Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

19 minutes ago, brianusa said:

I have often wondered why we we dutifully have it cleaned off every so often.

I know why. I have seen Douglas firs growing in the valley between two intersecting hipped roofs. It was in the back and not easily visible and was perhaps 18" - 24" tall.

 

There was an old barn locally (now torn down and the site of a flooring store) that had a thatch of moss that was perhaps 6" thick. I have a photograph somewhere.

[Gwiwer]

Evening all.

 

The Hill of Strawberries is back online although I shall be unable to catch up with the "missing" week or so during my absence.   Therefore generic greetings are offered and with apologies for anything of specific importance which I may have missed.  

 

All remains reasonably well except for the weather which has become wet, cool and windy.  Most unlike a summer's evening.  

 

Produce has been picked and enjoyed including runner and broad beans, chard and mulberries of which 1kg have become jam and many more remain frozen awaiting use.  Tomorrow has weeding time allotted and possibly a little more planting out.  There are sunflowers in the greenhouse ready to go.  

 

The House of Fun has been noticeably busier though none of us seem at all troubled by this.  There has been a mood of "trains are for carrying lots of people - it's good to see them doing that".  A straw-poll across the week gone suggests that around 90% of passengers are complying with face-covering requirements allowing for an unknown number of legitimate exemptees.  While on-duty staff are not required to cover up many are doing so for their own comfort and out of respect for everyone else.  We are not expecting a huge upturn in traffic come Monday but there will be more and longer trains and we do expect the steady growth in numbers to be sustained.  

 

Dr. SWMBO thanks all those who have offered their congratulations and support on her gaining her PhD.  It is beginning to sink in and it is one large weight off her mind.  The minor corrections requested will not be arduous and she already has arrangements in hand for an award presentation later this year.  If it proceeds as discussed this will be at an Oxford University college rather than the Australian National University, Canberra, which is conferring her award and conducted by the Master of that (as yet not-to-be-named) college.  

 

And so to the weekend.  Friday Drinks were held indoors tonight account the weather and comprised Blackberry Gin and tonic for her and a bottle of Hicks ale for me.  Followed by "Chicken in a French Garden" (i.e. smothered in butter, garlic and herbs) with home-made penne peperonata and our home-grown green veg.  The Ocado delivery was right on time and yet again had nothing missing or substituted.  The meat delivery was also on time from our ex-restaurant supplier and once again contained a small surprise free gift - this time a half-dozen eggs not ordered and not charged for but with their compliments.  

 

Communication with Sister tonight has elicited the fact that she is off to South Fraggle Rock tomorrow - the first available opportunity with eased travel restrictions across the Solent - to visit Nephew the Elder and family.  After which her next port of call will be here.  SWMBO still being very wary of everything has asked that a visit here be "mainly outside" and at least 14 days after seeing anyone else.  I am perfectly comfortable with indoors but it's not just about me.  

 

If it were my decision there would be a booking for a meal out by now - SWMBO says she has no intention of going anywhere until there is a vaccine though there are signs her anxiety on that is just starting to ease.  She had her weekly morning walk with a work colleague this morning and visited his home - a first since the virus was known to be here - for a coffee (outside) which required walking through the house (without stopping or touching anything she says) both arriving and leaving.   The next step will be her now-confirmed dental appointment on Tuesday coming which will require her to use the train for ten minutes each way and break her "no public transport until vaccinated" rule.  She is aware that she will have the carriage almost to herself at the time in question but it's still a big step back to a more normal way of life and - potentially to wards her returning to work from work in due course.  

 

 The clock and the cat both tell me it is time for bed.  I'll pop in tomorrow.  Stay well and safe until then.  

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

4 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Dr. SWMBO thanks all those who have offered their congratulations and support on her gaining her PhD.  It is beginning to sink in and it is one large weight off her mind.

Colleagues who have gone that route say it takes a year not to feel guilty that you aren't doing something to the PhD.

[Barry O]

goodnight all!

 

Baz

[Coombe Barton]

... epicurean experimentation foretold.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/07/03/el-bandito-forth-and-back/

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Ah! I thought it was just a simple latching relay circuit but it's actually a divide by two counter. Good idea.

 

Does it use some electronic bits or are there two relays?

You are alll being too fancy. It is just a tumbler mechanism that flops over every time the coil us energised either closing orbopening the switch.  All ele tro mechanical.  However when I bought the new one yesterday a French Sparky shook his head and said, "They don't make them like that nowadays you will have to ask the man to get a modern one out of the locked cabinet".. this was duly done  and this morning it was installed along with it's 4.5m extension cable.  Switched the circuit breaker back on and zilch, no light. I will be investigating in the morning.

