88D

Went for an amble in Keyhaven/Lymington reserve the other day. Spotted over 40 birdie types, including Spoonbills, Dartford Warblers,Brent Goose, but missed out on the Garganey.

Grand Slam not to be for us. Disappointed, but pleased with overall improvement and bringing in youngsters. Still room for improvement

Time for an England clear out, but not until after we play you next!

Whilst in the summerhouse thinking of our Grand Slam match coming up, a pair of dunnocks skeedaddled under a bush, did about 45 secs of courtship followed by 1/10 second of copulation. I hope they have a nice family for all their efforts.

Couple of weeks ago, we had about 50 Goldfinch flocking and roosting in one of the Lime trees in the garden for a couple of days. They then split up, and we are now left with a couple looking at nesting sites in one of the tall hedges.

Had some last night. Very enjoyable!

Wales had been awarded penalties in front of the posts which, if they decided to kick them, would have given us 6 points. So, we would have lost our bonus point, but you still would not have gained yours.

I don’t have much sympathy with England on that first try. I assume, possibly incorrectly, that most of the English team assumed Biggar would go for goal and fancied a drink of Lucozade, but the English left field had gone to their positions: the right side were too slow and were shown up as a result. The English players should recognise how slow/ unprofessional they were in this situation: I’m sure they will be miffed at such schoolboy amateurish play. Remember, the purpose of a penalty is to reward the team that has been offended. I have more sympathy with England on the second try, though I must admit it is difficult to ever feel sympathy for this team: there are quite a few k........s in there.

I did a slight recharge on the battery, perhaps I should have recharged more. I shall give it a bash. Thanks! Dai

Hello Dave, the transmitter is a Micron Tx22v2 and the receiver is Deltang RX 60.it all worked fine first, bound and loco went forwards and backwards. Turned everything off so that I could post, and boast!, to my local club. When I switched it all back on to show my son — no control. I have tried to rebind as before, but the receiver light flashes slowly, but does not speed up (as it did before) to do the bind. I have tried different channels and checked the wiring: wiring seems ok, but still no rebind on any channel. any suggestions? Cheers, Dai

Well, I spoke too soon. It was all up and running, so I decided to show my son. Didn’t work: it had become ‘unbound’ and doesn’t want to rebind. I’m using the same controller, RX 63 receiver,etc that appears on this thread, so any suggestions. I press the buttons in the correct order, but should zi keep them pressed whilst the binding operation is taking place?

Well, a really nice day for me as I’ve just converted my Bachmann 2251 into a radio-controlled Bachmann 2251. Now this is a tender loco, though not a large tender, and I have managed to fit battery, switch, voltage uplifter and receiver into the tender. My question relates to tank locos, such as panniers and small prairies: do you try to fit all this into the tank loco, or do you forego switch and possibly uplifter. I have bought smaller batteries, receivers, etc for these tanks; but what is your experience of such locos, and do you lose much by not incorporating some of the gizmos? Cheers, Dai

Question for Tigerburnie as he’s a Leicester fan. When zi look at Welford Road on tele, I get the impression that one stand is only half-built (Nottingham Building Society plastered over it) and that the pitch was going to be rotated 90’. Was this the plan, or is it just a weird profile stand?

A neighbour spotted a black redstart in their garden (Upper Calderdale, Yorkshire). I have never seen one before, so I’m wondering how many of you have. It seems they are more southerly if spotted.

NOT Welsh props!

I wished they used it more to show footage of scrums. There’s quite a few props would be shown up for not being straight!

I think Scotland have been developing a good team over the years. They have been let down in specific positions in the past ( eg, prop and centre) but have filled these spots now. It didn’t surprise me that they won, but the completeness of their performance did. It will be interesting to see whether EJ plays the same guys to develop form, or new guys to be blooded against Italy.

Which King of Scotland is this? The Idi Amin sort ( insert emoji here of your choice)?

Comet also do the T handles for the recesses. If you’re not into soldering, you can use plastikard as your recess backing - not as good, but probably servicable.

Agree on Spencer and Robson as England scrum halves, but EJ does have his prejudices and idiosyncrasies. Will be interesting to see what he does with Randall, and whether he brings Mitchell back into the squad.

I have never seen a sparrow or starling in our garden, and this birdwatch continued in the same vein. The list included 6 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits, 2 Coal Tits, 2 crows, 2 Magpie, 4 Jackdaw, 2 Robin, Chaffinch, 2 Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Wood Pigeon, 2 Blackbird, Song Thrush, Dunnock, and 2 Bullfinch - first I’ve seen in months! Annoyingly, 2 GSW and 20+ Fieldfare turned up just after I submitted the form. Hey ho, good to see them.

Youngs would be nowhere near my Lions team, indeed I wouldn’t have him in the England team.in the backs, Ford, Joseph and Stockdale dubious for me. Quite like Launchbury, but Ryan or one of the Scots would get in for me. Stander can disappear from some games, but would probably try harder against his compatriots!

For a bit of fun, what is your team? Any Leicester players there?

Worried about relegation? Smiley or glummy of your choice.

Lofty, Johnster: I think they’re keen on such things? Apologies to them both if they are not!