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Blue Monday - A Look At Our Rail Blue Deltics! Hi everyone, Firstly just a quick note to say thank you for all your comments and feedback over the weekend! It's another significant milestone for us here at Accurascale and we're delighted after some highs and lows in our Deltic development that we are now at decoration stage. We would like to thank you all for your input, but also patience and support since we announced these beasts. It's been much appreciated by us all. Right, let's get to some rail blue goodness! Last Friday we released pictures of our first decorated sample of our new Deltic locomotives, the always controversial Porterbrook Purple 9016 "Gordon Highlander" While it went down a treat with many, we have had numerous requests to publish photos in more 'traditional' liveries (well, some of the requests used language as colourful as 9016 itself to describe it!) We may have missed the official Blue Monday by a couple of weeks, but here is some reasons to be cheerful as we bring you a preview of the BR blue samples we received. Please also note that these are hand assembled samples, so fit and finish is not what it will be on the production models you will receive. Areas like the engine room windows, handrails etc will be vastly improved for the production models. There are some parts missing too and corrections to be made to decoration samples. The paint finish on these models also requires improvement which will be implemented on the finished models. However, we are quite happy with our shades of blue and yellow, as well as the quality of the printing so far. We couldn't resist producing the sliver machine 55 022 with its unique front footstep and large silver embellishments. We have a great fondness for BR Blue with Finsbury Park inspired white cabs, so 55 018 was also selected for assessment. There are some detail issues which will be amended on the production models, such as the filled in quarterlights. Both locos have been among the top sellers in our Deltic range and gave us enough information to be able to sign off on all Rail Blue locomotives. We also received decorated body shells for the rest of the blue locomotives which have also been assessed. We are offering an array of BR Blue Deltics, covering their careers on the national network, from pre-TOPS numbering, to plated over headcodes and all in between! Check out the website for the full banger blue range: https://accurascale.co.uk/collections/class-55-deltic/locomotive-class_class-55-deltic+era_br-blue? Tomorrow is the unveiling of the Green machines, so make sure you keep a look out for them! Cheers, Fran

Just had news of a an old and very dear friend. He was rushed into hospital this morning with covid-19 and has also suffered a stroke. The outlook is not good, he is 97 years old and extremely frail and all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Sitting, coaled, ready for the off once the brass cab side number arrives! The Earl of Cawdor, or what is now referred to as 3203, a 4-4-0 outside frame loco made by Bachmann and fully DCC operational - in fact I would go as far to say its the best runner I have. Nickname the Dukedog but known as the Earl Class it was rebuilt by the GWR using the boiler from the Duke class and the frames from the Bulldog class, 30 of these where reconstructed between 1936 -39. A lovely hybrid loco for LM which will be seen for years to come. Complete repaint, real coal added, crew in attendance and with the addition of a stored canvas cover on the roof complete with tensioners it was obtained a while ago off a well known auction site but work was slow as I decided to finish a few other projects before commencing another one. I officially introduce 3203 though you have seen the odd snippets where people questioned why didn't I see the loco...... I have left the old number ghosting through the new paint so it is easier to line up the new plates - in case you where wondering.

Quite plausible I think, there is documentation of at least one similar incident... Lovely pigeon van Kevin, will suit the layout very well I think.

More photos from visits to Carlisle over the years for today. Carlisle 47533 Leeds to Carlisle May 90 J10946.jpg Carlisle 47606 and 31120 April 87 J8804.jpg Carlisle from right to left 85038 up l e and 47407 l e and Class 108 to Whitehaven and Class 47 Stranraer to Euston Sept 87 J9235.jpg Carlisle 86247 and 86226 Euston to Carlisle 14th March 92 C16725.jpg Carlisle 87019 Euston to Glasgow May 90 J10966.jpg David

This date 5 years ago (no snow, just windy)

A Peckett.

