Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I am effectively confined to barracks. I am unable to get my car off of the drive due to vehicles parked either side leaving just about a cars width and another car right opposite my drive parked half on the pavement. The one on the right is a high top transit van that means that when I pull off my drive I cant see any vehicle approaching from that direction and the drivers cant see me.

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Rather floozy-ish. Anyway, aren't mermaids saltwater creatures? Sabrina at Bridgnorth is much more the thing - the tutelary deity. Father Thames would have been much more appropriate as well as being closer to the average age of a Henley resident...

Cor was Old Father Thames really a young chap then - more than half the population is under 50 years old and there are fewer over 60 years old than there are under 30 years old.  BTW said old father has his face in relief on one of the bridge arch keystones. 

42 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Mermaids have to have divided tails/ legs to deal with - er, practical details, you see, else being half fish isn’t much fun.  I could draw you a picture if you want but they wouldn’t let me put it on here.

one more thing while I’m on, some of us are still tossing around off Harwich. Any more piccys to come from your voyage, please?

Thanks for reminding me about the pics - there are more and I must get round to posting them including a trip almost to France (well within in sight of Boulogne which was much nearer to us  than Dover). Plus 'the engine room' tour.

[southern42]

' Evening all from red dragon land.

 

Getting ready for the weekend at West Shore after an excellent day last Saturday.

It was our Charity Day for St David's Hospice and we were seeing how members and passengers took to having train tickets in receipt of donations.  It worked a treat!  Kids and parents/grandparents loved it.  Members were impressed at the marked difference it made to donations received per ride.   This week, we are having a trial for donations received for the railway itself.  I made the tickets in Mac Pages and cut them up - easy enough, but so far they are not numbered.  I found a couple of rather long winded ways of doing it on the PC - if only I had the time - and some automatic numbering machines online which I might consider if we carry on with it.  If it goes well, we could have them made by a printer of Edmondson tickets, with the possibility of getting them sponsored.

 

Also, Ray and I are making the most of the summery weather with lunch out and a walk somewhere/squat on the beach.

M*ddling is consequently taking a back seat and time for this parish is thin on the ground.

 

So, wishing you all well and looking forward to popping in again.

_________

Polly

[brianusa]

11 hours ago, Kingzance said:

Closing a lane or lanes in the event of an incident is clearly a very sensible precaution and drivers should follow such directions however The many whinings of Bedfordshire’s Chief Constable a couple of years back seems to have brought fruit and simply confirmed my suspicions that these symbols of a totalitarian state serve the dual purposes of fleecing the U.K. motorist (foreign registered vehicles aren’t pursued with any vigour) and giving more power to a special variety of parasitic citizen who gets paid from the taxes already levied on the fewer and fewer of us earning an honest crust.

 

Recalling driving on holiday in the UK, I was more nervous of the many traffic cameras and regulations than I was of the traffic and driving.  Not that I wantonly break the law either in this country or on holiday but I have been known to travel faster than the speed limit on occasion.  I have only had three tickets in both countries in the last sixty years or so which either means I drive OK or evade the arm of the law!

      Brian.

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

.... the day when Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith thwarted an alien invasion (I used to be one myself) .......

 

So how and when did you become an Earthman?

 

Spent a terrific day with Tony Wright experiencing Little Bytham - what a superb layout and some of the best running I've seen in a long while. Now back in the Salopshire borderlands having had a nice salad dinner with a genuine Melton Mowbray pork pie bought on the way. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable few days away but now back to reality and off to get The Toe looked at again tomorrow.

 

Have a peaceful night everyone.

 

Dave  

[Barry O]

Evening all.

 

These new sofas are comfy.. eyelids have had a decent inspection!

 

All this cricket is catching up on me. Early bedtime beckons so

 

Goodnight all!

Baz

[Northroader]

27 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Cor was Old Father Thames really a young chap then - more than half the population is under 50 years old and there are fewer over 60 years old than there are under 30 years old.  BTW said old father has his face in relief on one of the bridge arch keystones. 

Thanks for reminding me about the pics - there are more and I must get round to posting them including a trip almost to France (well within in sight of Boulogne which was much nearer to us  than Dover). Plus 'the engine room' tour.

There’s a statue of old Father Thames at the side of St Johns lock in Lechlade, I think it was moved from being near the source near Kemble some time back. Dunno why he’s got a spade, though?  Looking forward to seeing the pics.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

Cor was Old Father Thames really a young chap then - more than half the population is under 50 years old and there are fewer over 60 years old than there are under 30 years old.  

