Early Risers.

[Andrew P]

No cake for me tis week now, having had my weekly treat on Sunday, its back to being careful, as I put  on a couple of Kilo last week, (I weigh my self every Sat when I get up and enter it into my diary, so that I can see changes from one week to the next.

 

I've not had the Blood Test results from last Thursday yet, and so I take that as no news is good news, because the last time I had one, the Doctor rang the following evening with some concerns. 

 

If I've not heard by tomorrow, I call the surgery.

 

Time to head to the Bathroom and throw some water over my body. 

[New Haven Neil]

Mornid. Hay fever turned up to 11.

 

Andy, although the old XL did spend some of its life with high mudguards and knobbly tyres, it was very much only a green-laner, using it in a trial would result in it going through rather than over a section, bulldozer stylee!  It's a heavy old beast, note knee-sized dent in the tank......

 

 Surprisingly for a Jap it has a lot of flywheel effect, its no revver despite its 4 valve head, so wasn't bad at all on muddy trails, it went everywhere a pal on a serious DR350 went.

 

Today will see it ridden around the village then further afield if nothing falls off or leaks out.  After domestic duties of course, there is a list. 

[jonny777]

Dry and bright here in North Somerset. There is cloud to the south, but blue skies to the north and west; and I am hoping the latter is coming our way. 

 

Yesterday was cold, although didn't break any records. I was on the verge of lighting the fire midway through the morning. However, in order to do that I would have to make it first. There followed a battle between my skin temperature and my laziness, and I have to say the laziness won out in the end. 

 

I don't want any more days like that in mid-June, thankyou mister weather god. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s dry, sunny and the wind has died down to just a light breeze here in England’s northwest. 

 

The plans for today are to carry on clearing the area under the living room floor, I’m hoping to get this all done by the end of the week. I suspect I’ll be doing another tip run early next week to dispose of all the rubbish. But first, I need to water the plants. I have one of those re-enforced hosepipes, the type with some sort of cord mesh between the inner and outer layer. The hose retains it’s round shape when not in use, is around 35ft long, coiled on a floor standing reel and is fitted with push fit connectors. The connectors are the weakest point of the hole system and I have to regularly replace these but the hose has never leaked, but it does occasionally kink, if it isn’t wound up on the reel properly. I stays outside all year round, but in winter after the first frost, I remove the spray head and store that in the shed until the following spring. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is overcast here, it isn’t raining though. 
Not a lot planned. I think I may be required to prune a few plants Aditi can’t reach. The front path outside the lounge got muddy yesterday from the rose planting. I will have a look and see if it is a bucket and broom or a power washer job. I got fed up of having hoses cluttering up the garage so I bought a. Hozelock wall mounted drum that winds the hose back in after use. Seems ok at the moment. We don’t water the garden much, just new planting and the hanging basket. If the lawn goes brown, it will go green again when it rains. There are lots of suggestions at the local RHS garden about gardening in low rainfall areas. Anyone with a green lawn round here either waters it or it is artificial. 
Tony

[Pacific231G]

On 21/06/2021 at 13:42, The Stationmaster said:

 I was amazed to read upthread of  roofing tiles only lasting 20 years.  That sounds like built in obsolescence to me presumably intended to keep manufacturers and roofers in work forever.   There is a bungalow at the top of our road which is roofed with cedar shingles and I can remember it being built which makes it at least 50 years old (more likely 60 in fact) and it has never to my knowledge been renewed.   Tiled and slated roofs around here, including the house opposite, are far older but if anything at all goes its some of the timber inside that has to be replaced and the outer covering is reused.

Good morning all

I've seen 75-200 years quoted as the lifespan of natural slate but manufactured tiles can (or could) also have long lifespans

Some years ago I was exploring the remnants of the narrow gauge railway that ran between Roquefort (not the cheesy one) and Lencouaq in Landes (SW France)*  that opened in 1907 and finally closed in 1934. I was surprised to find, at its outer terminus  of Lencouaq-Jourets, that two of the three buildings there were still more or less intact and being used as timber/firewood  stores. They were roofed with machine made ceramic roman tiles (tuiles mecaniques) and, apart from a few breakages from falling branches, these all seemed to be in perfect condition over a hundred years after they'd been installed. I think Jourets itself had fallen out of use by 1929 when the local timber company extended its 60cm "industrial" lines to  a nearby mainline railhead but in rural France such buildings are rarely wasted.