Evening All, Firstly Happy Birthdays to ChrisF’s aunties, hope the manage to enjoy their day. Cousin, the COVID idiot has been doing her best. Her mum’s definitely not having the vaccine and I think mil has decided against it. Mils been spouting off about something she’s seen on tv, in particular the Andrew Marr show. I hadn’t seen it when I saw mil this afternoon so couldn’t really contradict what she said she heard but knew what she was saying was a load off cobblers. Anyway went home and watched programme on the i player and either she’s not listened or understood it. I think she may have been talking to cousin or neighbors. she’s going on about 22k patients in a sample of 100k have suffered serious side effects with the Oxford AZ vaccine but only two people in 100k with the Pfizer jab. Don’t know where she’s got this info from. She’s even saying now that you can’t believe what’s on Harry’s death certificate.Cousin has convinced her mother that she will catch the virus from vaccine and will end up in hospital and will die there. FFS. Bil is getting irate and SWMBO is not rising to the bate. I think the only reason she’s not pestering me is that she doesn’t have my mobile number but bil says he can soon rectify that. I’m not sure I can convince cousin that what she is reading isnt scientifically based but if pushed I’ll bag my head against the brick wall. On a more positive note I managed to get a second VAT return off today. Weather been cold, especially in the wind but been dry. And for tomorrow, who knows, goodnight. Robert

Cheers all. This deffo was a, shall we say, unique shift I had. It's almost impossible to describe what tram driving in such severe conditions was like, but an icebreaker ramming through pack ice may be the closest equivalent. There were a couple of nail-biting situations involved, too, such as having to pass intersections at Stop with appropriate caution in order not to get stuck! I'll just leave you with a couple of impressions for now. Services have again been suspended following a number of trams effectively getting stuck when they attempted to sortie in the early morning, and I'm told there have been several derailments as well - none of them with injuries, thankfully. If you ask me, I was, shall we say, stunned to see trams and buses preparing for sortie when we returned shortly after 0400, given our experience. Yeah, I understand the desire to provide at least minimum services, but frankly, I could see how that would end...

Not going to disturb the ballast today. Bit too cold.

HEALTH WARNING, VIEWERS OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION SHOULD LOOK AWAY NOW Whilst sorting out some photos for another thread I came across this specimen. What do you call a group of ER's. For various reasons a group of us met for lunch one day in the Princess of Shoreditch for a pub lunch. For the newer members of ER's here's a picture of what, for some very obscure reason was called "The Brains Trust" From Left to right, Flavio (Il Dottore), Chrisf, John (Bok Stein), Yours truly, Bill (BBishop), Mike (The Stationmaster) and Ian (Roundhouse). The table decoration is a chimbley for Green Ayre that Flavio had built and brought over from Switzerland for me. The date was the 11th November 2016. Jamie

@J. S. Bach As the good doctor said it is a position in rugby. The hooker binds in the front row of the scrum between 2 props. Here are some pretty pictures of hookers to assist in identification. This is a prop: Hope this helps

Vest, shorts and a whole lot more!!! Even the Little Hotties came out to play today which is rare. Multiple layers on top of the thermals is normally enough. Not snowing heavily here but regular flurries of the fine-powder polar variety. Enough of that lying about being idle (as only snow can) to look dramatic in the wind gusts. Great clouds of white airborne powder perhaps akin to a storm in a flour-mill. However I am pleased to report that not a single delay has been attributable to the morning's weather and with one exception (caused by a driver going sick at the last moment) the entire service which was planned to run has done so. I gather our colleagues on Sarfeastern and the Green Train Railway have not been as lucky. Now home, unwrapped and thawed out post-lunch. Awaiting several parcels from the Rain Forest Company and others. A new bathroom cabinet is among them and will require the attention of a whammer and screw-persuader to assemble. I'll let you know how I rate on the GDB-scale when A&E has finished with me

No locomotive this snowy morning. We have a close up of a Gresley triplet restaurant car, the work of an exceedingly clever duck, and which has at long last had its roof properly painted.

Peckett.

Building wise, thoughts are now turning to the timber buildings for Lambton. However, prior to return it to its box, Outwool big office was plonked on Bleat for an image under layout lighting. Rob.

