jonny777

Warm and sunny again in North Somerset, but the satellite images show an area of thunderstorms brewing over NW France and moving slowly northeast. They may skirt to the east of us, and mainly affect the south and east of England much later today, but nothing is certain in these weather situations. I will water all my tubs on the prospect of missing the rain, and if we do catch a shower the plants will not be too bothered.

The blanking was of a bedroom window at one of the houses in Langport Road. I always thought it was somewhat pointless as the house was quite a distance away. However, if you have occupants who do not like the idea of cameras (which can be viewed by anyone in the world) pointing at your bedroom, especially after dark when the lights are on - and even more so if that is your teenage daughter's room, I can understand the reasons you might insist it be replaced by a black rectangle. I would be saddened if the Ribblehead Viaduct cam is shut down, as it gives some wonderful images of Whernside during the year, especially in winter after a fall of snow. I suspect there were not many watching the Doncaster cam at the time when a van driver peed up against a pile of pallets, otherwise that one might have vanished as well. I was simply waiting for a Leeds to Felixstowe freight train (honestly, m'lud).

Now, you have just made me do some arithmetic; because I was 34 years 6 months and 9 days old when I moved into our current house. I knew the relevant date was approaching, but I am going to have to wait until March 27th next year in order to have been here that long (if my counting is correct).

No, not quite. This recipe uses no eggs. https://www.nigella.com/recipes/one-step-no-churn-coffee-ice-cream I vary the ingredients depending on the liqueur flavours I have. Lemon curd with Limoncello is lovely.

Warm and sunny here in North Somerset. Ocado delivery has come and gone and I saw a Painted Lady butterfly on the Valerian flowers which I allow to grow in tightly controlled areas of the garden. Otherwise Valerian tends to take over. This butterfly sighting, together with the Red Admiral which was around yesterday afternoon, means that summer has properly arrived here. The Ocado delivery lady brought me a bottle of peach liqueur which will go to make the no churn, no ice cream maker, soft scoop home made ice cream which I first saw on a Nigella Lawson cookery programme. The result is so lovely that I have difficulty not eating it all at once, even though I have an intolerance of dairy products; and it's texture takes me back to the days of clotted cream ice cream bought on a Cornish holiday during the early 1960s. Needless to say, I couldn't eat too much of that either. At my brother's house last week we made a lemon version with lemon curd and Limoncello. That was just as good. The alcohol is only there to prevent the ice cream freezing solid (according to Nigella) and not to make people tipsy.

Another 2 years to go for him. My daughter will be 40 later this year. I think she will take it badly.

I think that my depression on the day my eldest son reached 40 years of age was worse that I experienced on my own 40th birthday.

The person bidding for this one might be in for a tidy profit.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384211434534?epid=97725021&hash=item5974c93c26:g:l08AAOSwFPxgv3nz

Goodness me. I might have to look at my bookshelves in a different light.

As long as I can get an organic turkey and joint of ham from my usual local suppliers, plus a few bottles of decent wine, I am not really bothered what is/isn't being shipped in containers in time for Christmas.

This is bit steep... https://tinyurl.com/39at92xu I would not have thought the book was that rare.

Back from Lincs. Warm and sunny throughout, except for Friday which was a bit breezy and blew Dad's pipe out (not that he can suck enough to keep it going much on calm days). He can't see much at all, and refuses to wear his glasses or his hearing aid; so he is rather uncommunicative. The only comments we (brother, s-i-law and myself) had were 'yes', 'no', and 'thankyou'; plus a shake of the head when he definitely didn't want to do something - like stay awake. Anyway, I have done my duty, he will be 98 in August and will go back for that; but there is little more any of us can do. He is well looked after and can eat what he likes, or gets spoon fed and if we ask him if everything is ok for him he says 'yes'. I agree that north Northumberland is an excellent holiday destination, except in early summer if the wind is northeast and the sea fog persists all day with a temperature of 9C when the rest of the country enjoys 21-23C and sunshine. I had the best tasting fish and chips ever (and yes I have had them in Whitby) in a restaurant in Seahouses. Mind you that was about 15 years ago. Things might have changed now. Now to catch up with other posts.

