Early Risers.

[southern42]

Andyram and Andy P, we would be delighted to see you at Ruddington, and anyone else on ERs who will be there..  Do come and say hello to us on CQ which is already up in the sitting room waiting for some practice runs.

[Two_sugars]

Andy  . . I wouldn't have done it any other  way.

 

 

Karma, my friend, Karma.

 

 

Goodnight everyone . . .Sleep well

 

 

 

John

[southern42]

' Evening all from red dragon land.

 

A bit of an interesting week as we went with the weather.

 

Sunday, we decided to have a picnic lunch, giving one of our old haunts a try.  This was a favourite beach when the kids were little, until the cafe opposite closed, so we did not know what to expect.  The cafe is open now but the sand has given way to overgrown stretches of pebbles with more recent coastal protection measures.  Gone also were the large numbers of people on the beach you would have seen back then.  Sad.

 

 

We then went up the hill - the remains of an Iron Age hillfort - for the first time and enjoyed the views and floral display.  The footpath was also interesting - wooden planks standing on edge, top coated with gravel.

 

 

Looking towards Caernarfon Airport in the distance.

 

Centre of photo is the distinctive peak of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa)

 

 

 

 

We finished the day via the Welsh Highland Railway.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, the summery weather still holding, we headed east to the Llangollen Railway, fitting in two return journeys; tea, cake and ice cream breaks at Carrog station; and lunch in the Llangollen station cafe.  Too hot to do much else!  I even found myself dropping off to the lull of the train, so the riverside photos were not taken until the last trip back to Carrog..

 

80072 heading the train into Carrog on its way to Corwen East.

 

The hot summer weather was very noticeable along the route with rosebay willowherb in full bloom; long strands of weed drawn along the flowing river; and haymaking well underway.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2017 by southern42

[southern42]

Moving on to last Tuesday.  Another walk along the beach but who pulled the plug out?

 

 

Good to see a school party enjoying themselves.

 

 

Once past the dried up muddy hollow, we saw a number of Cinnabar butterflies but the wind, blowing the grasses all over the place, made it difficult to capture them on camera.

 

 

 

Also, a surprise sighting of Shaun the Sheep!

 

 

 

Time was getting on and the school party was leaving so we walked round the other side of the pond on our way to the cafe for our usual coffees.

 

 

We finished the week, with an afternoon visit to the Fab Lab where I thought it would just take me a few minutes to draw and laser cut a couple of headboards for the miniature locos.  Haha!    I did manage to save one attempt by the end of the session.  Think I need to watch a few more how-to videos! 

 

Have a good weekend.

 

' Night all and nos da.

 

 

[BR60103]

Geoff: I always turn off the water if we are going away for more than a day.  We had a pipe go once where the end on the pipe re-kitted itself (female end seemed to be from 2 bits) and sprayed the bathroom -- this was the supply pipe to the toilet. Luckily, we were home at the time.  I found a replacement that was supposed to shut off if there was a sudden extra flow, but the clerk in the store said that they were more trouble than help as they kept shutting down during normal use.

 

I had a look at the telephone line today. The lines were laid a couple of inches in from the concrete curb (kerb?) and when they cut through it the saw was big enough to get the wires as well. I saw one down the street where the ends seemed to have been joined and wrapped in electrical tape.

 

Day out to Niagara-on-the-Lake with old friends. Dayle introduced her to gardening about 35 years ago and this month her place was designated "Garden of the week".

Edited July 22, 2017 by BR60103

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all and high five to Andyram on the manner of your exit!

 

It has been raining all night.  The rain woke me a couple of times and has probably washed away the glyphosate that I sprayed yesterday afternoon.  I have plenty more, but other things to do today.  One may be to visit the multiplex, where "Dunkirk" opened yesterday.  I am intrigued by the presence in the cast of one Harry Styles.  Yes, I do know who he is.  I may not be down with the kids or whatever you call it but my mental age is much less than my physical one.  This morning a morris team called Red Cuthbert will be dancing in Bedford town centre.  Apparently they are based locally but for some reason I have never heard of them.  I may use them as an excuse to have breakfast out.

