftovers of a home-made vegetable curry (including home-grown chard leaves), dahl, freshly-made breads and scrambled eggs. Surprisingly good and very filling. I now get to clean the kitchen, clean the Gwiwer and then enjoy some hobby time after which the blue air may need cleaning! Best wishes to one and all.

3°C NW 10kt, gusting 19kt The sun is shining this morning and what a difference it makes – another walk of Wakehurst, Ardingly planned with 535 acres to explore. The week was long despite only venturing to the office on Thursday. Working from home has been okay, made easier refreshing RMweb (and Early Risers, naturally) a little more frequently than I might have done otherwise... Another night of disturbed sleep with the dreams experienced during the first lockdown returning. I've struggled with sleep for many years now, with some weeks better than others, but was hoping that the routine of continuing to work might help… Alas not to be. Little else to report, but before signing-off, a quick mention of @andyram's post on Thursday discussing the traditional English breakfast and more. The ‘reliance’ on the Great Central Railway really resonated with me as I would venture to Horsted Keynes station near enough every Saturday morning, timed to catch the down and up trains cross, with just a coffee and Kit Kat for company. Such a simple thing which in hindsight I took entirely for granted at the time. I'm sure many others have similar tales and hope they've managed to fill the void - I know I haven't as yet. Stay safe.

Good morning. Bright and breezy here today. The weather is at least. I suspect it is about 5C but I haven’t been out yet. I will later as I have noticed that the local birdies have at last emptied one of the feeders. I believe there may be a short walk possibly even venturing out of our road. There aren’t exactly crowds of people round here , except for school arrivals and departures. The schools are open but for the children of key workers or vulnerable children. Not enough to require our road as a car park though and not of course today being a Sunday. I am not sure what we will be eating today. We normally discuss this but I was otherwise deployed yesterday at food decision time. Aditi couldn’t log on to the medication renewal app. It claimed she was logged on with a different password on another device. Resetting the password seemed impossible but the GP surgery website allowed another method of access. This required creating an NHS login. After scanning her passport you have to make a video reading out the numbers they send. Bit like a hostage video. Aditi was convinced I was making it up. Anyway it all worked. But as it took a while to sort out I wasn’t asked about food. It doesn’t matter, if asked, I rarely mind what we eat. Aditi isn’t cruel enough to feed me coconut or any of the other few things I dislike. During the last 20 years of her employment I did nearly all the cooking and what we ate depended on what time she thought she would be home. Tony

Went for a walk after a very enjoyable breakfast. Only managed a mile and a half before The Hip started to seize up. That seems to be my limit at the moment. My late Uncle Fred was a pilot and flew Sunderlands off the West Coast of Africa hunting U-boats. He too was rather fond of them. Coffee now and then I will see if I can hobble down to The Shed.

Morning. 6 of those c's here, but they seem a bit close together, feels like 3. Laughing wryly at AndyB's diet, as my cholesterol is just a bit high - but the things he mentions are a no-no to a T2 diabetic - Catch 22. Vet reckons latest thinking is concentrate on the diabetes, not to worry too much about slightly out of spec but not madly high other things, at my age (61.8). She's a young GP trainee so is more up on newer ideas than the rather stodgy more senior vets in the practice, I was impressed by her honesty why I was asking various things that have cropped up recently when she said she didn't know about something, it was too specialised for her. Far rather that than winging it with bullsh!t. Nice 'bedside' (telephone only currently) manner too, I hope she stays at the practice. I see her face to face for the first time tomorrow, it will be a bonus if she is tall dark and attractive too! Any resemblance to Jadzia Dax of trekkies DS9 would be a double bonus. Back to reality, and we're wondering how to fill the day. Currently Mrs NHN phoning family elder for his birthday, getting on for 90 so always a worry.

Slightly cheating with this one as it’s Mike Buick’s excellent Oak Road. A quiet day on the Great Western Mainline somewhere in Somerset.