 

Jamie

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Not a lot to report today. Spent most of the day out walking and challenging by balance problems. I was hoping to do some book work today but by the the I got home I couldn’t be bothered . Some of its two months overdue but just can’t be bothered. If any one asks I’ll just blame COVID-19, that seems to be an excuse for everything at the moment. I WILL get it done tomorrow. 
Goognight

Robert

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

For a couple of hours last night I tried to log on, but I kept getting a the error code 522, connection timed out message, so just after midnight, I gave up and went to bed. When I got up this morning I was still getting the same error message, so once again I gave up and went to the butchers. 

 

So here is a condensed version of what I was going to post last night and this morning. 

 

Yesterday in between rain showers I managed to give the bench slats a third coat of primer and the 3 stays a first coat. I  completed sanding and prepping both of the bench sides and even managed to get a coat of primer on one side of each. 

 

I built and tested the last 3 remaining circuit boards, thankfully all worked well. The photo below shows the 2 boards connected together by a 4 wires with a plug on each end. The small circuit board on the left is the photo interrupter, the larger one on the right is the control circuit board, they all need slots drilling in them for mounting. The gap in the photo interrupter is 5mm wide. The operating pin will pass between the 2 uprights and a piece of wire just under 1mm diameter is enough to turn the interrupter off. So the next step will be to fix them to the turntable and start testing. Tomorrow I’ll use a pin ice and some small drills to find out just how small a diameter I can go down too. 

 

The pen is there to give you an idea of the size of each circuit board. 

 

Now, to today, after breakfast I took a walk to the butchers, where I collected the weekly meat rations and secured myself a pastie for my dinner. Once back home, I had a quick muggertea and then headed off to the Trafford Centre for a few more provisions. But I deviated first and called at Vickie’s to drop off Charlie’s birthday card. The rest of the day was free, so set up the old laptop and I’ll drew up a printable version of the new circuit diagrams and board layout for the interrupter circuits.

 

After tea I laced an order for 2 new low (24v) voltage soldering irons to replace my old ones, hopefully they should be with me on Monday. Later this evening Vickie and Ian called round to pick up something I’d forgotten to drop off this morning, we chatted for about 30 minutes, whilst maintaining social distancing of course! It’s quite apparent that Ian has lost a fair bit of weight, mainly down to the fact that he’s unable to go to the gym at the moment. As the pubs are re-opening tomorrow, he’s back at work, something he’s not looking forward too, as he’s convinced (and so are we) that the place will be full of drunken ejits and that plenty of fists will be flying about. 

 

Tomorrow James will be calling round and drop off a few watches that he’s been fixing, new batteries, seals etc, for us. During the lockdown period 2 of mine and 2 of Sheila’s packed in and I’m lost without a watch, I’m constantly looking at my wrist to see what time it is. 

 

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

You are alll being too fancy. It is just a tumbler mechanism that flops over every time the coil us energised either closing orbopening the switch.  All ele tro mechanical.  However when I bought the new one yesterday a French Sparky shook his head and said, "They don't make them like that nowadays you will have to ask the man to get a modern one out of the locked cabinet".. this was duly done  and this morning it was installed along with it's 4.5m extension cable.  Switched the circuit breaker back on and zilch, no light. I will be investigating in the morning.

 

Jamie

 

I'm still none the wiser  

 

Perchance, does it have Citroën chevrons on it?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by AndyID
To add cheeky comment

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

I had some really excellent empanadas for dinner tonight, from the favorite Cuban take out place. For those who don’t know what a empanada is, it’s in the shape of a Cornish Pasty but filled with Cuban ground beef, potato, various spices and other things. The two spheres you can see are called Papa Rejina (spelling almost certainly wrong), these are fried potato balls filled with the extra filling from the empanada. 
 

Other than that, not much happened today. A tunnel portal was weathered, and some painting done on the baseboard for the Box Tunnel. I again ventured out to a hobby store, and replaced my ailing collection of paint brushes with new ones, a long overdue process. The Boeing 777 fan has been moved to the farthest corner of my room, and is vaguely quieter now. The main ceiling fan has now begun squeaking, so I’m guessing the main bearings have gone, which means a new fan is needed. However it will take some convincing of the higher powers for this to be excepted.  
 

stay healthy,

 

Douglas

Edited July 4, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

Oh, my aching eyes! I wish that it were possible to "un-see" something!

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

I had some really excellent empanadas for dinner tonight, from the favorite Cuban take out place. ... The two spheres you can see are called Papa Rejina (spelling almost certainly wrong), these are fried potato balls filled with the extra filling from the empanada. 

