The Night Mail

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Well we ended up with a good 4-5 inches of snow on the ground today, the most since 2011. There’s so much that my school has put our mid-year exams online tomorrow, which will be interesting. They may have to put Tuesday's online as well, as there’s more snow in the forecast. 

 

I realized today that there was an empty bulb socket in one of my Lionel switches, so decided to fill it for the first time in my ownership, and to my surprise it worked. A photo of the K4 and bulb is below, along with the wintery landscape. 
 

Douglas

 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Well we ended up with a good 4-5 inches of snow on the ground today, the most since 2011. There’s so much that my school has put our mid-year exams online tomorrow, which will be interesting.

 

 

Now that's an interesting concept.  So what is there to stop a student from looking up the answers in a book or on Google during the exam?

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Now that's an interesting concept.  So what is there to stop a student from looking up the answers in a book or on Google during the exam?

 

That's been standard practice in schools and universities in the UK this year. Generally, answers are not the sort one can just "look up". It's recognised that the exam is "open book" but the time window the student has between receiving and submitting the paper is too short to read up the subject if no revision has been done. It works.

[Happy Hippo]

I am not impressed by the weather around here lately.

 

There is a touch of blue sky this morning, but it's surrounded by grey murk which no doubt contains more of the wet stuff.

 

The muddy hollow is more of a wet puddle of grey/brown fluid and is less than appealing to the eye.

 

I think a morning doing something indoors might be a good plan.

 

Perhaps I could make some cake?

[coastalview]

 

23 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I am not impressed by the weather around here lately.

 

Much the same here Rodney's Pillar and The Breiddens have disappeared into the murk and looking at the forecast seem unlikely to reappear today.

[Happy Hippo]

I thought I'd brighten the day up with a useful starter for 15.

 

Cranberry and cinnamon  Welsh cakes.

 

N

 

 They have not been dusted with extra sugar as we prefer them this way.

 

What are their odds on surviving until the end of the day?

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Perhaps I could make some cake?

 

Ready.....

 

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I thought I'd brighten the day up with a useful starter for 15.

 

Cranberry and cinnamon  Welsh cakes.

 

N

 

 They have not been dusted with extra sugar as we prefer them this way.

 

What are their odds on surviving until the end of the day?

 

Less than nil, at a guess.  I'll bring the strawberry jam.

 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Ready.....

 

 

Less than nil, at a guess.  I'll bring the strawberry jam.

 

Best be quick, the first long row has gone!

[Winslow Boy]

6 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Best be quick, the first long row has gone!

Not what you would call an essential journey. Where's that covid hot line number again.

[Happy Hippo]

Just now, Winslow Boy said:

Not what you would call an essential journey. Where's that covid hot line number again.

Cakes is business!

[Dave Hunt]

After a gloomy start it has just brightened up in North Hipposhire but is getting quite breezy. I've just finished making a Creole cake - lots of fruit and booze - that is in the oven where it will spend the next four hours wafting delicious smells around the house. I would offer to swap a slice for a Welsh cake but I think that the chances of any of those still being around at the Sludgy Hollow by the time it has finished cooking are remote. Best go and check the minefield in case of wandering bears...

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

14 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

After a gloomy start it has just brightened up in North Hipposhire but is getting quite breezy. I've just finished making a Creole cake - lots of fruit and booze - that is in the oven where it will spend the next four hours wafting delicious smells around the house. I would offer to swap a slice for a Welsh cake but I think that the chances of any of those still being around at the Sludgy Hollow by the time it has finished cooking are remote. Best go and check the minefield in case of wandering bears...

 

Dave

The advantage of a minefield is the muffled crump announcing an intruders presence.

[New Haven Neil]

22 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

I had similar problems with th fence on my table saw its only a cheapo nasty one i replaced it with aluminium angle and some deep throat clamps

 

In response to the Bach organ piece earlier may i humbly suggest Wiridors 5th 

https://youtu.be/DKejfYzB3ak

 

This one's better...

 

 

[Barry O]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I thought I'd brighten the day up with a useful starter for 15.

 

Cranberry and cinnamon  Welsh cakes.

 

N

 

 They have not been dusted with extra sugar as we prefer them this way.

