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The start of another day in the back streets of Little Muddle.....

Church Lane crossing on the Great Eastern just to the north east of Ingatestone on the way to Chelmsford. The first 4 photos are Dad's, he and Mum must have been spending a weekend with me. In the 70s when I ived in Essex it was a very pleasant spot to spend part of a Saturday taking photos. Church Lane Crossing 309608 Clacton to Liverpool St Apr 75 J4262 Church Lane Crossing 306019 down Apr 75 J4264 Church Lane Crossing Class 37 down Apr 75 J4265 Church Lane Crossing Class 47 Norwich to Liverpol St Apr 75 J4266 Church Lane crosing Class 309 Clacton to Liverpool St 5th May 80 C5053

Does that help?

Good morning all, Dry start with patches of blue sky. Sunny spells and showers seem to be on offer for today. 5°C rising to 13°C. Yep, I'm back after a bit of an absence although I have lurked but not felt like posting. Unfortunately it looks like you'll have to put up with my drivel once more so here we go. Thursday means bins, one lorry today and Ocado which leads me on to Ken's query: After years of using Sainsburys (The Boss worked for them for 38 years and still gets a discount) we got fed up with increasing substitutions and a decrease in quality so in January we switched to Ocado on the recommendation of other family members and friends. Since then we've only had 2 subs which were perfectly acceptable and had no problems at all with quality. Lots of M & S products available as well as their own and brand names and yes they are more a bit more expensive but we haven't got a problem with that. They do do a price comparison with Tesco and most weeks we get a small voucher for those products that are a bit dearer. (Varies from a few pence to 3 or 4 pound note coins). The Boss was a confirmed Sainsbury fan but has no intention of going back to them apart from the occasional rare visit to the store for one or two of their products we do like...I have a particular fondness for their TTD Bitter Seville Marmalade. Oh and she still has one or two old workmates there so likes to catch up with them. Talking of Herself she felt really rough all day yesterday after our Covid booster and is still not firing on all cylinders. I on the other hand am my usual "happy" self. Time to gettamoveon if I want some breakfast before Ocado arrive. Have a good one, Bob.

Revolution offers WIA car carriers in 00 and N Revolution Trains is offering the imposing WIA 5-piece articulated car carriers (UIC code: Sefoorss) as its next wagon model in both OO and N. CAD work is complete and once sufficient orders are reached tooling will begin. 60 five-piece sets were ordered by Railfreight Distribution from Arbel-Fauvet of France ahead of the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994. The full covering not only offered protection from stones and theft, but also saved time and money because new vehicles did not require wax protection. Although impossible to see from the outside, the units are double-decked and the pale blue covers are raised in unison on self-contained jacks to allow easy loading and unloading. The characteristic angled roof profile is designed to maximise use of the British loading gauge. The WIAs were initially under-utilised, however they operated on various flows to Belgium, Italy and France, and also on domestic traffic between manufacturing plants and domestic terminals or docks for export. Current flows include Minis from Cowley and Jaguars from Castle Bromwich to Southampton Docks. The Revolution model features articulation units designed to enable the wagons to negotiate Radius 2 curves and the customer-fit detailing pack includes a representation of the outer control box if the tension-lock coupler is removed. Revolution’s Ben Ando says: “Transporting motor vehicles has long been an important traffic for the railway, and since we’ve already produced the Cartic-4s and IPAs in both OO and N, it makes sense for us to ‘complete the set’ car carriers.” Revolution’s Mike Hale said: “We’d like to thank DB Cargo for their assistance with this model, and it should be noted that these wagons allow modellers to depict fully-loaded car trains without the need to buy any model cars!”

