The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

26 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

Howdy. Train shed renovation continues. All this talk of multiple sheds leads me to say my one shed is actually 4 standard 6' by 12' units bolted together to form one biggun. The stripping off of the inner layer of plaster board to expose the insulation has revealed a spider metropolis. Most of their cities have now been relocated into the shop vac's bag. Anyone have suggestions to prevent or at least reduce the arachnid population in the shed once I've finished the renos?

Regular applications of fly spray seems to discourage them.

 

I find they get into any angular corners, so tight fitting insulation combined with internal sheeting to create the flattest possible surfaces (ie doing away with visible rafters in the roof) tends to restrict them to the top and bottom corners of the building and around the windows.

 

The PH bought sealed LED lights for the illumination of my workshop and in the three years it's been up, I've not had any incursions into the lighting units by any bug like creatures.

[Stubby47]

Apparently there is a new fly spray out that acts like an aphrodisiac.

 

It doesn't kill the fly, but does allow you to swat them in pairs.

[Northroader]

Something which has got me baffled occurred when granddaughter number one turned up near the end of the summer holidays wanting a tour of the garden to take photos of wildlife for a project at her new school. Not very much on offer, so had a rummage in our shed, only one we’ve got, sorry, summerhouse type of thing 6’x7’, to see some spiders. Found a small, neat, black spider which had a nice colourful bright red patch on its back, so we took a photo of that without disturbing it. Since looked it up on the web, eek! It can’t really be one of them? (Widow spider, eats the male whilst mating, poisonous) she got a house point, but no one at school picked it up. Must be careful approaching the shed in future. Since working round the back of the shed, found a similar beastie but with a buff patch instead of red. Is global warming turning Wiltshire into Australia?

[Doncaster Green]

Speaking of cake, panniers, wives and spiders , along with pretty much whatever else springs to mind.

 

Cake is much loved but can be a source of disharmony in this house.   Due to her medical condition, Marg is not really allowed anything containing chocolate, nuts or dried fruit.   See how this limits the available choices?   To me cake is not proper cake unless it contains at least two of the discouraged ingredients.   A constant diet of Victoria sponge bores me to death!   The disharmony arises when I am caught sneaking a nice eclair, or, even worse, a slice of fruit cake.

 

On panniers, I saw my first one at age 9 when my father decided he now had a car he could trust to get us beyond the end of our street and we went to Cornwall.   To a youngster brought up on the products of Doncaster and Darlington, with a little bit of Derby and Crewe on the other side of town, they were a confection of the Devil!  My father, brought up in deepest Dorset, had to admit he'd not seen one before, having been transported to school in green carriages behind little black tanks with bright yellow lettering!

 

Although I am not fond of spiders, they do have a purpose in life; feasting on all the other little beasties on this earth to annoy us.   Unlike wasps!   Do wasps have a purpose?  Or are they just to annoy us and spiders?

 

John

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, Doncaster Green said:

 

 

On panniers, I saw my first one at age 9 when my father decided he now had a car he could trust to get us beyond the end of our street and we went to Cornwall.   To a youngster brought up on the products of Doncaster and Darlington, with a little bit of Derby and Crewe on the other side of town, they were a confection of the Devil! 

 

Although I am not fond of spiders, they do have a purpose in life; feasting on all the other little beasties on this earth to annoy us.   Unlike wasps!   Do wasps have a purpose?  Or are they just to annoy us and spiders?

 

 

You will not like the personalised Christmas cards I send out!

 

All creatures have their place in the world, it's just that some are less appealing than others.

 

I am reminded that many years ago, ricegrowers in Asia had a purge on snakes to decrease the numbers of workers that ended up getting bitten envemonates, then either being hospitalised or dying.

 

Of course the rice crop outcrop decreased as the absence of the snakes allowed the return of many small rodents which ate the rice plants.

 

The solution was to encourage their workers to wear wellington boots rather than go barefooted as most of the bites tended to be at ankle or calf level.

 

The errant bantam cock did a runner and refused to be caught and removed to a quiet place this morning.

 

However thinking that being 20 m away from me was going to keep him safe, was folly.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

The solution was to encourage their workers to wear wellington boots rather than go barefooted as most of the bites tended to be at ankle or calf level.

 

The errant bantam cock did a runner and refused to be caught and removed to a quiet place this morning.

 

However thinking that being 20 m away from me was going to keep him safe, was folly.

I take it that you are having Coq au Vin for tea tonight.

 

Jamie

[bbishop]

Telephonic physiotherapy on my tendon this morning; off to give blood; zoom German lesson this evening; then fall into bed.  Bill

[Steamport Southport]

3 hours ago, Northroader said:

Something which has got me baffled occurred when granddaughter number one turned up near the end of the summer holidays wanting a tour of the garden to take photos of wildlife for a project at her new school. Not very much on offer, so had a rummage in our shed, only one we’ve got, sorry, summerhouse type of thing 6’x7’, to see some spiders. Found a small, neat, black spider which had a nice colourful bright red patch on its back, so we took a photo of that without disturbing it. Since looked it up on the web, eek! It can’t really be one of them? (Widow spider, eats the male whilst mating, poisonous) she got a house point, but no one at school picked it up. Must be careful approaching the shed in future. Since working round the back of the shed, found a similar beastie but with a buff patch instead of red. Is global warming turning Wiltshire into Australia?

