Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

Troglodytes troglodytes!!!

 

SWMBO asked what that tweety little bird was. There are quite a few around here. Tiny, flitty, tweety. 
 

The diagnosis is Wren. I knew that; she didn’t. 
 

The stormy clouds have gone on their way without troubling us further.  
 

Neighbours (Various) are out - and spaced out - on the lawns surrounding the Hill of Strawberries.  Some are attired so as to maximise tans and vitamin-D exposure. Summer might be on its way. 
 

 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 but then a helicopter is a helly-copter. When I associated with RNAS Culdrose matelots (their description) they always referred to a Hell-eye.  

We tended to refer to the whole of the military helicopter fleet as cabs.

 

An RAF S&R fleet Seaking became a big yellow taxi.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Had a short sharp hail-storm about an hour ago. I was alerted to it by its rattling on the front door and windows, I looked out of the patio doors to the back garden and the patio wasn't even wet and the sun was still shining. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by PhilJ W

[New Haven Neil]

Richard, if you think of how the Olympic target archers with the fancy bows with sights and balances shoot, after the release the bow tips forward - because they aren't actually holding it.

 

Debs shoots traditional recurve bare bow, so sights etc (including little sneaky marks on the body of the bow) are verboten, the idea is that it is intuitive shooting.

 

Talking of getting shot, not sure how that 64 got up the Forest, but it is squealing it's brakes going back down the 1 in 30.  Paneer in the wild.

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by New Haven Neil
speelink

[AndrewC]

2 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Richard, if you think of how the Olympic target archers with the fancy bows with sights and balances shoot, after the release the bow tips forward - because they aren't actually holding it.

 

Debs shoots traditional recurve bare bow, so sights etc (including little sneaky marks on the body of the bow) are verboten, the idea is that it is intuitive shooting.

 

Talking of getting shot, not sure how that 64 got up the Forest, but it is squealing it's brakes going back down the 1 in 30.  Paneer in the wild.

 

 

Release the Kraken, err Awl. You’ve done it now. We are all dooooooooooooomed. 

[Coombe Barton]

15 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

 

Release the Kraken, err Awl. You’ve done it now. We are all dooooooooooooomed. 

If you've read John Windha';s The Kraken Wakes you'll realise just how close it is to the result of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Happy Hippo]

29 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Richard, if you think of how the Olympic target archers with the fancy bows with sights and balances shoot, after the release the bow tips forward - because they aren't actually holding it.

 

Debs shoots traditional recurve bare bow, so sights etc (including little sneaky marks on the body of the bow) are verboten, the idea is that it is intuitive shooting.

 

Talking of getting shot, not sure how that 64 got up the Forest, but it is squealing it's brakes going back down the 1 in 30.  Paneer in the wild.

 

Since 6439 seemed to spend her entire BR(W) working life at Ebbw Junction, perhaps the shedmaster took pity and sent her off an a jolly to the FoD.

 

Sister engine 6437 based at Gloucester certainly went into the woods to play, and was photographed there on 13 May 61 at Coleford Junction, picking up water whilst hauling an enthusiasts rail tour.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

20 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

 

Release the Kraken, err Awl. You’ve done it now. We are all dooooooooooooomed. 

Sorry, but no need to panic.

 

Neil has honorary Platinum membership of RMWeb due to his Mercantile Marine service and is therefore exempted from attacks  by the awlmighty.

[New Haven Neil]

#phew#

 

I have the book with t he colour photos of 6437, that was the inspiration, when I realised I could get one trade.....

 

 

[AndrewC]

17 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Sorry, but no need to panic.

 

Neil has honorary Platinum membership of RMWeb due to his Mercantile Marine service and is therefore exempted from attacks  by the awlmighty.

Not sure on that. What does VAR say?

 

Virtual 

Awl

Review

Edited April 12, 2020 by AndrewC

[Erichill16]

Evening,

Not posted for couple of day. Being seven eighths retired and only needing to do a couple of hours work a week at my leisure the last three weeks have been a shock to the system. Despite being required to work three hours on Good Friday and three on Eater Monday I was still looking forward to the weekend and a bit of modelling. 
Spent most of it either grocery shopping, doing housework either inside or out. Spent 1/2 hour in shed and watched DVD last night. Forecast not good for tomorrow so looks like paperwork (my ‘regular’ job) morning and then off to ‘proper work’ pm.

Ah life!

Regards Robert

[Ian Abel]

Hoppy Easter

 

So yesterday we managed a great kerbside pickup of fruit-of-the-vine, followed by an equally enjoyable happy hour - all 15-25 feet apart at the neighbors. Only 5 of us there and their two girls. Nice to actually talk in person to a few close folks.