Bear admires your self restraint and calmness in the face of adversity. Faced with a similar situation Bear would most definitely offend Cousin. Should the worst happen to mil (and of course I hope it never does) then cousin will have something to think about... It's white outside, though not nearly enough to build a Snow Bear I feel a phone call to JL approaching rapidly (they open at 8) to report the missing cooker hood chimney; the box doesn't appear to have been opened and resealed at any time so the error must've most likely happened at the Neff factory. Then it's filling walls (which is ok) but then of course Bear will then be faced with some sanding of filler no doubt (that's not ok). Bear will try his very hardest to get the filler nice and smooth right at the outset..... Bear is struggling with a problem. After coving & painting the ceiling I'd ideally like to be priming, sealing & lining the walls (with Wallrock) and painting them. However..... I can't have the primer-sealer & paper where wall tiles are to be fitted.....I can't fit the wall tiles until the worktops & upstands are fitted......which of course require the base unit cabinets to be fitted..... Whilst I can have a pretty good idea where the tiles will go (and paper accordingly) it'll not be an exact science. There are one or two areas that don't have tiles so can be papered, also some areas where the paper ends behind a wall cabinet can be done. The idea of working on a step ladder above newly fitted (and expensive) cabinets and worktops to fit wallpaper doesn't fill me with glee. Ponder mode engaged but struggling....

Ey up! Why does the back up battery in mains powered fire alarms always run out in the middle of the night? PAH! New battery now fitted. No point trying to convince coviduots.. but peryaps we just need to say.. when you catch it.. tough...but that is a simplistic view from and engineer. Proble,m is some people only hear what they want to hear .. the mantra is.." no vaccine means you will die a horrible death".. why should the NHS have to support these people? In other news..it has snowed..well enough to cover the pavements to a depth of about one snowflake. I have a trip to the opticians planned this morning (cornea thickness tests and to collect my new giglamps. A couple of Zoooooom meetings for later in the day.. but first.. a mugatea!! Stay safe, try and grab Monday and get the best for you from it! Positive thoughts to all ERs. Baz

Bear's ex-neighbours were of a similar opinion - they were both in the Met at Enfield, and lived in Enfield. The hubby said that wasn't a good idea so move they did - and got Bear next-door instead.... Sounds like a plan.... Bear is a numpty, a bozo, a dimwit...... A little light bulb appeared inside Bear's bonce whilst filling the walls - I suddenly wondered about the packing inside the cooker hood box - more specifically about the large U-shaped cardboard tray that was conspicuous by it's emptiness and lack of chimney. "I wonder...." thinks Bear.....and a mission to do a double-take ensued.....the cardboard tray was double-walled, and nestled invisibly inside this double wall was.....a chimney So Bear isn't short of anything after all, except perhaps a brain cell or two. I would like to offer up the fact that Neff do nothing to point this out - however Bear has lifted this cardboard tray out of the box and back in again, and didn't think that the cardboard seemed unusually heavy. Bear diagnoses a severe lack of LDC as the cause - send help, urgently - before it's too late.....

And G'day all, It's rather nippy out there but high cloud and a low temprerature plus the wind mean it's generally dry underfoot although some hald f hearted little snowflakes are trying to make an impact on the scene (and not succeeding). As it happens I know quite well the chap who called in with the 'wrong kind of snow' comment and it didn't do his career any harm at all as he became Director of Operations at the BRB and subsequently Managing Director of one of the privatised rail operations companies. And as Johnny has already said there is indeed 'the wrong kind of snow' and if you are a rail operator it can be a right blasted nuisance. We had major problems with it in the late 1990s when the fine powdery stuff got into our trains and when the internal temperature in various equipment areas rose the snow mettled and the electronics began to play up or fail leaving trains stranded in the Channel Tunnel. The belt of snow extended into northern France and SNCF suffered exactly the same problems as us plus the same wider problems that BR had suffered leading to the original comment made on 'Any Answers'. Our trains were modified with additional (seasonal fit) snow shields which solved the problem but that lesson was forgotten after various people retired and the organisation was slimmed considerably so exactly the same thing happened again early in this century which led to me giving evidence the person who had been charged with investigating why it had happened. There are various well established techniques for dealing with snow on railway infrastructure but they are all based around the behaviour of 'wet' snow and its propensity to refreeze after it has been cleared/melted. Powder snow is far worse to deal with because it can far too readily get into equipment and if it then melts (even without refreezing) it can wreak havoc that you can't see plus you need the right sort of kit to clear it in the first place. Fortunately it is relatively rare in Britain. Right onwards and upwards (more likely only up the pages on RMweb). Have a good day and stay safe.

