The Night Mail

[coastalview]

1 hour ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

@J. S. Bach Went driver hunting this morning, thought you might find it interesting. 

 

Douglas

 

 

That looks a rather fine setup

Edited November 14, 2020 by coastalview

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Decided to give myself a late birthday present with some birthday money: An 8 drawer wooden tool chest, Chinese made. Extremely good value for money, it cost under $100. 
 

Douglas

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[polybear]

On 13/11/2020 at 10:13, Happy Hippo said:

In the garage roof is a 5" gauge chassis and boiler for a 'Rob Roy' which I was given.  I really ought to get rid of them, as the sale, especially the boiler, would create quite a healthy set of modelling tokens.

 

 

This site is rather useful for such sales as it's totally free to use and stuff seems to go very quickly - it's not an auction though, so no "offers invited/over" etc. etc.  Also good for wanted ads. and help/information ads. etc.

edit:  A certain dummy forgot to add the link:

https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/

 

On 13/11/2020 at 21:59, figworthy said:

Not sure if this works for hippos, but the Japanese have come up with a means of scaring off bears.  Might be useful for keeping cake supplies safe.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-robot-wolves-bears-takikawa-b1721857.html

 

(other news outlets available)

 

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no cake here, but the manor's HR department would welcome expressions of interest from any cake makers looking for a new role.

 

Adrian

 

If anyone thinks that little toy will keep a marauding Poly away from their cake then think again....

https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/robots

 

11 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Decided to give myself a late birthday present with some birthday money: An 8 drawer wooden tool chest, Chinese made. Extremely good value for money, it cost under $100. 
 

Douglas

 

 

A certain Poly would swap a mince pie for one of those.  Very, very nice........

Edited November 15, 2020 by polybear

[BR60103]

The November Railroad Model Craftsman has a column by Jason (Rapido) Shron about his try at supplying a train set to WalMart (large US department store chain) in 2005.  They wanted one they could sell for $69.97 (wholesale $35).  Jason found that he couldn't source a locomotive for that much. He found a catalog for 20 years earlier that had a set at that price. The whole article is worth reading.

 

I Remember that in 1953, my first Lionel set cost $57.95 (Cdn). My father was paying $50 or 55 to rent an apartment at the time. Canadian retail price seemed to be 50% more than U.S.

 

[polybear]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

This site is rather useful for such sales as it's totally free to use and stuff seems to go very quickly - it's not an auction though, so no "offers invited/over" etc. etc.  Also good for wanted ads. and help/information ads. etc.

edit:  A certain dummy forgot to add the link:

https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/

 

Bear forgot to add the website link to my previous post - now corrected.  Obviously more vitamin cake needed....

 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear forgot to add the website link to my previous post - now corrected.  Obviously more vitamin cake needed....

 

I'd suggest you need many varying cake supplements in order to regain your mental faculties.

 

Start with some Stollen and then work through the various yule logs on offer.  A Decent Christmas cake may also go some way in getting you back to par.

 

My personal starter is a ginger oat biscuit covered in dark chocolate.

 

The weather here has been particularly foul over the past few days, sitting in the office yesterday evening the rain could be heard quite clearly.

 

Yet today it's a bit breezy but with sunshine and bright blue sky.

 

Initial tasking appears to be some cleaning duties, followed by some jewellery repairs (personally I'd make it illegal for jewellery to be made from fine link as removing a twist from one is a tad awkward).

[jamie92208]

All this talk of cake must have subliminally got to Beth. She is planning to make a ginger cake this afternoon.

 

Jamie

[SM42]

All this talk of cake is making me hungry.

 

Mrs SM42 has decreed that a walking we shall go this afternoon.

 

No chance of cake being bought en route, it has been  embargoed at SM42 Towers now.  Something about expanding waist lines was mentioned. 

 

I'm not sure what exactly was said as I only started listening at "no more cakes"

 

"What? ever?"

 

Fortnately the rain is back so a walking we might not go.

 

Still no cake though.

 

Anyone willing to do a covert supply drop?

 

Fire up the Lysander

 

Andy

[coastalview]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

My personal starter is a ginger oat biscuit covered in dark chocolate.

 

Could not disagree with that for one moment

[jamie92208]

The ginger cake is in the oven and smells rather nice. I believe  that the topping is to be underway soon.  Brownie points need to be earned so that I am allowed some.  I therefore need to extract my digit and get the timer set on the underfloor heating in the bathroom. Complaints of cold feet on a morning have been made.

 

Jamie

[coastalview]

48 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

The ginger cake is in the oven and smells rather nice. I believe  that the topping is to be underway soon.  Brownie points need to be earned so that I am allowed some.  I therefore need to extract my digit and get the timer set on the underfloor heating in the bathroom. Complaints of cold feet on a morning have been made.

 

Jamie

This is making me quite peckish. I have liked ginger cake since I was a small child.

[SM42]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

The ginger cake is in the oven and smells rather nice. I believe  that the topping is to be underway soon.  Brownie points need to be earned so that I am allowed some.  I therefore need to extract my digit and get the timer set on the underfloor heating in the bathroom. Complaints of cold feet on a morning have been made.

 

Jamie

 

We need a very jealous button ( I had to use thanks , in a for rubbing it in way)

 

All however is not lost at SM42 Towers.

 

Walking was done due to the weather being rather unco-operative and clearing up nicely, but on the bright side Mrs SM42 has just announced a secret cheese cake that's gone wrong.

 

Looks like we have cheese cake Eaton mess style later.

