Early Risers.

[polybear]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Now, before @polybear, weighs in and says “yes iD IS picky” …..

As if Bear would…..

 

4 hours ago, Grizz said:

Did I mention the….Custardy Goodness? 

 

You may have snuck it in….

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Punty-guz-uth-tee.  

 

I have crossed it a few times.  The towpath walk is, shall we say, quite interesting in itself and not for either the faint-hearted nor a breezy day.  I have also done it aboard a narrow-boat and as Hroth says the view down from the tiller astern is both awesome and alarming.  There is NOTHING to stop you dropping to the valley floor below should you slip or trip.  There is nothing more than six inches of iron trough above the water-line on the non-towpath side.  And it's a loooooooonnnnnnng way down.  

Bear has walked across it - and since Bear is no great lover of heights 😱 I’m in no great rush to repeat the experience.

[TheQ]

"Bad meals at school which the child was forced to eat on pain of (psychologically damaging to the child) punishment."

Most definitely...

 

Of which the only thing that comes out of the sea I will eat is cockles in vinegar, at least it has the decency to dig itself into sand that surfaces.

 

Afternoon Awl,

Boats launched, amazingly absolutely no problems.

And I've been given the loan of a mooring on the island for a couple of weeks near a power socket..

So Moon days, Woden's days, Thor's days and Freya's  days I can work on the boat weather permitting, without the loss of time retrieving BM from the wrong side of the river..

 

Porthole cover inspection time..

 

[TheQ]

A picture of two  of that hairy plane that passed by us yesterday, it's a lot higher in this shot.

Edited March 16 by TheQ

[southern42]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. A couple of items arrived in the post this morning, one unmentionable and a magazine. Now time for lunch and some retail therapy this afternoon. 

 

You mean the S word? 😩

[New Haven Neil]

5 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

You mean the S word? 😩

Well that was the one I meant before thid lot and their dirty minds got started.....🤣

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, southern42 said:

 

We watched Father Brown 

 

The new (23/24) series or the older series?

 

I think that the current Father Brown series isn't a patch on the previous series. When the actress playing Mrs MCarthy left (retired?) and they swapped the posh girls for some gobby orphan and an unbelievable love interest for the inspector, then the series became even more implausible than it used to be.

 

Currently filling the spot of "undemanding, lightweight, fun entertainment" is the Sister Boniface series (but even that pushes credulity a bit too far: the episode I watched yesterday featured a 60s "pop group" with a one armed actor playing a guitarist! Not a drummer - like the fellow in the real life band Def Leppard - but a guitarist?)

 

Suspension of disbelief is all very well and good, but when you have something like a pannier tank hauling "a crack express" or a Morris Minor chasing (and catching) something like an E-Type Jaguar, then any semblance of reality evaporates - leaving the programme to succeed or fail on the acting and/or writing.

 

Victoria Wood's Acorn Antiques may have been an affectionate pastiche of bad daytime TV, but is still spot-on even in these days of AI, green screen CGI and the like.

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Bear went for a wander today.....

Down the Big Hill, halfway up the next hill, then a choo choo ride, then up the bluddybiglonghill, then a wander round a Palace 😉 for four hours before giving up and doing the whole lot again backwards.....

Izzy reckons Bear has walked 12000 steps & 5 miles today....feels like more to this Bear....

 

Was the Palace "interesting"?  Medium I'd say - didn't think the collection of parallel bits of metal (with one or two exceptions) was a patch on previous years 😐; all was not lost, however cos' Bear spotted a bunch called L*comotion floggin' green things called ES1's for a shilling sort of a tun instead of two hundred and twenty foldin' ones.  Well I figured it would've been rude not to (I'm sure our resident Fraggle would understand) - and naturally Bear didn't want to cause offence.....I'm considerate like that....

 

Now safely back in Bear Towers; unfortunately it seems I've only got two clean din din plates in the cupboard - and as one of them just happens to be the Pizza Plate.....

 

Bear gone......

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear has walked across it - and since Bear is no great lover of heights 😱 I’m in no great rush to repeat the experience.

 

Some people will GET OUT of a boat to walk across the aqueduck rather than even look across from the complete safety of inside the cabin or even the front cockpit of a boat.  I suppose there is the illusory safety of having the railings on the towpath side to cling onto if overcome by vertigo.  What they don't realise is that the towpath is cantilevered out over the trough,  about a foot above the water, so they're actually walking on thin air. I wonder if they'd walk across if it was one of those glass pathways. Its a clever design feature that allows the water to flow around the boat, otherwise a boat progressing towards Llangollen would actually be pushing water over the side of the trough....