About -2 here....

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple hare, 1 hours sleep, 2 hours awake, 3 hours asleep, wake with pain from right knee, pink pills taken, 1 hours semi dozing.. I',m Knackered.. Cold? too right is is.. Ben the playful Collie wanted to play games out there... No chance.. the wind has dropped to 47mph and it's still snowing.. -2C that's a combined "feels like" of -12C Went to Land Rover 110 Not a Defender , to drive in to work... Click... yep and that was it.. I suspect the battery has decided it doesn't like the cold.. So the car was used to drive into work, no real problem, except the usual mix of exceedingly slow drivers in snow and the guided missiles at stupid speeds. As it was the journey in took an hour instead of forty minutes. The snow is 1/2 inch on the roads at home, to maybe 2 inches in Norwich. The big problem is the frozen puddles which are covering up to half the road under the snow, causing a sudden loss of traction.. The south of the county has more problems, the A47 being closed at Gorleston which will cause chaos.. One of the guys lives there, very near the closure, as his wife works at the James Paget Hospital.. I doubt we'll see him today.. The outer lab move today , that's their storage area and possibly their desks, back to the section of building that has been re ceilinged. The section of 5 desks that I belong to , start moving tomorrow, by which time I hope to have finished this temperature meter. We will be moving to the new area permanently, with the reduced number of Engineering staff. When musical chairs have finished, another subsidiary is joining us on site, to fill the vacant space, they have two sites in the UK both over towards Hippoland. whether it is one or both sites heading this way I have no idea.. During the typing of this, 10 measurements have been taken in the last hour , another 34 till thie pre adjustment figures are completed.. Time to ... take another one.

Greetings one and all There is snow, but only a dusting. If it stays like that I shall be relatively happy, for I need to venture out later to fetch my meds and to buy my lottery tickets. Something tells me that we have not seen the last of it, the something being the five day forecast on Radio 4 presented this morning by Nick Miller. Thanks one and all for the birthday greetings for my aunts. Having checked with cousin 88C yesterday I now know when their birthday actually is - Thursday 11th February. It is a date that I have always had trouble in remembering. It doesn't help that the dear ladies had a grand official 90th birthday at the end of March 2014 which does tend to stick in the mind. I may have more to say on the day itself. The cluckbird was duly roasted yesterday. Some of it was devoured and the rest dismantled prior to inclusion in future meals. I happen to have a jar of rogan josh sauce which could come in handy. I am no aficionado of curry as such, mostly due to cowardice. Some curry houses are reputed to add spices with a shovel rather than the recommended pinch, which tells you how much I know. After some timid experimentation over the years I have found that I can cope with korma but the higher octane stuff is a closed book and I am wary of subjecting my alimentary canal to it. The downside is, of course, that I miss out on some social opportunities. There is probably a very simple solution. Kill or cure, perhaps? Best wishes to all Chris

I have had the AZ vaccine in the right arm and then 2 hours later sister drac came and took to phials of blood from left arm

Moaning all <yawn> Saturday very effectively eliminated the first suspect from our latest murder mystery! Yay for an intrepid team of investigators across Zoom Sunday a different day, Mrs had some carp likely related to ingested comestibles, had her laid low a fair amount of the day Me, continued with the sinus carp that had also kept me awake from the early hours. Net result less than the usual NOTHING accomplished all day Not that we'd have ventured anywhere given the weather, anyway! Today - working, let's see how the Long Island client ramps up for the year-end audit - I can hardly wait... Mrs off for some physio on her continuing knee travails. COLD... PAH, hold my beer -> -25 but sunny, getting the newspaper this AM, will reach a heady -17 later before descending to -25 overnight! It's into the rare temperatures where you can take a boiling mug/pan of water outside and throw it in the air, all vaporizing almost immediately! YouTube has examples! Stay safe and warm

Wrong kind of snow. An erstwhile colleague who made a name for himself trekking across the Arctic and Antarctic struggled occasionally when the snow/ice was too cold. The interface between ski and ice would normally be expect to melt, reducing friction. Too cold and melting didn't happen, and the work rate would go up. He used to come back 3/4 starved. A dusting of snow here. Time to defrost the bird water bath And a small parcel has arrived which will add a certain je ne sais quoi to my layout. And by that I mean I'm not sure what it will add quite yet.

