DaveF

RMWeb is playing silly b.....s this morning. I tried to like a post, it didn't work so I refreshed the page. I then had to prove I wasn't a robot by marking the end of the path of a car on a sort of street map. Then ERs took me to the top of a page so I read posts and liked them etc, then realised there must have been posts earlier I hadn't seen, so went back a page. Half way down that page I came across the posts I'd just read. It is still raining here, only 13mm in all but once again it is much too wet to even think of doing anything in the garden, if the rain ever stops. Northumberland's vanishing beaches are causing comment, there is an article on the BBC news pages: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2yk3kgd13o Here the council are considering what to do about the promenade edge as the beach is now over 12 feet down in places, perhaps they will have to install railings. I slept reasonably last night but feel very tired again this morning. It seems that 2 days after I do something I feel exhausted, doubtless my body is using all its resources repairing itself after the surgery, I hope it doesn't take too much longer. I have to admit that looking at my diary from the previous hernia op I am doing more now than I did then so perhaps I should take things easy. The groceries are on their away, once they are put away I think I need to have yet another quiet day. David

It was during the school holidays so perhaps he was just with his dad "helping". It shows how different things were 50 years ago. David

Thanks, you are right. I'm going to blame Dad for this one as it is one of his photos and I took the caption from his notes. David

As expected it has rained all day, never very hard but enough to make it miserable so I decided to stay at home. Leonie came and did the cleaning and accepted a cup of tea, she doesn't like coffee. I now have a very clean house and she decided a few extra things needed washing which I have since done. I used the surgery's eConsult service this morning to ask about a sore heel and part my foot just behind my little toe. It required me to use 2 factor authentication by receiving and entering a number by text - the rest of their online system doesn't. I now have an appointment with their muscular/skeletal (MSK) person on 8th April. I'm not bothered about the length of wait as I know what is likely to be wrong and it gives me a chance to have a chat with my podiatrist beforehand. Today I have worn different shoes in the house and I have had hardly any discomfort let alone pain. I will keep wearing them, if I go out I have another similar pair so I can keep the indoor ones clean to protect the carpets. Of course they are much cheaper shoes than the ones I would normally wear. I've not thought about this evening yet as I've just finished reading my book and must choose another one to read. It doesn't sound much for a morning and afternoon but it has been very pleasant. David

Around Scout Green and Shap Wells in 1973 and 1976. Scout Green Class 50 down Feb 73 C1201 A very distant view! Scout Green Class 87 87031 down Aug 76 J5416 Scout Green Class 87 up Aug 76 J5417 Scout Green Class 87 87019 down Aug 76 J5418 Shap Wells Class 86 up Aug 76 J5413 Shap Wells Class 87 up Aug 76 J5414 David

Lovely pictures once again. I can hardly believe it's over 30 years since I've been there. I've always liked Goslar too. David

Yes, a typo. I've corrected it, many thanks for letting me know about it. David

At 06.00 the sky was partly blue and there was a sunrise. I went back to sleep. By 08.00 the rain was just strating, it is supposed to stop about 04.00 tomorrow. I think today may be an indoors day. I've done my share of the housework and had a general tidy up. The delivery from Amazon yesterday contained the correct books so later today I will look at them and prepare to use them. They are for reference for chuch things so will not, at least for now, be read cover to cover. One is a new edition as it refers to King Charles not the late Queen. Not much is planned today, I need to look at the surgery website and ask for some advice about a painful foot - I know what is wrong but need ideas to treat it. I may start sorting out more photos, work on the model - or I might not. David

A few photos taken in Scotland for this morning. Some show railway remains. Port Glasgow Gouroch branch July 74 J3850 Portnockie remains of GNSR coast line Aug 74 J3920 Port Gordon GNSR coast line Aug 74 J3951 Prestonpans 43063 & 43044 York to Aberdeen 21st Aug 86 C7903 Prestonpans 26002 down empty coal 21st Aug 86 C7928 David

Yes, it really is. David

I find my brown garden bin very useful and am (reasonably) happy to pay for it, I worked out that in terms of time and cost it is worthwhile as it saves regular trips to the tip and stops the inside of the car getting messed up. I do wonder why our green bin is for rubbish and blue one for recycling but in other parts of the county the colours used are different so it really doesn't make sense. Food waste and glass are not collected, being a mainly rural county it would cost too much as more bin lorries would be needed. They go in the general waste bin or can be taken to various places where there are skips. The bin men are generally happy to empty bins as long as they can manage to wheel them from the pavement to the lorry. They do get annoyed though if the lid won't shut as it can cause rubbish to fall onto the road. They also get annoyed if bins obviously conatin the wrong stuff - though at times the rules concerning plastic are complicated - we cannot recycle plastic food containers, only bottles with lids on and similar. Unofficially they will also sometimes take plastic bin bags placed alongside bins - I think it depends which crew are working the route as they are not supposed to. I gave up jumping up and down on things in my bins after someone along the road did split their bin and had to pay for a new one. David

