Early Risers.

[Chris116]

Made a mug of tea when I woke up at 9am which was enjoyed while listening to Chris Country at a very low volume. Made mugs of coffee for SWMBO and myself at 10am. I enjoyed mine straight away while SWMBO took until 10.30am to stir! She is now doing some crochet while I have turned up the volume of the radio and am about to have a shower. Breakfast today is half a Grapefruit plus whatever else I can get away with. BBQ ribs are scheduled for evening meal today. I hope we will have a walk today or I will be forced to think of something I need from a shop! 

[Rugd1022]

4 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

Morning all.

 

Loadsa vivid dreams and interrupted keep last night, presumably due to the previous day's events not being fully cleared from the output buffer.

 

Today, however is a new start and a new chance to make the most of the day. It is heralded by sunshine, birdsong and some good times on the radio. I have a different plan of attack to the various 'professional' disturbances of yesterday and that us to ignore the idiots......

 

I need to make a visit to the 'proper' office today so I'll take a circuitous route, allows the car to stretch it's legs a bit.

 

The alarm clock is about to sound; shower, breakfast and home 'office' beckons.

 

Porridge, fruit, toast, cereal or bacon butty? Decisions, decisions

 

Best wishes to all.

 

 

I had a very vivid dream last night which had the distinct feeling of late '60s psychedelic road movie, it must be all the American cult films and TV series I've been watching and the muscle car books I've been reading lately. Imagine a darker version of 'Easy Rider' on four wheels instead of two and you get the picture (man)! Many of the dreams I've had over the years have been 'cinematic' for want of a better description, some of them I can recall from early childhood as though I had them last week, lots of odd / woozy images of family goings on, surreal car journeys and places I've never even been to. I don't know if it's the fact that most dreams are had during the night, but nearly all of those I recall were of events taking place in the dark. I once dreamt that the block of flats my Nan lived in fell down just as my Mum and I were walking past it in the middle of a cold Winter's night. Very odd!

 

Meanwhile in the 'real' world I've been having a grand tidy up, taking advantage of the large skip I ordered recently which is gradually filling up. The cupboard under the stairs was this morning's victim, much rummaging ensued which brought forth several old route learning packs I'd completely forgotten about, a set of railway keys I've been searching for for ages and some left over Alfa Romeo spares.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Rugd1022

[TheQ]

Still mooring awl, 

The shed has its holes filled except for the door way,  I realised the spare shed sheets were 61 inches long,  the roof sheets are 51 inches long, to fill the gaps with over laps I needed ten inches...  So there sheets have been trimmed.  And the trimmings cover the holes. 

 

After tea break this morning I returned carrying thermometer and placed it next to where I was working.. In the sun, out of the light breeze... 38C, and my overalls are black..... 

 

I've now returned inside to a mere 21C to look at the destructions for the doors. 

While the doors will be done today the porch may not... It's too darn hot..

 

Two pictures so far,  the bomb site caused by destruction and construction of sheds,  and one of the. Shed as left last night.. 

 

[tigerburnie]

Happy Silver greetings to Mr & Mrs Andrew C

[Simon G]

Happy Anniversary to Andrew and Mrs C, and many more of them.

 

we finally have some sunshine here this morning, and the temperature has risen to the dizzy heights of about 16 degrees. It may get higher this afternoon.  Some hedge trimming has been done this morning, and this afternoon will see an attack on outbreaks of “Mare’s Tail“, using a glyphosate weedkiller.  For years, I have been trying to get it out of the lawn, so my current plan of attack is to apply the weedkiller with a fine paint brush, so that the grass is untouched.

 

Asda duly delivered some supplies this morning, with only 3 items being substituted this time.  One of those involved a pack of dried soup mix being replaced by a bag of ‘fresh’ diced carrot and swede.  A bit of an odd substitute in our view.

[roundhouse]

15 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

I WANT ONE!!!!!

I have a feeling that Mrs G will want to hang on to him

[newbryford]

15 minutes ago, Simon G said:

 this afternoon will see an attack on outbreaks of “Mare’s Tail“, using a glyphosate weedkiller.  For years, I have been trying to get it out of the lawn, so my current plan of attack is to apply the weedkiller with a fine paint brush, so that the grass is untouched.

 

 

 

The stuff is all along the railway next to me.

I wish I could flamethrower the lot of it...……….

[roundhouse]

2 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Morning all from the boring borough. The Not the Chelsea Flower Show was enjoyed by both of us. Perhaps a bit too much of the Pimms in the hot sun. Then a few too many in the Blue Shed public house while throwing some sharp pointy things at the wall. We both overslept this morning. 

 

Today marks the 25th anniversary of SWMBO saying "I Do". What the hell was she thinking. It will of course be just the 4 of us today, including the cats. Not surprisingly we were married in a pub. The plan of course was for the ceremony to be in the garden but it snowed. As mentioned before I have to work today so she is puttering in the garden. Temp is up to 23 already. The house is starting to heat up somewhat. Hopefully the predicted rain tomorrow will cool things off. 

