Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Evening.

Worn to a frazzle...John you did what you had to do. I hope things go better now.

 

Goodnight all!

Baz

[newbryford]

My original PPI claim direct to my bank (rather than a specific PPI company, as advised via the various money websites) netted just over £30! About three years later, they told me that they had re-investigated and were sending a cheque for about £1500...........

 

Cue much celebrating at NB Towers.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

 

[tigerburnie]

Evening all, got sun burnt in Aberdeenshire, that might make the news later, 24 degrees and clear blue skies for our visit to the royals residence(well it's really their summer cottage), their garden looked nice but you're not allowed inside it except for a ballroom round the back. The rebuilt old station looked nice at Ballater after the fire.

G'night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

Once I’d eaten my breakfast, my first task was to hang my wetsuit on the line to dry, although it wasn’t very sunny. But by the time it was brought back in at around 7 this evening, the inside was dry (it was on the line inside out). Tomorrow I’ll hang it back out, the right way, so that the outside can dry. 

 

I wasn’t at the hospital very long this morning, as I mentioned earlier, appointment was for 11:30, so I left home at 11:10, giving myself plenty of time to walk it there, book in and find a seat. I arrived there 10 minutes early, booked in, took a seat and waited for my name to be called. Bang on 11:30, my name was read out along with a few others, but only I stood up, so I was shown straight to a seat and I was in the chair, with my sleeve rolled up a couple of minutes later. The phlebotomist was very competent and I didn’t feel a thing, once done I was back home for 11:45! Sheila was gob smacked, as she expected me to be out until at least 12:30 at the earliest, as whenever she’s been, it’s been quite busy. 

 

After dinner I decided to go for another walk, but this time to our local hardware shop as I needed a new brush head for the brush I use in the cellar. Sheila asked me to time my walk, which I did, there and back in 17 minutes! Which included going in and actually buying the brush head!

 

When Ian dropped the kids he asked when was it convenient to come round and do the plastering, he couldn’t do this week as he’s had lots of overtime offered and with all the bills etc, he couldn’t turn it down. So I’ve arranged for him to come round on Tuesday to make a start on the small cellar room. He’s hoping to complete it in one day, but will know better once he’s started it. 

 

Happy birthday to Mrs Ian A.

 

John. Sorry to read about Scruffs, it’s very hard when you lose a loved pet. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

 

 

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I am somewhat weary after a day in London.  My first task was to do a dry run of the journey from St Pancras to the back of Broadcasting House via Great Portland Street tube, calling to mind some of the more flamboyant performances by Kenneth Williams on Just A Minute.  In Covent Garden the museum had no mouse mats and the pop-up shop had never heard of some of the items on my shopping list despite their presence on the webshite.  Some pertinent questions have been asked!  I do have a new T shirt though and when I happened upon a branch of Doc Martens with a pair of rainbow boots on display resistance was futile.  They should be with me in time for the big day.  I first learned about those boots in Auckland where a fellow traveller had spotted them in a shop window but there they stayed as there wasn’t a hope in hell of getting them into my suitcase.

 

At the album launch, which was excellent as expected, there was a pleasant surprise in the form of a CD hitherto unknown to me that has been out for two years.  I suspect that it will spend no time in the hessian bag and go straight to the car where it will be played soonest.

 

I have mentioned Drystones before.  They are Ford Collier and Alex Garden from Priddy who are two energetic young musicians that I first saw at Sidmouth.  I am delighted that they are on the Avalon Cafe stage at Glastonbury this morning - quite a contrast from what they described as the intimate gig at the Slaughtered Lamb a few months ago.  It’s so good to see the excellent reviews of their new crowd-funded CD in the press, another shrewd investment by yours truly.  Be sure that someone else will notice them ere long.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a fairly pleasant morning today.  There appears to be a bit more wind, and it is forecast to be cooler.  Just as well, as we had 40°C yesterday afternoon.  Last night, we gave up and decamped to the guest bedroom in the cellar!

 

Sorry to hear about Scruffs, John - but you made the right decision.  You both have enough on your plate right now.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from  Estuary-Land. Very early riser this morning, even beating the bin wagons dawn chorus. No sign of the flying ants now but after I had sprayed I could smell the formic acid. I wasn't sure what it was at first though the smell was familiar until I remembered kettle descaler also uses formic acid. Now going back to bed, be back later.

[45156]

Morning All

 

Just a quick visit to sympathise with John - but sometimes a rehome is for the best, particularly in the circumstances.