Evening All, Not had a bad day until this evening and MY football team lost. Thought Flavio, Lucy, Shotty, Ian Abel, Whitney, theQ, Ben, Simon484 and Rolo (and anyone else with a dog) might find this amusing.

' afternoon all from red dragon land Breakfast this morning consisted of an "I've started so I'll finish" concoction... Now, when I made my mince pies, I made too much mincemeat and put the surplus in the freezer. With the *C* cake all gone, and a *C* pudding (*C* present from family) still to eat, I decided, yesterday, to make a mincemeat tart. However, I economised too much on the pastry leaving just enough for a vague trellis pattern on top - in other words more gaps than trellis and I was afraid the mincemeat might dry out. I went online to check cooking time and came across a recipe for mincemeat tart covered with sliced apple (among other things!). Ah ha! Tinned sliced apples in the cupboard... A little later, each gap in the trellis pattern was filled with a slice of apple. Mincemeat mostly covered over. As you can see, the pastry was a bit fragile... Not the prettiest looking mincemeat tart in town but still very tasty and the mincemeat still juicy, with the bonus of the tart being a lot quicker to make than the dozen mini mince pies I made last time. But what has this got to do with breakfast? Well, I only used a third of the tinned apples, the rest being enough for two days on porridge with some de-frosted and cooked summer fruits. A longer sleep was had last night after the previous night of wind rumbling through the roof slates and driving rain pounding the window. Time to get on and extract a few more articles from the magazines... One pile almost done... Another pile, or two, waiting in the wings. Take care all and play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

I went for a holiday in Cornwall a long time ago.. it took ages to get there... More memories of being somewhere appreciably warmer this time last year.. Singapore Botanical Gardens with it fantastic array or Orchids... Baz

Morning all, I have just been intstructed to clear the editor which says 'G'night all' - although it doesn't seem to have posted last night very odd. Today we have sunshine peeking its way between various bits of nicely broken cloud and plenty of blue skies - very pleasant looking out there in fact. Breakfast - if you can call it that - has been taken in the form of a couple of cold sausages which hardly compares with various other combinations being mentioned here today. As there are some mushrooms getting a little bit older every day lurking in the fridge they, plus some streaky bacon, will be my lunch today while others in the household will no doubt be consuming the pasties which weren't eaten for dinner yesterday evening. all being well there should be roast lamb for dinner this evening. A chap I worked with back in the '70s had spent most of the war flying in Sunderlands and remained rather fond of them as an aircraft in which to spend a long working day. Another former colleague had been an RNVR pilot flying Swordfish of escort carriers - apparently not always the most enjoyable way of spending one's time on convoys to Russia but like anyone who had flown them he was a great fan of 'stringbags'. No major plans for today although the newspapers will provide some sudoku and the GD and I might well watch the snooker final having watched a fair bit of it over the past couple of evenings. Alas it does have all the makings of a walkover but it will be interesting to see if age and experience can stand up to an extremely talented young player who is little short of being a snooker prodigy. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

For the moment, some Canaries appear to be getting the better of some black cats. I seem to remember the Sunderland was one of the most comfortable ? Of military aircraft, running to tea making facilities. Very little snow left out there, what's left, got crunchy. Ben the I want out Collie, took me out there twice, the first time at 05:00, when he got frightened by a distant jet and ran back in. The second at 07:15 when he did what he should have done first time. Heinz salad cream loosely based on "salad sauce," of a 1845 recipe,. However I'd bet the 1914 heinz invention of salad cream was nothing like the modern version as per it's contents. For real chemical engineering try Kraft worcestershire sauce or horseradish sauce.. or rather if you value your taste buds and body... Don't. I see cathedrals are being used as vaccination centres.. at least you can queue in the dry before getting stabbed. Norwich's centre is this week is to be opened in that cathedral to commerce. The Castle mall shopping centre, to be precise in the food hall, which I've never been in, as takeaway type food gets expensive when you're paying for the ticking clock of the parking machines..

