Early Risers.

[pH]

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Gradually catching up with Farcebook, one group is still getting loads of applicants but it has eased off a little but the group has more than doubled in size. This was on Farcebook.>>

 

 

A great movie (any Buster Keaton movie is worth watching!). It's been mentioned on here before. 

 

The last scene is near here, in White Rock, just north of the Canada/US border:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/40809-buster-keatons-the-railrodder-trans-canadian-travel-in-a-speeder/

 

In fact, the land in the background of the guy wading onto the beach is south of the border, in the US.

 

[Coombe Barton]

Pipes

Kathryn Tickell OBE on the anatomy and playing of the Northumbrian pipes
 

 

Galician Bagpipes
 

 

I have more, but won't scare too many people too soon.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Coombe Barton
typos, what else?

[Coombe Barton]

Mind you the most weird bagpipe experience I've ever had was at a Ceilidh in Aberdeen where we had (indoors) full Scottish pipes and bass guitar.

[The Stationmaster]

NMorning all,

 

The editor has been duly cleared but I don't know why he is back in action - very random it seems.  Contrary to earlier seaweed guidance with have sunshine and high very scattered cloud - still a bit chilly but certainly brighter than the overall grey we were originally supposed to have today.   I've no doubt the G word will get a mention but the lawn was too wet earlier on to indicate that it will be dry enough to cut later, so it won't be (and it's not too long anyway.

 

I was much taken with Dave Hunt's comments about the low flying Jaguar.  Strange how low flying upsets some folk but then I spent four years in an area where low flying by the military was almost an everyday event and in one part of our patch if you heard a Hercules passing you looked down to see it instead of up.  The only worrying time was when it was international play time up on the nearby Plain and various overseas visitors had brought along their Starfighters.

 

The Good Doctor has been on today's foraging excursion although Tesco had no flour - seems everyone has taken to buying it and no doubt some of them are actually using it.  I do miss my little Tesco visit everyday for the 'paper plus occasional jaunts to hostelries various to meet old/very old former workmates but otherwise imprisonment containment lockdown isn't a major problem as I've plenty to do or be told to do.  But 12 months of it you can forget although the stuff being spouted in today's 'papers is probably as much a figment of their fevered imaginations as it is real (unless somebody in the Civil Service has been leaking the stuff they've been working on for the past month).  Anyway I tend to be rather philosophical about it because thus far it doesn't matter what we say or think - what will happen will happen and worrying about it won't make it happen any sooner. And just avoid the tv news and watch old films instead (even if they were on last week, and the week before, and ....  

 

So havea good day one and all and enjoy the sunshine if you;ve got any round your way.  And stay safef 

[tetsudofan]

Sun is shining down here in the south east corner, coffee has been drunk, lemon curd tartlets consumed (reduced at Sainsburys so had to try...), washing machine has been busy so time to get back out the garden.

 

Got to see how much more can be done to convert what was a long bridge into an embankment:

 

 

Should keep me out of trouble for a couple of hours......

 

Keith

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon from here, still moaning for most of you. To a rather wet market we did go and have returned, coffee no 2 has now been drunk.

 

Neil, that organ recital was good.  We were fortunate enough to have a Willis organ in our school chapel, built 1901. Properly played it's a great instrument. I remember once going round Winchester Cathedral and the organist was practising Bach's Wachet Auf aka Sleepers wake.  One of my favourite pieces and it just fitted the surroundings.   Likewise the bagpipes. On a visit to Glefinnan where someone was up in the hills practising,they sounded fabulous. It was a different  story in a corrugated iron village hall north of Stornaway when at a Ceilidh the folk group had bagpipes inside.  However the drunken audience of Norwegian fishermen,  sailors from an RN submarine, locals and a 17 yr old tourist, were reduced to tears when the band did a song about the Iolaire disaster and 2 of the band members had lost relatives. Talk about authentic folk music.

 

Anyway the G word has been called off, rain has stopped play. Rumours of a tidy up of the dining room are circulating but I suspect that there will be some shed time this afternoon.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Edited April 19, 2020 by jamie92208

[iL Dottore]

Morning all,

 

All this talk about bagpipes (which, incidentally, are found in various iterations all over the world and not just in Gaelic countries) has brought back to mind two of my pet peeves about bagpipe music (which I actually do enjoy).