The sun has shone almost all day and although the wind is cool is is very pleasant. I went to church and decided to see if I could sit comfortably on the small seats in the sanctuary by the altar. It turned out that by raising the height of it using a kneeler I could get comfortable and also stand as needed, so I decided I would serve. The other server who is one of the churchwardens, was also returning to his duties today, he is recovering from a trapped nerve. Being Palm Sunday we processed along the road round the outside church then took our places. We were both a bit slower with the communion than usual but the vicar who visited to take the service was happy with our efforts. Then some friends invited me to their house for coffee which meant I ended up with a rather late simple lunch - a ready to heat chicken sweet and sour which was quite tasty. Since then I've finished off the e mails I didn't get done this morning, fallen asleep for a while and done some work on the plants in the greenhouse. I shall be very pleased when I stop feeling so tired - and I know really it is just as my body recovers but I am always impatient. I am now awaiting a delivery from the strong ladies who are bringing me some books I need for church things so I can return some I borrowed. My apologies for boring anyone who is not interested in such things, I hope you don't mind me writing about what I do sometimes. I think the rest of the day will be reading a novel I am enjoying and a bit of TV. David

Essex next at Laindon on the London Tilbury and Southend. Laindon Class 302 302252 Shoeburyness to Fenchurch St Dec 77 C3627 Laindon Class 302 249 down Dec 77 J5873 Laindon Class 302 229 up Dec 77 J5874 Laindon relaying track 12th March 78 C3719 Laindon 302243 Fenchurch St to Shoeburyness May 79 C4553 David

Not much happening here at the moment, I got up early and am now starting on the usual phone calls and e mails. I intend to go to church and after that I've no idea at present, it depends on how I feel after coffee. Meanwhile it is bright but with a few bits of cloud and cool, 4°C at the moment, cooler than the Met Ofice suggest. I hope everyone has a good day. David

A few photos taken at Carlisle for this morning. Carlisle Class 08 after pulling broken down train back into station 6th Aug 85 C7051 Carlisle 2 Class 108s 30th July 86 C7720 Carlisle 45044 up steel coil April 87 J8815 Carlisle 85020 down empty steel 12th April 88 C9420 Carlisle 31418 Boadicea Carlisle to Leeds May 90 J10964 David

I was using Agfa CT18 slide film which was ASA (ISO) 50 then so it was quite surprising to me they came out so well. David

I spent part of the morning looking at some photos I've taken recently. My little old Canon Ixus is showing signs of wearing out so I am taking more pictures with my phone, a Samsung A34 which is better than adequate. I still use the Nikon dslr most of the time, the phone is handy if I have just gone out ofr a quick walk or shopping. I also looked at photos from 2010, surprisingly I can remember a lot about the days I took some of them. Then I spent a while in the garden cutting bits off shrubs which are sticking out and getting in the wasy along with a few dead bits. I am still very slow and careful and have to make sure I don't so too much at once. After lunch I read a magazine about things in Europe which move on strips of steel. I also listened to some music. All in all a very peaceful relaxing day, hopefully more is to follow until bedtime. David

Some photos I took at Ardwick in Manchester when I lived there as a student back in 1972. It was a typical January day in Manchester - dull and cold. Ardwick Class 506 Hadfield to Manchester Piccadilly Jan 72 C0780 Ardwick Class 304 Manchester to Alderley Edge Jan 72 C781 Ardwick Class 310 065 Birmingham to Manchester Piccadilly Jan 72 C0782 Ardwick Class 506 M59601 Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield Jan 72 C0785 Ardwick dmu to Manchester Piccadilly Jan 72 C0791 David

A sunny morning but with an almost gale force wind so I abandoned my idea of a clifftop walk, even though it is partly fenced (sort of). Instead I decided to go into town, brave all the road and building works and look at the remaining shops. Slightly to my surprise I found everything I wanted plus a bit more, as usual I just parked on the road there was plenty of space. Back home I have picked up some broken daffodils and put them in a vase, it shows how strong the wind is because daffodils usually benmd quite well. Next will ber coffee and old photos. If the wind drops I'll potter in the garden this afternoon or else it will be reading or something. The local little Tesco Extra has self service checkouts but hardly anyone uses them so there is always a member of staff at the main tills. Most of the time there are several staff stacking shelves and generally helping customers as well. The Lidl and Aldi I sometimes use only have staffed tills and they are very good at opening extra ones whenever a queue starts to form. Little Asda is normally unstaffed but staff often scan things for customers. It is called little Asda as there is a very big one not far away which has a mix of tills, most people use staffed ones. Morrisons in town encourages use of the self service tills by having few manned checkouts but usually have several staff helping. Personally I dislike self service tills, to be honest I am old enough to remember shops where you either took your order in and the boy on a bike delivered it later on or you gave the order to someone and sat down until they brought it to you and you paid. Even now I pay for a lot of things with cash - but I do much of my grocery shopping online. David

