The Night Mail

[SM42]

12 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

If we have cake and visitors, I try and hide the cake in my mouth until they've gone.

 

One swallow does not a summer (pudding) make!

 

Good plan, but the visitors brought the cake with them, so they would probably realise that some dastardly plan was in operation if it went missing 

 

Andy

[Stubby47]

15 minutes ago, coastalview said:

Lots of RMWebbers visiting Attingham on Tuesday it would seem as I will be volunteering in the afternoon trying to keep the hordes under control 

 

Just point them to the exit, whispering 'free cake that way'.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Stubby47

[laurenceb]

Caught up! After 6 weeks with no internet (thank you EE, now G F &M)

 

[Happy Hippo]

Mud kitchen action. Stone soup on the menu and is very popular

[Dave Hunt]

Our arrival time at Attingham tomorrow is 1200 - 1230. Where will you be stationed Coastalview? I'd like to say hello.

 

Dave

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

That does remind me of one the more spectacular events from my time as a science teacher when one teenager was so keen to escape my science lesson he took a “friends” advice and swallowed a considerable amount of Ex-Lax.

 

Were you really that scary?

[coastalview]

49 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Our arrival time at Attingham tomorrow is 1200 - 1230. Where will you be stationed Coastalview? I'd like to say hello.

 

Dave

I start at 1330 and will be on (I think) either the entrance or exit to the mansion basement which you get to through the rear courtyard. 

 

Be good to put a face to an avatar

 

Chris

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Stone soup

That’s also quite a famous book about 3 soldiers struggling to get home through Europe after one of the Coalition Wars. It’s quite a short read and designed for children from memory.

[simontaylor484]

I think it was called the magic stone Douglas 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Were you really that scary?

Not at all. Some  ROSLA generation kids just resented being in school. The child in question was probably convinced if he exhibited stomach pains he would be excused the lesson. When nothing happened his friends suggested more Exlax and I believe he took rather a lot. Between asking to go , he had just enough time to get to the laboratory but not the lavatory door. His “friends” thought it was hilarious. 

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, coastalview said:

I start at 1330 and will be on (I think) either the entrance or exit to the mansion basement which you get to through the rear courtyard. 

 

Be good to put a face to an avatar

 

Chris

 Chris,

 

I'll try to call in on you. 

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

35 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 Chris,

 

I'll try to call in on you. 

 

Dave

Don't worry, I won't call by and embarrass you.

 

Dave is easily identified;

 

He is quite short with a luxurious ginger Jimmy Edwards style moustache.  He will inevitably be wearing his trademark sheepskin flying jacket complete with the wired white silk scarf.

 

If you've got a spare 90 minutes, just mention the words 'Wizard Prang' but make sure you have a comfy seat to hand

[tetsudofan]

Having a bit of a clearout and came across this picture of the P&O Chitral:

 

 

all 14,000 tons of her which transported me from Southampton to Hong Kong in August 1966 at the start of my nearly 4 year assignment to the Far East.

 

My cabin was on the main deck about 2/3rds of the way down the ship, actually had a window to my cabin, no porthole for me!!

 

Keith

[coastalview]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Don't worry, I won't call by and embarrass you.

 

Dave is easily identified;

 

He is quite short with a luxurious ginger Jimmy Edwards style moustache.  He will inevitably be wearing his trademark sheepskin flying jacket complete with the wired white silk scarf.

 

If you've got a spare 90 minutes, just mention the words 'Wizard Prang' but make sure you have a comfy seat to hand

What about the leather flying helmet?

 

I'll be feeling short changed.....

[Dave Hunt]

OK, I'll bring it with me when I land my Sopwith Camel in front of the mansion (after having strafed the HH party).

 

Dave

 

PS, if you see someone quite tall wearing a Stetson and black jeans, ask him if he knows me.

[Happy Hippo]

Sent to me by a friend:

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

That's easy for you to say!

 

Dave

[Florence Locomotive Works]

57 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Stetson

Thought that was gonna be me fur a secon’ der!

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, tetsudofan said:

P&O

When we went on our first cruise in 2012 the person greeting us as we boarded asked if we had sailed with them before. Aditi said yes, in 1959 from Bombay to Tilbury. We were told their records didn’t go back that far. 

[Happy Hippo]

14 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Thought that was gonna be me fur a secon’ der!

I was amazed at the range of different hats produced by Stetson.

 

Back from AP.

 

We saw Dave parking up outside the Mansion:

 

[pH]

18 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Thought that was gonna be me fur a secon’ der!

Why, when reading this, do I hear an “Eccles” voice?

[Dave Hunt]

A jolly fine time was had at Attingham Park although there was no sign of the Muddy Hollow gang. I had a nice chat with Coastalview, who recognised me straight away by the row of medals I wore in recognition of leading the successful hippo wrangling expedition on the Limpopo in '98 with my old mucker Major Dennis Bloodnock. 

 

Have a good night/day/somewhere in between depending on which part of the globe you currently inhabit.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

I got up early to have a nose around RMWeb, but within a few minutes of opening up my PC I can hear rumblings from upstairs.

 

That'll be the grandchildren's stomachs demanding breakfast.

 

With luck the bananas I deployed a little earlier will keep them occupied for a few more minutes.....

[Dave Hunt]

Chin up, HH, you may, like us, soon return to normality at the Muddy Hollow. The last of our visitors depart today but unlike the exhortations of the country code, as well as footprints they are leaving behind a trail of near devastation (or so it appears to my jaundiced morning eye). How STPs cause so much chaos in such a short time is a source of mystery. The likelihood of any modelling time in the near future is unfortunately akin to the longevity of snowballs in the Sahara or cake in the vicinity of bears and hippos.

 

A little bird from another thread tells me that our exiled correspondent from the Charente and his good lady celebrate 42 years of wedded bliss today so congrats to Jamie.

 

TTFN people.

[Happy Hippo]

Unreported earlier was the demise of our washing machine on Monday morning.  It's something to do with the electronics side of life and the decision was made to get a new one instead.  the rational behind this decision being that by the time we've called out a service engineer with the various call out charges, plus the cost of the parts to repair machine, we are quite close to the cost of a new one.

 

The new machine arrives this afternoon

 

I declined the offer of the old machine to be disposed of, at a fee naturally, as I will strip the old one of reusable components:  The stainless drum will make a very nice incinerator/ fire pit for the garden.  The motor will go on to power a home made woodworking machine and the case will be a valuable supply of steel sheet.  The concrete  balancing weights will go to my pile of hardcore for the base of replacement summerhouse/storeshed at the top of the garden. There are other bits that will make their way into various spares boxes. 

 

I hate throwing things away.

 

PS.  I had nothing to do with Iran's largest naval vessel the 'Kharg' which has sunk following a fire.  I suspect either the USA or Israel will get the blame fairly shortly.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Happy Hippo