Early Risers.

[45156]

I've signed up to sing in "Pirates of Penzance" from scratch today with our local G & S Society. It's a 10 hour day with rehearsals all day then a performance early evening.

 

I hope it will be an enjoyable diversion for me as weekends are the hardest time to fill since I moved out of the (ex) marital home.

 

More anon!

Playing Ruth or Mabel? 

 

I did Pirates at school, and the guy playing Major General Stanley was chosen hands down - went on to become an actor, and was involved in a lot of childrens TV under his stage name to Iain Lauchlan - had a lovely voice, and never tripped a note or syllable in "I am the very model"

[Coombe Barton]

I've signed up to sing in "Pirates of Penzance" from scratch today with our local G & S Society.

 

There still are pirates in Penzance - they work for the County Council and run the car parks.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Now that I've caught up (and what a lot of catching today) and am late on parade due to having to go into town this morning, then needing the computer for "proper" uses.  Not a great deal of explosions tonight YET, which is surprising, but there are several public displays in the area so with luck most folks have gone to them.

 

Far too much for me to comment on, and time is of the essence (again) so I'd best get on.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[laurenceb]

Some fora I look at get a couple of posts a day, this one can grow half a page while you are catchin up!

[station cat]

Ah, a truly excellent little railway if I'm thinking of the one you're thinking of (see below) - we used to have 'fun days' there from my last big railway job as several of our folk were very heavily involved with the line and kept their engines there.  I usually seemed to finish up working Everglades Jcn signalbox which has a 31 lever frame laid out for two-man operation (but easy enough to work on your own if your memory is good enough not to bother with the train describers) although back then Cockrow Hill 'box was rather good fun to work as it had no locking 

 

http://www.cockcrow.co.uk/index.html

 

 

IIRC I ended up working Cockrow Hill one year. Under adult supervision theoretically though.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Bloody cold. Why Mrs iD insists on sleeping with the window open is beyond me, ...

Flavio - when you find out, let me know AND tell me the "cure" as Mrs. A is also a subscriber to this form of torture...

While I cannot speak for the two ladies concerned, let me put my case for window open. You get to hear the rain falling, the wind, the owls, deer, foxes and anything else that goes AWK! in the night perform, and the spring and summer birdsong. Which is all very entertaining when you are snug between the sheets. Also I end up with a mouth like a parrot's cage floor and a bunged up nose, attempting to sleep in a warm and stuffy bedroom. (Madam has brushed cotton PJ's and thermal bedsocks for the winter months.)

[Sidecar Racer]

While I cannot speak for the two ladies concerned, let me put my case for window open. You get to hear the rain falling, the wind, the owls, deer, foxes and anything else that goes AWK! in the night perform, and the spring and summer birdsong.

 

 Nahhh , I can sleep through thunder storms ,    

[jamie92208]

 Nahhh , I can sleep through thunder storms ,    

I sleep near the window she sleeps further away from it.  During the day the fire has to be full on but as soon as she gets to bed it's too hot so in winter I have to endure the cold drafts.  She then complains that the house is cold in the morning.

 

My late father who was not politically correct used to say that the Good Lord had forgotten to fit women with thermostats.  I of course couldn't possibly comment on that.

 

Jamie

[skipepsi]

 Nahhh , I can sleep through thunder storms ,    

I sound like a thunderstorm allegedly....

[Jock67B]

Evening all,

Very busy and tiring day today and managed to b*gger up my back lifting of all things a pack of loo rolls, only 12 in it not one Petes mega packs! All I need!

For those interested, M. Portillo's programme Great Continental Railway Journeys From Tula to St Petersburg is repeated on Monday 10th at 11.15pm on BBC2 HD. The one from Rome to Taormina is on Weds 12th at 9.00pm.

Watched a fascinating programme this evening by the poet, Simon Armitage about the effect of losing loved ones in WW1 - the stories inspired him to write some truly moving poems. The most heart-rending one was about a mother who had eight sons go off to war and only three come back. Awful to see the bland telegrams that were the first news of their loss!

Followed that by watching the Remembrance Ceremony at the Albert Hall - more emotion with some superb music. An odd set with Jeff Beck backing Joss Stone who shouted her words in a way that neither Joanna nor I could understand many of them! An old sailor who had been on a tug towing the sections of harbour into Arromanche, who sang a folk song about the experience. Can't avoid it every year, even though I always upset Joanna when I rant about the 'God on our side preachers - didn't the Germans think the same?