I remember back in the 1960s, a cuckoo deciding to perch on a tree not far from my bedroom window on a warm and humid night, while I was asleep. Being woken by the sound of "cuckoo, cuckoo" was quite a novelty at first, but it soon wore off when the bird seemed to carry on with this for about 90 minutes.

I can't help you with the layout of inspection pits at stabling/re-fuelling points; but I like the idea behind this model. The triangle of lines with their connections to Toton, Derby, Burton, Nottingham and beyond, in all four directions means that with a bit of modellers' license the potential for freight locos coming and going is vast. If you add some of the locos from St Pancras passenger services, it could end up very busy. The lines to Clifton Colliery and Wilford Power Station just add to the interest. I remember passing the junctions on my trips to Derby and Crewe in the 1960s, although local services were in the hands of DMUs by then.

Your browser security settings must be on 'unbelievably paranoid'. But at least the owner of the linked site does not get charged for extra bandwidth.

Unless you are in the local country butchers, when they are the lungs of various animals or birds. When chopped up into slices, coated with a spiced batter/breadcrumb mixture and deep fried, they are very tasty.

Dry and sunny here in North Somerset. Waiting for the Ocado van to turn up. I shall not be here for a few days, because I have to make a 500 mile round trip to see Dad in the care home, something I have not done (due to various restrictions/lockdowns) since February 2020. Unfortunately, since that time he has deteriorated significantly after another bout of skin cancer (had to have most of one ear cut away), and two separate positive covid tests. Now, it seems that he sleeps most of each 24 hours, and if he is woken up by relatives (my brother lives only a 10 minute drive away) he says 'hello' and falls asleep again. I am preparing myself for something of a shock. However, he will be 98 in two months time, so is allowed to do whatever he likes, and is well taken care of in the home. Apparently some days are better than others, and if I am really lucky I might be able to wheel him outside in his wheelchair and he will attempt to smoke his pipe. We shall see; and however I find him, I get to spend a few days with my brother and his wife - which will be the first time I have been anywhere of distance this year.

56xx 0-6-2T 6697 arrives at Chester on March 27th 1966 with the SLS 'Farewell To GWR Locomotives' railtour. The tour ran from Birmingham Snow Hill to Llandudno via Shrewsbury, Chester, and Rhyl, with 42727 taking the Chester-Llandudno leg and return. Unfortunately, 6697 was failed at Chester for the trip back to the West Midlands and 45250 was the replacement. A rather sad farewell to GWR steam in this case. 6697 was withdrawn 2 months later.

Is the rear car a 120? It looks more like a 119 to me from the body profile and window spacing. If my hunch is right, we have 120, 101, 119, CCT - nice one. (Although the more I look at it, the more I think it is a 120 at the back after all).

I am of the belief that some of the dark places come from a slow realisation that in the past we could stave off illness and death to a certain extent by careful attention to diet and exercise. Now, we can still do that, but visit premises away from our home and possibly pick up a potentially deadly virus without knowing. That might be an extreme scenario, but when one is of a depressive and pessimistic nature these things take on a much more worrying threat.

Unfortunately, 'pruning' is not quite what SWMBO wants. My bad choice of words, apologies. Taking down the entire tree by stealth is her demand. If I could kill it she would be delighted, but I would still have to chop the dead branches and chainsaw the trunk.

Warm and sunny here in North Somerset. Necessary watering has been done. I have tree branches to prune (according to SWMBO) but don't have the inclination to do it just now. I agree with Andrew P, M&S food is really good if you can afford it. In fact I compared some of their products with the Waitrose version and they tasted nicer to me, even though they are a similar price. And why would anyone buy Kellogg's Bran Flakes at £2.50 for 750g, when the M&S version are 90p for 500g and taste just as good to me? Similarly, Sultana Bran Flakes - Kellogg's 500g for £2.99, M&S 500g for £1.40.

Just stick the transfers on the cling film. Few will get close enough to notice. They will be too busy laughing and saying "this could never happen in real life".

Have you accidentally superglued clingfilm to your prized ER electric unit? No matter, just renumber it to 302250.

When I was a small child, I could never come to terms with the song "The Railroad Runs Through The Middle Of The House"; but if I had seen this photo I might have understood.