I spoke to my sister last night. She is, and has been for a while giving vaccines. Finished at 8pm yesterday. Starting another 7 day week this morning. Hasn't been able to visit our mum for weeks. Sometimes I feel like punching those ignoring rules or pushing the boundaries.

Oh well, the surgery won't let me speak to the GP about meds, as they 'don't take requests over the phone'. The fact I want to discuss possible changes, and two others aren't on the Patient Access on-line renewal system don't count, apparently. I have to put it in the Patient Access request box. But that has a limit of 200 characters - space to say nothing basically. Temper tried this morning, we'll see what happens. Pah! Nice to see Kelly pop by, sorry to hear Richard is struggling to get his dates sorted. This damn virus (that allegedly doesn't exist - pah again!). Covidiots are waste of precious oxygen. Also good to see Jamie's photo of the Brains Trust (I wouldn't be able to attend, being a small bear of little brain), I do like to put names to faces being a people person, although do understand when folk don't wish to be identified. Used to be like that myself when I worked in the criminal justice system. I have only met Mike of that crew, but I'm sure we'd all get on.

Morning all. It didn’t snow overnight but has recently restarted. Even so the total snowfall is less than a cm. Much less than other parts of Essex. It will remain below freezing all day so perhaps not a good day to go for a walk on slippery pavements. I will have to go out tomorrow for my Covid jab, but it isn’t far, well within my present walking range. Tony

Cold but bright here in North Somerset. Bedroom thermometer said 9.8C when I got up. Maybe I should have stayed under the duvet? The best pasty I had was bought in St Mary's, Isles Of Scilly - but as for the thick pastry rim around the side, they are supposed to be like that. The traditional pasty eaters, Cornish tin miners, would hold the pasty by the rim until they had eaten the contents and then throw the rim away, because of all the pollutants on their fingers. There is such a thing as the wrong kind of snow, technically snow grains, and it gets everywhere especially if it is windy at the same time. I remember it getting through my car's radiator grille on winter in the 1980s. There were no drifts around the car, but on opening the bonnet I found the entire engine compartment full of snow. I had deliberately parked with the back of the car into the wind, but somehow the swirling eddies had brought the snow in from the opposite direction. Big snowflakes only occur when the humidity is high and the smaller flakes stick together as they are falling, or if there are really active showers and the flakes keep getting caught in the updraught and collide with each other many times before emerging from the cloud. It is amazing how the disappearing wood pigeons have made instant changes to the bird feeding hierarchy. Collared Doves have re-appeared and a couple of blackbirds are now braving the food tray. The robin is now a regular visitor. The BTO weekly garden birdwatch has published Autumn 2020 and Wood Pigeons are now the bird most commonly recorded in gardens taking part in the scheme. Second place is Blue Tit and third, Robin. Sadly, Song Thrush is now 24th on the list and only seen in 9% of gardens, thanks mainly to slug pellets.

Good moaning from the Charente where it is not raining for once. A very good day was had yesterday, the cluck bird was roasted and accompanied by some nice veg. Our dinner guest had brought her two rescue dogs, Archie and Rosa with her and they were their usual delightful selves. She also brought a large trifle with her that was in danger of going off, at least that was our excuse for 2nd helpings. She has been told that she can come for dinner again. Of course with the 6pm curfew, evening meals are no longer possible with friends. After Tina and the dogs had gone the clearing up was done and then I had a pleasant hour and a half in the shed. After that it was TV time. Today I have the deep joy of the ironing to look forward to so may have to console myself with more shed time after that. Kelly, I hope that Richard gets sorted soon, sight is a very important sense. Richard, I wish you luck and patience with your cousin. I better not say anything more on the subject. Regards to all. Jamie