 

Mick - every year you are able to entertain us with the humorous events at the American import.  Another one which I greatly dislike is the "graduation" from nursery or kindergarten - just an opportunity for a photographer and the nursery to make some money.

 

Generic greetings are, as usual on offer.

 

Chimney sweep this afternoon, and lots of jobs domestic beforehand so probably back tomorrow.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

5.15 hours sleep followed by intermittant dozing on the sofa,

The awake periods of being ensconced on the sofa my brain went into overdrive on the construction of the bulb on the bottom of the keel.

 

The total weight to be bolted on will be around 150 KG I think, but the exact amount won't be decided till I've finished rebuilding the boat and got the new keel made and weighed. At the moment my best idea is to carve the correct shape from some extruded foam, fibreglass that, carve out the foam from inside, and fill it will lead and resin.

Two large stainless through bolts to attach it to the keel.

 

Dry but cloudy, with just the odd blue patch this morning but definately chilly, the forecast of mid single figures seemed about right.. Our forecast high today 17C and for the heat wave of Saturday..24C..

 

The escape team still have not broken through to the lab, but there is a long trail of brick dust coming through one of the small holes left by the old A/C.

 

The temperature meter that arrived yesterday has had it's pre cal figures taken, and it's gone off to have it's interface bus repaired. So knowing this place, Just in time delivery means I won't see that for 6 weeks..

 

 So I have  the new 1 Ohm to measure again this morning along with a new 1G Ohm, then it's back to the many "working " IE not reference current shunts to do.

 

Time to.. wander do to the lab..

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

The sun is shining but still some cloud about. Breezy at the moment but a fine warm day is forecast.

Today I hope to lay some track but may get sidetracked as both Steve and Nicki may be visiting at different times today.

Also The Knee is still playing up after standing for several hours in the shed yesterday. The doctor still hasn't had the X-ray results back from the hospital!

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[Happy Hippo]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Flatulent Animal Impersonator?

 

Fortunately (for me) I'm off to Surrey tomorrow to stay with No. 2 son then to a reunion in London on Friday and back home on Saturday so he may have forgotten by then  

 

F

Here's one as a suitable send off, just in case I forget later:

 

 

 

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, 45156 said:

 every year you are able to entertain us with the humorous events at the American import.

 

If it's a import from the US the UK has had plenty of time to stamp it out. The last one I attended was in Paisley more than 50 years ago

[BSW01]

21 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

If it's a import from the US the UK has had plenty of time to stamp it out. The last one I attended was in Paisley more than 50 years ago

 

So it’s a Scottish import then!

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining and the sky is blue and I can’t see any clouds at all. Sheila’s wrist has improved enough for her to go to her Zumba class this morning, let’s hope when she gets back later, she hasn’t had another fall. Once she’s set off I will hang my wetsuit on the washing line to dry and continue working in the cellar, as I want to make sure that Ian has plenty of room to work next week. 

 

After tea tonight I’m hoping to go to Salford Quays for another swim and with the weather warming up nicely, I’m hoping the water will be a bit warmer too. 

 

Enjoy your day, back later. 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Good news yesterday in that my chest Xray was clear. Cough has gone so the horse tablets have worked.

Her indoors needs dropping off at the hospice sorting barn, then a trip to Skipton may be undertaken.

I need to empty the car of all our bits and pieces before its trip to the garage tomorrow. New insurance certificate needs printing.

 

Luckily when we had power put into the garage a hefty mains cable was fitted so I can charge the new car up front the. Next up..solar panels.

 

Have as good a day as you can

 

Baz

[roundhouse]

Morning all.

 

A partly sunny but very breezy morning. I went up to the shed at 04.30 today as the PIR light still stays on at night. Another play with the settings but it was too light by then to test it.

 

I managed to build fit and lay track on the new programming / test track in the shed At present it has OO and N gauge tracks but it will eventually get more gauges. The spare SPROG is also now fitted but not yet screwed into place. The shelving was delivered but the new chair is either out for redelivery this morning as per the card put through the door and an Amazon notification, or (according to the tracking website) awaiting a call from me to rearrange. However their website isn't responding properly so not sure when it will turn up. A note on the front door asks them to leave it incase I don't hear the doorbell.

 

Currently stripped down the chassis of the recently repainted FEC loco to put a sound decoder in but the chassis weight needs a bit of trimming for the speaker so its partially cut and giving my hand a rest before continuing. Hoping to have the loco running again this Saturday when we take the layout to the Braintree show along with plenty of fans to keep us cool with the forecast heat.