 

One interesting thing is that the canal has a distinct current running from just above Llangollen where water flows in from the Dee, progressing all the way to the junction with the Shroppie at Hurleston, where there is a reservoir to capture the excess water. The other interesting thing is that the Dee falls 126 feet from where it meets the head of the canal at Llantysilio to where the aqueduct passes over it, a mere 6 miles or so...

 

Another thing....

 

There is a big plug in the middle of the aqueduct.

Every now and then, the ends of the trough are planked off and the plug is pulled to empty the water so the cast iron trough can be inspected for corrosion, etc.  Its an amazing sight to see it emptying into the Dee from ground level!

 

 

 

Edited March 16 by Hroth
Emptying the aqueduct...

[DaveF]

Another quiet relaxing day.  After I wrote this morning I drove to Seaton Sluice, as usual I was able to park on the road looking down on the harbour, then I walked along by the harbour and across Rocky Island.  The sun remained out so I took photos (below).  There were three ships offshore, one was Vole au Vent, I'm not sure about the other two as they had gone by the time I remembered to look them up on the web.  I think the first terns have arrived back for the summer.

 

Back at home I got the photos sorted out, had coffee and watched old and new photos until lunchtime.  After that I went outside and finished sorting out plant pots etc in the greenhouse, more went in the bin.  I also tidied up some plants in there after which I did some light pruning of bushes outside, taking care not to bend or stretch as that is still painful.

 

Then I felt tired so I had a rest, next I did a bit more on a model building which took until cup of tea time during which I did some puzzles froma book which came from something called the NRM at York.

 

After tea there will be football - Manchester City v Newcastle United.  Which should I support as I've lived in Manchester and worked in Newcastle?  Then there is rugby to watch, a book to read and finally bed.

 

 

Boats in the harbour at Seaton Sluice 

 

Lookimng across Rocky Island to three ships offshore, the one on the left is Vole au Vent

 

 

Seaton Sluice and Blyth beach

 

 

Cheviot Hills from Seaton Sluice. They are a long way away.  The black bits in the water are surfers.

 

David

Edited March 16 by DaveF

[DaveF]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Some people will GET OUT of a boat to walk across the aqueduck rather than even look across from the complete safety of inside the cabin or even the front cockpit of a boat.  I suppose there is the illusory safety of having the railings on the towpath side to cling onto if overcome by vertigo.  What they don't realise is that the towpath is cantilevered out over the trough,  about a foot above the water, so they're actually walking on thin air. I wonder if they'd walk across if it was one of those glass pathways. Its a clever design feature that allows the water to flow around the boat, otherwise a boat progressing towards Llangollen would actually be pushing water over the side of the trough....

 

One interesting thing is that the canal has a distinct current running from just above Llangollen where water flows in from the Dee, progressing all the way to the junction with the Shroppie at Hurleston, where there is a reservoir to capture the excess water. The other interesting thing is that the Dee falls 126 feet from where it meets the head of the canal at Llantysilio to where the aqueduct passes over it, a mere 6 miles or so...

 

 

I've never been across the aquaduct in a boat but I have walked across a couple of times without feeling bothered about the height.  It surprised me as I have always been uncomfortable when using cable cars and accidently looking down to the ground.  I also don't like like looking down from clifftops even though I usually walk along cliffs at least once a week.

 

David

[Tony_S]

26 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

with a one armed actor playing a guitarist! Not a drummer

If you use Google it isn’t hard to find articles about the one armed musician Max Runham who also acts. 

Most crime series on TV require some suspension of belief as part of being entertainment rather than documentary. If it is consistent poor research and irritating I wouldn’t bother to watch. Once upon a time if I started reading a book or watching a film I would finish it. Now if I lose interest, I will leave it unfinished. 

[woodenhead]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Her problem is that of being a non-believing scientist and "dealing with the stuff about Jeebers". 

It was going to a Carol service a couple of decades back that did it for me - suddenly realised none of it made sense to me and that was the last time I went into a church a believer, since then only for weddings or funerals out of respect for the people involved.

 

@iL Dottore My eating woes did not come from a bad cook, as a youngster I would eat very little, lunch would always be white bread, spam and tomato sauce and if away from home even less would pass my lips.  Got so thin the authorities demanded I partake of school lunch and somehow that began my transformation though I have to admit it is only in the past few months I have been able to stomach a Christmas mince pie - but having done so I believe my eating problems are behind me.