 

My first peeve is that of having the pipes and drums accompanied by a marching band. Wrong, wrong, wrong! As far as I am concerned pipe and drum music should be exactly that: just bagpipes and their drum accompaniment. Too many times, at the Edinburgh Tattoo, great tunes like Hielan Laddie, The Atholl Highlanders or (worst of all) The Black Bear have been utterly desecrated by the addition of trumpets, trombones etc.

My second peeve is that of the nauseating ubiquitousness of Amazing Grace. Quite frankly, the piece should be banned by international treaty. It’s a tedious dirge in the hands of the incapable, which is where it mostly ends up. Very rarely does it soar (and as for Auld Lang Syne, Robbie Burn’s immortal words have been turned into a ghastly sing-a-long...).

 

I certainly agree with the contention that the bagpipes are definitely instruments to be played only outdoors. Once, many years ago, I was directing a Scottish version of “babes in the woods“ for our annual Christmas panto and the solitary piper and single drummer - who piped in the hero - were sufficient to fill the theatre with sound.

 

It’s rather disturbing to see so many Americans demonstrating against the lockdown and wanting to have “their freedom back“ (sic). Have they ever stopped to consider that the coronavirus does not respect national borders, is completely disinterested in their political leanings and will therefore merrily lay waste to rich & powerful countries and poor & weak countries alike? Of course (dons “Captain Cynical“ anti-hero outfit) giving these people what they want would be a relatively straightforward way of putting evolution into action. Certain of the media’s commenteriat dismiss such people as merely stupid. Some undoubtedly may well be so, but I think that the real problem is that critical thinking and self-reflection are - in some places - very much a minority activity and not encouraged (it may be instructive to ponder upon why the expression “too clever by half” [and its variants] are so widespread through English speaking world).

 

Finally, despite the fact that I have no idea when I will be able to restock, I have been using up my older boxes of suet; making on Friday a large Steak and Amber Beer Pie with a suet crust (and quite acceptable it was as well). Being a cook of serious and studied demeanour, the pie was - as all good pies should be - double crust.

 

EARLY RISERS EXAM PAPER No 1: A pie that only has a puff-pastry lid is nothing more than a jumped up stew in a fancy hat. Discuss.

 

Proper (2 crust) pies are truly food for the Gods.

 

iD

[PhilJ W]

Morning Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Two pages of ER's to get through before I arrived here so a bit late.

13 hours ago, Tony_S said:

This one?

It was only recently I knew HO cars existed. In my day it was 1/32 and 1/24.

Tony

 

10 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Not HO but there were OO slot cars.

 

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Minic_Motorways

Aurora produced an HO slot car system about the same time as the Minic system. They only made four vehicles, a Jaguar XK140, a Mercedes sports car, an American Ford stakeside truck and a typical American gas guzzling car, the make of which escapes me. Although billed as HO scale they were slightly oversize and the sports cars were very close to 1/76 scale.

7 hours ago, Chris116 said:

I had a very large Minic Motorways set up with a five lane figure of eight track. Although they were supposed to be OO, in fact they were much larger being nearer to 7mm scale. 

The scale depended on what type of vehicles they were. The bus and coach were pretty much to 1/76 scale, the lorries and cars were about 1/72 and in one of the model railway magazines someone motorized the Airfix Land Rover from the Bloodhound kit and it sat perfectly well with the Minic cars.

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Not necessarily as the focus of the whole show, but shopping with difficult customers occurs many times - Are You Being Served, lots of Python sketches Dead Parrot, Cheese Shop, Cannibal undertakers, Hungarian Phrasebook; Two Ronnies sketches or One Ronnie as the case may be. Arguably anytime Ronnie Barker did a shopkeeper sketch it had a lot in common with Open All Hours. 

 

(Admittedly the salesperson was often the butt of the joke in many of these sketches - rather than the customer.)

 

And not forgetting the four candles sketch (or is it fork handles?). And of course Auntie Wainright from last of the summer wine.