A very momentous day today! My County tank 4-4-2T brought its first train into Henley-on-Thames today. Given at one point, it struggled to pull its own weight, I am very pleased to get this far! Work this morning included adjusting the rear of the loco which had settled at 2mm too low, then adding a Kadee coupling box onto the rear post truck. Whereupon it could bring three carriages into platform 2. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the progress. I now need to reinstall the stay-alive, which I removed a while ago as it was so bulky when I was taking the loco body off etc. Then fit some crew and coal. Probably the last job will be some springing on that rear Pony truck.

Aboyeur again, just a little futher along. and one from the other side. A much better impression of the length of the layout, a bit more light where it is needed, so why don't I stick with photos from this side? Probably because there are so many lattices to deal with, and the south end can be a pain when photoshopping if the light is less than perfect.

I mentioned yesterday I quite enjoy dropping into one of the many stations to see the trains and take a few snaps here in Brussels and people were horrified and reacted like I was going for a walk in the Gaza strip. Gare du Midi has always been a bit problematic once you leave the station (it's a dodgy area) but they were telling me it's now really dodgy inside and not just Gare du Midi, a lot of violent crime, theft etc. However I still enjoy watching trains and so took the risk. Something which is disappointing is the graffiti, which is pervasive. Maybe it's the Singapore effect (you don't see graffiti in Singapore, any budding 'street artists' might do it once) but it just seems everywhere and it isn't even artistic. I'll admit even as something that detests graffiti some of it does display genuine talent but the graffiti everywhere here is just awful.

I feel I need to highlight that the Kernow bogies are fitted with heavy duty axle boxes. These axle boxes were designed heavy vehicles such as 70 ft Dreadnoughts, Concertinas rail motors, and bogie bolsters wagons etc that carried extra weight. They were not commonly used on siphons and shorter toplights, where the more common and familiar OK GWR OK axle boxes were used. Once the Collett heavy duty bogies started to appear many coaches were rebogied and the Fish belly and Americans with the heavy duty axle boxes were pooled and reused. I suggest you check photographs to see where they were redeployed. I only have only found two siphon images and a couple of toplights showing them being used. They were clearly being used but not in great numbers. Heavy duty axle box General service OK axle box This is the only image I have of an early siphon with the Heavy duty axle boxes. Note the rod truss underframe. Mike Wiltshire

Good morning from high above Cardiff. Brains country and we finished off with a pint of Brains Dark last night. Looks like a changeable day ahead with dark clouds blooming.

Morning, from a damp, showery rock that is a mere 8c. Disappointing. No great agenda today after yesterday's exertions, a trip to the post off ice (in the village shop) is about as exciting as it is going to get. I'll try to find something creative to do later. Our Belgian friend doesn't live in Belgium for a good reason, he says!

A Cockney is doing well on "Who wants to be a Millionaire" and he's got £500,000. Chris Tarrant asks him the big question. " For £1million, who was the great train robber? Was it: A, Ronnie Barker... B, Ronnie O'Sullivan... C, Ronnie Corbett or D, Ronnie Biggs?" The Cockney says "I'll take the money please Chris." Chris reminds him that he still has his 3 life-lines left. Cockney replies "I'll just take the money Chris." "You don't want to phone a friend or ask the audience? Not even a fifty fifty?" asks Chris. "No thanks, I'll just take the money Chris" "OK" says Chris, looking bemused "Give him a round of applause ladies and gentlemen, he goes away with £500,000, however before you go you'll obviously want to know what the answer is." Cockney said "No thanks Chris. I knew the answer." "You knew it anyway! Are you mad? Why didn't you answer it?" asks Chris Cockney says, "I might be many things Chris....but I ain't no grass."

I managed to keep myself occupied on occasions whilst I was absent and spent some time in The Shed. I'll just claim that I was decorating it and putting up some new blinds. Anything else in the photos just happens to be there by coincidence. 😂 I better go and hide now.

Don't apologise Bob , your drivel is no better or worse than anyone else's . 😎 In the past when someone seems to go AWOL I have looked back at content around the time to try and work out out if they are just taking a break or whether someone has annoyed then and they have taken there ball and gone home . you seemed to fit the first option . I did at one time post a bit more frequently but my miserable existence varies so little I gave up , now I just follow and chime in from time to time .