 

ION - think I need another tooth extraction - I had two out last year that were infected and I had one other dodgy one that is basically three fillings above the gumline and no tooth.  It was last repaired a month ago and the repair came away on Friday evening, it's a stressful tooth as I constantly think it's going to come away completely and the dentist isn't thrilled to keep patching it.  I am minded to think it's better all round to have it pulled, giving myself 48 hours to come up with a reason not to.  It's interesting this time last year I was in an absolute panic that all my mouth was infected and I needed at least 5 teeth out - it turned out to be just two for extraction.  However, at that time extraction was the biggest fear I had, now 12 months later it's just an obvious way to fix something that will only ever end in an extraction, so why wait any longer.

[Winslow Boy]

7 hours ago, Grizz said:

Oh yes…yes they did! And they had quite a few…and they know…they know the custardy goodness is my kryptonite! ….mmmmmmm custardy goodness. 
 

I didn’t in fact complain….. I stayed strong. So strong in fact that I strolled by with my gaze fixed in opposite direction. In fact I strolled so far that I ended up in the beer and ale section. It was then that my strength failed me. 
 

So I left with a dozen bottles of ale……..
 

The evidence. 
 

Well I suppose one out of two isn't too bad.

 

What good a Grizz you were.

Edited March 16 by Winslow Boy

[Grizz]

….and again…Uho.

 

More bits drop off. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68584134

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Its a Webber Q  and  cooks consistently - 2.30  minutes each side for medium rare and came out exactly as expected!

 

Hmm broccoli. No white sauce though?

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, DaveF said:

 

I've never been across the aquaduct in a boat but I have walked across a couple of times without feeling bothered about the height.  It surprised me as I have always been uncomfortable when using cable cars and accidently looking down to the ground.  I also don't like like looking down from clifftops even though I usually walk along cliffs at least once a week.

 

David

 

Rather Silly Bear once did this (Seoul, Jan 2019) - 486m straight down.....

It "took a while" to do though - about 20 minutes IIRC

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

A picture of two  of that hairy plane that passed by us yesterday, it's a lot higher in this shot.

I seem to recall, can't remember where I'm afraid, that this is the plane that keeps breaking down and doesn't fly as far as the Hercules the RAF actually wanted. 

[Gwiwer]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Mother, Grandmother and Aunt(s) were ALL bad cooks 

Yup.  Every last one of them.  

 

Mother swore that nothing was cooked unless cremated or too soft to lift with a fork.  Toast - brittle and black.  Potatoes (boiled) - floury and almost self-mashing.  Coffee - always made with boiling milk so it had a skin on by the time the cup was presented to you.  

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, polybear said:

 

Rather Silly Bear once did this (Seoul, Jan 2019) - 486m straight down.....

It "took a while" to do though - about 20 minutes IIRC

 

 

You can do that at/on/up? Blackpool tower. Not me though.

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

Rather Silly Bear once did this (Seoul, Jan 2019) - 486m straight down.....

It "took a while" to do though - about 20 minutes IIRC

 

I like to tell people what a fascinating substance glass is, and how it is classed as an amorphous solid …

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I like to tell people what a fascinating substance glass is, and how it is classed as an amorphous solid …

Is this before or after they've been thrown through some?

[polybear]

29 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

It was going to a Carol service a couple of decades back that did it for me - suddenly realised none of it made sense to me and that was the last time I went into a church a believer

 

Bear never was what you'd call "a believer" (even though Great Grandpa Bear was a lifelong "in the job" Bear - his last job IIRC being as a Verger in an Abbey) .

However, since seeing rather too many (incl. Momma Bear) go thru' the very worst forms of The Big C I'm now firmly of the view that the existence of an all powerful, all merciful being is decidedly dodgy in this Bear's book - and if there is then Bear has some rather difficult questions for him/her to answer.....

(With full respect to anyone who does get comfort in believing, naturally)

 

29 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

........it turned out to be just two for extraction.  

 

"Just" two??

Big, Big Ouch.

[Sidecar Racer]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Suspension of disbelief is all very well and good, but when you have something  like a Morris Minor chasing (and catching) something like an E-Type Jaguar, then any semblance of reality evaporates -

 

 

 That can depend on the Morris Minor , this one is well capable of catching an E type , the 

dial in the middle is the speedo not a rev clock .

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

... The major thing domestically today was that I found my works laptop. I haven’t used it since about 2020 during the pandemic, and infrequently since 2017 ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/03/16/covid-small-datasets-outages-and-a-find/