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the sunny tropical paradise of the boring borough. Managed to get to the butchers and a few other artisan shops @ Spa Road yesterday. That included a couple of the beer mile tap rooms which were open for takeaway. Last night was hatless stew with all fresh beef shin and many veggies. Full brekkie this morning and tonight it will be cross cut ribs on the Kamado that have been marinading for 24 hours. Corn and hassleback spuds to accompany. 

 

I was surprised at the amount and at the same time lack of traffic. Normally a run to Spa Road takes around 40 minutes on a Saturday morning. Took us less than 20 yesterday. I know it is naughty but we took the “scenic” route home just to give the Landy a bit of a stretch. Including yesterday we’ve only put 74km on it since we last filled the tank 5 weeks ago. I did accomplish something that will never happen again. We made it from the Woolwich ferry roundabout all the way home non stop. 

 

Tony: Baltic is one of our favourite restaurants. I used to work less than 200m from there and we frequently stopped in. It is also MiL’s fave as many of the dishes are more Ukrainian than Polish. All I can say is beware the watermelon martinis. 

 

It is now 13:40 BDT. (Belgian drinking time) Quiet day on the patio with SWMBO planning all her garden changes and me trying to see how I can sneak in some track. On compromise has been met. She gets 4 new gothic arched trellises and I get another BBQ in the form of a fire bowl. 

 

Enjoy the day. 

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone 

 

Another day when we ended staying in bed longer than planned. Anyway I've already been down to the workshop putting away a few MERG KITS that has been built. I also checked my stock of nuts and bolts, as when I stripped down the 2 garden benchs a couple of weeks ago, I had to cut all the screws off as they had rusted solid. Unfortunately I don't have enough of the right size, but as I need to buy new wood for the slats, that isn't a high priority at the moment. Time now to continue working on the towel rail. 

 

Back later 

[Kingzance]

Although some may think I am just being cynical, I really believe that governments of all persuasions arrange to have a “leak” of news of oppressive legislation and allow the populace to build a good head of steam against it before announcing something less draconian (but which would have caused consternation and protests had they made that the first announcement) and getting it through under the guise of “we listened to you”. So, today the leak was that “over 70s and those at risk” will face a further year of isolation. In the not too distant future, HMG will announce that “over 70s and those at risk” will remain in isolation until after Halloween.

 

As for our “friends across the pond”,  very few have passports and so most don’t know that they are only a small part of this world. Their news channels rarely mention anything happening elsewhere so it is little wonder that there is much clamouring for the relaxation of restrictions. They will only understand what WuFlu can do when they are allowed to mingle across their country and by then they will have ensured a second and much larger wave has been created. We have acquaintances who have a daughter living in Florida and married to an MD, those are comments coming from there!

 

Happy days...

[Simon G]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

It’s rather disturbing to see so many Americans demonstrating against the lockdown and wanting to have “their freedom back“ (sic). Have they ever stopped to consider that the coronavirus does not respect national borders, is completely disinterested in their political leanings and will therefore merrily lay waste to rich & powerful countries and poor & weak countries alike? Of course (dons “Captain Cynical“ anti-hero outfit) giving these people what they want would be a relatively straightforward way of putting evolution into action. Certain of the media’s commenteriat dismiss such people as merely stupid. Some undoubtedly may well be so, but I think that the real problem is that critical thinking and self-reflection are - in some places - very much a minority activity and not encouraged (it may be instructive to ponder upon why the expression “too clever by half” [and its variants] are so widespread through English speaking world).

 

Finally, despite the fact that I have no idea when I will be able to restock, I have been using up my older boxes of suet; making on Friday a large Steak and Amber Beer Pie with a suet crust (and quite acceptable it was as well). Being a cook of serious and studied demeanour, the pie was - as all good pies should be - double crust.

 

EARLY RISERS EXAM PAPER No 1: A pie that only has a puff-pastry lid is nothing more than a jumped up stew in a fancy hat. Discuss.

 

Proper (2 crust) pies are truly food for the Gods.