Greetings one and all, especially lovers of Father Brown! Those good people will know better than I that the eighth series is being re-run on BBC1 starting tomorrow at 1.45 pm. I understand that Series Nine is in the can but without dates for transmission being made known yet. The latest Government thinking on the hoof may well have scuppered for the time being any ideas I had for a holiday. The prospect of a period of quarantine on the way home is quite a deterrent. So, for that matter, is the parlous state of Eurostar at the moment, with begging bowls being offered to both British and French governments alike. It’s a good job that such planning as I have undertaken is more like a feasibility study, with minor details like dates and hotels left to be determined in the future. Sadly even determination was not enough to bring my plans to fruition in 2020. It is small comfort that we are all in the same boat, and I’m not talking about the ever-dependable ferries across the Irish and North Seas. My latest culinary adventure might be of interest. Finding myself with half a pack of diced pork and about half a bottle of cider, on went the light bulb and out came the slow cooker. To the leftovers were added a parsnip and a leek, suitably chopped and browned, and a few dumplings to thicken the liquid. It cooked on slow for nine hours, starting at 5.30 yesterday morning! To my relief it was delicious and there is some left. I forgot to mention something nice that happened on my last fodder run. At the entrance to Tesco is the sanitation station. The young man in charge of it was kind enough to tell me that my rainbow face mask goes nicely with my equally rainbow bobble hat. Wait until he sees The Tie! Best wishes to all Chris

A WW2 British flying boat - but that’s not important right now.

Good to read all the comments about Sunderlands. I came across one of the few remaining ones by chance in Oakland CA. It's in a Museum close to Oakland Airport. There was a factory that built and maintained them, built on Lake Windermere. The site is now Whitecross Bay caravan park but the hangar floors and door tracks are recognisable as such. My father was working in West Africa during the war and though a committed pacifist, rather liked Sunderlands. he said that he always felt safe when the convoys he was on were escorted by Sunderlands and thought that had real grace and beauty. His Uncle was the QS for the building of the factory and took my dad with him on a couple of visits. He said that the sight of them taking off and landing on the lake among the hills was lovely to watch. There is a book about the factory that I picked up in a bookshop in Grasmere. It's a fascinating story. Apparently the Friends of The Lake District objected to the building of the factory on the grounds that it would spoil the views. Jamie

Mine does the same apparently randomly. Not today at all but yesterday it did. No rhyme nor reason to it that I can see nor is it device-specific. In other news I have just received an email from a named individual representing BBC Spotlight (South West regional current affairs) seeking my thoughts on the G7 Summit just announced for Carbis Bay in June. I shall reply. Without breaching our "No Pottylicks" rule I can at least say they they have chosen a spot which is relatively easy to secure, is stunningly beautiful, is not in main-season (though might affect the pre-booked holidays of a few) and may place Cornwall front and centre on the world stage. Cornwall was already likely to be full for the summer assuming travel restrictions are eased. It was last year. A tsunami of humanity descended upon it from the first hour they were permitted to do so. Most people we know - particularly accommodation and other service providers - had the worst season in memory. A lot of the "Wrong Sort Of People" made everyone else's lives a complete misery. Cornwall is not the Costa del P1ssup nor is it the Island of Drunknos. Many locals complained of being abused, shoved, pushed around and spat at for just going about their daily business by people who felt they had some sort of inalienable right to be first in line, the most important, the loudest-mouthed and indeed the foulest-mouthed. Cornwall is gearing up for another similar season as those who might normally holiday overseas do so instead as a "staycation". The additional requirements of an international security clampdown, road and path closures and possibly beach restrictions will not be swallowed comfortably despite the additional revenue which G7 might bring. King Arthur's is indeed a double-edged sword.