Excellent!  

 

Papas Rellenas is the spelling by the way. Empanadas originate in Galica (Spain), 500 miles by sea roughly south by west as the seabird flies from Cornwall.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Ozexpatriate
Fixed the distance.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

12 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Excellent!  

 

Papas Rellenas is the spelling by the way. Empanadas originate in Galica (Spain), 200 miles by sea roughly south by west as the seabird flies from Cornwall.

I wonder if they ended up there when that storm blew the Spanish Armada into the Irish and (possibly) Cornish coasts? 

[AndyID]

5 hours ago, brianusa said:

I have often wondered why we we dutifully have it cleaned off every so often.

     Brian.

 

I've not bothered cleaning them for a few years. The shingles are now 25 years old. Fairly soon they will either have to be covered with a second layer or replaced.

 

I would replace them with steel but at my age that's hardly a sound investment.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 minutes ago, AndyID said:

I would replace them with steel but at my age that's hardly a sound investment.

Asphalt shingles are 'good enough'.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Asphalt shingles are 'good enough'.

 

Or maybe a few old tarps

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Excellent!  

 

Papas Rellenas is the spelling by the way. Empanadas originate in Galica (Spain), 200 miles by sea roughly south by west as the seabird flies from Cornwall.

200 might just get you to Brittany possibly 700.  However I had Empanadas in El Salvador and liked them.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

8 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I hired a tracked wheelbarrow once.   Absolutely brilliant thing because not only was it tracked but pushing a lever made it jack up to move the bin higher so it could tip into a skip (dumpster for US readers) that was already part loaded.  And being power worked I didn't have to push it to get it from a fair way down the garden uphill to reach the skip;  only problem with it was that if you moved the accelerator lever to the 'hare' position it was a job to walk fast enough to keep up with it to steer it safely.

 

https://www.jewson.co.uk/p/dumpster-JTH06725

 

If only.  I had a "right result" with a new neighbour who's moving in over the road from me, but doing a lot of renovation work after the previous tenant (evicted, I believe) left the place in a "right state".  He was happy for me to bung my rubbish on top of his skip, and wouldn't take a penny towards the cost either (such a skip in this area would set you back the best part of 300 notes, and he's had two....).  The rubbish consisted of eleven woven bags of soil/clay/crap, which had been standing for some weeks so the contents were somewhat damp, adding to the weight.  So I had to get each one to shoulder height to get it on top of the pile - plus I wanted the bags back.  And then there were the six lumps of concrete....

All this was Thursday evening, and I was "feeling it" on Friday morning.

 

7 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Evening all.

 

The Hill of Strawberries is back online although I shall be unable to catch up with the "missing" week or so during my absence.   Therefore generic greetings are offered and with apologies for anything of specific importance which I may have missed. 

 

GDB's unspeakable treatment of a cute fluffy doggie springs to mind....

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Today parts of our worlds come back to life.  Should I fancy queuing all day I will be able to have my haircut, or perhaps that most unfamiliar of commodities, a pint.  If the scaremongers are right, and how often does that happen, I will not be able to do both.  No matter, for there is a fodder run to be done and among other things I need to decide what to procure for Sunday lunch.  One day soon I will be able to have breakfast in the pub, just like I used to like to do, but it won't be today.  Ahead is the glittering prospect of having somewhere other than the supermarket to go.  That will be nice.  Meanwhile the cancellations continue to rack up.  In January, more than six months hence, Whittlesey Straw Bear is off, so no dancing on the streets that day.  Before that, in October, Bedford Beer Festival is set for the chop, so no culture this year.

 

Looking ahead, Sidmouth Folk Festival is fundraising busily.  It costs £700k to mount the festival and some of it had already been spent when the plug was pulled for this year.  All sorts of crowdfunding bargains are on offer, some more attractive than others.  For £20 I can have a T shirt proclaiming to the world that I am a Sidmouth Champion and for £20 more a brunch with festival performers.  I've gone for these.  For a moment I was tempted by a festival season ticket for life at a mere £5,300.  The odds must be against getting my money's worth from that.  Eternal life is a nice idea but not in this world.

 

Meanwhile, I got through yesterday without pain killers.  I'm not sure that I will be able to do that today but everyone can dream.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Ozexpatriate]

41 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

200 might just get you to Brittany possibly 700. 

Thank you. Yes, it sounded wrong to me - I used the measure distance multiple times in Google maps and it gave me 200 miles each time. Checking again it gave me 460 miles.

 

Brittany is about 112 miles.

 

I fixed the original post - thanks again.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Ozexpatriate