Early Risers.

[polybear]

29 minutes ago, chrisf said:

Although the address label said “signed for”, postie just put it through the letter box and did not ring to ask me to sign for it.  Was I supposed to or not?

 

Standard practice now, what with Covid 'n all.  Big deliveries are often photographed too, once delivered - both Bear's kitchen units and oven were photo'd - either inside the house or on the doorstep.  My only worry is if they were to actually leave a "signed for" item on show whilst Bear is out etc. and it were to get nicked; fortunately this has never happened though.  Famous last words....

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Our local blackbirds are singing merrily this morning. The sun is shin8ng..and..it feels warm.. but as it is a cricket day  will this last? I hope so!

 

On my way to a meeting in Frimley many years ago I narrowly avoided being hit by a pallet of bricks which.. fell off the back of a lorry..

 

On another occassion driving  down the M1 a settee parted company with a transit pick up..it bounced over my car..that was a tad exciting!

 

Her indoors has made me my mugatea so its TTFN.

 

Hope all ERs and their close relatives are making positive progress health wise!

Baz

[J. S. Bach]

21 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 ...snip... As to earthquakes, we had one a couple of years ago.  The sofa, not the earth, shook a little whilst we were having breakfast one morning. ...snip...

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Wow, that must have one powerful breakfast!

 

Edit: However, I have heard of "Afternoon Delight":

 

 

Now I am wide awake (see a previous post)! and will probaably spend way too much time on YouTube!! What surprised me was that the above song got any airplay (when one thinks about what the lyrics actually say) at all. Another in a similar vein:

 

This one today would never make it into the station let alone hit the airwaves:

BTW, I have this album, this is the best track.

 

Back when commercials were really good; hmmm, mabe Coke should re-run this again. With no changes:

 

And last, but not the least of those that would not get any airplay today:

Note: I have this album and Dominique is the only cut that could have gotten any airplay, the rest were just downright bad.

 

To wrap up the playlist, this one brought real tears to my eyes:

 And now off to sleep (or more YouTube songs!).

Edited May 29, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[pH]

23 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

G word in the morning then trainspitting in the afternoon. 

When I was in my early teens, a very respectable elderly gentleman I knew confessed something to me about that particular activity. As children, he and friends would wait on a bridge at the top of the long and steep climb on the Glasgow and South Western Railway route out of Princes Pier to Upper Port Glasgow for trains heading towards Glasgow. As the open-cabbed locomotive, moving slowly, passed under the bridge they would try to spit on the crew! At least it wasn’t as bad as the other things being projected at trains described in recent posts above.

Edited May 29, 2021 by pH

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

Six hours solid sleep, it would have been longer but Ben the where are you Collie came for a visit. So I came down to the sofa having been woken, whereupon he went to sleep on SWMBOs chair.

 

Later he got me up to take me on patrol, 100% blue skies. Reasonably warm, slight dew on the grass.

 

And so to today,

First go fix some tiles to the mobile home, we had a snow fall of tiles over the winter, the problems of flexible mobile homes and solid tiles... They will be stuck on with silicon gue.

 

Then mow some grass and move vehicles to create space for visiting relatives.

Should they have not turned up by then, I might remove sharp edges from the lifting bracket then try it.

 

Time for... muggacoffee number 2.

[Dave Hunt]

Yesterday Jill and I visited Dad for the first time in over two weeks due to the nursing home he is in imposing a  fourteen day quarantine when he was transferred there. It was a bit of a marathon as the traffic was horrendous so a 25 mile journey took over an hour and a half then we had to have a Covid test and wait for the results before being allowed in, hence a one hour visit occupied Getting on for five hours. However, it was worth it as Dad was very pleased to see us and we were able to take some things in for him as well as getting his laptop sorted out so he is now better able to keep in touch with friends. Even so, he is getting fed up being isolated in his room but that in itself is proving to be a spur for him to concentrate on the physiotherapy so that eventually he can get home. At least his attitude to the physiotherapy is now a lot more positive and even though it makes him very tired he seems to be working at it and improving quite a bit. Our sons will be arriving later today for the weekend so Jill will be taking them to see Dad and that should help cheer him up.