Pump has been deployed, water levels reducing rapidly. Breakfast (including tomato sausages) has been cooked and eaten..excellent. My old man said the Empire Class flying boats were more comfy than the Sunderland. (The luxurious furniture had been removed from the Empire Class but they had retained better cooking facilities) . Both, apparently, flew giving those inside a gentle shuggie boat type flight. He preferred these to the Bombay and Stirling aircraft used in the middle East. Baz

Morning all. News in yesterday was that a jab had been administered. Hooray. I reckon about 25% of residents were able to have it as the remainder tested +ve. I'm also told by #2 child that "we" are off to Anfield this afternoon. And there I was thinking I (passively) supported Spurs. I've not been forgiven yet for saying that Man City played quite well in the recent derby. I'm insufficiently partisan apparently. Today's list includes mucking out the fish rank which is forever infested with thread algae. It's the stuff that you believe you've removed every last strand if and 5 mins later you can see that a vestigial cell of it has morphed into a new outbreak. The cholesterol beating diet is in full a swing and meals are very tasty. Bean - of the non baked variety - feature as does porridge and brown rice. After all chores have been done it'll be time to play with a backlog of muddling jobs. Patchy blue sky thereabouts.

Good morning all, Dry here with hints of blue sky appearing with a glimmer of sunshine, it's 4°C and may even rise to 7°C. Breakfast has been "ordered" and will consist of egg, bacon, sausage, tomato and toast. That should keep me going for a little while. As I mentioned yesterday The Shed was visited. Slight hiccup to start with as the power supply to my controller, which has been playing up, finally died. Luckily last year I'd obtained a replacement so it only took a few moments to swap them over. Once that was done a pleasant couple of hours was spent playing with little wheeled thingies. Today I may return and actually do some work as there is much track painting still to be done and then lots of ballasting. Dinner tonight will be Irish Stew so that's something else to look forward to. There is a lovely waft of something tasty emanating from the kitchen so I bid you farewell for now. Have a good one, Bob.

Clucking Bell it has finally stopped clucking raining at last! Wooooohoooo.......on no wait a minute.....what was I thinking....oh cluck it....Mrs Grizz mentioned ‘doing stuff together in the garden when it stops raining’....which sadly isn’t likely to be a euphemism for anything the slightest bit enjoyable. List so far includes....... Prune the fruit trees (at least assist in this job). Mend the bottom of the door on the outside Kermit. Rake the up dead tree litter. Fit the weather bar to the outside store. Fill the rat traps with poison. Check the mouse traps in the loft (might be able to get warm for 5 minutes at least). Muck out the chooks. etc etc etc In my experience the above list is not likely to be the end of the matter as there are just bound to be more delightful adventures I’ll need to get involved in.....for clucks sake. Part of me now wishes it was still clucking raining. Have a good one all.

Meanwhile down at the harbour Snowflake has arrived with the latest consignment of toilet rolls!

The replacement wheelset made no difference whatsoever, so I took it out and put the Dapol one back in. Never mind - nothing ventured, nothing gained. I made better progress with St Enodoc. First, after removing the temporary ends of the branch spur stub tracks, I marked and cut the "missing link" in the trackbed between Porthmellyn Road and St Enodoc and then laid some temporary joists across the L-girders to support the St Enodoc station boards at their correct height. Next, I clamped the missing link in place at both ends and, through trial and error, manoeuvred it and the station boards until I had a smooth curve all the way round and the station boards were located in accordance with the plan. Once I was satisfied with this, I marked the station boards and L-girders with their correct relative positions. At this point I thought it was time for some photos: This is the Up end of St Enodoc, where the track alterations need to be made, with the trackbed clamped to its shelf. A general view of the branch trackbed. The horizontal alignment is final but I will adjust the vertical alignment later. This shows the missing link in its final position, ready to cut at the end of the overlap on the left. St Enodoc station in its final position, showing how it's angled to optimise the location of the 180 degree curves at each end. The gangway here will be 600mm wide at its narrowest point, between the end of St Enodoc station and Porthmellyn Road goods yard. After a nice cup of tea, the next job was to mark and cut the missing link to length and to slit it for superelevation, after which I assembled the three pieces of trackbed, again using ply fishplates underneath. I didn't fix it at the St Enodoc end though, as I plan to do as much work as possible on these two boards while the undersides are accessible, by clamping them to the work bench. Finally, I reinstated the temporary stub tracks. All in all, this has been a good weekend's work (and a good, evenly-balanced Test match at The Gabba).