 

What are their odds on surviving until the end of the day?

Never had some like that..only ever had to force myself to eat some of the Welsh Cakes provided by the "Viet Gwent "- I believe that Mrs Alistair Warrington made them...

 

yummy!

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

would offer to swap a slice for a Welsh cake

I don’t think I have had a Welsh cake. I have eaten a Scotch pie. 

[Happy Hippo]

Baz,

 

If you look at the recipe for a Welsh Cake and a Fruit Scone, they are virtually identical!  It's only the manner in which they are cooked that differs.

 

Apart from our own home baked stuff, I've not seen anything other than the usual currant inserts for Welsh Cakes.

 

Cinnamon and Cranberry,  Apple and Cinnamon, Apple and Ginger, Cranberry and Ginger,  and Apricot are all derivatives we've tried with great success (ie they all get eaten pdq).

 

I did think of trying some savoury varieties as well such as bacon, cheese and black onion seeds, or plain cheese or various other savoury scone combos we've come across.

 

This year we are considering experimenting with a Christmas variety:  Probably  starting by substituting the milk for brandy or Cointreau and then a bit of guess work!

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Just finished my only exam of the day, algebra. It was reassuring stressful. 
 

I decided I should probably fortify myself for the coming exam, so managed to find the motivation to make myself a much larger than usual breakfast. It was quite good, the ends of the bacon could have had a little less fat though. 
 

Douglas

 

[rockershovel]

American bacon is definitely one of life’s disappointments... this is bacon...

https://wiltshirebacon.com/how-to-make-a-bacon-sandwich-option-1

Edited December 14, 2020 by rockershovel

[Winslow Boy]

This is rapidly turning into a cookery channel. Perhaps we should rename it; Scoffing with Hippo or perhaps Chomping with H.

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

This one's better...

 

 

Your right Neil it's a fantastic piece

 

I have a liking of good Church organ music and Welsh male voice choirs a good rendition of Can Rhonnda makes my eyes water, as well as Amazing Grace. I also have a brilliant version of nessum dorma by Jussi Borling a Swedish opera singer 

[simontaylor484]

24 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Just finished my only exam of the day, algebra. It was reassuring stressful. 
 

I decided I should probably fortify myself for the coming exam, so managed to find the motivation to make myself a much larger than usual breakfast. It was quite good, the ends of the bacon could have had a little less fat though. 
 

Douglas

 

The best version of Breakfast in America was by Supertramp 

[rockershovel]

5 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

The best version of Breakfast in America was by Supertramp 

 

No...... sitting on the (screened) veranda of the Sheraton at Key West, eating Eggs Benedict and ham, accompanied by fresh coffee and fresh orange juice.... 

Edited December 14, 2020 by rockershovel

[Tony_S]

58 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Just finished my only exam of the day, algebra. It was reassuring stressful. 
 

I decided I should probably fortify myself for the coming exam, so managed to find the motivation to make myself a much larger than usual breakfast. It was quite good, the ends of the bacon could have had a little less fat though. 
 

Douglas

 

When we crossed the Atlantic on QM2 there was always a choice of American or English bacon at breakfast. For those who didn’t like pork there were some other things that looked like bacon. I didn’t really pay attention, turkey bacon perhaps. I know there were chicken sausages. We only ate in the cafeteria area for breakfast a couple of times. We usually ate in the restaurant where the menu was very comprehensive.  

[jamie92208]

56 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

 

No...... sitting on the (screened) veranda of the Sheraton at Key West, eating Eggs Benedict and ham, accompanied by fresh coffee and fresh orange juice.... 

I'll raise you sitting in a window seat at the roadhouse in Cheyenne Wyoming eating a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and butter and watching the freights come on and off Sherman Hill justcacross the road. The procession never ends.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Just finished my only exam of the day, algebra. It was reassuring stressful. 
 

I decided I should probably fortify myself for the coming exam, so managed to find the motivation to make myself a much larger than usual breakfast. It was quite good, the ends of the bacon could have had a little less fat though. 
 

Douglas

 

 

No sausages, no chips, no fried bread, no onion rings, no fried tomatoes...

You've been swindled.