 

iD

 

Like iD I was disturbed to see Americans out protesting for their freedom while I was watching the news.  I think that the phrase “be careful what you wish for” is appropriate here.

 

As for the pies, I am with you all the way.  We don’t often do a suet crust, but really enjoy it when we do.  When I make a gooseberry or black currant pie, it has a full shortcrust pastry jacket.

 

It is another sunny day here today, so some outside jobs are being done.  My sore shoulder is slowly improving so I am able to get the jobs done.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Phew, what a marathon to get here - I am still not up to speed with many of the other threads that I follow - I edited this post as I hit enter too soon, but nothing happened.

 

FIrst off, generic greetings to all ailing or celebrating.

 

Not a lot happening here today, though the fire was put to bed for the summer, then another walk was undertaken, same route, and the hills are still steeper than they were.

 

Back tomorrow

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited April 19, 2020 by 45156

[TheQ]

I should point out that Amazing grace is never played on the Highland Great Pipes. 

Why? 

Because that's the words,  the piece of music commonly used is called New Britain it was by William Walker in 1835. There are alternative pieces of music used for that hymn. 

 

Hmm. I'm waiting for a parcel. From the house of strong ladies,  according to the tracker it's been 5 stops away for sometime.. Since the plot is showing that stop is in the north sea i'm not surprised.. 

 

The keel skin/ mould exterior was sanded then surface filled with a filler that uses the same resin as glassfibre that's now setting. 

 

Then to The MhRC,  more slartybartfast work,  some corrections of the original builders work, kerb stones 2ft high?! 

I've decided to model the companion to the Type 84 radar as well,  the HF200 holding height finder,  motorising it is difficult,  the directional function is fine,  that's just a servo,  but the aerial nodded at between 20 and 60 cycles per minute .  There's not much room in there... And  feeding control wires will be difficult. 

 

Ah the van driver has swum ashore,  parcel of bits to make things unmentionable.. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by TheQ
Edit cos I got my minutes and seconds confused

[Tony_S]

I have had a little task this afternoon. Aditi ran the mower over its cable. I managed to find replacement outdoor cable joiners. I did say this is why I said she should have a cordless mower. She said when I previously suggested that she just thought I was being amusing. Anyway no injuries, and I didn’t stab myself cutting cable. She admits she probably wasn’t paying attention, listening to birdies singing I suspect. She won’t let me cut the lawn now as she seems to think it would be too much. The only thing the heart nurse mentioned specifically was lifting including shopping bags. I may be allowed to carry in a few light objects when the Waitrose delivery arrives later this afternoon. 
Tony
 

[Gwiwer]

9 hours ago, Barry O said:

Sun is shining. We didn't win the lottery.

Agreed.  But with a keen NE'er behind it to make sitting outside just a little cool.  And in a sense neither did we but we did manage to match two which means we have a lucky dip next Saturday in addition to the regular ticket.  

 

A lottery should be set up such that the "bank" always wins and purely as a game of chance.  In Australia there are fewer numbers and the minimum purchase gives you a lot more than a single line but I played the same way as I do here - same numbers every draw.  After a few weeks I started winning here and there.  Usually the lowest payout but enough to keep the account ticking over.  Since the first year I never had to dip into my pocket to buy a ticket.  We always won enough to keep ahead.  And sometimes enough to withdraw from the lotto account into our pockets.  We never won big.  Just shy of $1000 was the biggest win for matching four balls plus the bonus.  But we made a small profit overall.  Not so here, I'm afraid, though we are not too far behind.  

 

SWMBO has felt off-colour today with pains similar to those she suffered before having her gall bladder removed.  I'm watching her carefully.  We both suspect it is something "passing through" but there is a slight chance she has a stone blocking the bile duct.  And precisely no chance, thankfully, of having the Dreaded Lurgy based upon her symptoms.  

 

I have to attend the kitchen.  There is laundry to iron and a portion of cow to roast.  Whether SWMBO is up to eating only the next couple of hours will tell.  Here's hoping.  

 

All the best.  Stay well.  

[AndrewC]

53 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I have to attend the kitchen.  There is laundry to iron and a portion of cow to roast.  Whether SWMBO is up to eating only the next couple of hours will tell.  Here's hoping.  