Good evening everyone The sun didn’t actually managed to shine, although it wasn’t a dull day, but at least it didn’t rain! The temperature rose to as high as 7C this afternoon, but I finished early today so that I could make tea (see below!). The modifications to the turntable control panel were completed by dinner time. I then spent the afternoon playing testing it, obviously just to make sure it all worked you understand! Which happily I can confirm that it did and as well as I’d hoped it would too! I can now move onto making some brackets/rods to fix the top (scenic top) to the whole lot. This will then be able me to be removed the entire assembly as a single unit for set-up and maintenance etc. For tonight’s tea, I did a curry that I haven’t made before, a keralan. In total it took about 90 minutes from start to finish, it was quite refreshing and very light, we really enjoyed it. Which is a good job, as I made a large batch of the sauce and there are now 3 tubs, each with 2 servings in the freezer for future meals.

Re Loco Crews; in theory I like my locos to have crews, nothing looks more daft to me than a train going along with no one on the footplate, like a kind of railway Marie Celeste. I say in theory as I find it quite fiddly to do (model figures don't fit into fingers or tweezers very easily) so quite a few locos are in the 'round tuit' category in this regard. I definitely try and avoid 'action poses' such as firemen with knees bent frozen in mid shovel. I quite often seem to find that figures sold as OO scale are too big, and HO scale figures fit better. Presier and Noch do some nice steam loco driver sets which can be made to look more British with careful painting. The Noch ones seem a bit chunkier and therefore possibly better for OO; I quite often find their feet touch the ground when they're leaning on the cab side. 69670's fireman is from the Noch range: And 61270's fireman contemplating the ballast is from a box of Merten figures I picked up at a Toy Fair; I wouldn't mind some more but have never seen them since: 68846's fireman illustrates the point about OO scale figures being on the big side; he is from a set of two figures that Replica Railways used to do; the driver figure was seated and was very useful for LH drive locos with arm on cab window ledge; say they don't seem to do them any longer. Another day, another shift and today he finds himself on 65390 with a driver from the white metal range produced by Peter Goss: Surprisingly difficult to fit two men on the footplates of engines like that - I guess the splasher boxes / seats on most OO gauge locos are really too wide because of the narrower than scale gauge and over-scale thickness of the material used to make the models. I bought the set of loco crew figures that Bachmann produced but again have so far found them too big for most locos; the one I did use is the fireman on 62599 (although maybe not for much longer if he falls out while gawping at some women on the other platform): The above pictures seem to mostly show firemen; the locos do have drivers as well, mostly seated and less visible. Re. DMUs and Diesels generally, I put a driver in each end as the layout is a terminus and as said I think they look daft going along with no one in the cab; as pointed out up thread, one can think of various reasons why there might be a member of staff in the back cab. But I don't put passengers in (nor in coaches) as there are shunt moves on my layout, and trains get put into sidings. Here are two DMUs with drivers, I think both from the Preiser range. A pity they haven't changed the tail lamps - "Not my job Guv":