Got to the hospital at 0725 for a 0730 admission. It's now coming up to 0910 and I'm still waiting. It looks as if I'm number four in a queue of four. They seen to be dealing with those who require a GA first. Hospital chairs are particularly bum numbing.

Simples, move to the Charente. The asparagus farm is open for direct sales now and they have a stall on the market on Sundays. I rather like Asparagus and there is a bag full in the fridge, however I hope you get your problem sorted. Beth is on her way to theatre soon, the washing is in and I've not done anything wrong so far today. I'm off visiting after lunch. Regards to all and of course Sundry. Jamie

To be frank if you are going to suggest anyone is telling lies you may find the engagement and willingness to provide ‘best efforts’ honest answers withdrawn.

The fountain outside City Hall, Cardiff, between the clubs and where the students lived, was a frequent victim. Back in the 70s when it was still fairly new, I had a flat in the middle of student territory, in Colum Road, and was walking home from Canton shed at about 03.00 one balmy summer night in 1976, passing through the subway under Boulevard de Nantes that comes up next to the fountains, which were switched off for the night by a timer mechanism. It was a pleasant warm night, great to have some respite from the relentless heat of the day, and I was enjoying the walk, more a stroll. As I passed through the subway, I noticed a small inspection hatch door, about 5 feet up on the right hand side and open. I’d never noticed it before, and, being the sort of cove that takes in interest in things if I’ve never noticed them before, I stopped to see what amazing piece of secret subway technology was in there that had to be concealed from the great unwashed by a door. It was a brass tap, well weathered and a bit battered. ‘What’, I wondered to myself, ‘would happen if I turned it on?’. I turned it on, and to my mild disappointment, water came out of it; I was expecting some sort of magical brew or something, water seemed most mundane, why would anyone hide that behind a door. ‘I suppose I’d better turn it off then’, I continued my internal discourse; as I say it was a warm night and getting a bit splashed held no terrors for a ruffytuffy Canton goods guard! It was at this point that my control over events slipped a little; the tap was jammed open and could not be turned off. A puddle of water was spreading because this was 1976, it hadn’t rained for months, and the subway drain was blocked with dust and rubbish, so I decided that the best thing to do was to leave it in case I made matters worse; if it was hidden behind a door, clearly it was not the business of the likes of me, unqualified to deal with it as I was. So that’s what I did, went home, had a shower, and went to bed to sleep the off-duty sleep of the just and the guiltless… Later in the day, refreshed and content, I had occasion to go back into town by the reciprocal of the same route. As I passed in front of the City Hall I noticed that the fountains were empty, and a group of council workmen were clearing up the last of the flood that had closed the subway during the morning rush hour. ‘Woz ‘appened yer, then?’, I asked one of them, with my best completely innocent face on. ‘Firkin’ stoodents innit, emptied the firkin’ fountains, dinnthey, ‘stards thinks it’s funny, firkin’ useless the lot of ‘em’, was the reply, prefacing a general rant about kids deze daze and how a spell of National Service would do ‘em all a bit of good, teach ‘em some respect &c &c (and how to blow things up), which all seemed reasonable enough. I still think of this every time I pass the spot, and smile inwardly…

We’re looking forward to attending Model World Live this coming weekend at the NEC - if you’re attending visit stand A30 to see the latest updates on our Class 60 project! Regards Cav