 

The unusual situation of a bank holiday Sunday promising to be fine has resulted in us planning a BBQ for the family tomorrow so I'll shortly be venturing out for a shopping spree before commencing a manufacturing session tomorrow morning involving hamburgers, potato salad and other goodies. It's been so long since such a thing has been attempted that we are having to undertake a detailed planning session so that the essentials don't get missed.

 

Have a good weekend folks.

 

Dave

[chrisf]

2 hours ago, pH said:

Was that the Department of the Environment, Chris? I worked for an organization that did consultancy work for the DoE in the early 1970s, and the address seems familiar.

 

Indeed it was, pH.  The building also include the Department of Transport, probably because Transport was part of Environment for a while.  I don't know how much it costs to combine and split Government Departments but it seemed to be a fairly constant process.

 

Chris

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Nothing from Arthur Itis or Si Attica this morning. Best wishes to Gordon and Daves dad and any other ER under the weather. Now bath time, be back later.

[leopardml2341]

Mornin'

 

Best get on with things......

 

'til later, stay safe, sane and well. Best wishes to all ERs in need if them.

[Pacific231G]

Morning all

Still grey here in W. London but showing signs of brightening so fingers crossed as I have sheets drying on the line. The lawn is is despearate need of mowing so that's another job for later. I may also do some writing unrelated to the R (or in my case CdF) word   I also need some strimmer cable for the weeds but no way am I going near B&Q on May bank holiday weekend!

 

I hope you all have a better day than you're expecting.

 

 

[Andrew P]

Missed an early slot today, basically I forgot, as I was so keen to get out and make a start on the second coat of paint on the doors and windows of the Zummer Ouse. Tiss starting to come together now.

 

Must get on, things to do, places to go, people to see.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and stay well.

[Gwiwer]

Good morning all.  The site seems to have resumed normal speed of service making it possible to get in without serial refreshes and times-out.  Was anything done in the back-end or has it just calmed down from its hissy-fit of mid-week?  Will we ever know?  i sit even important in the scheme of things?  Answers on a postcard, please  

 

Sister is firmly settled into her Covid jail.  After receiving a jab from a person who is the most likely candidate to have triggered her T&T "Must Isolate" message the other day.  Privacy determines she may never know for certain but it's of concern if a vaccinator has then had up-close personal contact with significant umber of people whilst infectious.  

 

Dr. SWMBO is about her busy-ness among things green and growing.  I am apparently required to remove something called "weeds" at some time.  Currently I am sitting indoors awaiting DPD (Dreaded Parcel Destroyers) and a delivery of cat-related supplies.  Bags of crunchy bits for both end 

 

The Department for Seaweed-Wrangling had it significantly wrong yesterday.  Having offered us cloudy-becoming-sunny I was all set for an afternoon reading outside with a cool ale when reality became cloudy-delivering-rain which lasted for several hours.  Today has thus far been dry but dull as forecast.  What chances of the expected all-sunny-and-warm Ban Collar Day, I wonder?  Plan A is to cycle to a spot along the Thames with a picnic lunch tomorrow.  I ma expecting everyone who is not in the queue to reach Cornwall to have the same idea but we can at least carry our folding chairs on the back of Dr. SWMBO's trike.  

 

Best wishes to all.  Thoughts with those missing and / or unwell.  

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bit late on parade this morning, mainly due to getting on with things that needed to be done before we set of for Mike and Sarah’s wedding.

 

It all kicks off, (I suppose I shouldn’t have used that phrase really) at 2 o’clock, but I wanted to get the plants watered before then and there were also a few other tasks, preparing the fruit for tomorrow morning’s breakfast etc, that needed doing too. Anyway, it’s all done now and I have a few minutes spare before I need to get washed and changed for the up coming festivities. It’ll be nice to see all the family together for a change and also to catch up with Sarah’s mum and dad too. We are calling at Vickie and Ian’s first to pick up Charlie and Ava, as there car only has 4 seats and it will save Ian doing 2 trips. They live less than a mile away, so it’s not really out of our way. 

 

Anyway, best get a move on, so stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[jonny777]

Dry, sunny and warm here in North Somerset. Traffic websites show the normal 50 mile bank holiday tailbacks on the M5 in the Bristol/Somerset/Sth Glos area, so our usual 'stay at home and relax away from the emmets' policy will be enjoyed. 

 

The blue tits in our nest box appear to have fledged, as there is no activity in and out of the hole and I saw a juvenile bird in the nearby pear tree being fed by a parent. 

 

One episode which has been apparent by its absence this year is the mass squawking of juvenile starlings waiting to be fed by parents driven mad by the racket. I saw one family doing the rounds of back gardens about ten days ago, but that was it for here. I wonder if many open starling nests have suffered from the recent persistent rain and the chicks died of hypothermia? 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Is it me or is there a distinctive lack of bees, butterflies and other pollinators? Normally my California lilac is covered in insects at this time but there's nary a one. I suspect the recent cold weather is to blame, the insects came out in the warm March weather and were zapped when it turned cold.

[JohnDMJ]

Good Afternoon,

 

Toasted bacon buttie duly disposed of; today's shopping shopped; meat acquired, including, for test, a pork and buffalo burger from the local butchers (a traditional family business making their own products on site)!

 

At some point over the long weekend (the bank holiday is on the date it represents, which does not seem to happen too often!), the instructions for something known as a strimmer will be sought and read before attempting deforestation of, initially, the front area manifesting as a garden, followed, possibly, by the larger back area of similar ilk. See how the front bit goes first and maybe consider a 5L can of RoundUp for the back!

[Tony_S]

It appears that everyone else’s baby birds and bees may be with us this year. We have lots of baby starlings and sparrows being fed. The starlings are quite persistent chasing their parents about. Our cotoneaster was covered in bees earlier this week. 
Tony

 

[Gwiwer]

42 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Is it me or is there a distinctive lack of bees, butterflies and other pollinators? Normally my California lilac is covered in insects at this time but there's nary a one. I suspect the recent cold weather is to blame, the insects came out in the warm March weather and were zapped when it turned cold.

We notice a smaller number of bees this year and agree there were some out early who might have not survived the extended cold weather. But the lilacs here are abuzz and our own garden always has bees present. 
 

As a modest investment in our futures I did some “bee-bombing” recently scatteting packs of wildflower seeds in land adjacent to the railway which is seldom strimmed. 
 

There are many more small birds aroynd however. Goldcrest and Yellow Wagtail are moving in. Wrens a-plenty. Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Blue Tit are abundant. Along with the daily regulars Robin and House Sparrow. 

[Erichill16]

1 hour ago, BSW01 said:

.

Anyway, best get a move on, so  stay sane 

 

Brian

Mil come to join us with nephews and Sydney.She’s on top form, telling the nephews that JFK was the first president of the US and the Pope rules the world. FFS, I need ‘a mother’s little helper’ or a lie down in a dark room.

Hopefully I’ll be back later.

Robert

[Coombe Barton]

Sun's attempting to come through here - there's some light cloud all over. However the work is progressing, not very fast but progressing nevertheless.

[Coombe Barton]

2 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Sun's attempting to come through here - there's some light cloud all over. However the work is progressing, not very fast but progressing nevertheless.

But first, anuvvermugacoffee

[Tony_S]

27 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

JFK was the first president of the US

JFK was the first Catholic President.

[Coombe Barton]

And a blackbird is singing perched on a branch of the tree outside the back door.. It's providing a counterpoint to the Bach Brandenburg currently on the radio.

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Coombe Barton
****ing autocorrect!

[Erichill16]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

JFK was the first Catholic President.

I’ll let mil know!

Oh, wait a minute, she probably already knows that.

I was once going to get a t shirt for the nephews. It read ‘I don’t need google, grandma knows everything’.

Too f***ing true.

[Winslow Boy]

14 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

I’ll let mil know!

Oh, wait a minute, she probably already knows that.

I was once going to get a t shirt for the nephews. It read ‘I don’t need google, grandma knows everything’.

Too f***ing true.

Knowing the kids of today they would probably need to Google that!