Sunday approaches when No1 grandson and his two children are coming to dinner, and staying through till Thursday! His partner, along with our nurse daughter and several others are off on a 'hen' party to Tenerife- the lads did the 'stag' version a few weeks back. I predict a very tired great grandmother and grumps come next Friday!!

Sadly (for some!), heavy rain has damped down a lot of the fireworks - shame.

Still, I've got MotoGP at Valencia and the F1 from Brazil to amuse me - hot Sky+ box again.

Hope Sunday goes well for everyone and best of luck to Sherry, a tough return to the stage by the sound of things?

Kind regards and G'night Pete!

Jock.

[Smiffy2]

Good points, Jock.

I've decided that although I will lay my wreath as usual at the lonely cross in the graveyard I won't be going to the service at the local cenotaph. Partly because I'm still having trouble walking and standing and partly because the vicar treats the whole thing as a chore and I'm not convinced by the religious aspect which is lacklustre to say the least. We often go for a pint in the men's memory, but not this year.

 

Reminds me that every year I end up searching frantically for some twine...

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Nippy outside but looking to be sunny. Just having a slice of cake as a first breakfast!

 

Question, guys: Think I should get the H0 scale model of this?

 

 

Still a very elegant unit! I do wonder about the significance of choosing "The Blue Danube" as the theme for this video, though… 

[gordon s]

Jack is back in Spain again, so I have the house to myself, but on the strict proviso I look after the dogs.  When she went last week all went well and they had been fed and had all their pills etc, so I was feeling pleased with myself.  Once she returned home, my healthcare plan was inspected and I had passed with flying colours until she noticed their water bowls were empty.  'Fill up their water bowls' was in the small print at the bottom of an A4 page with numerous instructions, so I never got to that one….:-)

 

I did wonder why they seemed to be drinking out of puddles and the pond..

 

Last night we had loads of fireworks all night and the two of them were barking incessantly.  Not their fault, the just don't like the noise.  You can play fireworks on the TV at full tilt and it doesn't phase them one bit as we have tried to acclimatise them during the year to no avail.  I came down this morning and in the darkness saw what I thought was a dark toy on the carpet.  Thankfully I didn't tread on it in my bare feet, but there was a nice pile of poo on the lounge carpet.  Turns out some of the barking was 'let me out' barks and not related to the fireworks at all.

 

Another epic fail….

 

Building ET in P4 would be much easier than this dog sitting lark. 

Edited November 9, 2014 by gordon s

[iL Dottore]

Morning All,

 

Sunny but cold. Yesterday I collected, on behalf of a RMWeb chum, an Trix N gauge train pack "special Swiss edition": a locomotive and 6 carriages for CHF 498 and whilst I was at the model shop I was very tempted to get the Kato N Gauge "Glacier Express" starter set (locomotive, 2 coaches, oval of track and a controller). Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately?..) sanity prevailed and I left the model shop with exactly and only the single item I went to the shop to collect.

 

Lucy continues to be healthy and (at least clinically) unaffected by having scoffed a big mouthful of my onion-chillies-pork noodle dish. A relief. Yesterday, we were invited for dinner and our hosts were happy to let us bring the Wolfpack - who were incredibly well behaved.

 

This morning, as Mrs iD takes the Wolfpack for their big walk, I am under führerbefehl to tidy up my workshop - which also allow me to put my modelling projects into some semblance of order. Amazingly a win-win situation... I already started on the tidying yesterday, taking obsolete electrical and electronic gear to be recycled. I reckon that I must have recycled a good thousand pounds worth of "stuff", all made obsolete by the march of technology... The printer/scanner/copier I recycled, for example, cost a good few hundred francs new, but now, 5 - 6 years on, the cost of the ink cartridges alone (if and when available) is more than a new, higher-spec, WiFi printer... Much as I love new technology, something about the incredibly short product lifecycle grates...

 

Hey Ho, off to try and file 4 - 5 years of Model Rail, BRM, RM, Hornby Magazine and MRJ... I may be some time.

 

Have a great Sunday

[jamie92208]

Morning all from north of Ikea.   After a busy day running round doing various jobs we had some friends round for an evening of good food, a modicum of drinks and some good music from my vinyl collection.  

 

Got down early this morning so have tidied up and put the table back and then fed all three cats.  That was interesting.  the new one, Ruby is small but 9 years old and seems to have got the other two sussed.  She has set up base camp on the sofa and the other two have both ventured into the sitting room.  Ruby just growls and the other two depart.  So far no fur flying but obvious signs of social positioning going on.   It's going to get interesting but at least she's settled in.