We used Ocado for six years Upon the Hill of Strawberries. Unique among British delivering "supermarkets" they do not own any physical stores meaning there is no human to pick your selection from the shelves and substitute what they think you might like if the preferred item is unavailable. They work from huge distribution centres and regional hubs. Our order sometimes came from Erith, sometimes from Bracknell, so not light on "food miles" but in the context of a van having perhaps 30 deliveries to make compared with perhaps as many car trips to a local supermarket it's still a reduction in vehicle mileage overall. Their centres are almost 100% automated using robots to pick your items from the vast stores. When you place an order your request is matched to stock on hand and stock expected prior to your booked delivery; it will show Out of Stock if they cannot offer the item for your delivery day and (in most cases) alternatives are suggested but you can pick which, if any, of those you would like. This means their substitution rate is very low compared with their competitors though you will sometimes find a substitution made on the day and which you can refuse at the door with credit given on the spot. We had very few outright missing items and only a few substitutions; fewer than one a week overall. Ocado were also quick to respond to the sudden spike in demand when Covid arrived and we stopped being comfortable shopping in person. They prioritised delivery slots to their regular customers and loyalty card holders could even book a guaranteed day and time once a week. Stocks of most items were reliable and their software was quick to respond to panic-buying and limit the quantities one could purchase of those critical items we all had difficulty finding for a time. We were very happy with them overall and would recommend them over any of the regular supermarket delivery services. It's a shame they don't come this far west; we are too far from their nearest hub these days but it's easier here than it was in London (!) to walk to the local supermarket and get mos or all of what we need.

Mooring Awl, 3.5 hours sleep, 3 hours sleep, but at least each section was solid. Ben was an hour early, but we went out on time, as he went back to his pit when told he was early. He had a good snuffle around, if slightly more slowly today. Dry , but for heavy dew, rain forecast later, not a lot of wind. The vet didn't call yesterday, have to call them this morning, as we'll need more pills for Ben. I've noticed more stuff from the house of strong ladies is arriving with the postie... Or not. The current parcel ordered Tuesday, arrived at Norwich sorting office at 05:09, 18:44, and 23:00 yesterday morning according to their tracker, still not sent to the local post office now.. so much for post office tracked 24 hour delivery. I see the post office are still playing games over the horizon.. https://www.centralfifetimes.com/news/national/24275626.judge-surprised-attempt-withhold-documents-subpostmasters-appeal/ Plans for today.. Spinny thingy , chase vet. Not necessarily in that order.

I used to have a 'travel counsellor' in my last job, it sounds very pretentious and just an inflated title for a travel agent but it was a great service. When things went well it was irrelevant but if things went wrong I had a contact and she'd arrange alternative flights, hotels, transfer taxis and everything, she could even wire money if my cards were refused. However, she wasn't cheap. That said, she was very good and any service and capability have a value so why shouldn't she be well rewarded if she offers something of value, I never begrudged her and miss her. My current role is all self managed travel, which removes that safety net (though there's a safety net in so far as there are arrangements to bail us out if we get properly stuck, but nothing like as simple) but I have to say I quite enjoy finding flights and if you don't mind doing a transfer business class isn't necessarily that much, especially if you're willing to use airlines less travelled in the western world. I was disappointed recently, Vietnam Airlines re-timed their LHR flight to depart Ho Chi Minh at breakfast time, it used to depart just after midnight so I could take the 8pm flight to Ho Chi Minh, have a relaxed transfer and head off, now it's too early to take the first flight of the day to Ho Chi Minh and staying overnight kind of defeats the point. However their in-flight service and seating in business class was excellent and S$3600 (£2000-ish) was excellent value. Something they could teach European airlines is that the two hour connection to Ho Chi Minh was 2+2 seats in business with a full meal service and linen. My other regular is Air China, that's a long routing as I go 5-6 hours in the wrong direction to Beijing or Shanghai but oddly the flight time isn't that much longer as they claw some of the time back by the shorter routing to Europe over Russia. As with Vietnam AL I get funny looks when I suggest Air China and see a lot of hatchet job reviews but I've never had a bad experience and find their business class service excellent. Being such a big airline their fleet varies, the A330's have older 2+2+2 seating but space is vast and in lie flat bed configuration it's great as there is no taper, it's a full rectangle and at 6' I have room to spare. They have two A350 configurations, older examples with herringbone individual podded seats and a newer version with fore-aft podded seats. Both are excellent but the newer ones really are superb and lose nothing to any airline. I see a lot of whinges about FA attitude but all the flights I've done they've been excellent. I've done Air India a few times and that one raises eye brows yet again I had no complaints and the flight attendants have all been genuinely friendly and enthusiastic. One of my favourites is Asiana, I use them to go to Japan but they seem uninterested in serving the Singapore Europe market. Their food offering is superb, I don't know about the required international option but their Korean dishes are superbly done. If you like Korean food (as I do) Asiana do it very well. Turkish have a huge route network are very good and usually pretty competitive. However that does take me to one consideration, Istanbul airport is enormous which means there can be a lot of walking between flights. One of the reasons I like Vietnam AL is the ease of transfer, Ho Chi Minh airport is basic and won't win many plaudits from those who want airports to be glass palaces of expensive retail but it's small, has everything you need and works. I use Singapore Airlines to fly around Asia but their flights to Europe and the US are insanely expensive for Singapore based passengers. They know the locals want to fly SQ and added to the normal premium to fly direct prices are just mad. Last week I booked a flight to Copenhagen with Thai (another good option) for S$4400, Singapore wanted S$11000. OK, it avoids a transfer in Bangkok but is avoiding a transfer really worth almost S$7000? And Thai really don't lose anything to Singapore onboard. My wife's closest friend in Singapore is pretty senior with SQ and even she questions why people pay $$$$$$$$$s to fly with them (she admits after she exhausts her privilege entitlement she flies with alternatives) and that despite the hype there are plenty of alternatives just as good for service. However, I do like Star Alliance airlines as I have an SQ gold card which does come with privileges worth having.