A medium kinda morning for Bear - I kept busy doing some dross and also polishing the areas under the bonnet of my 4 year old car (tops of wings - those bits only visible when the bonnet is open, also a long strip along the underside of the bonnet itself where it rests against a rubber seal) previously reported to be showing very light signs of rust bleeding thru' the paintwork. First polish, then wax, then Dynax Wax coating applied; the really good news is that all signs of rust disappeared without difficulty when threatened with the polish, so Bear's a much happier bunny. This afternoon involved a close encounter with a cockwomble of the Plusnet variety, via a telephone conversation My previous 10mb broadband contract expired on the 14th, so on the 13th I signed up to a new 30mb deal for only a couple of quid extra, so long as I stay put for 2 years. However, close examination of my latest bill received today revealed that they'd charged me thru' the nose this month. A call to their billing dept. revealed that apparently my new deal won't be starting until the 20th (which explains why the speed hasn't changed yet) - only they failed to mention that previously when I arranged the deal, and paperwork received makes no mention either). Why does this matter? Well it seems that means a six day window where I'm "out of contract", and they see that as a fair excuse to kick me in the goolies. Mr. cockwomble wouldn't see sense, so a second call to the sales dept. found a more sensible guy who sorted it for me; he obviously realised that kicking a Poly in the Goolies wasn't a bright scheme....

Good morning everyone Surprise, surprise, its a dry sunny day, but still cool only 5C. As it's Sunday that means we had breakfast in bed and it was my turn to make it. Now sat in the workshop about to start working on the brackets to support the scenic turntable top. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Wahaaay, a dry and sunny morning here in North Somerset. Quite cold though, but not frosty. Apparently, the computers have changed their minds over any proper beast from the east, which is rather irritating because they waited long enough for the idea to become embedded in the minds of the media before going back to a more normal scenario. I gather there is now a shortage of lettuce because of the snow in Spain. I somehow doubt that is going to bring the country to a standstill, but my newspaper treats it almost as an unbearable loss.

Not to mention the socks..... And a very nice one at the RAF Museum at Hendon:

@monkeysarefun.. I did what I was asked to.. you had lots of fires and no water so I towed a raincloud or two over feom the North West Leeds Highlands and.. bingo .. no more fires and some drinking water. Sunderland AFC aka the Black Cats. Soon to return to the top division of kickball...well I can dream. More garden pumping operations required today. Snow almost gone but as this turns into water the pond gets larger. PAH! But we won a lucky dip and a little bit of dosh on the lottery last night so all is well in this household currently. Today will onvolve the aforementioned water pump duties plus a bit of reading and cooking a chicken for tea. Mugatea awaits so TTFN. Baz

Hi All, I have recently got back on RMWeb and have just finished my first loco build (scratchbuilt chassis, heavily modified/detailed body shell). Therefore, I thought I would add my contribution to this wonderful thread! I agree with the earlier discussion about adding loco crews but I have just noted I don't have any on this loco (or any real coal in the tender) yet: a job for next weekend I think! This is my take on the BR 2-8-2 that wasn't built; many thanks to @RedgateModels for the inspiration and @Tony Wright for the excellent help guides/videos! I have detailed some more about the loco on my thread over in Kitbuilding and Scratchbuilding. Have a good evening all! Cheers, Alex

Morning all from Estuary-Land. (Well it is morning at the mo, just). Arthur Itis is quiet at the moment but the sore foot feels as if its on fire so not much sleep. Speaking of which I'll have to try shortly for another eyelid inspection.

Another look at Gannet this fine sunny morning.

Mornin' folks. Weather looks set fine in South Derbyshire so outside I shall be; hopefully trial fitting the summershed bifold door mechanism. I'll report back on that later. In the meantime a cuppa is begging to be drunk and then some breakfast will be eaten; crumpets followed by a couple of small oranges if uncertain type. Stay safe, stay well. Enjoy your day and avoid the F's, C's and C's. 'til later.

Good moaning from a dark and I think, damp Charente, 60 miles from a beach. Various bits of domestic engineering did get done yesterday. This morning I'm off to the market for final foodstuffs for lunchtime. With the 6pm curfew, evening meals with friends are no longer possible. Regards to all and stay safe. Jamie

I've got to ask, which village.. Aka the flying porcupine. There is a relatively intact one resting underwater at Milford Haven and a long ongoing project to raise it for display. Jamie

I have at least 2 bottles of Goo Gone where I can find them. It's good for removing sticky stuff. Price labels are one example. SWMBO worries when I use it on dishes as she thinks it's poisonous. Also popular with school janitors for removing chewing gum from carpets and girl's hair. (Not that good for the sort of glues that dry and harden.) Forecast snow did not arrive. We took the car through a car wash as the back end looked like a commission from TMC. Our lockdown has had a few more weeks added to it.