Morning all. Hope everyone is well? if not, best wishes and speedy recoveries as appropriate. This morning wasn't quite as cold as expected in Nuneaton when taking Richard to work at around 6am. However, by the time we got to Daventry, it was -1c and snowing fairly heavily (0c and no sign of much snow in Nuneaton/past Coventry). Getting out of the car park at his work was 'fun', all I'll say is I was glad of the stability management at one point. Hopefully by the time I return this evening to collect him (assuming it doesn't snow here in the meantime of course) they'll have gritted the car park and DIRFT roads... On the subject of Richard. Tomorrow was provisionally supposed to be his cataract surgery date, but I'm doubtful that'll happen as he was supposed to be told to go get a covid test 3 days prior when they've got a confirmed date. Of course, understandable that it isn't likely to happen what with the pressures on the NHS, etc, but equally understandable how fed up he is not being able to see to do one of his favourite things - reading -, though he can at least see to watch TV, which is still an improvement over pre-retina surgery in August. Positives however small and all that. Anyway, now to have a cuppa and some toast and look at doing a bit more UPDate related DTP whilst I'm awake. Hope everyone's day proves to be a nice one.

Vest and shorts? I thought it was Neil who was from the North East.

Another one for Chris F.... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-08/sa-freeway-koala-rescue/13132506 Cheers from a cold wet WestOz, Peter C.

Awake at stupid o'clock (again) so cuppa time after 2hrs trying to go back to sleep. I'm tired and somewhat dischuffed and I really feel like saying what I think about covidiots and vaccine deniers. However, discretion is the better part etc. Hopefully I will manage a few more minutes shut eye before the 07:00 alarm call and the start of this week's circus. Hope that today brings nice things for one and all.

Since posting earlier this morning, Nuneaton has had a spattering of snow , which quickly melted. Poppy is happily snoring away on the bed (I can hear her from the office across the landing!)

yes.. and Grandad Don was a lovely gentleman..another Sheffield Collegiate Stalwart. New glasses obtained and new lenses fitted into the old frames. These are designed to allow me to see to solder items of a metal nature together when place underneath a layer of ply. So I should no longer fall over backwards trying to get the right angle of dangle to see! Snow Flurries hers.. mighty cold.. Beast likes All Wheel Drive in the snow.. I like the heated seats and steering wheel. Time for coffee! Baz

Bear phoned JL at dead on 8am and got straight through to a Customer Services Adviser. Twenty-five minutes - and 3 people later - they need to talk to Neff (who don't open until 9am) and get back to me. All very helpful people though.

I truly despair of Covidiots, and especially the ones that ended up getting a Mountain Rescuer seriously injured or PREACH their beliefs to the old and most vulnerable. Monday morning Rant over, have a good day, one and all.

Morning all Snow here too. Not that much, but difficult to tell because of the wind. In places there is barely a dusting but where it has blown to, it is deeper. On Saturday evening one of the house circuit breakers tripped. I checked to see if anything had ‘blown’ to cause it but there was nothing obvious. Discovered that it was the cooker element when we went to cook Sunday dinner. Pah! was not expressive enough. Valerie is convinced that we should upgrade and buy a new oven. I am going to set about repairing it today although local sources of a replacement seem to be closed.

Big lie-in - done. Bought some stuff on ebay - done. Listed some stuff on ebay. Sunday roast - done. Superbowl LV - done. A good day. Off to bed - up in less than 5 hours.............

I’ve seen a news article a few weeks ago that says Saga cruises will only allow passengers who ave been vaccinated. Not sure how that can be verified.

I've just read that the boxer Amir Khan has bought his son a £30,000 Rolex watch for his 1st birthday present and posted it on Instagram!!!! Now Mr. Khan may possibly do lots of good for charity etc, I don't know but I do know that flaunting your wealth like that at a time when so many people are having a terrible time losing family, friends and jobs is just plain wrong. Quite frankly it sickens me. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/amir-khan-criticised-over-30000-19790069

About 50 years ago, I went with the local scouts to visit the Pedigree Petfoods factory at Melton Mowbray. On our tour, the production manager took us through their massive cold storage area and explained that most of what they used was originally for human consumption but for one reason or another had past its sell by date. He kept taking various tins off the line and gave them to us to carry - we then went into the canteen for tea and biscuits, and he opened all of the tins to show what was in each one and the consistency of the product. Some were in jelly and stood upright and others were in gravy and slumped all over the plate. He then said that Wiskas with Pilchards was his favourite and started eating it ! He said that as he knew exactly what went into their products he was quite happy eating any of them. As part of his job he visited many food factories but there were numerous items he wouldn't eat as he had seen how it was made. Why not surprise them by sending a letter . . . . . ? .