 

It'll be a false widow. Totally harmless but has a nasty bite.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_nobilis

[Danemouth]

For the benefit of HH and those with refined tastes here is Danemouth's loco fleet with no less than four, yes four panniers.

More info here

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[Steamport Southport]

12 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Who is that esteemed gentleman?

 

Lionel Jeffries. 

 

British actor who also made the film version of The Railway Children and was in Bhowani Junction filmed at Longmoor Military Railway. But he was in everything when I was growing up from comedy roles such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to serious war movies. I believe he was a railway enthusiast.

 

It was the Lionel bit mostly though.

[jamie92208]

14 minutes ago, Danemouth said:

For the benefit of HH and those with refined tastes here is Danemouth's loco fleet with no less than four, yes four panniers.

More info here

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

How can you un see something. However they do all look the same.

 

Jamie

Edited September 29, 2020 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

33 minutes ago, Danemouth said:

For the benefit of HH and those with refined tastes here is Danemouth's loco fleet with no less than four, yes four panniers.

More info here

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

Excellent stuff Dave,

 

Nice to see a 56xx in this mix as well.  In fact nice to see them all!

 

Perhaps you need a Western  in Maroon?

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

I take it that you are having Coq au Vin for tea tonight.

 

Jamie

No  Vin, just Coq.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Danemouth]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Excellent stuff Dave,

 

Nice to see a 56xx in this mix as well.  In fact nice to see them all!

 

Perhaps you need a Western  in Maroon?

 

Now there's a thought

 

Unfortunately I have missed out on the 117s with green whiskers - the seem to be out of stock everywhere.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

We picked this nursing chair up earlier this afternoon. It was free to a good home as both the arm supports were broken. A couple of dowels screws and glue plus about 30 minutes of my time and we had it back in working order. It can be delivered to the PH later in the week. It will require some cushions, but that was not in my remit. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

That's a very interesting design of anvil HH, or has the horn simply broken off? It looks like more of an upsetting block than an anvil on second thought.

[Northroader]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

No  Vin, just Coq.

 

Coq au plombe?

[Happy Hippo]

Well spotted Douglas.

 

I really don't know as it is one of those lumps of metal I picked up rather than throw it away.

 

It's very handy as a door stop or when I need to weigh something down. 

 

It's not used for genuine smith work anymore.

 

One of these days, I'll clean it up and get the top face fly cut.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

29 minutes ago, Northroader said:

 

Coq au plombe?

Non, Balle dans la tete.

[laurenceb]

8 hours ago, Doncaster Green said:

 

Although I am not fond of spiders, they do have a purpose in life; feasting on all the other little beasties on this earth to annoy us.   Unlike wasps!   Do wasps have a purpose?  Or are they just to annoy us and spiders?

 

John

Wasps eat flies in vast numbers, so yes they have a purpose. alough it can be a bit disconcerting to see one fly out of the other side of the plum you have just bitten into

[Doncaster Green]

15 minutes ago, laurenceb said:

Wasps eat flies in vast numbers, so yes they have a purpose. alough it can be a bit disconcerting to see one fly out of the other side of the plum you have just bitten into

My gripe with wasps is the effect they have on my ability to enjoy a piece of cake and a glass (or 3) of cider ‘al fresco’.  Or even on any activity outdoors.  I was once attempting to apply some primer from a rattle can to a pair of coach bodies when a wasp flew between the spray nozzle and the target.  Result, a weird spray pattern on the coaches and a wasp incapable of flight.

 

But it is not only wasps that have this effect.  There was an occasion visiting Nothe Fort in Weymouth, highly recommended and with a superb view of Portland Harbour (but I suppose that was why it was built), when Marg decided she would like a cup of tea and a slice of cake on the cafe terrace.  No sooner had the plate hit the table than the cake was flying skywards in a flurry of white and grey feathers and flapping wings.  Pesky seagulls!  Needless to say, the replacement was eaten indoors!

 

John

[laurenceb]

Eating al fresco is fun!

[Tony_S]

58 minutes ago, laurenceb said:

Wasps eat flies in vast numbers, so yes they have a purpose. alough it can be a bit disconcerting to see one fly out of the other side of the plum you have just bitten into

Wasps are now being credited with being pollinators of quite a few plants.

[Oldddudders]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

No  Vin, just Coq.

TMI

[Dave Hunt]

My hospital appointment yesterday for a colonoscopy was a disaster. Because no-one had thought to send the relevant department my hospital notes they didn't know that i had only been discharged from hospital four weeks ago following admission for a perforated bowel. Hence after taking all the horrible preparation stuff on Sunday I spent nearly three hours  in the endoscopy unit yesterday morning before being told, sorry we can't do it today as it has to be a minimum of six weeks after discharge. I wonder if the fact that the NHS trust in question is under special measures has anything to do with it?

 

The one bright spot was that although the hospital is in Greasy Wet and Rusty territory i didn't see a single pannier all day.

 

Dave