RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all from Estuary-Land. Just finished breakfast and about to give the triffid another dose of glyphosphate. I was intending to do so yesterday as the forecast said 'you will be very unlucky if you get a shower', well I was very unlucky. Nice to hear that our invalids are on the up but some of the things said makes me even more reluctant to enter a hospital, except as a visitor of course. Fortunately I enjoy pretty good health all considered and the ailments that I do have are well under control. Have a good day all. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all from Scottish HQ. Got a few of the jobs done that I intended to over the weekend, but had more jobs than time, as usual... Should have stayed in bed on Saturday morning. Decided to go for my usual Parkrun - but instead of driving down I'd take the bike the 5 (turned out to be 6, but that's another story) miles to the start. Got the bike down the 4 flights of stairs and on getting it out of the front door of the stair, banged the pedal off an existing scab on my shin (from LEGOLAND - climbing out of a boat). Blood pouring out of that, I thought "should I get a plaster?" but thought, no, I'll tough it out. Started cycling. After about a mile, I thought "this feels awfully hard work, wonder if my tyres are fully inflated". Slowed down to look. Stopped. Couldn't detach feet from pedals. Fell over sideways, scraping knee (more blood), elbow and wrenching thumb. Then cycled the remaining 5 miles into a headwind, making the start with 2 seconds to spare. Must have looked a right sight, knee and shin bleeding, mud on my shoulder and side... The only positive is that I had a tailwind going home! Was at a couple of Fringe shows with Jamie yesterday - the author of the Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson was doing a show, and also went to see Little Red Riding Hood. Jamie preferred the first, but I wonder if they were both just a little bit too young for her. Back to the drudge now, at least it's less than 2 weeks now till I have another week off... Haven't caught up on all the weekend's posts, so hope all are well! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Three days out of circulation so many pages to trawl through. Glad you are feeling better Jock. Bet you are looking forward to getting home Flavio. Things didn't quite go as expected this weekend. Just before leaving for Connemara, I discovered that we had a blocked drain and things were backed up to a critical level. As we had friends arriving to stay the next day, this meant two hours spent clearing the blockage, taking a shower, change of clothes, etc. Fortunately a neighbour has a set of drain rods. Here's the nasty bit, we had to bucket out the inspection chamber above the blockage before we could get the drain rods in. That included the contents of two other chambers and the drain runs in between. Yuk! I think it needs further work but at least its running for the time being. Consequently we had a mad dash down country, abandoning all the things we were going to do en route. Arrived with 15 minutes to spare having eaten lunch at the wheel! Spent five hours directing traffic and avoiding midges. Fell into bed at ten and set the alarm for five. Up, walk the dogs, breakfast, don protective clothing (against midges that were in a fierce mood). Had remembered protective hat with net but forgot midge repellent and gloves. Would pay for this. Clocked first runners through at 6.30am. An our later, my hands were so savaged by midges they were bleeding. Another hour later I was relieved for five minutes and found a pair of latex gloves in the medical kit in the motor home. Relief. I had also remembered belatedly to tuck my trousers into my socks by this time! Two competitors struggled in at 11.00pm an hour after the last ones had been through. They accepted the advice to retire as at this point they had only completed 15 of the 70km route! It was then time to pack up the van and make a mad dash back up to Donegal. The traffic was horrendous and it was nearly five before we got home. Managed to get some unloading done and the dogs walked before visitors arrived along with very boisterous eight month old cockapoo (that's a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle). Didn't get to bed until the early hours of Sunday morning. Up reasonably early to walk all four dogs. Phil and I went off to climb Slieve League while Steph, Nicky and Alice went off to Rossnowlagh as 16 year old Alice wanted to try surfing. Phil and I joined them later to find that Steph was having a lesson too. I'm not a great fan of beach holidays, several hundred cars parked on the beach, hot dog vans and other purveyors of fast food spewing their noxious fumes onto the beach, etc., etc. Grump, Grump! When we got back, Alice decided she wanted to go out in a kayak, so they were loaded into the car and she and her father (the latter rather nervously) were dispatched from the pier. They had a great time but Alice was exhausted after all the exercise. Supper, watch a movie (Waking Ned Devine) then late to bed again. Up early this morning to get the dogs walked, Steph off to work, visitors breakfasted and dispatched to Dublin to catch the ferry. Phew, I'm thinking of going back to bed for a rest. Marine news up date. We had a cruise ship in on Saturday, see below. Granuaile arrived back in this morning, presumably to pick up supplies. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all, it was early when I first visited ERs this morning - but catching up interspersed with work has taken me until now. the sky is nice and blue with a streak of white cloud over Borough Market Junction. Hopefully it will stay like that this week as I have the tail end of the week off for day trip etc. It was a fairly quiet weekend, a trip to the park and a walk around a local nature reserve (Scadbury) notwithstanding. Have a good day all 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all, I'm on a little earlier than usual as my daughter has just sent me a link to a Cancer site that has really choked me. If you remember, when I was honoured to walk at the 'Relay for Life', I went arm in arm with a young lady whose connection to our family is that she married Joanna's late sister's widower. (Complicated?). She herself has had breast cancer involving a double mastectomy and reconstruction, as well as secondary treatment since but she has decided to join the 'Brave the Shave' event this coming Saturday 22nd, having her head shaved to raise funds for the amazing MacMillan organisation, despite having lost all her's to chemo treatment in the past! Her husband and his grandson are also doing this! How does this affect me? My daughter sent me a copy of her page from the 'Brave the Shave' site and it has the following paragraph on it : 'I have been affected by cancer myself but I am doing this for someone close to me who has cancer and their bravery is amazing' which I'm told, according to her Facebook page, refers to me! You can imagine how choked and humbled I feel, that someone who has been through 'the mill' herself should take such a brave step in my name. Apparently it's because she knows mine is terminal! She has only set a target of £100 and is already half way there! Joanna and I have prepared envelopes for all three with a reasonable amount in each, and will turn up on the day to express our gratitude. If anyone reading this feels like they could help, even 50p would make a difference. The site is http://www.bravetheshave.org.uk/and you simply scroll down to the box that says 'donate to a brave shaver' and type in the surname 'Ireland', then select the box named 'sarah ireland' and click on 'view' to go through to her page and read her message, or make a small donation if you wish. Sorry, I wouldn't normally do this sort of thing but I have been so emotionally affected by such an action, I felt I had to share - forgive me for any embarrassment, Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Three days out of circulation so many pages to trawl through. Glad you are feeling better Jock. Bet you are looking forward to getting home Flavio. Things didn't quite go as expected this weekend. Just before leaving for Connemara, I discovered that we had a blocked drain and things were backed up to a critical level. As we had friends arriving to stay the next day, this meant two hours spent clearing the blockage, taking a shower, change of clothes, etc. Fortunately a neighbour has a set of drain rods. Here's the nasty bit, we had to bucket out the inspection chamber above the blockage before we could get the drain rods in. That included the contents of two other chambers and the drain runs in between. Yuk! I think it needs further work but at least its running for the time being. Consequently we had a mad dash down country, abandoning all the things we were going to do en route. Arrived with 15 minutes to spare having eaten lunch at the wheel! Spent five hours directing traffic and avoiding midges. Fell into bed at ten and set the alarm for five. Up, walk the dogs, breakfast, don protective clothing (against midges that were in a fierce mood). Had remembered protective hat with net but forgot midge repellent and gloves. Would pay for this. Clocked first runners through at 6.30am. An our later, my hands were so savaged by midges they were bleeding. Another hour later I was relieved for five minutes and found a pair of latex gloves in the medical kit in the motor home. Relief. I had also remembered belatedly to tuck my trousers into my socks by this time! Two competitors struggled in at 11.00pm an hour after the last ones had been through. They accepted the advice to retire as at this point they had only completed 15 of the 70km route! It was then time to pack up the van and make a mad dash back up to Donegal. The traffic was horrendous and it was nearly five before we got home. Managed to get some unloading done and the dogs walked before visitors arrived along with very boisterous eight month old cockapoo (that's a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle). Didn't get to bed until the early hours of Sunday morning. Up reasonably early to walk all four dogs. Phil and I went off to climb Slieve League while Steph, Nicky and Alice went off to Rossnowlagh as 16 year old Alice wanted to try surfing. Phil and I joined them later to find that Steph was having a lesson too. I'm not a great fan of beach holidays, several hundred cars parked on the beach, hot dog vans and other purveyors of fast food spewing their noxious fumes onto the beach, etc., etc. Grump, Grump! When we got back, Alice decided she wanted to go out in a kayak, so they were loaded into the car and she and her father (the latter rather nervously) were dispatched from the pier. They had a great time but Alice was exhausted after all the exercise. Supper, watch a movie (Waking Ned Devine) then late to bed again. Up early this morning to get the dogs walked, Steph off to work, visitors breakfasted and dispatched to Dublin to catch the ferry. Phew, I'm thinking of going back to bed for a rest. Marine news up date. We had a cruise ship in on Saturday, see below. Granuaile arrived back in this morning, presumably to pick up supplies. Phew! I'm out of breath myself after that lot. A weekend well spent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Just seen Jock's post. As most will know, I ran the 'Annie' appeal and the work is so worthwhile. Support Sarah if you can - who knows but that you or yours might need it one day. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all, Dracula's daughter duly visited and it will be interesting to hear what the holiday has done to my INR (3 glasses of wine an evening plus a few G&Ts will no doubt have an influence - unless they've started to wear off). Meanwhile a warm & sunny day is upon us. I liked Robert's bit about French accents - back about 15 years ago just after I had 'retired' we spent a couple of weeks in a borrowed flat in Nice and Rob and I used to go round for croissants etc every day to a local bakery where I would do all the business in French. The day we left I said my goodbyes to madame and she said that she hoped we would have a nice journey back to Paris - seems I was speaking with a Parisian accent, presumably having got used to it due to being there once every month or so for the previous 6 years. Have a nice day one & all. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all from sunny 'ampshire. Haven't been around to read through the updates for a week or so as we were up in Scotland and I elected not to take my laptop. So, the usual commiserations and congratulations to all on here. The weather up in the Highlands was glorious with only a light shower on one day and rain on another. I could regale you with stunning scenery shots but I'll assume that "she" is not around, stick my neck out and.... No prizes....Carbridge. This year we flew up to Aberdeen. An uneventful trip, apart from finding that my wallet had disappeared from my possession during our transit through the security scanning process. Distracted by helping my young son with his stuff through the scanner I got distracted and my wallet stayed in the tray post-scan and was recycled into the system. Thankfully the staff were able to track it down after about 5 minutes. Apparently an apologetic teenage traveller standing next to me had plonked her tray on top of mine before I'd finished emptying it. Anyway, all's well that ends well. One word of warning - the website we booked our flight and hire car through didn't live up to expectations when we picked up the car. The 4-door medium sized car turned out to be a 2-door "Corsa" into which our luggage stood no chance of fitting. Would sir like to upgrade to an SUV? Sir would actually have liked the 4-door car he ordered but having queued for 45 minutes to get the keys we wanted to be on our way and for an extra £6 / day we headed to the beach for a run on the dunes and a dip in the sea. A new walk for us was Glen Tanar on Deeside. Very pleasant and well worth it if you are ever in the area. ok, I couldn't quite resist putting on a couple of scenery shots. Now back home and have ripped out the vestiges of the garage layout that never quite worked and spent a pleasant afternoon yesterday making an open-top baseboard for my next venture. 14' x 2' of quite scenic N gauge.... Anyway, have a nice day and congrats to all the posters on reaching page 4000, soon! Andy 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) We usually haven't had any problems with hire cars except for the "Golf or similar" turned out to be a Hyundai Getz. It really didn't cope well with the Grossglockner alpine road, going up we were overtaken by a bicycle and on the way down it vented brake fluid. The Jeep we returned in Calgary was not only filthy on the outside it had a very chipped windscreen. However this didn't seem to be a problem, I suspect if they hire you a Jeep in April they don't expect it to be immaculate on return. Edited August 17, 2015 by Tony_S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 ... seems I was speaking with a Parisian accent, presumably having got used to it due to being there once every month or so for the previous 6 years. Have a nice day one & all. I am sure whatever language I attempt they would suspect that I came from Birmingham. Aditi doesn't sound like Aditi when she speaks other languages, though she has been told she speaks German like a French person! She too has been told that her accent is Parisian. When asked where she learned French she said Nottingham but her teacher was Tunisian. Tony 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 Just fitted a new flush on the caravan loo - thing missing from the instructions in several places - "... And with your third hand ... " And the sign that says: 'Do not flush this unit whilst the vehicle is stationary'. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 If you are wondering what adventure races are all about, this is a short video of the event we were marshalling on at the weekend. Enjoy the stunning views of Connemara and Mayo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV9-O0TTgD0 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium southern42 Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 Morning all from sunny red dragon land. Going to make the most of it so cya later. Enjoy your day. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 my German teacher at JET was from Berlin.. she explained to me that I had a Hamburg accent...then the guys I worked with in Bremen said I had a Berlin accent...humph! Kitchen still in limbo as joiner is away till Wednesday...but painting has now been ordered by her indoors.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Hire car info: when we did the pre-hire checks for scratches I spotted a couple of scratches on the trim around the boot. The hire car agent wasn't bothered about these as he said "We accept that people have heavy luggage and may not be strong enough to lift it into the boot without damage. Also, we don't care about knicks in the paint less than 5mm." Worth knowing if you ever do get a paint chip during your hire period and are concerned for your deposit. Interestingly the lady queuing next to us at the car hire desk took issue with a deposit of £1000 being taken. Essentially she felt that she'd signed up for one deal online and when collecting the car more terms and conditions were imposed. She opted to cancel her booking and asked for her money back. "You can cancel your booking but we may not return all of your money." was the response. We left before it got too heated! If, like me, your modelling skills may leave something to be desired - I'm thinking of roads that look as if they are simply painted onto a hillside and not "bedded in" to the landscape then fear not. There's a prototype for everything! The Lecht road between Strathdon and the ski centre. Our SUV needed 2nd gear for a lot of this road; neither particularly sporty, not likely to out perform our Picasso in the Utility stakes, either. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) A few more photos form the Eastbourne Airshow. Our spot turned out to be one of the best for getting a good view but as we were standing above the Portaloos , I know why we managed to get that spot!! Was worth it though. The Brietling wing walkers Jet Provost A Mig 15 from Norway A Sea King heli doing a Comando drop onto the lifeboat. They did come back and pick them up again! And can't resist a few more of the Vulcan including a gull who wasnt camera shy We left about 2.45pm before the queuing system at the station came into effect. There was a fight later on, not far from where we were standing and a woman and bloke arrested according to the news. Edited August 17, 2015 by roundhouse 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Afternoon all, Wow, that took some catching up from last night's visit! Sunny Clacton today but luckily it appears that shopping is more important than cutting the weed patch! Baz, thanks for another lovely steam loco image, I can only recall the Std4 2-6-4 Tanks from Scotland though. It is easy to see where you got your modelling inspiration from however - that looks pretty good to me for a plastic scratch build. Gordon(Bluebottle), brother Norrie has undoubtedly got a talent for artwork! Ian(OD), good to hear that your relationship with Sherry sounds so good. Strange how we measure the passage of time once we've had the shackles of the working week removed - for Joanna, often as not, it's 'bin day' (tonight for early Tuesday am collection) that reminds her that another week has passed. My daily medication/BP/weight diary keeps me aware of the passing days, with the summer weekends being marked by various motor sport events! PART A as I hit the 'post' button in error! Edited August 17, 2015 by Jock67B 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 Must be something about car hire in Scotland. When we went up there some years ago I had booked a Discovery with a firm in Inverness - 'not available' so we got a civilian version of the Humvee instead, and it turned out to be very handy on the single track roads in the north as it scared just about everyone else to stay in passing places as it approached (except the local boy racer types). But it was rubbish off road And three Merlin engined delights have just passed over heading south east - presumably positioning for tomorrows big event which is hopefully going to see over 40 Hurricanes and Spitfires in the air over the south east of England. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 It was impressive to see four in a diamond formation recently, forty would be a stunning sight. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 I've got a hire car booked in Barcelona in a couple of weeks' time. We've opted for the "FIAT 500 size" option. However, given we're collecting it in Barcelona, it may be a SEAT rather than a FIAT! It has to get us up from Barcelona to Carcassonne and back, via Andorra. Could be an interesting journey! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Liking the photos Roundhouse. I remember making the Jet Provost and Mig 15 as Airfix kits not so long ago. Well, ok, over 40 years ago! During the Cold War a friend of mine (not at the time) was in the Russian air force maintaining those Migs. Here's a link to the event Mike mentioned. Should be memorable if you're in the area! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) PART B (see above!), Andy(leopard), hope your first day back goes well. Mike(60860), you'll have to consider a lightweight suit of armour before going out on the bike! John(KB), Wow, that was a marathon weekend for you, like DD, I'm breathless from reading about it! I love the image of the cruise ship 'Black Watch', having seen it several times on the Tyne with various names! It still looks attractive to me, despite entering service in 1972 as 'Royal Viking Star'. For Neil(NHN), it has four 'MAN7L32/40 engines producing 14000KW combined. AndyB, sounds like you've had a great time in Scotland - lovely images and No mention of midges! I take it some of the Glenmorangie was imbibed, or at least acquired for future use? Ian(RH), another set of super aircraft pics, I got some of the 'Brietling wing walkers' at Clacton air show last year, but the Vulcan still steals the show for me. I don't yet know if it will come to Clacton later this month, but if it does I'm determined to try to get a video on my camera. Off to shopping now, deep joy! Kind regards, Jock. PS just read your post Mike - Oh the joy of the distinctive sound of the Merlin, Joanna thinks I'm mad to love engines so much! Edited August 17, 2015 by Jock67B 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 I've got a hire car booked in Barcelona in a couple of weeks' time. We've opted for the "FIAT 500 size" option. However, given we're collecting it in Barcelona, it may be a SEAT rather than a FIAT! It has to get us up from Barcelona to Carcassonne and back, via Andorra. Could be an interesting journey!A neighbour has a modern Fiat 500. It is much bigger than the original. Seems to go quite well too!Tony 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Baz, thanks for another lovely steam loco image, I can only recall the Std4 2-6-4 Tanks from Scotland though. ! When I saw Baz's 4 6 4 I thought it was one of the LTSR Baltic tanks, but Google revealed its true identity. I think I can be forgiven though as they were Whitelegg designs Edited August 17, 2015 by Tony_S 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now