 

Things are definitely looking up

 

Andy (who's rather glad Mrs SM42's anti cake resolve isn't very strong)

Edited November 15, 2020 by SM42

[jamie92208]

The ginger cake is now 'resting' whilst the master baker ponders on what to do next. There are two options 1) to wrap it up in foil to 'come again'for a few days, then put a rather sugary topping on, or 2) start eating it tonight.  I dare not disturb the ayatollah whilst she cogitates. All is not lost however as two cakes were bought at the market this morning are ready to eat.

 

I will report developments  in due course.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

A late afternoon spending spree by the head gardener has resulted in new fruit bushes and some now fruit trees being bought in preparation for the garden makeover scheduled for the springtime.

 

Neither the flat wagon chassis kit, nor the 7.25" gauge track was mentioned at this time.

Edited November 15, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

We don’t have any cakes baking today but we have woken a Borrowdale Tea Bread from hibernation. Some varieties of cake freeze well. Though we did have  a supply of bread pudding delivered today. We gave a neighbour who had run out of eggs some the other day and she sent the cake over. All swaps achieved at approved distances. 
MiL is getting much frailer in a relatively short time. She has help to get out of bed at night but has managed most daytimes. She got stranded in her armchair for the first time today and had to phone for assistance. She can’t get off the sofa anymore. It only seems a month ago she was doing yoga and going for walks. She did look at some chairs designed to assist but said she didn’t like them. Unfortunately she saw the price which would have made her not like them. It used to be difficult with my mother. If we managed to take her out for a meal, she always chose the cheapest item on the menu whether or not she liked it.  Aditi’s Mum is very good at remembering how much things used to cost. She knows she doesn’t have to worry about money but seems to think any expense spent on her is a waste of money. Aditi is very good at trying to help her Mum appreciate that everyone in the family doesn’t agree with her. 
 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Tony_S

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

A late afternoon spending spree by the head gardener has resulted in new fruit bushes and some now fruit trees being bought in preparation for the garden makeover scheduled for the springtime.

 

Neither the flat wagon chassis kit, nor the 7.25" gauge track was mentioned at this time.

You are a very wise hippopotami.

[Happy Hippo]

Grey and overcast this morning.  Just the sort of weather for a bit of work in the garage.

 

Now I have some floor space, I need to cover it up with the stuff that resides in the garage roof.

 

Would anyone like a small dinner gong which I found yesterday hiding in a box in one of the not so accessible corners?

[Tony_S]

40 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Would anyone like a small dinner gong which I found yesterday hiding in a box in one of the not so accessible corners?

I always associate dinner gongs with Agatha Christie type murder mysteries. 

[Happy Hippo]

5 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I always associate dinner gongs with Agatha Christie type murder mysteries. 

The only thing murdered here is food.

[Dave Hunt]

By food I take it you are principally referring to cake?

 

I thought that murder was in your mind following a certain game of rugby recently.

 

Dave

[coastalview]

10 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

always associate dinner gongs with Agatha Christie type murder mysteries. 

I rember staying at a guest house in Cliftonville as a young child where they used a gong to summon you to dinner

[Happy Hippo]

55 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

By food I take it you are principally referring to cake?

 

I thought that murder was in your mind following a certain game of rugby recently.

 

Dave

I think that the WRU is suffering from a lack of leadership at the top.  They've only won one match since Warren Gatland left the fold.

 

Wayne Pivac does not seem to have an answer to the problem of the Welsh Rugby team only firing on 7 cylinders rather than the full fifteen.  Perhaps the answer is to get rid of some of the more established players!  Some of them are probably at their sell by date if not already past it,  and it would be better to take the next three years to build up a decent squad for the next RWC in France, rather than carrying out battle damage replacement on an adhoc basis.

 

Certainly the difference in play between the first and second half during the Ireland match was significant.  Once the Welsh forwards started getting the ball out to their back line the game opened up.  But the first half plan of holding the ball in the front eight if they got possession and  the continual mincer of tackle/ruck/tackle/ruck/ad infinitum was painful to watch.  The previous match against the French saw how the French got the ball out and there was some brilliant running and passing by the french backs that resulted in an ever growing scoreline against Wales.

 

There is also some question as to how the referees have been told to deal with penalties arising from scrummaging.  Certainly in my day in the front row, you had to be very careful not to be caught trying to collapse the scrum, so I was somewhat surprised to see the Irish No 3 deliberately rolling his right shoulder down in order to tip the Welsh no 1 off balance.*  Yet it was the Welsh that were penalised for collapsing despite it being  a deliberate act by the Irish no 3.  I know this as I used to be quite good at it when I played  in the tight head position.  It was happening on a regular basis, so I presume the rules must have changed over the years.

 

I'd also like to see changes made to the advantage rule.  If you as a team have an advantage, and you cannot make us of it, if at the end of x amount of time, if you still have possession then it's a case of advantage over, regardless of where you are. The current system, although it keeps the game moving, does mean that teams can play on knowing that even after a lot of play  if they haven't scored, they just go back for a penalty.

 

 

 

*  Edit to say once the ref moved around to the blind side of the scrum the rolling miraculously stopped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, coastalview said:

I rember staying at a guest house in Cliftonville as a young child where they used a gong to summon you to dinner

I mentioned to my wife that a dinner gong had been discovered on RMWeb. I asked her what she associated with dinner gongs and she replied “Hercule Poirot”. She then reminded me that her Mum has one. I think hers is more of an ornament rather than a practical device.  It is quite small, the gong  is about the size of a cd and it is held by a pair of carved wooden elephants. I did mention that I hadn’t noticed her family ever needed to be summoned to dinner. 
Tony

[Happy Hippo]

I hope you don't have visions of myself stripped to the waist and well oiled doing a J Arthur Rank impression.

 

It's cake time!!!

 

 

[Northroader]