 

Plenty to do today - how did I ever find time for full time work. Its a year tomorrow that I finished work and don't regret it, so far. I have lost weight and feel far healthier with no colds or illness giving up the commuting and my back doesnt hurt so much having not to use the ironing boards on the Thameslink Great White Worms. Unfortunately my other half still has to - she text me this morning to say that she feels she needs a bath after a scruffy smelling person with a thick coat on sat next to her.

 

 

[45156]

34 minutes ago, Barry O said:

then a trip to Skipton may be undertaken.

 

Don't forget to visit Drake and Macefield - best pies in Yorkshire (or possibly wider afield)

[jamie92208]

Morning al from a warm part of the Charente.   About 27 degrees at the moment.   It was 36 when I went out shopping yesterday afternoon.   Levelling compound was purchased for the spare bedroom floor.   I had spent the morning emptying the spare room.   The bunk beds are dismantled and are now stacked up and wrapped in polythene in the shed.   The old lino/vinyl was removed removing a rather bumpy former garage floor.  That needs levelling and then probably a thin carpet.   However that work will not continue today.

 

Today we are both planning to do as little as possible.  I need to go and borrow a mixing paddle to go into the electric drill and then may even head towards a railway line for the afternoon while Beth is out at a ladies meeting.

 

Meantime I have come to grips with some interesting parts of French Healthcare insurance.   Apparently the two crowns that I'm in the process of getting done are classed as semi cosmetic so I will only get about 50% of the outlay back.  That takes care of about half of the tax refund.   Easy come easy go. Meanwhile a major investigation is ongoing in the village as to which dastardly devil on a green tractor demolished 3 post boxes on a street corner.   Unfortunately the only witness to this deed is suffering from dementia and has now gone back home to Holland. Also the only green tractors around either belong to the mayor's 14 yr old grandson or her families main farming contractors.   

 

Odd fact.  BBC Breakfast is discussing the animals as defined by the Road Traffic Act.  Some obscure part of my grey porridge has fired out the mnemonic DGCHAMPS, which IIRC stood for Dogs, Goats, Cattle, Horses, Ass's, Mules, Pigs and Sheep.    Why I can remember that (Learned in early 74) but not the tasks that Beth allocated to me yesterday remains and one of the great mysteries of life.

 

John, sorry to hear about Scruffs but it is probably for the best.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Kingzance]

Intermittent sun brightens the day over KZland this morning. A text from my GP Surgery suggested that I should call regarding the blood sample extracted yesterday morning so, with a little trepidation and before the puncture mark has disappeared, I made that call. As it transpires, the NHS can be really good! The results were "acceptable" although the cholesterol level (which hasn't changed from 4.7 for four years) is now regarded as above what GPs would like with my history. A change of meds has been agreed, I will need to provide a series of am & pm BP readings and some of us hope I will be around for at least another year - after all, I don't expect to finish KZ within that time frame!

 

Yesterday's chosen tasks were almost all completed! DashCam needs its GPS locator installed but otherwise and on first impressions seems OK. One of our fire alarms decided it wished to falsely warn us of danger but it seems that it is affected by high levels of humidity and, located near an open Velux style window, the sticky atmosphere may have been to blame. As conditions improve, I shall reinstate it and hope all is resolved.

 

Preparations for our Channel Island sojourn need progressing toodeesweetie as events have a habit of crowding my best laid plans etc. Baz mentioned solar renewables. My research is that solar thermal is still a more effective investment than solarPV so, if you could possibly need an upgrade to your water system, get a cylinder that has dual coils. If going for SolarPV, can your roof structure carry the extra weight? Talking of extra weight, I really must do something about mine... Laters!

[tigerburnie]

Morning, sun is still with us and the greenhouse vents are open, so over 20 degrees already(for coastal NE Scotland that is some feat), SWMBO is off to lunch with a pal. so I'm suitably lathered with factor 50 and off out with the camera. Wildlife togging at the sea bird cliffs and then my historical surveying of the old railway lines around Montrose, I have followed a fair bit from Forfar to Bridge of Dun, now looking around Kinnaber where the line that carried the 3 hour A4 expresses from Glasgow to Aberdeen joined the present ECML, I wish I had been living in Scotland back then.

[iL Dottore]

Greetings sensation seekers....

 

Back after considerable absence (for many reasons - including Thespian duties) and so just a quick peruse through ER to see what I have missed... far too much for me to comment on all, but a few words (if I may) about two posts.