 

Little else to say. Enjoy the day. 

Enjoy the day and we my have a beer to celebrate later. In just over months time me and my other half will have been together in this house for 26 years. We have already started celebrating with a beer virtually every day since lock down but do have one day a week off the beer.

 

However I am shattered now after being out for a walk via the town centre in the heat. Still very depressing seeing a very long queue for Sainsburys down the pedestrian area, a queue for Ponudland, Iceland Wilcos but oddly not M & S so I called into get a few items of food.

 

Another depressing bit of news is that the 2022 NMRA convention that was to be held in the UK (in Brum) rather than USA, is now cancelled due to sports events being pushed back a year hence clashing. So one less show for Banbury. It was to have two this year but one I had not heard any more about even after chasing before the virus and the other is in September so I am expecting that to get cancelled but have my fingers crossed just incase.

[TheQ]

The shed doors are done,  and so am I.  Just the trim on the edges to be done on the shed itself. 

 

There is a sea breeze beginning to pick up,  once a large cold drink and a sarnie has been eaten.  Ben might get his walk. 

[Barry O]

Happy Silver Anniversary to Mr and Mrs C. Just think ..the average time served in prison for murder in the UK is 16.5 years...just saying like....

 

All work as stated by her indoors complete.. ooh err! and afternoon of chassis building can now take place...

 

Having dug the asphalt up outside of our house the council workmen have now moved on somewhere else.. By now I should really understand the workings of Leeds City Council...no chance!.

 

Baz

[Simon G]

1 hour ago, Simon G said:

 

This afternoon will see an attack on an outbreak of “Mare’s Tail”, using a glyphosate weedkiller.

 

44 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

The stuff is all along the railway next to me.

I wish I could flamethrower the lot of it...……….

The sad thing is that even if you did flamethrower the lot of it, it would still come back!  It is very difficult to permanently get rid of.  Even when I treat it with glyphosate, I wear rubber gloves and manually work the weedkiller into the weed, to make sure it absorbs it properly.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Simon G

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

And silver congratulations to Mr & Mrs Andrew C.   Two bins have bin done but the other bin hasn't bin done yet.  It was a freebie extra brown (grass and weeds etc) bin day today but we didn't need it (although when they are ignited the bonfires will no doubt cause alarm in the neighbourhood although they should mean the end  of the 6ft tall stinging nettles.  

 

Several contrails seen but not heard and the only aviation subjects seen and heard have been one helicopter (private owner) and a pair of light aircraft flying in close formation and just about keeping a social distance apart - seems that the formation flying enthusiasts based at White Waltham have this far survived the plague.   Our next door neighbour has been hoping to get out on the river sculling but he can't contact his usual sculling buddy and is hoping he is ok.  Sculling is the only waterborne leisure activity currently permitted on the Thames but for safety reasons  scullers are being told to go out along with a colleague who is also sculling in case of any problems - it is far too easy to get into problems when sculling (I acquired that T-short many years ago)  hence the reason for two going out as buddies to keep an eye on each other.   On the river all boat movement except for essential trips and shopping is banned and all the locks are closed although handwinding is allowed at some but several are blocked by fallen trees (see below) and one is blocked by a van which has ended up in the river so it looks like nothing will reopen for a while although all that should at least keep one class of idiot out of the way for the time being.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day and try to keep cool if you need to.  And stay safe, and alert for those who aren't staying safe.

 

The upstream end of our local lock (apparently there are two fallen willow trees blocking the approach)

 

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

T ...snip... If the dogs don’t mind, why should I? ...snip...

Have a great day!

They probably enjoy the various bouquets of odors that their sensitive noses detect.

[J. S. Bach]

A very happy Anniversary to Andrew and Mrs C.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Happy silver to Andrew and Mrs. C. Will be going out shortly to move a couple of items into the garage in case it rains and then wheel the garden rubbish bin out for collection tomorrow. But a muggatee first. Be back later.

[tetsudofan]

Afternoon from one happy bunny. The package ordered from Gaugemaster at 12 noon yesterday

 

 

was delivered by UPS at 12:04pm today.

 

Excellent service both by Gaugemaster and UPS .

 

Keith

[45156]

On 19/05/2020 at 13:57, 45156 said:

And now it's possible disaster time, as 30747 wants to "have a look at that hair of yours" - well she does groom the dog, and managed that - I'll let you all know tomorrow how it goes.

It went better than I expected, and she was actually able to thin it using a technique called channel cutting, which is something that many hairdressers don't do as it is quite difficult.

 

Back tomorrow, as time has just got the better of me today, as we went to town, and the car was quite smelly inside - don't know why, but as a result, I cleaned all the carpets and mats, and then did the upholstery, and then did the plastic interior trim.  So when I was that far into it, I got the Karcher out as well, and gave it a wash.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[tetsudofan]

Good afternoon again. Yesterday I was rummaging through one of my boxes that hasn't been touched for at least 20 years and came across this:

 

 

my vaccination certificate first issued by the Republic Vietnam shortly after my arrival in Vietnam just after the Tet Offensive in early 1968.