 

Anyway it's the early service at church then down to the village cenotaph for the short joint service at 11.   After that it's off to do some demonstrating at the small Morley Nodel Railway show.  Hopefully i'll get some more work done on various bridge parts.

 

Jamie

Edited November 9, 2014 by jamie92208

[Ashcombe]

I had a brilliant time yesterday with the singing from scratch of "The Pirates of Penzance" with the local G & S gang. The Musical Director was excellent and the atmosphere was very friendly with a good mix of members and visitors, including half a dozen Toads members from The Little Theatre, to which I belong.

 

A beautiful sunny morning here which is good for the parades that take place.

 

Have a good day, everyone!

 

PS Forgot to mention - I was given a certificate for attending! Whoo!

Edited November 9, 2014 by Ashcombe

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Dull but getting sunnier. Not raining!

We met Matthew for lunch yesterday in Covent Garden. We ate at the Pie Shop. Then a walk through Soho to Piccadilly to the theatre to see the 39 Steps. It was hilarious. There was a model steam loco too!

Then as we left the theatre it poured with rain. Also the restaurant wasn't where Google maps said it was so we were wetter than we should have been. Then we went to see the poppy display at the Tower. Even with the rain and in the dark it was still busy.

Tony

Edited November 9, 2014 by Tony_S

[Donw]

My Grandmother received one of those telegrams 'Missing in action presumed dead' five days later she received another to say he had been found having been in a coma in a french hospital. He did come back minus one eye, one wrist bu99ered up, bad lungs due to gas, and full of shrapnell. His pal was lucky that day but cruely was shot by a sniper the day before Armistice.

Little changes we have many who do come back from Afganistan less limbs etc. from roadside bombs.

 

Apologies for sad thoughts.

Don

[DDolfelin]

 

Apologies for sad thoughts.

Don

 

If we can't have sad thoughts today then we are without hope.

No apologies needed.

[trisonic]

Alternatively as I said to my nephew on 9/11 - it’s the bad days that make the good days really good, indeed.

 

Best, Pete.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

More fist & mog but it will rain tonight, in fact the Daily Wail promises total inundation by Wednesday as far as I could make out on it its comic site.

 

And yes Jock - good was undoubtedly on both sides in that Great War - your words reminded me of a lovely little tale from an early winter of the war when British troops in France received mittens from home as a result of a campaign to get women knitting.  Anyway not long after they'd been received  and around late December a notice was put up in the German front line proclaiming  'Got mitt uns' so a hastily prepared response was mounted from a British trench proclaiming 'We got mittens too'.  

 

RIP fellahs (and nowadays lasses) and thank you for what you achieved.

[travelintrev]

Morning all, 

 

Not much to report, though the sun was shining a few minutes ago. An amount of success in disposing of some of my 0e stock.  The ex's puppy doesnt seemed at all phased by fireworks,  though there was a "present" for me on the landing out side my box room door this morning.

 

Off to son & D-i-L's for lunch. And maybe some more modelling later.

 

Lest make the most of what today throws at us. 

 

Trev.

[PhilJ W]

A quick look in this morning , off out in a few minutes, be back later.

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

Mild but dreary, after overnight showers.

Question, guys: Think I should get the H0 scale model of this?

 

 

 

Dom - I'm sure I've said before that he who dies with the most toys wins. Just do it!

 

F1 appears to be in dire straits with little teams pleading poverty and the rich ones saying "so what". But the show goes on - for now. I watched quali, but was happily chatting to Sherry on the phone for the first half, without missing anything important.

 

My Internet lacuna over the last week got me doing some modelling of a sort, even if it was only building and painting a Faller kit. It had been featured in one of the French magazines a couple of years back, and so I will be trying to emulate their undoubted success at turning it into something a bit more than factory plastic. But one thing leads to another, and their use of some HOe (think OO9) track and models to enlarge on the model's potential is a bit tempting.... All in all this should provide a good backcloth for my eventual French railcar layout. Have models - must run 'em!

 

Hope Remembrance Sunday provides what you need on such an occasion.

[Smiffy2]

I'm missing the service at our locl cenotaph, but I shall do my one-man remembrance at the old cross in the graveyard.

 

 

It commemorates the men who fell from just a small part of Carshalton - the Wrythe.