Mooring Awl, inner Temple hare, 4hours sleep so far but various aches and pains are not allowing part 2. I see we've now reached over 5% of the population vaccinated, however a high percentage of those are in homes, either their own or a care homes or in hospitals either staff or patients. So much of the mobile population, ie the spreaders, have yet to be done. It was interesting to see an animation of the kent version of the virus, spreading up the main travel corridors from London. I suspect, that's people living out of London, chosing how far they wish to commute to the smoke each day. Of which two more city dwellers were fined for visiting theirs second homes in Norfolk, and outside of Norwich which has a high amount of commuters to London, the highest rate in norfolk now is the other end of North Norfolk (40 miles from here), Chelsea on sea..aka Wells next the sea and surrounding area. A very high second homer area. Busy watching a piece on vertical farming ie in containers, or basements, 90%less water 99% less land used. LED lighting makes it economic.. I think pink pills are starting to work, time for sleep part 2.

Afternoon from a chilly Minnesota! Yesterday sorting the Christmas remains, boxing up decorations, etc., etc. Kept busy most of the day with chores! Mrs directing as she is still nursing a sore knee. Last evening, successfully identified the murder suspect, rewarded after we contacted the person who hired us (web site answer line!!) with a congratulatory email We now have to obtain another game, so we can continue what is q very enjoyable exercise. Quiet here today, some crossword time, and little else planned. -8 first thing, overcast and only supposed to manage -3 for the high. Stay safe everyone...

It's a point. My 5 yr old has struggled with all this lockdown hassle, and we have had to work hard to help her, but it will be a relief for things to return to normality for her. BUT she will recover. I have posted earlier of effects of this virus on my family but didn't expand because it's not woe is me at slow8dirty towers and plenty of others have had similar or worse, however I will now explain why the tone of your post is winding me up and probably others. My local town saw very little indication of a pandemic for most of last year, I even asked of friends, does anyone actually know anyone who's caught it yet? In September a work colleague caught it along with his partner and their 2 young children, they were all "mild" but he did say he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy(took that to mean me), but the main lesson learnt was that our measures at work seemed to be working as no one else caught it. Just before Christmas turbo corona decided to visit town, and it entered the care home where my better half works( almost certainly due to staff members mixing outside of work), end result she was positive before and Myself and the youngest were positive on Christmas day. Summary; Youngest had a sniffle and a bad cough but plenty of energy, teenage son probably asymptomatic as well all way through. I was very unwell but ultimately stayed in the "mild" range of symptoms. A chance comment by her GP led to my other half checking her O2 stats as she seemed to go down hill at the 7-10 day mark. A call to NHS direct for advice and 20 minutes later an ambulance has taken her away and I'm wondering if I'll ever see her again until we started to get some information back. Also her parents were hospitalised with her mother narrowly escaping being intubated. Thank god for us all will pull through, but I know of at least three deaths on the ward when my mrs was in there. Its a smallish town, but with a bit of effort I can list up 60 people that I know (either well or in passing) that had it to a greater or lesser degree. And the effect on my Mrs' work, 95% of staff off work for several weeks and 16 care residents dead, but they don't count because they had their had their lives behind them. Lets open things up, its only mild.

Aft'noon. It's bloomin' cold out there. Some of mi outdoor doin's done but not completely. Mugga decaff coffee and a couple of slices of toast now and a shower next to warm up, I need to clean the shower anyway, so might as well clean mi sen as well Then ironing...... Sometimes I quite enjoy ironing sometimes not, today I fear is a 'not' day, but I'll put the radio on and just get on with it See you all later.