 

Looking at the dates it would appear that on March 15, 1968 I was dragged off to visit the Quarantine Officer to get a Cholera, Peste (whatever that was) and T.A.B jabs followed by another visit on July 12, 1968 for a follow-up Cholera jab and a Smallpox jab which seems to have been a one-off jab.

 

 

The Cholera jabs were most frequent and lasted up to 1977. Its interesting to see where I had the jabs - in Vietnam, India, British Airways in London, Singapore, the City and Hackney Health District and Tokyo.

 

 

 

In addition to that also had jabs for Tetanus, Monovalent Typhoid and Tetanus up until 1975.

 

 

Back in the 1960s and 1970s the Vaccination Certificate was one of your important travel documents and always had to be presented to the Immigration authorities together with your Passport, Travel Tickets (to prove you had a ticket to get home!!) and, if necessary, a Visa when you were travelling around Asia.

 

Little different to what it is today....

 

Keith

 

PS: sorry, forgot to flip pic no.4. 

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, tetsudofan said:

Afternoon from one happy bunny. The package ordered from Gaugemaster at 12 noon yesterday

 

 

was delivered by UPS at 12:04pm today.

 

Excellent service both by Gaugemaster and UPS .

 

Keith

Go on, whats in the box

[Tony_S]

45 minutes ago, tetsudofan said:

Peste

I asked Aditi what it was and she said a novel by Albert Camus. Then when I explained the context she said “plague”. Her grandmother (MiL’s mother ) died of plague in 1929. There had been plague in India from about 1850. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

According to UPS my package is still delayed in an extreme  weather emergency. However it was put on my doorstep earlier after arriving in a plain white van rather than a UPS vehicle. 

[polybear]

Today I had lots of fun shifting 17 bags of Slate Chippings plus 7 bags of Pea shingle from the front of the house to the back - which means a trip of around 100 yards along an alleyway.  Each bag weighs 25Kg - I've a feeling I'll know about it in the morning.

And then there was the Railway Sleeper.  All 2.6m of it, 24.5cm wide and 12.5cm thick.  Heavy? Oh yes, especially when you're shifting it single handed along the same route - and the (narrow) alleyway has a 90 degree bend.  Am I feeling totally bolloxed?  That too.

 

Here's a question for those more knowledgeable than I ( = most people) on all matters Gardening.  I have a large Pyracantha Bush at the bottom of my garden:

 

 

- the area in question is currently being redeveloped to create something hopefully a little more pleasing, whilst being easy to maintain.  This will involve the previously mentioned railway sleeper and slate.

However, Mr. Pyracantha has somewhat inconsiderately placed a root smack bang in the middle of proceedings, which makes positioning of the sleeper more complicated than I would like; the Y-shaped crack in the garden path in the first photo is due to the root too   :

 

 

I'm contemplating chopping the root out; I realise it's not ideal but it would make life a lot easier (and the path should benefit too).  Any thoughts please - I don't want to kill the bush as I quite like it and it's pretty useful for killing any intruders hoping to climb the back gate or fence; the birds like the berries too.  Many thanks.

 

edit: Incidentally, the Fern in the black recycling bin is only there to keep it alive until I replant it after all landscaping works are completed.... 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by polybear

[Chris116]

Well breakfast was enjoyed, the grapefruit was a red one and so juicy! Very nice as was the toast with Marmite on mine and Peanut Butter and Lime Marmalade on SWMBO's. She thinks mine is disgusting and I think hers is worse but the world would be a boring place if we all thought the same! 

 

BBQ Pork Ribs for this evening are always enjoyed by both of us! Lots of noise outside due to neighbours having a paddling pool for their kids in what is supposed to be a quiet area. Views on what is quiet seem to differ.

[grandadbob]

The Boss likes peanut butter and Marmite together on toast.  I prefer lots (I do mean lots) of butter and thick cut marmalade.

Tonight we're mainly having cold chicken, jacket potato and salad preceded by Tribute and accompanied by  a Chilean Carmenère.

Edited May 20, 2020 by grandadbob

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

I'm contemplating chopping the root out; I realise it's not ideal but it would make life a lot easier (and the path should benefit too).  Any thoughts please - I don't want to kill the bush as I quite like it and it's pretty useful for killing any intruders hoping to climb the back gate or fence; the birds like the berries too.

Is that shrub growing on top of concrete running parallel to the fence? It seems like there are more roots between the concrete and the fence that are the primary roots.

 

It would seem to me that cutting the projecting root could:

• cause the shrub to die
• and / or fall, potentially damaging the fence

I understand that it is desirable to keep, but it really is in the wrong place that close to the fence. Unless you want to remove it I wouldn't mess with it, but I'm no expert when it comes to the garden, so please don't do anything based solely on my input.