 

More youthful at Lechlade than Henley, I suppose. My apologies for impugning the population of the latter. I think I was being over-influenced by the elderly lady trying to get her tyre changed before joining a friend for the regatta, oveheard in tedious detail while waiting for my annual service and MOT in Sonning Common. But on reflection, she was going to Henley, rather than being a resident.

[Coombe Barton]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/sandys-treatment-day-198/

[Sidecar Racer]

2 hours ago, Northroader said:

Mermaids have to have divided tails/ legs to deal with - er, practical details, you see, else being half fish isn’t much fun.  I could draw you a picture if you want but they wouldn’t let me put it on here.

one more thing while I’m on, some of us are still tossing around off Harwich. Any more piccys to come from your voyage, please?

 

Some of us are still in Norway from some years past .    

[PeterBB]

On 02/07/2019 at 08:12, AndrewC said:

 

 

Anyone seen Andyram lately? 

 

Filming for the Great Railway Challenge or whatever its called.

 

 

[Kingzance]

3 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

If you get the chance, head over to the Godshill Cider Barn, and also to Fort Victoria just beyond Yarmouth; there's more than just a model railway there!.

Thanks for the tips John. We may get a bit of cider but the rest of the crew are not model railway fans so getting over the initial prejudice may be a problem.

[PeterBB]

12 hours ago, Northroader said:

There’s a statue of old Father Thames at the side of St Johns lock in Lechlade, I think it was moved from being near the source near Kemble some time back. Dunno why he’s got a spade, though?  Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Moved in the early 80s - used to spend a lot of time with Mr Slator when in Lechlade.

Edited July 5, 2019 by PeterBB
Capital letter for Lechlade

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

More youthful at Lechlade than Henley, I suppose. My apologies for impugning the population of the latter. I think I was being over-influenced by the elderly lady trying to get her tyre changed before joining a friend for the regatta, oveheard in tedious detail while waiting for my annual service and MOT in Sonning Common. But on reflection, she was going to Henley, rather than being a resident.

There seem to be lots of elderly ladies about ths year attending the Regatta - more than I can remember seeing in any past year and quite a lot of them trying to be the height of fashion.  

Very trying in some cases

30 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

Some of us are still in Norway from some years past .    

And alas the Norway pics seem to do have done an electronic hiding trick although I do have the original cards but one wont download for some reason.

[bbishop]

Chris,

 

Do you have an approximate timing for Trafalgar Square on Saturday?   Unsure whether I can make it, depends how busy Lord's is and my local train service will  be crap.  Bill

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

So how and when did you become an Earthman?

 

By pledging allegiance to a flag about sixteen years ago.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

It’s been a busy old day here at BSW01 towers I had quite a list of jobs to do, mostly small jobs, but there were a number of them. 

 

Re-fit lights.   Check

Re-fit pipework.    Check

Re-hang main door.   Check

Fix leak.   Check

As I expected all that was required was to tighten up the joints either side of the stopcock.

I then re-hung the main door between the two cellar rooms. Then I suddenly remembered that I had some left over pipe insulation in the boiler room. So off I went and retrieved it, brought it downstairs and then fitted it to the pipework, although I’ll probably remove it all when I paint the ceiling and walls. However, I do need to buy some more 15mm pipe insulation, as I didn’t quite have enough. Whilst up there I also brought down a length of architrave, which had been stored up there. This will be used to disguise the joint in the walls between the foundation wall (which is 3 bricks deep) and the party wall (2 bricks deep). Part of the architrave and some left over timber will be made into a narrow L shape shelf along this joint. I even found time to remove plaster that accumulated inside back-boxes and trim the wiring and make off tails. All this work was achieved before dinner. After dinner I got out the pressure washer and cleaned down the patio, the path leading to the cellar steps and the cellar steps them selves. I also cleaned the area just outside the cellar doors and the cellar doors and window too!

 

After I’d packed away the pressure washer, I called it a day and came in for a well earned muggertea. A short spell of eyelid inspection then took place before tea. After tea I once again set off for Salford Quays for a swim, managing a mile in 41 minutes. 

 

The 4th of July holds a different significance to me, as it marks the 7th anniversary of my first chemotherapy session, where does the time go? I also got the results of my recent PSA blood test, once again it has risen, currently 5.5 Although it has gone up considerably from last year, it is still below the threshold of 10! If and when it reaches that target, I will referred back to The Christie. 

 

Goodnight all 

[newbryford]

Phew - that was a buys few days.

 

Last of the school prom parking duties done and dusted earlier this evening.

The largest one for attendance - 190 kids, but not too bad for the prom car queuing as there was no official photographer making the darlings take ages getting out of the cars.

Biggest issue were three local yoofs - one on a very illegal "field bike" who was constantly roaring up and down the driveway amongst the coming and going vehicles and 2 others on foot who were clearly encouraging him to be a tw&twaffle.