 

Firstly, I was most taken with Natalies "warts and all" potted autobiography. Much braver than I (I am not sure that the world is ready for the unadulterated, unvarnished and uncensored iD life story). Her experience as a nurse in the NHS struck a chord - for whilst I only worked as a locum in the NHS for a short while, I was appalled at how bad (and self serving) NHS management was (and - apparently - still is). Two famous quotes spring to mind (and I think most apt): "lions lead by donkeys" and (a comment from a practising Nurse in CiF BTL in the Grauniad) "the purpose of NHS management is to safeguard the interests of NHS management".

 

I am sorry to hear that John had to rehome Scruffs, it must have been an extremely difficult thing to do, "I feel the pain" (as the Yanks say. And no, I am not being facetious). The Wolfpack, for all their (myriad) faults are very much part of the family now and I really don't think that I could part with either of them.

 

Whilst on the subject of doggies (and on a more cheerful note) Mrs iD, the wolfpack and I recently entered a "military" (a sort of obstacle course for dogs and their handlers). Schotty - despite barking his damn fool head off - came a respectable 19/48, whilst the Dowager Duchess Lucy managed a respectable 36/48 (mostly due to the fact that she doesn't "do"  <fetch>  or <carry> - she has staff for that). Anyway, two photos of us at the Military:

 

And to conclude on a sad note: due to the illegal annexation and occupation of the model railway workshop due Mrs iD's expansionistic designs to achieve utter hegemony over the disputed "cellar" border area (rightly assigned to me, but never accepted by Mrs iD and her lackeys), my railway modelling has stopped completely. Whilst the iD Railway Modelling area "Government in Exile" has petitioned the international authorities to (rightly) condemn the aggressive and massively illegal expansionism of Mrs iD and impose sanctions, I fear I will have to liberate the area myself. Accordingly, I have been stockpiling tins of ravioli (you know the ones: thick rubbery pasta, mystery meat filling and bland synthetic tomato "sauce") and if negotiations fail (yet) again I will have no hesitation or compunction to use FMD (Food of Mass Destruction) to help liberate the sacred railway modelling lands.

 

I will keep the international railway modelling community appraised of the situation (and whilst I appreciate the generosity of intention, at present the are NO plans to raise an army of ER volunteers to help liberate the occupied territory).

 

And on that note, enjoy the scorching weather.

 

iD

Edited June 27, 2019 by iL Dottore
typo/spelling

[southern42]

' Morning all from red dragon land.

Oh, my!  The week is going (gone) so quick again!

 

On 25/06/2019 at 09:17, southern42 said:

' Morning all from red dragon land.

Misty misty morning, here.

I received some pot plants a while back (three that were being thrown out from a certain diy store as they were doing poorly - lack of water by the look of it).  With a bit of watering, they came back to life beautifully in no time, but a couple of days without rain and, hey, two of them look poorly again.  I am thinking they are just a root ball and no compost.  I shall soon see as yesterday, youngest kindly got me a couple of a larger pots and some water retaining gel so I can hopefully bring then back to life again with some of youngest's compost before planting out in the garden.  I am holding back on this until the stonewaller has been and gone in a week or two's time.  

 

A bit of m*ddling also planned for later although, I get restless and impatient to finish thinkng it is summer and I should be outside / going somewhere nice...   I know, any excuse... 

 

Have a settled day...

Di Lema

 

Plants repotted although the pots could have been a bit larger as the additional compost is not very significant, but it will do for now.   I have probably added much more than enough water gel than required so I hope they do not die of too much H20.  The potentilla was not looking good, this morning, so I cut it down leaving just the a few of the surviving leaves, hoping it will spring back into action.  I have also placed both plants in saucers to retain some water for them to feed off.  Fingers crossed.  The third plant turns out to be a magenta flowered rose campion which seems to be doing well.  I guess it is better suited to dry conditions with its thicker leaves.

 

Yesterday, another few laps at West Shore on the back of the Hunslet.  It is a joy to drive without the long stretch over a tender, and that it is just to start with!  It seems to be quite forgiving when the pressure drops, responding quickly to various interventions and likewise when she is about to blow!  It is a delight to gently chug round the track rather than at the speed of a fast express.  Not that I ever go that fast, you understand.  Er-hum.     And, at the moment, the inner field is a gorgeous naturally growing multi flowered meadow...brings back memories of Botwell Common in my childhood.  And what do I get in response?  "It needs to be mown!"    It is St. David's Hospice fundraising Day on Saturday, so I guess the meadow will all be gone by lunch time when the ride upon mower gets into action.    Ah, well, fantastic while it lasted!  

 

Enjoy your day.

_____________

Polly

Edited June 27, 2019 by southern42