 

Sadly there are some scumbags about.  A council jobsworth slapped a fine of £150 on a street trader selling lemonade without a permit.  She was five years old.  I understand that the penalty has now been cancelled and quite right too.  Have these turds no common sense?  Perhaps the official went to the same charm school as the knucklescraping goons who have started infesting station platforms again and inhibiting lawful photography.  Yesterday some musical instruments were stolen from a car in a Bristol multi-storey.  They belong to the award-winning musicians Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar.  I understand that the lads were able to borrow the guitar and fiddle necessary for their gig at Downend to go ahead.  I also understand that the instruments are distinctive in appearance which will make fencing them rather difficult.

 

May there be better news for all today.

 

Chris

[DDolfelin]

Moving on to last Tuesday.  Another walk along the beach but who pulled the plug out?

 

IMG_4326a.JPG

 

Good to see a school party enjoying themselves.

 

IMG_4327a.JPG

 

Once past the dried up muddy hollow, we saw a number of Cinnabar butterflies but the wind, blowing the grasses all over the place, made it difficult to capture them on camera.

 

IMG_4331a.JPG

 

IMG_4332a.JPG

 

Also, a surprise sighting of Shaun the Sheep!

 

IMG_0014a.jpg

 

 

Time was getting on and the school party was leaving so we walked round the other side of the pond on our way to the cafe for our usual coffees.

 

IMG_4333a.JPG

 

We finished the week, with an afternoon visit to the Fab Lab where I thought it would just take me a few minutes to draw and laser cut a couple of headboards for the miniature locos.  Haha!    I did manage to save one attempt by the end of the session.  Think I need to watch a few more how-to videos! 

 

Have a good weekend.

 

' Night all and nos da.

 

A good tour, Polly.

Did you notice the sparrows at Carrog? They come to hand for crumbs.

[jamie92208]

A brief good morning to you all from the southern outskirts of Paris.    Congratulations to Andyram on how things went.  I like the touch about the present to the headmaster.  My mother would have quoted the biblical phrase, "Heap coals of fire upon his head" which apparently meant that sort of conduct.

 

We got here safely and Martin's girlfriend and her 5 yr old also got here, solo from Lincoln.  We had a lovely evening together and are setting off into Paris this morning on the train (Surprise surprise) and after some limited sightseeing will be near the Eiffel tower to greet Martin.  He finished day 3 at Soissons yesterday having done a lot of hill climbing.  He's obviously tired but is determined to finish the ride.  His fundraising total is getting close to £2000. We are very proud parents.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Debs.]

Just heard from Debs - great to see her happy face.

Good luck to Mr Jones as he starts a challenging experience.

 

Thank you; your kind wishes now passed-on to his-self ......`though actually, I decided to hyphenate upon marriage (as it`s now legal in most contiguous States in the Union, and in most U.K Counties!!!).  

......the only downside is that my Surname is now 15 characters long; so I have to write small to fit it all in as my signature.    

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It was raining here but is sunny now.

Nothing exciting to report.

Tony

[Barry O]

Debs- nowt like being hyphenated! Hope all goes well for both of you.

 

Polly did you see coachman at Carrot...will wait see the scenery on his 4mm rendition of the station.

 

Andyram- enjoy the holiday.

 

Tonight we hold a little soiree. Herself has written a list of "things to do". I shall get the garden furniture out and clean it as its supposed to be dry this afternoon and evening so some attendees can brave the outdoors. Other jobs will be undertaken.

 

Enjoy your day whatever life brings you.

 

Baz

[DDolfelin]

Thank you; your kind wishes now passed-on to his-self ......`though actually, I decided to hyphenate upon marriage (as it`s now legal in most contiguous States in the Union, and in most U.K Counties!!!).