Morning! Unfortunately today I had another 3am “emergency poo run” with Lucy, poor mite. Fortunately, a vet visit for Schotty is scheduled for early next week (for his physiotherapy) so we’ll take Lucy as well. Thanks for your comments, it does look like that we will be going for the penthouse flat rather than the garden flat (it got the seal of approval from GP Friend and Mrs GP Friend - which has helped nudge Mrs iD towards the [ahem] “right” decision). I’ve never understood this craze for open plan living. OK, I get the point that you may want to be sociable, but do you really need to turn your flat/house into an approximation of an aircraft hangar or warehouse to be so? I think that there’s a lot to be said in favour of dedicated rooms (so library/smoking room, home office, m**** r****** room and so on). Another consideration is that with dedicated rooms you can avoid the “whole house smells of XXXX” scenario (plus, separate rooms means that I can have my wicked way with the young scullery maid in the library and not disturb Mrs iD having Earl Grey Tea and buttered crumpets with her friends in the withdrawing room). To answer PB’s question we would have access to a communal garden, though “garden” may be stretching tye definition a bit - flower beds in the front and a narrow lawn at the back. Moving house: Oh What Fun…..

Good evening everyone We’ve had another good day out today, lots of sunshine, even though there was a cool breeze. Disappointingly, the orchard area was closed, due to the ground being waterlogged, but we still managed to see some of the blossom. When we went to the cafe, it was closed for a refurbishment, but the did have a small temporary one in use, so we didn’t miss out on a drink or a slice, but FFS, it’s only 2 years old! We also came home with some more plants for the garden (and some more seeds), so, weather permitting, I think I’m going to be busy tomorrow. As anticipated, we spent the rest of the afternoon, relaxing and reading. We also did a spot of eyelid inspection too, I think all this fresh air is making us tired!

Stonehinge.......