Morning all from Estuary-Land. When I went to bed last night it was just starting to snow again. It was the very fine snow and where the damp road surfaces had turned to ice it was polishing them nicely. This morning there was a thin covering of snow over everything including the 'polished' ice. I won't be going out today thats for sure.

Morning, a good nights kip and feeling much better, it's been snowing and we currently have a "white out" and some daft person wants to go out for a walk in it, I am just stepping outside and may be gone for sometime................(though I do intend to return as I am no hero).

Good morning everyone The skies are blue, there are very few clouds around, the sun is shining, the temperature is 0C and there’s quite a stiff breeze, so it’ll probably feel a lot colder than 0C out there. We've had a little bit of snow, but there’s so little of it you can hardly see it, but it’s there, it the spaces between the paving on the patio and tiles on the the workshop roof! It reminds me very much of a cake that’s been dusted with icing sugar. The plan for today is to make a start with painting the chairs, they’ll both need 2 coats of primer/undercoat and 2 coats of topcoat, so they’ll probably take the best part of this week to complete. Once there done though, they can be moved elsewhere and not clutter up the cellar! Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Woooooohoooooo........it’s snowed..... .......sorry for that outburst. But it is finally cold and dry, not cold and wet. Might not sound like a great deal of difference but personally it can make the difference between where I can breathe properly or not. So it got below freezing last night in this part of East Sussex, so that the few flakes of snow ( not snow flakes....we’ve millions of them)..didn’t melt. Nothing that the good old Land Rover Defender can’t deal with though, providing it decides I need to go out to work today. The few little flakes of snow that we have had are like dust, which reminds me of a year or two into my BR employment, the infamous corporate suicide statement...”It the Wrong Sort of Snow”. Poor bloke I wonder if he ever lived it down? Out with the tamper today doing some S&C tamping, if the crew can get in. Will send a photo if I get a chance....or more importantly there is anything like a signal out in the boomdocks. Have a great day all......and remember “Let’s be careful out there”.

Oh, absolutely! However, one could argue that as they are already paranoid about being controlled by whomever, then we should satisfy their fantasies and really give them something to be paranoid about. The whole purpose of the exercise would not be to convince the diehard anti-vaxxers that they are wrong, but to stop them from spreading their poison to the undecided and the uncertain. Idiots will be idiots, no matter what. But what I really liked about your post was the tribute to your dog. It did bring a tear to my eye. They may be gone, but they are never forgotten. Shouldn’t that be “I’ll bang her head against the brick wall?“ Some very intriguing posts about “mystery meat“ in ready-to-eat produce. Which makes me thankful that I rarely, if ever, eat ready made meals. To be honest, if I was desperately hungry I would eat one of the tins of dog food that I buy for the Wolfpack. The reason being, having researched how they make petfood (Lucy sometimes has a sensitive stomach, so we need to be careful about what goes into her meals), I have found that the quality control of the meat they use and the sort of meat they use to be better than what is permitted in human food (if you don’t believe me, just google what goes in to an allowed-for-humans “meat product“ I think you’ll be horrified). Okay, petfood is mostly offal (and some of the types of offal used are rarely consumed nowadays by humans outside of a haggis or a traditional fagg0t), but it’s a mile away from the reclaimed meat that they blast off bones with high-pressure water jets for use in “meat products“. Having tried some of the Wolfpack's food, I do find that there are two drawbacks with them: firstly, they are not seasoned at all and secondly, they are sometimes gritty - presumably due to the bone meal added to the mix. There is one brand, however, that with a bit of judicious seasoning and a tiny bit of alcohol could pass for a human designated Pâté, so good is the base product. Up early this morning, unfortunately due to pain in various bits of my slowly a decomposing corpus.. But now the Voltaren seems to be working so I will have me a bit of a snooze before getting ready to work. Enjoy Monday iD