......the only downside is that my Surname is now 15 characters long; so I have to write small to fit it all in as my signature.    

 

Remember to tell the bank!

I recall Montgomery Pendleton Levenhume-Chippendale had similar problems.

Very often his messages were not signed with the full Monty.

[DDolfelin]

Polly did you see coachman at Carrot..

 

It is quite rural there.

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

It is good to see posts from Debs again.

I have always wondered what happens when hyphenated people get married. After five generations ones surname would have sixty four parts. In the future credit cards will be huge.

[Andrew P]

Good evening all and thank you for the kind words and supportive comments. My best wishes go to you all. Andy.P I will see you at Ruddington as I am also planning to go over on the Sunday. I look forward to catching up with you, and also with Nick. His Ashbourne Midland layout is a wonderful micro!

 And so to today! What a crazy, emotional and eye opening day it has been. It started with a procession of children bringing their usual array of end of term gifts - lots of bottles of beer, mugs and chocolate. All very kind and much appreciated. Then came the assembly - which was as brief, as brief can be. The boss did manage to present me with a large goodbye card made by all of the children and the leaving gift from the staff. They know me too well - the gift was a Bachmann model of the Stanier Mogul 42968. 

 The rest of the day was spent on the usual round of end of term activities including the lighthearted sporting contest between the staff and those children who are about to leave. There was plenty of hugs from the children in my class. At lunch time there was even a steam presence as Duchess of Sutherland passed by on the adjacent freight line.

 At the end of the day the classes assembled on the playground, and along the paths to clap out the leavers. Once the children has reached the gate I was told it was my turn. I had already decided that, if I was asked to undertake the applause walk I would do so with the two children from my class who were leaving to other primary schools. I took each by the hand and was then duly mobbed by children. I am not exaggerating when I say the scene was reminiscent of those ridiculous Hollywood movies about teachers. When I finally escaped the crush the rest of the walk was completed past a throng of parents and ex staff. I have been told that many had come out just to see me off.

 When I returned to the school building and dismissed a sobbing class, hugging each child one by one I was met by a gaggle of parents with further gifts. One was a signed Derby County shirt. On the front it was signed by the current first team, and on the back it was signed by every child in my class. Another gift was a gift voucher to be used against a trip with the Railway Touring Company. The final gift was a promise card for something that will follow next week. This is a 00 scale bus, altered to include the school name as the destination and my name and class along the side.

 My old head teacher presented me with a bottle of champagne and then posted a lovely message on Facebook. Since then the thread has gone completely mad with parent after parent posting very kind comments. Right now I genuinely feel very touched and overwhelmed by the whole thing. Even now the messages continue to be added to the thread.

 And what of the headteacher I hear you ask? He did not even make himself present for the clapping out of the children, remaining in my classroom assisting the caretaker with various renovations. I believe his absence was noted by many. As I left today, I shocked him with a thank you card and a gift of a box of real ales. The card was carefully worded to thank him for encouraging me to undertake and complete the leadership course - no mention made of this year. The look on his face made the £8 spent on the ale well worth it. I feel satisfied that I have had the final say.

 

 And so we have reached the summer holidays. Tomorrow I brave the M5 as we head to Brixham for a family holiday. It will be a much needed break and time with the family. The laptop is coming with me so that I can download photographs from the camera in the evening so I should still be able to post on here as the apartment is supposed to have Wi-Fi.

 

Take care all and many thanks for your support. Mission accomplished!

Nice one mate.

[Debs.]

Remember to tell the bank!

 

Indeed, both banks have been informed.

Staff at the one with a central London area in its name, proved most helpful in facilitation; whilst the bank headed with an Eagle crest, turned the process into a considerably more officious palaver, as it`s a joint account, and Passepartout is ensconced in hospital and yet his presence and signature "in branch" was {initially} deemed obligatory, a case of: "computer says no!" ........Passport and driving licence conversions are in progress.