Afternoon All, Yay - I've been to the supermarket - by bus yesterday morning (bus stops outside the shop in bith directions). Aldi staff were pleased to see me - it's been almost five months since I was able to get there - and the main shock was the prices. Still not heard anything more from the hospital for any follow up appointment, so I've booked to see my GP practice's senior partner next month. Also, it transpires (so people are saying) that my hearing has deteriorated quite a bit - I felt that it was while in hospital. I have been on the NHS waiting list for some time now but no appointment has transpired, and they say I am still "quite a way" down the waiting list. So i've booked to go to Specsavers next week - stand by for a pretty massive bill for hearing aids. Another large price increase has just come through to dent our pension increases - phone/broadband/TV package is up by 8.9%. Other than that. I seem to be progressing well. Regards to All Stewart

The technician from the solar power installers has been and gone. Nice chap, explained why he was replacing a couple of items in the fuse box , checked all our voltages and made sure our inverter had all its updates. We had a chat about car chargers and air source heat pumps and he was on his way. Next big excitement of the day will be the food arriving at midday. Tony

Good morning everyone Well, I think we chose the right 2 days to go out, it’s wet outside, so I doubt I’ll get anything done in the garden today! So, it looks like a day in the workshop for me then, 😉 every cloud and all that! However, my first task will be to drop Sheila off at the church hall for her Zumba class, then I’ll search my ‘model boxes for some card I want for another little project. After that, it’s down the garden to the workshop. Back later. Brian

No posts for the past ten days or so as we've been away, celebrating Veronica's birthday again. Where were we? That should be an easier clue than last year! It was about the only railway action we saw, apart from a few Matangi trains and the Wairarapa Connection passing us along the the way during our travels. Although Wellington lived up to its windy reputation, the weather was mild, fine and sunny for five out of six days, which was an unexpected bonus.

It seems to be a tradition in some quarters to celebrate birthdays and other events by socialising pictures taken when the subject was somewhat younger. In that vein, I offer a picture of a 'juvenile' D299 replete with end straps. Apologies for the shortcomings of the print cleaning evident in cruel closeup - this was a test print and so just gets a quick dunk! It is one of a number that will be available very shortly (and with samples off to @Compound2632 even sooner - they would have gone by now had I not decided to 'improve' my production process . . . . ). There should perhaps be a prize for the first person to successfully use the rope anchor points in prototypical fashion (although prototype practice seems to have been to ignore them and use buffers, brake hangers or anything else convenient!

So another eventful trip but £20 coming my way care of a late arrival home. At midnight last night I got a message from Avanti - my return train was cancelled, I should get the one before (1853) or the one after (1933). You can guess what I and most other people who got that message did - we went for the earlier service. What did Avanti turn out for a train they knew was going to be busy, the first off peak to Manchester in the evening knowing the next one had been cancelled, a 9 coach Pendolino! They played games, said it was platform 14 (and there was a Pendo parked in 14 at 18:30) but decided to swap to the Pendo that had just arrived at platform 1 at 18:40 instead. So I had arrived at Euston from Euston Square at 18:28, I went to the loo (near platform 1) because I expected the train to be busy, so off to platform one for the loo, then returned to platform 14 for the train and joined a polite queue (barriers open, no Avanti staff manning it). After 5 minutes standing the platform changed, so back all the way to platform one again so really getting the steps in today. Got onto the train on the unreserved coach C and the train filled and filled, people crowding outside trying to get on. The guard politely suggests those standing might like to catch the 19:33 and when that doesn't work pulls a new stunt - if you don't get off then the train will have to go slowly to Manchester. Yes the guard actually tried to guilt standing passengers into getting off the train because it would be their fault sitting passengers will be late getting home - unbelievable. Me, I spy a partial refund voucher, there was already trouble at Tring, and the train though scheduled to depart at 18:53 actually left 15 minutes late, so I was looking at the positives. In the event it arrived 20 minutes late back at Manchester having got stuck behind a stopper I think between Colwich and Stockport, then held at Ardwick. Certainly I did not notice the train going 'slowly' as threatened by the guard. One pizza later, it's time for bed. Night all.