Oh dear. I fear your name tells us you thrive on polluting diesels, so perhaps it all fits. I have lifted this long quote from elsewhere on RMweb. The writer is an extremely talented modeller, and a most popular figure. I suspect he is in his early 50s. "I thought I would just share my last couple of weeks on here. I worked what is now my customary evening/night shift on NYE though suffice to say it had a different look and feel to other years with hours spent walking around amongst the revellers. No, this year I was in work but at the end of a phone, able to nip out if needed . I was working with two fine careful types whom I'm know for years who did go out and about leaving me for most of the night in a large (very) office on my own . Shift done, home we went and three days off. Monday afternoon (4th) I have an email advising that the two lads have tested positive. Mmmm Late Tuesday I noticed a slight tickle at the back of my throat. No cough. Just tickle. Waking up Wednesday, the slight tickle has not got any worse but I have a slight heat rash to my inner and upper arms. Mmmm keep an eye on that. Still not feeling too bad at this point , working from home etc... Thursday, woke up, rash has spread to upper body arms etc and itchy. Not right. COVID test booked and taken that morning. Friday morning (8th) the inevitable positive result was confirmed. The next five days just disappeared. I was hit by the most incredible overwhelming fatigue. Totally knocked out with it all and whilst not the fittest type, I consider myself pretty resilient to such matters. Incredible headaches throughout and total loss of appetite which I didn't really notice at the time. Simply the most poorly I have ever been. Things are now quietly improving and compared to many my experiences are lightweight. I'm still very tired so I shall be reserving energy for important stuff like eating and drinking though that all tastes a bit odd at the moment. So I shall be a bit quiet on here. I have no plans for any modelling. I cant seem to concentrate at the moment. Typing this was bad enough!" If that sounds trivial to you, and bear in mind he didn't attend hospital, how much worse is it for those who need Intensive Care treatment, and still may not survive?

Hey man, it's been a tough year! Last summer we were sheltering inside unable to go anywhere due to bushfire smoke and flames, then there were floods that Barry O caused then we all got locked down for weeks because of covid. Tis nice to put that all behind for a bit and lie in the golden Wollongong sand and go for a splash in the Sth Pacific Ocean. Except for all the sharks and stuff.

Sorry, I just find it self-indulgent clickbait. Really can't abide it.

Afternoon awl, No issues with the editor, at least not yet. Recently I haven't bothered to sign out/in to RMW, I don't know if that's made any difference. It's quite a bit warmer now, the snow is melting at a fair old pace and making walking a lot less treacherous. A resupply trip was made earlier, originally due Friday but rescheduled as we couldn't get off the drive due to the snow & ice. The roads and supermarket were both very busy at 10.00, sadly the latter was full of covidiots treating masks as fashion accessories rather than useful tools to stop the spread of the pestilence. However, on the plus side, a Lemon Drizzle Cake 'kit' purchased. ("Come in Mr Bear, I have been expecting you..."). I thought it was time to sample this notorious delicacy. The G word invoked a bit later as it didn't feel like the North Pole had been resited to the back garden any more, cleared away some of the damage caused by the snow. I saw the first of our snowdrops had emerged, maybe half a dozen in bloom. Various spring flowers, bluebells, whitebells, crocuses, garlic and others, were showing increasing amounts of greenery. For both general and specific reasons it's felt like a long winter. It may not be over for a while but these horticultural signals always feel like the light at the end of the tunnel. And it helps keep the dark canine at bay. If anyone's interested, I collect seeds of some flowers and have some spare. I can't send outside the UK, Customs get a bit antsy about biological material, but if anyone wants any seeds for the price of postage, PM me. I have seeds for Aquilegia, Foxgloves, Garlic Mustard, Iberis, Love in a Mist, Ribwort, Toadflax (purple), Sweet Peas, Welsh Poppies and Whitebells. And now it's time to prepare for the requisite daily medical check:

Rowlands Castle was mentioned earlier. A beautifully-crafted layout. A certainly well-packed troop train.............. I think this is an example where, in response to a post, I can dip into my photo library and find something relevant. It illustrates a point made.