That part of France is hot in summer but fairly cool and soggy in winter and Jourets is in a massive area of pine forests. It's actually a couple of kilometres beyond the village of Lencouaq and was mainly used for timber traffic with only one of the two or three daily  passenger services (probably mixed) going that far. The much larger goods shed at Lencouaq-Bourg station was also still intact but had been converted so I couldn't tell whether the roof had been replaced.

 

Today is dull but due to get to a sweltering 15 degrees. At least it's not raining so it'll soon be time for walkies.

 

*This obscure line was the only public  75cm line in France and it seems that only three photographs of it have ever been found.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Pacific231G

[New Haven Neil]

Walk had, chores chored, and I can't put the test ride off any longer!

 

Weather appything shows 15c, it's 22 currently in the back garden.  I wonder where it gets its information from?

 

Now, where to risk going for a brew...hmmm.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Herself decided to turn the heat on yesterday afternoon - I did not object.  We have a Hozelock wall mounted hose reel which is probably more than 10 years old but what I insist on doing and trying to get others to do too is clean the hose as it winds back in.  That minimises the chances of grit and dirt being trapped in the mechanism as will as hopefully avoiding any damage to the hose itself, it can sometimes be quite illuminating to see just how much dirt comes off it although it doesn't particularly show on the hose itself'.   Its predecessor was an 'ordinary' hose shoved onto the outdoor tap and then colied up after use - it only lasted a  year or two before it started to leak hence going for a proper hose reel arrangement.

 

Herself is indulging in the G word as we're fresh out of rain so the power washer might well be deployed this afternoon if our neighbour brings it back (she will but only when she considers the weather suitable for some power washing of paving slabs etc).d all and stay safe

 

Have a good day one and all stay save - the infection rate in our end of the town is now almost at the level it was at when the post Christmas lockdown was brought in. - so much for border health controls (lack of).

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

I've seen 75-200 years quoted as the lifespan of natural slate

Why so short?  It's already up to 600,000,000 years old and should be good for millions more.  Has it reached it's "Best Before" date?  

 

Morning all from a cold and breezy Hill of Strawberries. Unfortunately owing to adverse weather earlier in the year there will be no strawberries grown Upon the Hill this year as the plants cannot be supplied.  We also expect a shortage in the shops as the Wombletown Ball-Bouncing Championships are just around the corner - both geographically and chronologically.  

 

Do we like the new font in here?  Or is it just me that's got it?  It seems easier to read.  

 

The G-word empire has expanded again as Dr. SWMBO has voluntarily taken on maintenance of the hanging baskets outside our small parade of "shops".  I use the " " because of the six units there three are occupied by a Thai Restaurant, one by the Thai massage parlour, one is the pharmacy and one is actually a small "corner shop".  The frontages look a little brighter (and greener) since her efforts of yesterday.  

 

There are heffalumps waltzing above my head.  I suspect Neighbours (Upstairs) are awake and possibly preparing to go out.  They are making more than enough noise about it  

 

The lunch-bell has rung and the fridge beckons.  I must answer the call.  Stay well.  

[polybear]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

Ohms to measure at the moment.

 

Ohm, Ohm on the raaange.....

 

Too late, long gone.....

 

In other news:

Bear has no less than five roofers scurrying about on the roof - I did think that today was for renewal of next door's lead gulley, but plan 2 has been invoked and the guys are doing that and Bear's felt & batten renewal at the same time.  The front of the house has been done already (tiles not replaced yet though) and tomorrow will be for the felt at the rear of the house.

 

Bear has successfully filled the gap above the broom cupboard door by cutting and fixing a piece of 5mm infill from an off-cut, so is already painted and matches the door etc.  Happy Bear.