When challenged - he said he had insurance - I'd love to see how that works on private land when he had no helmet and no reg plate on the bike, which looked a bit less than roadworthy.

They were trying my patience and being cheeky/arrogant little barstewards and once the biker had a near miss with a fairly expensive motor car, then a call to the boys in blue was in order.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get through on the 101 number (as I deemed it wasn't an emergency and was advised to go to the website...........), but they weren't to know that and I advised the two lads on foot to tell their mate on the bike that the police would be coming to decide if the insurance was valid................. 

"They could be here in 5 or 25 minutes - it's your call."

 

They were gone in 3.

 

4 of the school year - who had not been invited to the Prom - due to their "inappropriate choices and actions through the school year" (words of one of the teachers, who was being very PC and I could tell she really wanted to say it how it was!) had turned up, but were not let in by the school employed security staff. Yes - the school have professional doormen who attend the school each day.

Apparently their parents were kicking off with the staff  - what hope have the kids got?

Thankfully, nothing actually came of it and they retreated from the scene.

 

And all this from the same school that Mrs NB and her twin sister went to - albeit many years ago. They kept saying "it wasn't that bad in our day".

 

A busy Friday beckons as I have a couple of urgent projects that have been worked on in the last week, that received a very favourable response today from the work done so far - problem is - they were that successful they have been deemed worthy of further development work - by tomorrow please............. 

 

POETS won;t happen, but if I get my head down and not too many customer distractions, then I'm hoping for a POOT at least.

 

Have a good Friday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BR60103]

We were off to Stratford this morning (about 100km away). There was a talk by the assistant director about Othello. Interesting info about how they're presenting it (modern army with females in it). They have an intimacy coach because it's very stressful on the actor to be abused and murdered everyday.  Apparently a girl at a school presentation had an extreme reaction to the end of the play. The set is off square and not symmetric on purpose.

Lunch at a local Mennonite restaurant. Generous servings -- Dayle couldn't finish her senior's plate.

 

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a slightly cloudy morning in this part of the world, but reasonably cool and I expect the temperature will reach the very high 20s by the end of the afternoon.

 

8 hours ago, Northroader said:

There’s a statue of old Father Thames at the side of St Johns lock in Lechlade, I think it was moved from being near the source near Kemble some time back. Dunno why he’s got a spade, though?  Looking forward to seeing the pics.

 

I believe that the spade is supposed to represent the digging of locks to make the Thames navigable.  However, I don't think the spade that he currently holds is the original one.  Quite what happened to the original, I am not sure but perhaps it was damaged or got lost when the statue was moved.  It was originally displayed in the Crystal Palace if I remember correctly.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl. Inner Temple Hare, 

a good nights sleep of 4.5 hours, coughing fit, 2 hours sleep. 

 

Having a bit of a lie in on the sofa as I set off 2 hours as today as I have to go via the Vampires abode. 

If that goes quickly I'll also drop into the sailing club,  and sign on the dotted line of the notice board for rescue boat duties for regatta week. 

 

Scantily clad females are not common at the sailing club more likely  it's hard wearing trousers,  T shirts and a life jacket. Females fully participate in the sailing. That being said there is no part of the human body I haven't seen passing on a tourist motorboat over the years. 

 

Our car park becomes a jigsaw puzzle as it gets jam packed each day,  just occasionally some tourist decides that parking for free in our car park, is preferable to paying in the next door car park. Not surprisingly we don't try too hard to find who is blocking them in , and if they're out on the water for another couple of hours ...tough. 

 

I finally finished this week's major system and left it on its cross check run overnight,  the lab crew will swap the test gear over the its sister system this morning for part two of the check. 

So when I get in I'll have to analyze part one of the results, part two much later.. 

 

I'm expecting brown eyes to show up shortly, as a short time ago I'd be taking him out before setting off for work. 

 

Time lie back and rest.. .. 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

We had some new recliner sofas delivered yesterday. Tried them out last evening and..they are ideal locations for impromptu eyelid inspections.

 

Watched some of England Womens Ashes ODI last night. Either they need a change of coaching staff or a big change in attitude. Australia Women are improving their skills all the time, England aren't. 

 

Just before falling asleep last night a twin turboprop plane (Jetstream 41 or Saab 340) was doing low level fly rounds at Leeds Bradford Airport...flying over our house. This is not a normal flight into LBA. Checked on flightradar...nowt! So was it  a contraband flyer or someone doing a test?

 

Nice morning so lots to ro..including hawthorn hedge trimming ..bu&&er!

Enjoy your day!

Baz