Switzerland again this morning, this time at Emmenbrücke just north of Luzern. It is the junction for the Seetalbahn which runs partly along the road to Lenzburg while the main line goes to Olten and beyond. If you go there today you will find it looks very different, the junction to the Seetalbahn has moved and a completley new stretch of line built to link to the old route. The stripes on the loco and coach in the first photo are to improve visibilty on the section where the railway runs along the road. Emmenbrucke De4/4 1662 Lenzburg to Luzern 3rd August 1988 C10074 Emmenbrucke Ee3/3 16410 3rd August 1988 C10076 Emmenbrucke Re4/4ii 11119 Luzern to Olten 3rd August 1988 C10079 Emmenbrucke Ae3/6i 10685 freight 3rd August 1988 C10080 Emmenbrucke station on right 3rd August 1988 C10083 David

In the end I went out this morning to a different garden centre where I enjoyed coffee and a cheese scone again along with the usual free biscuit. I bought some sweet pea plants as I feel it is unlikely that I can sensibly get the compost sorted out to sow my own seeds. If I change my mind in a few days I will simply end up with a few extra plants, no bad thing. I also found a couple of paperbacks jumped into the trolley as I walked past, I am sure I didn't see them until I got to the checkout. I managed to avoid a queue at the nearby roundabout as all the traffic was queueing in the right hand lane but the left hand lane is also marked for the direction they and I were l going in so I used it. It meant I got past about 12 cars in one go. Since I got home I have been working on a model, reading, doing a crossword and some gardening. The soil is far to wet to stand on and I can't bend or get down too easily so I used a long handled grabber to remove a lot of weeds while I stood on the path. It worked well and my scar didn't hurt doing it. I must remember that for the future. It's remained sunny all day, out of the wind it was just warm enough to sit on the garden bench while wearing my fleece. David

Photos from trips to Scotland in 1973 and 1974 taken at Craigendoran. Craigendoran Junction Class 101 Glasgow QS to Oban Aug 73 J3331 Craigendoran Junction Class 101 Glasgow QS to Oban Aug 73 J3332 Craigendoran Class 303 043 Helensburgh to Airdrie Aug 73 J3333 Craigendoran bridge over A814 July 74 J3856 Craigendoran Junction Class 20 up freight July 74 J3857 Craigendoran Junction Class 20 up freight on extreme left July 74 J3858 David

A fine sunny morning with just enough clouds to the south tpo hide the sun from time to time. The breeze is strong from the northwest and it does not feel very warm. Late yesterday evening I had some very sad news, a friend at church who was one of our lay readers has died. I saw her at the beginning of February and she was her normal cheerful self. Apparently a couple of weeks ago she developed problems eating and was taken into hospital at the weekend and died a couple of days ago. They found she had cancer, she hadn't known. I've known her for many years, she used to play bridge with Mum and gave me help after Mum died. She will be greatly missed. I am hoping to start going to church again from Sunday now I can move about reasonably comfortably, it will feel very different without her there. As it is sunny I may go out this morning or I might just stay at home and enjoy sitting quietly on a bright day. For once I don't seem to have anything which needs doing urgently. David

Railways without trains in North Wales on the Cambrian and LNWR line to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Barmouth view to viaduct from Llyngwril 26th July 01 C25433 Talybont view north 26th July 02 C26026 Talybont view south 26th July 02 C26027 Dolwyddelan 19th April 86 C7468 Roman Bridge 23rd July 2002 C26010 David

I spent what was left of the morning drinking coffee and tidying up my PC. After lunch I did a bit of shopping and then went to the beach for a walk. If anything there is less sand and more stones. The council are discussing what to do about the big drop from the prom to the beach - over 12' in places. By the time they decide the sand will probably have come back. Then I had alook at the Quayside where two ships were moored, a freighter and a support ship across the river. I only had my phone with me for photos and it was dull again. Once I got back home I sat down and realised that for the first time in ages I haven't needed an afternoon rest which is progress. I don't think I need to say what I'll do this evening, it doesn't change much. Horizon Enabler Ruyter bound for Terneuzen David