Now I'm working on the "frame" around the F/F - buddy next door assisted with the cutting of a 7ft long, 4" wide pre-finished panel to produce two battens 2" wide.  Now I need to attach one of these to the front edge of a tall decorative end panel using a biscuit jointer....

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Why so short?  It's already up to 600,000,000 years old and should be good for millions more.  Has it reached it's "Best Before" date?

Yes,  but it hasn't been cut and the edges exposed to weathering, water ingress and freeze/thaw action. Slates don't generally fail from the middle but the edges and the nail holes.

[The Lurker]

17 hours ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

ZERO?  Now that is a headline.  Even Tom & Jerry (remember them?) had it's share.  Boy, I really miss those guys - my Grandad loved them, and to be able to watch an episode or two with him now...well I'd give up LDC forever....

I guess they're not considered "PC" now - I've not seen them on the TV for years.  Bl00dy madness, bearing in mind the sicko cr@p they're happy to broadcast nowadays.

Is

We've quite a few of them on DVD. My boys have loved them!

[Gwiwer]

20 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Yes,  but it hasn't been cut and the edges exposed to weathering, water ingress and freeze/thaw action. Slates don't generally fail from the middle but the edges and the nail holes.

Ahah.

 

Realist versus geologist   

 

I guess with correct napping and skilled trimming and fitting it should still outlast the generation who had them installed.  And probably more.  

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a grey and windy but currently dry Sidcup. Work is being worked and carries on dully. Other than that, there is not too much to report.

 

Have a good day all

[Coombe Barton]

20 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I guess with correct napping and skilled trimming and fitting it should still outlast the generation who had them installed.  And probably more.  

Yes, it will. I believe the most common point of failure is round the nail hole.

Think of a slate secured at one point, and wind, moving it, howsoever slightly, to that the hole erodes physically. Then think that ice will form and get between the layers, so freeze/thaw occurs.

Slates will outlast many lifetimes if fitted properly, but they're not immortal as they've been removed from the environment that formed and preserved them for several hundred million years, and they're returning to the mud from whence they came before they were cooked and pressurised.

 

[Coombe Barton]

Don't you just love those FB ads from Amazon where you just have to click on the picture just to find out what the hell it is?

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Yes,  but it hasn't been cut and the edges exposed to weathering, water ingress and freeze/thaw action. Slates don't generally fail from the middle but the edges and the nail holes.

The other problem with slate is the price.  When we built the house we went for Spanish slate which was massively less expensive than Welsh slate but on the other hand Welsh roofing slates cost (or coast then) about a fifth of the price of Delabole roofing slates - if you could get the latter.   Roofing slate does have a finite life although it is a pretty long one compared with most other roofing materials (including some clay or concrete tiles).

[New Haven Neil]

Well, 65 miles later, no oil leaks, reluctant to doom it by saying any more!

 

[The Stationmaster]

One piece of recent amusement I forgot to mention - according to information published by an American sounding concern '(a real estate consultancy) Harper Dennis Hobbs vitality index we now appear near the top of the listing of the best high streets.  Seems we have jumped 26 places in the batting order since their last publication of this 'vitality index' which suggest to me that it most be solely down to Harrods caff and Majestic Wine opening establishments in the town because those are the only differences over the past few years apart from a few more local shops having to close down and a couple of bank branches disappearing.

 

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/revealed-uk-best-worst-high-152831422.html

 

As it comes from a 'real estate consultancy' I have the strong impression that the placing probably has more to do with house price inflation improving the rake-off estate agents make on property sales than anything to do with our little changed 'high street' (we don't have one of those in any case).   While the grass is always greener on the other side I'd say our town centre compares poorly with Marlow for the number and variety of local shops and in some respects for locally owned eateries.   We are probably a bit prettier around the riverside than Marlow is and there aren't such large 'social housing' estates as there are in Marlow.  And Henley is probably more popular with tourists (not necessarily a plus point of course).    

 

But if we're in the top ten I'd hate to think what some of the other places are like  (but Marlborough is nice - apart from the continuous stream of through traffic)

[The White Rabbit]

Afternoon all. A much sunnier and warmer day than yesterday. Whether the solstice, a midsummer's day or Midsummer's Day (opinions seem to vary on timing) then yesterday was certainly unseasonably chilly for these parts. The Clerk of the Weather will be getting some complaints. 

 

An afternoon amble had (got fed up of the of paperwork and dealing with wombles, so indulged in some goofing off) and found the legs still work. 

 

Bad news about the outbreak of the pestilence in Cornwall but I can't say I'm surprised. There are many other things I could say but had better not...

 

No garden hose in use here, the garden's not big enough to need one, though I do have a coil in another garage. Haven't got to measuring it yet but happy to donate to any ERs in need. Collection from Shipley only though, I don't fancy my chances parcelling that up. 

 

I like Tom and Jerry, for me, it's one of the classic cartoons. The originals only though, I think I've caught some of the 'modern remakes', thought they were awful. 

 

Time to get back to it... 

[jamie92208]

10 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

We are probably a bit prettier around the riverside than Marlow is and there aren't such large 'social housing' estates as there are in Marlow.  And Henley is probably more popular with tourists (not necessarily a plus point of course).    

 

But if we're in the top ten I'd hate to think what some of the other places are like  (but Marlborough is nice - apart from the continuous stream of through traffic)

Ah but Marlow doesn't have the American women rowers walking round though, or is that attraction not mentioned in the estate agents blurb.

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just had a call about the shingles and pneumonia jabs, quite honestly I'd forgotten about them so I've made the appointment for the jabs.

8 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Yes, it will. I believe the most common point of failure is round the nail hole.

Think of a slate secured at one point, and wind, moving it, howsoever slightly, to that the hole erodes physically. Then think that ice will form and get between the layers, so freeze/thaw occurs.

Slates will outlast many lifetimes if fitted properly, but they're not immortal as they've been removed from the environment that formed and preserved them for several hundred million years, and they're returning to the mud from whence they came before they were cooked and pressurised.

 

My cottage in Burnham-on-Crouch built in 1862 had a slate roof. I was living there in 1987 at the time of the great storm. They survived that without damage to the slates themselves but the battens supporting them were a bit past it. Not unexpected with the dislodged slates pulling out the nails (those that hadn't rusted away). When the roofer who did the repairs reckoned that many of the battens were original and 125 years old, as were the slates. At the rear was a scullery extension that was added c. 1920 with artificial slates made from asbestos so as I had to have the flat roof replaced on the 1950's bathroom extension behind the scullery (by now the kitchen) I had both rooves replaced, the scullery with tiles and the flat roof with fibreglass.

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by PhilJ W

[Andrew P]

Well this morning I said it was grey.

Grey turned to rain until I got to Eastleigh about 11-45, and then back to grey.

The Sun did try to come through about 14-30 just as I was leaving.

 

It was good over there, but not as good as it could have been had there not been an Electrical Failure between Eastleigh and Fareham, which is NOT GOOD when you have 3rd Rail Electric units with no power back up.

Anyone got a spare Bus they can borrow please?

 

[pH]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

I like Tom and Jerry, for me, it's one of the classic cartoons. The originals only though, I think I've caught some of the 'modern remakes', thought they were awful. 

There used to be a weekly show of cartoons in the Union building at Glasgow University. The show was known as ‘the Freds’, from the producer of those original Tom and Jerry cartoons.

[PupCam]

Clear Prop!

 

Afternoon everyone.       We thought we'd have a wander around the Swiss Garden and the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden today.     Opportunities to make use of our Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society membership have, for obvious reasons, been curtailed over the last year or so and then when we could I was in no fit state to traipse around!    Still, it was a nice day for it neither too hot nor cold and it was good to get some fresh air.

 

Being "Hatfield trained" I have, as you know, a soft spot for all things de Havilland so it would have been rude to pass up the opportunity for a good, close up gawp at this Dragon Rapide.   What a beautiful aeroplane.

 

In other news:

I see a motorcyclist has been out and about on Fraggle Rock