My late father started studying with the OU and tuned into BBC2 at those time appropriate to what ever he was studying. I forget the subject matter now. I do however remember him being very wary of the OU summer school at the University of Bath. Having never progressed beyond Public Elementary in his formal education thanks to the conditions of the time arising from the activities of a certain moustache-sporting German this was all very new to him but he was determined that he "could do something with his life". His concerns were not borne out. He was worried that it would be a case of "University - Big; OU - tiny and in a couple of rooms". It was very different on reality and he returned having thoroughly enjoyed himself. Not only was the OUSS given the run of the entire university but this included supervised visits to the greenhouse where "research" was being lawfully conducted into the cannabis plant. A heated glasshouse full of them! Visits were supervised and timed but hey. The only time my dad ever got up close and personal as a student with recreational substances! He didn't complete his course. As I remember he suffered one of several redundancies in his working life and found he could no longer afford the fees to continue whilst on the dole. To his admitted dismay he felt embarrassed and shamed that he was "unable to make anything of his life". And he went to his maker pleading much the same despite having been thought of by many who knew him as a good, kind, thoughtful and caring chap. He never wore a kipper tie either; dad was always a cravat man and could look dapper as you like when occasion required. Even when it didn't he often chose to sport a cravat just for sitting in the lounge doing crosswords, listening to music or reading the paper.

I am now very careful in coffee shops and now almost always just have black coffee in case they have anything almond in the place - having found out that one place I go to sometimes uses almond milk. I have a (so far) fairly mild allergy to nuts, but over the years it has gradually become worse so now I avoid them. David

Couldn’t really be bothered with pics last night Couple from the day when I drove into town, 37108 en route to the NEC for the @Accurascale stand First trip ready to leave oxenholme, the moon peeping through the trees 2nd trip the full moon higher in the sky A stop in crewe on the way back And done should be cancelled tonight as we got it all done but I may have to go in to take it crewe to oxley, had a look at the mileage for the week, I was doing about 550-600 miles a night which is a fair old whack as quite tiring both physically and mentally!

Not quite, I'd certainly say they are significantly more dependable than others but there has been the odd time when we haven't got things ordered. Not through driver error (as below) either. Perhaps the automation in the ordering/warehousing/picking processes is following the automotive industry from a generation or two ago, with emphasis on eliminating human error/misjudgement from the process? No 'Friday afternoon' cars or overly ripe bent bananas? The trouble may be there's a potential weak point at the point of delivery - once the driver forgot to give us one of several bags in a delivery and we had 5/6 items missing. We were refunded without quibble and it's by far the worst problem we've ever had with them but it can happen. I should add for @zarniwhoop's benefit (and anyone else who hasn't used Ocado) that their web-site showing the groceries does show the not available ones (at the time of ordering) as being so, they are at the bottom of the page, marked unavailable and the listing 'faded out'.

Things are looking up. A cup of tea and a packet of ginger nuts (biscuits) have just arrived. The GA recipients are looking over in this direction in obvious unbridled envy. I am unmoved by their plight.

I see that you have very wisely left the decision making to the boss. You do not want to be spoken to in Swiss German too often. Gracefully accepting defeat in such matters is usually the best option and then getting the best peace treaty possible. I share your objection to open plan living. Some friends of ours have such a newly converted place in the village. One huge L shaped space with kitchen, dining sitting are and entrance hall in one plus a mezzanine where they play table tennis . You can tell that it is a second home as it's a huge space to heat in winter. As to the snoring problem I can empathise. Jamie

Regarding the UK, I think you need to understand how small many homes are. Our rented house in Germany had a living room that was approximately the same footprint of a typical 2 or 3 bed new build in the UK. The potentially small rooms that result leads to this open plan desire. So your approximation to an aircraft hanger light well apply in large sections of Europe but would often not apply to many UK houses.

