Early Risers.

[andyram]

Good evening all. I would like to start by saying a huge thank you for all of the kind comments and good wishes that have been posted on here following my news yesterday. To some people she may have been a simple pet, but you all understand how such animals can become a major part of the family. Your good wishes have been much appreciated.

 Understandably today has been somewhat sombre. Although we have three other cats, Saffie was had a character of her own and was without doubt the Queen of the house. Sarah rescued her from a foster family 17 years ago. Apparently she had gone to take her kitten instead. Saffie met her at the door, bit her on the hand - stunk the house out with a massive deposit in the litter tray and Sarah was sold on her!

 When Sarah and I first met Saffie was so protective of her that she used to scratch me whenever I went near her. Only after she moved in with me did we develop a bond. I remember she curled up in bed next to me on the night after Amber was born when I was at home on my own. Recently she took to sleeping on me at night and would wake me up with a lick to the face or a nibble of the nose. She was very useful when I missed my alarm!! She has saved me from being late on more than one occasion.

 Such was the bond between Sarah and her  that when we married and went away on honeymoon Saffie pined for her! She over washed so much that she created a bald patch on her back!

 She was always very demanding - and would shout loudly from the top of the stairs whenever she was hungry. At night she would do the same after about 10pm - almost as if she was telling us it was bed time! And get the laser pen out and she would turn into a kitten - charging about the room in pursuit of the light. She even managed to do such a thing an hour before we took her to the vets. She was a real fighter!

 

 Anyway I have probably bored you all enough. Today we have been out to the garden centre - buying a rather heavy paving slab to place on top of where she is buried. We definitely do not want a visit from the foxes. Sarah wants to get a garden cat ornament to place on top. We found some nice ones today, but none of the right colour! 

 

 Finally I would like to pass on my best wishes to you all - especially to Dave and Is - hopefully the treatment will go well. Mal I also hope your treatment proves successful.

Duncan - I hope that you get your phone sorted.

Dom - great steam pictures - I am not usually a fan of "foreign" railways, but the steam in the snow looked superb.

Simon - I hope you can stay warm until the boiler is sorted.

 

To everyone - I hope your Monday goes well. I am not looking forward to work tomorrow. I bought quite a bit of paperwork home to do over the weekend. Needless to say I have not managed to get a lot done. A week of playing catch up beckons.

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Jock67B]

Evening/Morning all,

I must start with a big thank you to all who have 'mentioned me in dispatches'! I do however have to apologise for not having had time to read any of today's posts yet.

I'm afraid I still feel rough tonight, but at least it is partly my own fault because I decided this morning that I felt well enough to do some proper cooking Morrocan style. I made four trays of home prepared vegetables (butternut squash, sweet potato, green and red pepper, courgette, red onion, fresh chillies, garlic, fresh coriander etc.) which were first cubed and roasted with a drizzle of olive oil. Each tray then had a good measure of vegetable stock, liberally laced with 'Harissa' paste and seasoning. Three of the trays were cooled and frozen for future use. Whilst the fourth bubbled away in the oven to produce a nice vegetable tagine, a couple of turkey breast fillets were cubed and tossed in a plastic bag with 'Ras el Hanout' and then lightly fried in a little olive oil. Two bowls were prepared with a bed of cous-cous, topped with the tagine and the turkey cubes scattered on top! The appreciative noises made by Joanna would suggest I did well, but I now realise that I've overdone things a bit! The pain was minimised by consuming some 'Thatcher's' 'Old Rascal' Somerset cider which my eldest daughter brought me on Boxing Day - if the cap fits! Tomorrow night should be easier with the traditional 'Burns Supper' including whisky gravy!

Yesterday morning, I was shown true kindness as Joanna called from No1 grandson's house to say the L H Rear tyre had punctured, but son-in-law Alan was there to put the spare on. I phoned my old garage and spoke to the Service manager, a former fellow director, who said I should come straight there! His top man was on hand to effect a repair (she'd picked up a screw in the centre of the tread!) and place the wheel back on the car. He checked the tyre pressures, topped up with winter screen-wash and replaced the driver's side wiper blade whilst Joanna and I had a coffee and caught up with all the garage gossip. It was lovely for me as I had worked closely with this man and his brother for almost eighteen years. I also trained his son in selling over the last three years or so that I was there, and it was good to see how well he had turned out. He did take the opportunity to 'pick my brains' on a couple of issues that had just arisen, and it gave me a real 'kick' to be able to advise him! When it came to settling up, my former fellow director choked me by refusing point blank to charge - saying tongue in cheek, that he'd already put it through the sales department internal account like I used to when I worked there! People shock me with their kindness at times.

My body still seems quite confused as it gradually washes out all traces of the previous chemo treatment. Anxious now to start on the new drug, side effects or not, as an increase in pain levels would suggest that the tumours are growing at the moment.

Hope Mal coped with his recent 'dose' of chemo, and I'll try to catch up with him, 'Is' and others over the next couple of days. Commiserations/congratulations as deserved to everyone else - I hope I haven't missed anything of great importance.

Thought of Pete(trisonic) today with a news bulletin showing someone walking thigh deep in snow at Sea Isle City, NJ - are you near there mate, I know it is a big area?

Kind regards,

Jock.

G'night Pete! G'night all!

[newbryford]

There should be a law against mentioning Christmas with 335 days to go! 

 

334.

[laurenceb]

Night all

[newbryford]

Just catching up after a busy couple of days with work and pleasure.

Hope I've ticked the right boxes.

 

It's nearly 1am here, the outside temperature is about 12deg C and it's the end of January - what's going on?

 

Jock - keep up that fighting spirit.

Andy - no such thing as a "simple pet". They are part of the family and will obviously be missed.

 

Two ice hockey matches this weekend that couldn't have been different.

Home to the Billingham Stars on Saturday night and a spirited reply to last weekend's loss away at Solway with a resounding 10-0 win. Wife's work sponsored the game and myself and junior NB presented the MVP awards (Most Valuable player - an Americanism for "Man of the Match"). The match sponsorship was also a joint birthday present from Mrs NB to me and Junior as we celebrate birthdays a week apart around now.

I would upload a couple of pics, but there seems to be a problem with it at the moment.

 

So away to Solihull and NB Junior venture down the M6 in much better conditions that last week's snowy trip to Dumfries. Keen to see them beat the Solihull Barons for the 3rd time, the Barons were having none of it and thoroughly outplayed a lacklustre Blackburn Hawks for a 8-4 win to Solihull. (Solihull were promoted last year and always tipped to do well and are currently 3rd in the league)

 

We've also found out that the annual playoff weekend will be in Sheffield in mid-April, so Junior is desperately trying to find out if she can make the trip up from Colchester and I'm busy looking for a good hotel deal for the night. The playoff weekend involves the top four teams at the end of the regular season - it is very unlikely that Blackburn won't be there as they do already have a big lead, but it is getting smaller to 2nd place.

 

Have a good week folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Two_sugars]

Goodnight everyone . . .Sleep well

 

John

[skipepsi]

Going back to the doctors in the morning still feel carp. Like a gnat to an elephant compared to Jock but I need fixing.

[big jim]

Up early as i need to go to rugeley power station to pick up a 66 for a 05:15 departure to bescot, taxi booked for 04:00 but just had a call from cabfind, nearest taxi is coming from warrington (40 mins away) so there goes a right time departure!

 

Once i get the loco its off to bescot, fuel and over to doncaster with it at 10:30, not a happy bunny having to stand round crewe station for an hour waiting for the taxi though knowing i wont be home til gone 16:00 now

[Barry O]

Good morning all.

 

Hope the trip goes OK Jim.

 

Yes Mick it is a bit warm for January.

 

However, a day of ballasting looms and the higher the temperature the quicker it will dry.

Have a cgood Monday.

 

Baz

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

The garden looked bleak yesterday.  I paid a brief visit to empty the vegetable peelings into the compost bin and noticed what appears to be a daffodil waiting to open.  The crocuses are through but there are plenty of dock leaves, as always.  One day soon it will be both warm and dry so I can go out there and take remedial action.  Note my lack of enthusiasm.

 

Amid the excitement of a James Bond movie on TV I did a bit of modelling and painting.  Having hunted high and low for the flat varnish it took me nearly 15 minutes to get the lid off the jar.  I was only needing it because what was supposed to be matt paint dried glossy despite my having stirred it for some time.  Fortunately for my sanity, two coats of varnish have produced something like the desired effect.  [What's that, Skippy?  Yes, I know this isn't a workbench thread.]

 

Later today I must phone Poorly Pal.  We left the issue of whether I might visit him later in the week at the point where he would like me to cook dinner again but is not sure that he will be ready to receive me into his abode.  Wish me luck. 

 

Let all things and their people be well

 

Chris 

[emt_911]

Morning all. I have to agree with Mick, it's far too warm for the end of January.

 

The first of 4 days sitting in a classroom which I never enjoy but there are plenty of eventual benefits.

 

Jock - It sounds like you've done a bit too much but I wouldn't expect anything less. I hope that the transition between treatments isn't too debilitating.

 

Mick B - I hope that the doctor can sort you out quickly.

 

Big Jim - Not an ideal start to the day when your let down by others. I hope that the rest of the day goes according to plan.

 

Chris - I hope that PP is a bit more accepting of the visit and maybe company.

 

Have a good day everyone

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Temperatures now well beyond freezing, so all of last week's snow is gone by now. Coffee needed!

 

Jock, just hang in there. As I'm sure you've heard countless times, a positive attitude will definitely help keep you going.

 

Mick, no reason to justify yourself there. If you're feeling carp, then that's that. Be well soon!

 

Have a good one, troops…

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

Burns Night to many, but Deb's birthday to me. She would have been 61.

 

Rugeley Power Station figured in one or two of my early dates with Sherry, it being a bit visible from that end of Cannock Chase! It is also on the way to the pub in Colton where her theatre group met, and I was in the pub on a couple of occasions, just by chance, of course. A few of them knew who I was, most didn't.

 

Walkies with Alison this morning. Txts indicate she and her lover had a particularly pleasant couple of hours together last night, and she admitted to advanced shagged-outedness. I hope she can walk today!

 

The plasterboard is all in place in my room. Today Jon hopes to insert the new window and do some more floor levelling, as well as wet plastering. He will return on Thursday when he can paint and start laying the floor tiles.

 

Hope Jock finds the strength to keep his news coming here. It puts so much else in life in perspective.

 

Enjoy your week.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

The temperature has risen quite a bit now.  We have around 5°C - which is a relief after the ice rain we had on Friday evening.  Going out on Saturday morning to sort the pavement out was nothing short of treacherous. 

 

Jock, hope you are feeling better this morning.  The meal sounded delicious!

 

Andy, sorry to hear about your cat.  Having just got two cats ourselves, I can appreciate how quickly they become a big part of the household.

 

Which brings me on to Picasso and Parsifal - it is about time that I introduced them.  They are around 3 months old now, and we have had them for a couple of weeks.

 

 

That's Parsifal on the left, and Picasso on the right.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[Happy Hippo]

Walkies with Alison this morning. Txts indicate she and her lover had a particularly pleasant couple of hours together last night, and she admitted to advanced shagged-outedness. I hope she can walk today!

 

If not, she can ride!

[Smiffy2]

Morning all. Mild and calm here in the Whelking Capital of Surrey. 

 

First - Mal, Jock and Mick - best wishes and thoughts for a good day. And all others in any form of distress or difficulty.

 

The weekend was an emotional wossname, roller coaster ride. Daisy destroyed her mother on Saturday, so I ended up with her for the night to give her parents some respite. I talked to her like I used to talk with unhappy kids at work - it all came out in the end with much tears and grief. She just wants more of her mum's time, which she thought would happen when she went on maternity leave, but of course hasn't with a new baby. We talked long, and I think we got somewhere.

 

On the positive side the launch of #1 son's CD went very well (he plays drums) and he is very happy about it.

 

Sunday morning D made a nice sorry-card for her mum, and I took her home. #3 son, partner and kids (including Laurence) were coming round for lunch, and I was asked to stop, so of course I partook of their roast beef! Much playing with grandkids as well, which was nice. Then home for a long nap... 

 

Today - just checking up on D's progress and a bit of Modlyn. Specifically fitting Kadee couplings to a Ratio 4-wheeler and starting the paint job for the AM&SPHR. Much easier since I bought the drill and tap set from Kadee and bolts that fit it!

 

So - have a good one, all.

[roundhouse]

Good morning and usual disruption on Southern.

 

Over the weekend every train was on time or within a minute to time both LMR Chiltern Cross Country and GWR.

However back on Southern one train cancelled due to staff shortage so the platforms rather crowded when we arrived after having to walk due to bus being shown as very late and roadworks (caused over five mile tailbacks on Friday grid locking the town).

 

The next train a VIC one was 10 late but they were playing musical chairs as to whether the Thameslink or the VIC would be first. Eventually the VIC won but the fun continued with the manual announcements advising different platforms to the computer generated one. Eventually the Thameslink swapped platforms with the GWR one so lots of people trying to swap platforms and get round each other.

 

Our LBG one was not too late being 5 down but a last minute announcement that it was short formation (again). Luckily we moved fast enough to stand in the correct position for the doors and got the last seats albeit split up. It's going to be very cosy onboard by the time it reaches Purley.

 

At least it's dry and warm unlike over the pond where they aredealing with floods snow and power outages.

I hope Petes OK.

 

Edit

 

As expected at Purley people can't get on. Passengers banging on the window to get people to move down. Row breaking out as there is nowhere for them to move to as train already wedged.

Edited January 25, 2016 by roundhouse

[NGT6 1315]

Good morning and usual disruption on Southern. (…)

 

 

Southern must really be one of the most badly managed TOCs there are these days judging by your continued reports, Ian. I certainly don't envy the front line staff on the trains who, I suspect, will be lightning rods for too many annoyed passengers, even though they, too, can only try and make the best out of the poor conditions they're being thrown into…

[edcayton]

Morning All,

 

The temperature has risen quite a bit now.  We have around 5°C - which is a relief after the ice rain we had on Friday evening.  Going out on Saturday morning to sort the pavement out was nothing short of treacherous. 

 

Jock, hope you are feeling better this morning.  The meal sounded delicious!

 

Andy, sorry to hear about your cat.  Having just got two cats ourselves, I can appreciate how quickly they become a big part of the household.

 

Which brings me on to Picasso and Parsifal - it is about time that I introduced them.  They are around 3 months old now, and we have had them for a couple of weeks.

 

 

That's Parsifal on the left, and Picasso on the right.

 

Have a good day everyone...

 

Twins?

 

Ed

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a village that's getting brighter. Looking out of the window while eating breakfast the light on the clouds was a marvellous red colour.

 

Yesterday the boss was out so I set up the card table in the dining room and spent a very pleasant hour and a half drawing pencil lines on the sides of the loco shed ready for scribing stonework. This was accompanied by Neil Yong's Harvest then a Who album, both on vinyl. One side of an album was enough time before I needed a break from drawing to stretch my back. End result one whole side drawn out.

 

Beth has set off to physio at stupid o clock this morning but on her return it's Asda and various other tasks. Hopefully some modelling this afternoon before an evening at the club watching slides of the end of steam on BR.

 

Glad to hear from Jock and loved the way his old garage dealt with the tyre problems.

 

Regards to everyone else. Hope our day goes well.

 

Jamie

[45156]

Morning All

 

Caught up and pleased to hear that we are all present and more or less correct.

 

Jock, pleased to hear from you and it's great to know that you still have the inclination to try your culinary skills - you and Il Dottore could start a fine dining thread between you.  I do hope that the change to the new medication is effective.  If you can't keep us posted don't lose sleep over it, just carry on and let us know how you are when you feel up to it.

Mick - hope that the Doc finds a simple cause for your feeling carp.

Dick - hope that the family issues are not too long lived.

Ian - I don't envy you the daily commute to town one iota.  It was bad enough when I was travelling 25 years ago, and appears much worse now.

Hope to hear from Pete soon, but like others, I guess that the power is still out, and also that he's pretty well occupied with clearing up snow.

 

Generic greetings to all other ERs (again).

 

I've got to turn out later as I've a few bits and bobs to get, and will, as usual, avail myself of the carp bus services hereabouts.  Looks as if Stagecoach have sent us some second hand vehicles which appear to have come from Scotland judging from the reg numbers.  At least they are only six years old, which is an improvement on the ancient Loliners that we had before.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited January 25, 2016 by 45156

[gordon s]

Morning all...

 

Thoughts are with Jock and his current difficulties.  A shining example to us all in dealing with health issues.  

 

Andy, the loss of any family pet is always hard and very personal.  The bond between pets and family is huge and every time we lose one, it leaves a huge hole in your life.  You never forget the joy they bring into your life and yet they ask for little in return.

 

Still too wet for trolleys, so golf cancelled for the day.  I had every intention of getting on with ET, but have got sidetracked into watching Johanna Konta in Melbourne.  She's hanging in there right now at 1-1.....

 

Have a good 'un....

[Donw]

Morning all. By the time I have read through the latest posts it is no longer early. I am trying to adjust to tea without sweetners. I can drink it but it doesn't really satisfy. Just trying to reduce my 'sweet tooth'.

Don

[Robert]

Twins?

 

Ed

Yes, they are. Born within minutes of each other, and the only two kittens in the litter.