It`s really nice now, to see one`s new 'unionised' name on letters, bank-cards etc.; whilst bills continue to be unwelcome.

[emt_911]

Morning all. Late on parade as I didn't bother setting the alarm. We had some heavy precipitation last night which will do the garden some good and now we have bright blue skies,

 

More rain is forecast for today which has changed my plans significantly.

 

Time for another coffee.

 

Have a good day everyone.

[southern42]

A good tour, Polly.

Did you notice the sparrows at Carrog? They come to hand for crumbs.

 

Yes, they rather liked our cake crumbs, one of them gathering a beakful of crumbs off the table and flying off with them ("Mine!").

 

 

Barry, we didn't see Coachman there though we did think of his layout!

Edited July 22, 2017 by southern42

[Andrew P]

Indeed, both banks have been informed.

Staff at the one with a central London area in its name, proved most helpful in facilitation; whilst the bank headed with an Eagle crest, turned the process into a considerably more officious palaver, as it`s a joint account, and Passepartout is ensconced in hospital and yet his presence and signature "in branch" was {initially} deemed obligatory, a case of: "computer says no!" ........Passport and driving licence conversions are in progress.

It`s really nice now, to see one`s new 'unionised' name on letters, bank-cards etc.; whilst bills continue to be unwelcome.

Will you be changing your Name and Avatar on here to Debs & Co?      

Edited July 22, 2017 by Andrew P

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunshine & showers here and it seems it will stay that way today.
Been absent for a couple of days due to other thing getting in the way including ripping all our CDs to computer so I can play them on my new wireless speaker thingy. I'm very pleased with it but The Boss doesn't like it as she can't put CDs into it so we've now bought a little CD HiFi system just for her.        

Tonight she's out with "the girls from work" so I suspect there will be some loudish blues & rock being listened to here.

 

Pasty day today and Abbie is bringing some round from the baker's she works at on Saturdays so lunchtime can't come round soon enough. Also waiting in for an eBay parcel with some tank wagons for me and a friend.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[roundhouse]

Good morning from Lednice in Southern Moravia. This branch only sees summer weekend service with vintage railcars. It's one of only a handful of lines we have left to travel on in the Czech Republic so at least this one is now crossed off the list.

 

A beautiful station building and setting

Edited July 22, 2017 by roundhouse

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.

 

Woken by vociferous meowing at 5am. Upstairs is moving out and was making bumping noises which the cat couldn't make sense of.

 

Woken again at 8am by next door's toast alarm; hadn't realised anyone was in (as they are students and away for the summer) but all's well and neighbour apologisef for any disturbance.

 

Good to hear from Her Hyphenated-Debship and best wishes continue to be offered in that direction.

 

Coffee awaits. Be good while I'm away.

[Tony_S]

One of our neighbours just called and asked if Aditi would feed their cat tonight. I'm clearly not considered well enough to cope.

Matthew rang. He has to go shopping today. The unhygienic flatmate has left (along with the mouse it would seem) but he has taken all Matthew's kitchen knives. Matthew said they were not expensive but he can't understand why someone would bother to take them if they were returning to Japan. Matthew is planning a 3 day trip round some places in the Netherlands and Belgium next week that he hasn't visited before, starting with Maastricht.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Sun shining brightly at the moment but five minutes ago there was a heavy shower. I suppose I should start getting on with the shed, haven't done a thing to it for several weeks now and somehow its been filled with clutter. Enjoy your holiday AndyR and good luck in your new job. So long for now, be back later.

[Horsetan]

....The unhygienic flatmate has left (along with the mouse it would seem) but he has taken all Matthew's kitchen knives. Matthew said they were not expensive but he can't understand why someone would bother to take them if they were returning to Japan....

 

 

Maybe he's going to become a trainee Yakuza?