The house is Strangely quiet. I've done nothing wrong today so far. Beth is going to the theatre this morning in Angouleme. I will be going there to do some trainspotting later today. However I will bob in to see her en route to the station. Jamie

Anything that stops money being siphoned out of the railways into shareholders pockets has to be a good thing. Andi

Today sees the celebration of my Sunset Strip* orbit of our closest star so I am being taken out for lunch with some friends near Oswestry. I may be some time. * 77 for those not old enough to recall such things. Best wishes to Beth and hopes for a swift recovery. Dave

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I forgot it was BIN day today and didn't put anything out. Didn't matter too much as its just recycling and food waste this week and the recycling bags are only half full and the food waste is outside anyway. Even the black bin which is only fortnightly collection isn't full yet. I'll leave it until next week when the whole lot gets put out.

Though because Ocado use huge depots instead of local supermarkets to fulfill your order we have found them to be very reliable. The only problem we had was a robot error that packed frozen Yorkshire puddings instead of frozen croissants. With Ocado if you can order it, it gets delivered. Waitrose substitutes are things like perhaps an ordinary cucumber substituted for the organic free range, ethically sourced cucumber we of course order.

Scratch built testing dolly - almost complete. Cheers Darius

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I spoke to my sister a couple of days ago, my brother's estate has finally been sorted and his bungalow has been sold, that's over a year since he died. In fact although I say 'his' bungalow he only owned one fifth of it which he had inherited from his second wife who died a year before he did. She inherited it from her first partner who owned it with four of his cousins. He died over forty years ago and tracing those four cousins or their heirs has proven difficult.

She nailed it, well done, I think I got something in my eye. Beth is safely in dock and I'now home after a few hours on the station watching trains. Jamie

Afternoon Awl, just. Message left for vet as she's on holiday today, two locums at work which explains why she's so busy. Next door called, she's been given a brand new printer a HP Envy 6020e... It took over 2 hours for me to set it up. A 149MB " HP Smart App" , then that allowed you to go get the driver for the printer, then registration for the printer then... Hp use " instant ink", they supply cartridges when the printer says it needs them, you buy a contract for 10 pages a month ( 1.49), or 50 pages a month (3.99), or 100 pages a month (5.99) etc.. anyway I've signed her up for the cheapest, you can change anytime . There are way around this but she is computer illiterate, I'd be round there every 5 minutes bypassing " instant ink" And then I inserted the cartridges and paper, .. black cartridge faulty so it said, close inspection showed a plastic " hair" glued to a pin on the cartridge , scraped that off but it seems to make no difference .. tried one of our Envy cartridges but it's the wrong model.. Went round and round the HP "smart app" trying to get to their contacts pages... All 404 not found, their phone lines didn't appeal as I've no wish to wait for hours with their online system being offline. In the end I've ordered via Amazon for a tomorrow delivery with her agreement as she's got something she wants to print out.. Her old printer? An Epson 442, that's 9 years old, very cheap in the first place, not used enough so the ink cartridges / heads used to dry out... SWMBO is out with Ben, I'm defrosting as next doors computer room is effectively unheated..

Probably because of this kind of thing (not a railway example, admittedly, but I'm sure figures could be found): "Since the 1990s, investment from the privatised English water companies has gone down 15%, and they've built up a debt mountain of over £60 billion [...]. Meanwhile, shareholders have received £72billion - £2 billion a year on average." From https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/water#:~:text=Since the 1990s%2C investment from,billion a year on average.

The A1 has now nearly passed through the station. and we are back to rationing, as most days recently have featured lovely early sun, but cloud filling in before it shines into my windows. It comes out again mid afternoon, too late to be of use to me.

Today has seen the final bits of glazing added to the clerestory carriage, hopefully tomorrow I can turn my attention to the door furniture etc. While that was drying, I went back to the County tank. Today's jobs were the weight and sorting out the pick-ups, whereupon it ran very nicely. The rear pony truck needs springing I think - it hangs too much! I've added a pick-up to it as well, but at the moment its hindering the wheel rotation - more fettling needed. Anyway, a couple of quick iPhone photos: