Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

5 hours sleep on the bed, followed by.... Not a lot.

 

Ben the I want out Collie took me on patrol, the grass is greening up nicely, several days of light easterlies with humid misty dawns has wet the grass just enough.

 

SWMBO's brother's wife is Thai, she's a very good cook, so produces three meals when visiting here,

Flame thrower for her and the husband, medium for me, and no heat at all for SWMBO...

 

As for bathroom modifications, try doing it in a mobile home... I removed a very narrow fibreglass bath and toilet, and made the end of the room  a 5ft square a shower. The toilet was placed  just outside that area, then the sink just inside the door way...

Hand rails were fun, requiring reinforcement of the walls, two stub walls between shower, toilet and sink were built especially strong to take more rails.

 

I saw a housing estate being built in Bo'ness, breeze block. With just a blob of mortar on the middle of bottom and sides of each block, large gaps elsewhere... I certainly wouldn't buy one of them.

Whereas the estate my parents live next door, they put molds up and poured in concrete. They'd make good bomb shelters except for the conventional roof and windows..

 

As for this house I was looking for something old, all walls are solid brick. Yes I find the odd poor bit of construction, but the house is 116 years old and will outlast me...

 

When I  finish this muggacoffee, it's trousers and shirt off, thin overalls on and head outside to work on the trailer top.

 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a sunny and warming Sidcup, which referring back to yesterday's discussion about place names derives from OE Cettecopp and means the Fold in the Side of the Hill. I believe the "cup" has a similar derivation to kop as in the Spion Kop.

 

When I lived in Northampton, I lived in an area called Semilong, which I believe means something like the South Mill meadow, although the online source I once found that gave me this has now disappeared. Searching for Semilong now can give some very disturbing results so be careful!

 

I believe that Bear has it right when he suggests that hot spices cover up any random roadkill; the spicing of food was to in part preserve it but also to cover the taste of meat that was past its best. There's an Engish recipe for a "cury" dating from the 13th century that is full of spices (although of course no chilli). Some of the names we have for curries do come from the Raj (for example, I believe Jalfrezi was an invention of local house-servants to use up the left over roast meat that the Memsahib would have deemed essential for Sunday lunch and came back to the UK, Railway Lamb is obvious). Rick Stein's series where he searched for the essentials of curry was quite an enlightening series. It gets re-runs on the food channel and BBC on occasion and the spin off book has some good recipes in it

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Yet another bright and sunny start to the day here in England’s northwest corner. As usual for a Friday I shall shortly be setting off for my walk to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and a pork pie for my dinner. Then I shall head off to the Trafford Centre for a few more provisions. After that there are no firm plans, but due to the excessive heat, it won’t involve any outside activities. 

 

I like curries, I do like hot curries, but I find a vindaloo curry very bland, lots of heat but no taste whatsoever. I much prefer a jalfrezi, that has the heat but there’s also lots of flavour too, but I also like a Goan curry too! The grandkids tend to prefer milder curries, so I usually make Keralan or Kormas when they join us, but Ava is now getting used to slightly hotter curries now! 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[jjb1970]

12 hours ago, Tony_S said:

All those phals, jalfrezis and vindaloos are things Aditi only knows from English people trying to tell her about curries. One year on holiday Matthew persuaded her to buy a selection of such items from Tesco to try. Never again. Out of laziness we do buy supermarket samosas and naans. 

 

The Indian food made by Indian Singaporean's has zero similarity with the food provided by Indian restaurants in Britain. I think that is part because the food in Britain is effectively a genre of British cuisine more than Indian, and also the Indian community in Singapore is primarily descended from Southern Indian Tamil people whereas even the more authentic restaurants in the UK are more Bangladeshi and North Indian.

 

The one I can never understand is why vadai aren't popular in Britain. For those who have never enjoyed vadai/vada, it's basically like a savoury donut, some of them can have quite a kick. A lot of Indian stalls in Singapore sell them fresh, hot and crispy, heavenly!

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

I saw a housing estate being built in Bo'ness, breeze block. With just a blob of mortar on the middle of bottom and sides of each block, large gaps elsewhere... I certainly wouldn't buy one of them.

Whereas the estate my parents live next door, they put molds up and poured in concrete. They'd make good bomb shelters except for the conventional roof and windows..

 

As for this house I was looking for something old, all walls are solid brick. Yes I find the odd poor bit of construction, but the house is 116 years old and will outlast me...

 

When I  finish this muggacoffee, it's trousers and shirt off, thin overalls on and head outside to work on the trailer top.

 

The houses I mentioned were build largely of wood. All the walls were stud walls even the exterior ones. What is more the stud walls went in after the chipboard floors without any consideration for access to any pipes or cables. As I said there was only a brick skin on the outside. They are at Aveley and only two thirds of a mile from Wennington and downwind on the day of the fire.

[simontaylor484]

Morning all 

 

Scorchio here 

Yorkshire water ate announcing a Hosepipe ban. I remember the last water shortage here the Comedian Mark Thomas delivered a tanker of water to Yorkshire Water HQ from the people of Ethiopia.

He also did a brilliant wind up of McDonald's 

 

[TheQ]

1/2 time can of cold cider being consumed before venturing out again...

[polybear]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

When I was house hunting, nearly forty years ago I looked at some new builds* while they were still under construction, I decided that they were not for me.  *They were basically a wooden frame with a brick skin, and only a mile or two from Wennington where those houses were destroyed by fire last month. In the end I bought my cottage in Burnham, built in 1862.

 

I'd be interested to see data from Qualified Surveyors** identifying problems by type, house construction method, construction date etc.  Oh yes, and which of the current big developers (Wimpy etc.) are building houses with the least - and most problems.

 

In other news.....

Shelf rails sprayed - two decent coats.  The result? Hmmm.......not the greatest colour match I've ever seen (they look too dark to me - even though the colour underneath was white).  Certainly much better than the white, but not as good as I'd hoped.  Turdycurses.  I've taken a couple of piccies to send them a Bearysnottogram, but as I've used a lot of the paint in the can I expect their response will be f.tuffsh1t Mr.Bear.  Live and learn.

Then it was strip all the metalwork off the front of the Gas fire, followed by pinning a sheet of hardboard on the rear face to keep it all square (the woodwork consists of an "n" shape with the metalwork removed - so needs bracing to prevent damage.  After that the woodwork was cleaned with a scouring pad, white spirit and rag to remove any traces of polish etc.  The next step will be to use Rustin's Door Oil on the woodwork that I'm hoping will give it more of a satin shine - it's been pretty dull for years.  I was planning on using Danish Oil but Mr. Rustin said that, depending on what glue was used to laminate the fire front, it could cause delamination - which would be very bad news indeed.  Door Oil is water based so safe in this respect, apparently.  At eighteen quid a tin it wants to be.

On the subject of the Oil, it was delivered this morning by one of the S.A. Ladies' minions; she most definitely put a capital F into Foxy (and Fit) - though I expect she is very high maintenance.  She was greeted at the door by a certain topless Bear - I did wonder if she'd look back as she closed the front gate.....

All I'll say is......

Turdycurses.

 

(**proper Surveyors - not the clowns that surveyed buddy next door's house when he was selling it - some of the cr@p they came out with was laughable, such as upstairs windows too low.  Well the house - and all the other forty-odd in the street were built in the early 1920's, all all have the same window height)

[polybear]

How to spoil someone else's day:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/car-drives-over-lamborghini-as-if-it-s-not-there-after-pulling-out-of-junction/ar-AA10Adz5?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c18eb1fb4ed44c37bfdf65dc61b6245a

[Winslow Boy]

Nah should be alright. Bit of T cut and filler and it'll be right as rain.

 

Don't now about Hyundai though. New set of tyres, suspension plus a few other bits and pieces That's really gonna cost.

[simontaylor484]

It would be interesting to approach the NHBC regarding the construction defects. They issue a 10 year warranty on all new house builds.

 

The problems with new builds start with the way they are built usually self employed builders on piecework type arrangements where they are paid by how much they wall.

 

You should have seen the clowns who built next doors conservatory they turned up at 0950 on a horse

[Kelly]

5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 

 

 

PS  @Kelly, are  you in touch with an Occupational Therapist, they should have all the contacts for the various aids and appluances plus the orthotics department.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Unfortuately until I change my GP to be over at Richard's (which I can't until we've sorted the last of the moving out, which should hopefully be soon) I can't access the Occupational Therapists as everything they do goes through your GP for funding. This meant I couldn't have any aids or things like district nurses when I got out of hospital unless I was at my flat in Coventry, which is now pretty much unusable until we empty the last of the things, organise a house clearance and hand the keys back (it's been on hold whilst I recovered as Richard didn't want to get accused of not packing something I wanted to keep etc and lack of time off to do much recently). When the move is all officially finalised I will be able to get help hopefully from the OTs.

 

Kelly

[Kelly]

11 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

The grabirons would be firmly attached to the studs; I am basing that on similar construction methods over here.

 

That reminded me of a trip to a drug store with a friend. While he was getting his prescriptions taken care of, I wandered around in the non-drug part of the store and found a pair of shoes (for diabetics apparently) in my size and tried one on. It was like putting my foot into a cloud; I took them (well, the box with my shoes in it as I was wearing the new ones) up to the counter to pay for them. The clerk would not let me buy them as I did not have a prescription! For shoes?? So I put my shoes on and put the new ones back on the shelf. Note that I was willing to pay the full price on the box, too. I wished that I had remembered the brand and later looked on line for them.

 

The studs in the case of Richard's bathroom are behind tiles. I expect that the reason they won't do them on studs is because a) they take supposedly more work (more cost) and possibly b) they don't want to be left liable if the studs aren't strong enough later. In a lot of cases the landlord/housing association has to approve the installation as well, some will refuse unfortuately.

[DaveF]

 

Looking out of the window it has now clouded over and is turning misty - perhaps a sea fret - and the temperature has dropped to about 19.  It's quite pleasant.

 

I'm finding the comments about house building interesting, I have some pointing to do on my garage as soon as I have made a space to do inside the back wall as well as outside.  Some of it is loose cement, there is also a small area where the cement has detached itself from bricks leaving a hairline crack, I suspect it may be the heat as there is no sign of movement in the wall.

 

Yesterday started with another drive to the beach followed by an hour of walking on the sand, it was low tide so the sand was nice and firm, the waves continue to be more like large ripples.  Once again there was little flotsam of any interest, I found 6 cowries and nothing else - unless you think small grains of sea coal to be of interest.  Sea coal is really the small bits washed up from outcrops under the sea, nothing to do with mining activity, though at one time much beach coal did come from spoil tipped onto the beach or into the sea.

 

I got home in time to go to the 10.00 communion service at church, from next week I shall be acting as server alternate weeks, so I took care to watch carefully - it is not exactly the same as when I did 08.00 on Sundays.  There was coffee and biscuits afterwards and a chnace to chat to people I haven't seen for ages.

 

Yesterday I mentioned the need to sort out the new inscription for the headstone to go back on the grave.  Just after I had written that the postman came with a letter from the funeral people with documents to sign so they they can get the additional inscription done and in due course reinstate the headstone.  There were also forms to sign for the council concerning permissions.  Rather than post it back I took the documents to their office - it was quicker than walking to the post box as I also had other shopping to do.  Once again it is only just over 5 minutes from home.  Then there was a quick visit to Homebase for some adhesive for bonding bricks, concrete etc and a quick visit to Lidl.

 

Later on I watered the plants which needed it in the greenhouse.  Why do some geraniums (pelargoniums) need water every day while others stay wet for days?

 

The it was the usual mix of music, book and TV until bedtime - later than usual as I wanted to finish the music I was listening to which meant two CDs worth.

 

David

Edited August 12, 2022 by DaveF

[jamie92208]

57 minutes ago, Kelly said:

 

Unfortuately until I change my GP to be over at Richard's (which I can't until we've sorted the last of the moving out, which should hopefully be soon) I can't access the Occupational Therapists as everything they do goes through your GP for funding. This meant I couldn't have any aids or things like district nurses when I got out of hospital unless I was at my flat in Coventry, which is now pretty much unusable until we empty the last of the things, organise a house clearance and hand the keys back (it's been on hold whilst I recovered as Richard didn't want to get accused of not packing something I wanted to keep etc and lack of time off to do much recently). When the move is all officially finalised I will be able to get help hopefully from the OTs.

 

Kelly

I vaguely  remember you  mentioni g something about that when you came out of hospital, now. My forgettery had obviously been at work.

 

Jamie

[The White Rabbit]

Afternoon all,

 

I saw the news about our impending hosepipe ban. It's probably sensible - but so would fixing some of the many leaks in their pipes, which would cost money ... 

 

I did some research the other day into baked bean brands (don't ask, long + rather boring story) and came across something which caught me aback. No, not a catering pallet load of tins but one, repeat, one, tin. Never mind the 'e-Bay madness' thread, I think this one belongs in an 'e-Bay rip-off' thread. 

 

I confess I do like baked beans - but not at this money! (Nor do I rate Heinz very highly, we normally go for Branstons). 

 

 

[Kelly]

38 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I vaguely  remember you  mentioni g something about that when you came out of hospital, now. My forgettery had obviously been at work.

 

Jamie

 

It was back in late March and the world has gone even more bats*** bonkers since. 

[Kelly]

15 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Afternoon all,

 

I saw the news about our impending hosepipe ban. It's probably sensible - but so would fixing some of the many leaks in their pipes, which would cost money ... 

 

I did some research the other day into baked bean brands (don't ask, long + rather boring story) and came across something which caught me aback. No, not a catering pallet load of tins but one, repeat, one, tin. Never mind the 'e-Bay madness' thread, I think this one belongs in an 'e-Bay rip-off' thread. 

 

I confess I do like baked beans - but not at this money! (Nor do I rate Heinz very highly, we normally go for Branstons). 

 

 

 

Due to the prices for heinz these days we've been giving the various supermarket own brands a try. Surprisingly I have not been able to tell much difference! Perhaps a bit more gloopy with some and not as much sauce with others. But otherwise perfectly fine. 

[PeterBB]

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Proper Thai food can be very hot indeed. “English Thai” as is found in many eateries here is usually “spiced down” 

 

 This place, however, offers most dishes as Mild, Moderate, Hot or Thai Hot. Should you order the latter the owner / manager Yamin will politely check first that you understand …..  but it is top notch food of its ilk. https://m.facebook.com/100063766891210/

On a course in London some good few years back the company informed that we would be eating at 'the Thai' restaurant - can't remember where exactly it was - but from my musings here you will know that I 'eat to live' and a true 'meat and 2/3 veg' man.  Many of the course companions (most of whom I knew) stated that they liked hot spicy food.  I immediately went out and bought some biscuits as I did not want to go hungry later.  Wow - they provided plain rice so I did eat something but had a fantastic evening watching and listening to those who 'liked' and dived into 'neat' etc.  Their reactions to something somewhat hotter and spicier than they were used to just made my day.  PS I did finish the bicuits later. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by PeterBB
multi typos

[Ian Abel]

POETS... already, time flies!

 

Nothing notable yesterday.

Today we're having an evening family gathering as it's Trevors' birthday today, 35 already, blimey!!

BBQ planned, but that may mean simply yours-truly getting soaked for the effort. We've had a change of weather, with thunderstorms since early morning, and it's unclear weather it'll be dry this afternoon/evening, so I may be dodging lightning to do the BBQ! 🤪🤯

 

Weekend plans other than that are little other than a dinner with friends tomorrow - we know how that changes though...

 

Raining hard first thing, 16C, 24 the expected high.

 

Tally ho.

[TheQ]

I recall reading about  a range rover going over the front of a similar car to the lambo head on, almost, it wasn't on centre, so the range rover fell over.....

One of the reasons I'd never have low sports car round here, high hedges and banks. With lots of tractors and 4X4s..

 

The hard top of the trailer is now covered in fibreglass, it used more resin than I expected, I've only a little left, so I've ordered more , I want to do a coloured (green) top coat. Also of course I need some to build BMs new rudder.

 

A little tidying up of the workshop carried out, to clear space because tomorrow has been promised to electrical spinny thing, as heavy hints were given.

The trailer needs a little trimming of the glass fibre, and I must finish BMs seat. For Sunday.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Nah should be alright. Bit of T cut and filler and it'll be right as rain.

 

Don't now about Hyundai though. New set of tyres, suspension plus a few other bits and pieces That's really gonna cost.

I looked at the Lamborghini v Hyundai collision. I am surprised the Hyundai driver didn’t hear the Lamborghini either. My neighbour’s one has a noticeable sound. I know I can see a bit further from my car than the low slung Sportymobile but I think I may have hit the brakes very firmly as soon as the Hyundai started out. I suppose as I started as a motorcyclist I just assume any vehicle at a junction will pull out in front of me. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Tony_S

[polybear]

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

It would be interesting to approach the NHBC regarding the construction defects. They issue a 10 year warranty on all new house builds.

 

 

I know one thing for sure - I'd never want a house built in the middle of a heatwave.  They'll be cracking nicely (if only cosmetic cracks) before you know it.  I recall Bruvver Bear mentioning that when the "snagging man" came round a few months after they'd moved into their new-build he remarked that theirs must've been a winter build (it was) cos' it had a lot less cracks than others on the estate.  Even so, they had a bluddy great crack right across the lounge ceiling that this Bear could never have lived with; they chose not to have it done cos' they "didn't want the upheaval and mess" of having the ceiling sorted

 

2 hours ago, Kelly said:

 

The studs in the case of Richard's bathroom are behind tiles. I expect that the reason they won't do them on studs is because a) they take supposedly more work (more cost) and possibly b) they don't want to be left liable if the studs aren't strong enough later. In a lot of cases the landlord/housing association has to approve the installation as well, some will refuse unfortunately.

 

Another option would be a strong vertical rail from floor to ceiling (with the ceiling fixing secured to a joist).  Great next to a bath, though not so hot if its' a shower cubicle.

 

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

I'm finding the comments about house building interesting, I have some pointing to do on my garage as soon as I have made a space to do inside the back wall as well as outside.  Some of it is loose cement, there is also a small area where the cement has detached itself from bricks leaving a hairline crack, I suspect it may be the heat as there is no sign of movement in the wall.

 

I'd suggest waiting for the current hot weather to disappear and after lotsalotsa rain for a good few weeks - if it's a bit of building movement then waiting for it to settle is a good scheme.  Fixing it, only for it to fail soon after tends to spoil one's day.  Ask me how I know.

 

1 hour ago, Kelly said:

Due to the prices for heinz these days we've been giving the various supermarket own brands a try. Surprisingly I have not been able to tell much difference! Perhaps a bit more gloopy with some and not as much sauce with others. But otherwise perfectly fine. 

 

Momma Bear used to remark that cheaper Heinz beans from Tesco's would have more juice and less beans than a Heinz can from the Co-op (based on her own observations rather than rumour etc.)

[PupCam]

Afternoon All!

 

6 hours ago, polybear said:

I'd be interested to see data from Qualified Surveyors** identifying problems by type, house construction method, construction date etc.  Oh yes, and which of the current big developers (Wimpy etc.) are building houses with the least - and most problems.

 

Clearly I'm no expert on building /construction but I always think the older a property is the better chance of a long life it has.    I'd much rather have a house with two rows of brick or block walls than any modern construction.   Basically, I've seen what water does to chipboard, "wood shaving" board and MDF and as far as I'm concerned none of them are structural materials!    I've had a discussion a few times now with a relative who has an engineering background and is normally pretty logical on old versus new builds.    He's convinced modern buildings, materials and techniques are far superior and will out live all that old stuff.    Personally, I foresee many many "modern" slums appearing in just a few years from <insert big name builder of choice here>.   For example;  Junior Puppers lives on a modern, local estate of what appear to be most attractive brick houses, flats and 3 storey town houses all with slate rooves started around 2005 IIRC.     Shame they used steel nails to hold the slates on.  Still, the red rust stains provide an interesting colour contrast to the slate grey and no doubt the ferrous oxide dust will act as a good lubricant for the liberated slates on their way down.     Yo can always have a good game of "spot the slipped slates" although, to be fair playin it is like shooting fish in a barrel.    You get 25+ years out of a thatched roof for Heaven's sake!

 

3 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

Never mind the 'e-Bay madness' thread, I think this one belongs in an 'e-Bay rip-off' thread. 

 

 

 

I think somebody should get on to Ofbean!    Clearly the bean price cap isn't working!    

 

Come to think of it, somebody had better on to Ofgem too 'cos that one isn't working either (WAFJ that one is!).  

Steady on Puppers, dangerous ground ahead .....

 

In Other News

 

#1

I spent the early part of yesterday (or was it the day before?🤔) removing the primary mirror from the telescope and very, very, very, very, very carefully marking the centre with a small (~5mm diameter) ring to help with collimation and then re-collimating the scope.   So much better!  

 

A centre mark seems to be an essential pre-requisite for proper collimation so why don't budget telescopes come ready marked?   Oh yes, they are budget models and better to provide "more" not very good features rather than provide fewer but better implemented basic features (and that maybe a Micro rant).      The astronomy gadget  software is almost finished so the gadget was temporarily lashed up into a  second-hand plastic case so I could try it in the evening.      And what a fine evening star gazing, well to be a little  more accurate, moon gazing last night it was too.     The astronomy gadget design has been through the Puppers Enterprises marketing  department who have named it the "StarMASTER", derived from a bit of an "In" joke in the Puppers household  from years ago.    Anyway, it's about 3200 lines of code now, no wonder there's no time for aero and railway meddling  ......

 

 

Anyway, the gadget controlled the taking of numerous lunar and star images like an absolute charm so I'm very pleased.   I still find it incredibly difficult to get pin sharp focus via the camera's LCD screen and so the result is often pot luck (or most definitely not as appears to be the case last night).   Ho Hum.   Another problem for Pupcam Astronomical to consider once StarMASTER is complete.

 

Last nights photographic disappointment was more than compensated by my first proper observations of Saturn and Jupiter. 

All I can say is WOW!      To see Saturn and its rings with your own eyes is a thing to behold.   Need a bigger telescope now 😬.

 

And then I turned my attention to Jupiter.  It's four main moons standing out like beacons!   WOW, WOW and thrice WOW!

 

#2

Sunday morning was re-assigned to Friday morning today and four intrepid bikers went for an early morning bimble this morning en-route to breakfast.      We passed the Shuttleworth Collection (their loss again ....) before arriving at Jordans Mill.   It would have been rude not to have the full English 😀.    We sat outside on the decking overlooking the river's exit from the old mill, in the shade of a very large umbrella stuffing, drinking and putting the world to rights until the temperature in the shade rose to high for Puppers so we hot-footed (hot-biked?) it home and the relative coolness of home.

Anyway, a very pleasant time was had by all.

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by PupCam
Telescope surgery was yesterday not today

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Ventured out to Tess Coes for bread, milk and eggs before it got too hot and after that stayed indoors out of the heat. At least the hay fever has abated and Arthur Itis is quiet.