 

All the best.  Stay well.  

Please don’t mix up your tasks. Roasted laundry doesn’t appeal. 

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

A productive day has been spent in The Shed and I now have two circuits of track all joined up and working. Wonders will never cease. Mind you knowing my luck it'll probably cease working tomorrow. We'll see as I've designated Monday a day of play which means I'll have to unbox some small wheeled objects for the first time in months.

A small  portion of pig is roasting in t'oven and will be ready in about half and hour so that's something to look forward to along with a glass or two of Shiraz.  Not much on the tellybox tonight apart from The Good Karma Hospital which The Boss really likes and I find quite acceptable.

Just realised I haven't driven the car since 17th March and the road tax is due at the end of the month. I did briefly think about "SORNing" it as I'm supposed to be staying in for another month or two but Sod's law says that I might need it in an emergency and TBH the saving would only be a few quid anyway.

Just time for another Tribute before dinner I think.

Cheers,

Pessimistic trainset operator of Sutton.

[The Stationmaster]

Fingers crossed for GDB's inaugural special tomorrow.  i would suggest selecting an engine in a certain shade of green with lots of brass and copper bits on show in order to add a touch of class to the occasion.

 

IN a momentous development the Good Doctor and I managed to extract some roofing felt from the big shed and sort of renew the covering on the wood shed.  I only say 'sort of' because one end of the shed roof is inaccessible so that end is rather by hope rather than effort while the accessible end seemed to incorporate quite a number of rotten components with no replacement timber to hand.  So it really heeds a proper job sometime but it should - hopefully, please - see us through a 12 month if we're lucky and it did mean some brownie points have been granted.

 

the opportunity was also taken to explore and 'tidy' some of the contents of the big shed.  The 45mm gauge track is stired elsewhere but bringing it into use would require considerable civil engineering plus the acquisition of a lot more so that it could go round corners and things like that.

 

Roast pork for dinner tonightt

[TheQ]

Mowing?  The second nearest neighbour is mowing again,  3 times a week since this started.. He really is bored. 

 

Years ago one of my work mates ran over the cable of his mower,  and spent a couple of days in hospital as he short circuited himself.. 

[Coombe Barton]

The chicken is roasting with garlic, lemon and herbs de Provence, the vegetables are ready to go in the oven in about half an hour.

 

No spuds tonight - had too many carbs today. Prudence over desire.

[pH]

7 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Mind you the most weird bagpipe experience I've ever had was at a Ceilidh in Aberdeen where we had (indoors) full Scottish pipes and bass guitar.

 

A couple of years ago, we went to a golden wedding celebration which featured a pipe band and also belly dancers. This was indoors. At one point, a solo belly dancer performed, accompanied by a solo piper. It's called fusion!

[Gwiwer]

43 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

Please don’t mix up your tasks. Roasted laundry doesn’t appeal. 

I'm not too sure about ironed cow either

[Joseph_Pestell]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have had a little task this afternoon. Aditi ran the mower over its cable. I managed to find replacement outdoor cable joiners. I did say this is why I said she should have a cordless mower. She said when I previously suggested that she just thought I was being amusing. Anyway no injuries, and I didn’t stab myself cutting cable. She admits she probably wasn’t paying attention, listening to birdies singing I suspect. She won’t let me cut the lawn now as she seems to think it would be too much. The only thing the heart nurse mentioned specifically was lifting including shopping bags. I may be allowed to carry in a few light objects when the Waitrose delivery arrives later this afternoon. 
Tony
 

 

Soon-to-be-ex wife once cut through the cable of electric hedge shears. What mystifies me to this day is that the cut was so close to the machine that I would not have thought it possible to cut it there.

 

A previous fiancée had an electric mower with about six connectors in the lead!

[New Haven Neil]

Day turned out really nice after lunch, sitting about in the sun - wow.  Also some garage O gauge action, slarty's mate was doing some trees on the backscene.  Andy P won't be impressed but they look OK for me in the 'flesh' as it were.  Afraid my artistic skills in that way are minimal. Very minimal.