 

Today Jemma and her boyfriend came over with freshly baked cinnamon rolls for us - a real treat, even if we DID have to stay apart and handle them with gloves before appropriately finishing them in the oven.

We listened to the "service" from our church, the staff very cleverly spliced the choir music from the last couple of years into the youtube stream, so "I" was singing with the choir even though the church was empty except for the priest and a single reader.

 

As forecast, it's been snowing here since around 8AM, 2+ inches already, but as the weather has been pretty warm for the past several days, it's SO FAR not accumulating on the roads/paths. That'll change once the temperature drops later

We've a Zoom family get together planned for later this afternoon. No walk today due to the weather

 

-1 right now and headed for -5 overnight with snow forecast off-and-on until the early hours of tomorrow.

 

Stay safe and well.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Ian Abel

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

We tended to refer to the whole of the military helicopter fleet as cabs.

 

An RAF S&R fleet Seaking became a big yellow taxi.

 

As far as those of us in the fast jet world were concerned, everything rotary winged except a Chinook was a chopper; A Chinook was a Wocca (due to the different noise from the two rotors I think).

 

Army aircraft were classed as strange things, the saying being that if God had meant the army to fly he'd have painted the sky brown instead of blue.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

10 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Once upon a time I was stopped on the I90 at the notorious Ellensburg speed trap.

I misread that as 190 and wondered if you were really flying at very low level.

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Since 6439 seemed to spend her entire BR(W) working life at Ebbw Junction, perhaps the shedmaster took pity and sent her off an a jolly to the FoD.

 

Sister engine 6437 based at Gloucester certainly went into the woods to play, and was photographed there on 13 May 61 at Coleford Junction, picking up water whilst hauling an enthusiasts rail tour.

 

Does it matter what the number is?

They all look the same......................

[TheQ]

Evening Awl, 

Not so good for Ben the scardy Collie,  an hours distant thunder from  about 19:00 . Because he gets so frightened at loud noises we have put a secure hidyhole in the house,  mobile home  and model railway shed.  A small cage or cardboard box with some vetbed in it,  and a loose blanket over so he can push his way in and feel safe.. 

Meanwhile a new bus arrived at. A certain place... And two hours later it was still there.. 

 

[roundhouse]

A good day today. Lots of work in the shed on the High Line than mowing the grass before doing neighbours as it was starting to resemble a jungle. he's not at all well with his cancer, so unable to do it himself not that either of them next door are keen on gardening. The brambles were starting top root in their lawn so cut them back afterwards. Handy that his fence at the rear part of the garden has disintegrated as that gives me easy access.

 

Knackered after that so spent a relaxing time sitting under the canopy shed finishing off the mini keg whilst keeping an eye on 34054 'Lord Beaverbrook' steam around the High Line - its one of the few of my Bulleid light pacifics fitted with sound but by just after eight it was time to switch off the music  and lock up the shed.

 

Hopefully a good nights sleep ahead.

[polybear]

Well a fun day treating fence panels both sides   - I like to slide them out of the posts and do them properly.  Only one panel left to do on the first side, but that panel will need some tlc first; not sure how to play the other side of the garden yet - the Panels are starting to show their age and may not take kindly to being disturbed - under normal circumstances I'd fix 'em up with new battens at the bottom, but no timber = no fixing.  So probably just a cosmetic job on my side only....

That's the cr@p bit.

 

Now for the good bit

Mate Gary next door asked if I'd like sunday din dins handed over the fence on a plate (with all necessary precautions taken).  Do Bears sh1t in the woods......

And very nice it was too

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

An RAF S&R fleet Seaking became a big yellow taxi.

That's funny. I remember something similar and was literally a big yellow taxi. Many years ago, Rockwell International moved their corporate headquarters from Pittsburgh to California.

 

In the late 1980s the CEO demolished two adjacent "shotgun" lots on a cliff overlooking the beach at Corona Del Mar and Newport Harbor to build his personal residence. My colleagues and I used to purchase sandwiches and eat them across the street at this spot. At that time the CEO had his office in El Segundo next to LAX (now a Boeing facility). He commuted, not by toiling up the I405 in heavy traffic like the hoi polloi, but by flying in the corporate helicopter from nearby SNA (John Wayne/Orange County airport) to LAX.

 

The corporate helicopter wasn't a sleek job like a Jet Ranger but was big and yellow with a big blue Rockwell logo. It believe it was of the big Sikorsky family, possibly a H-34, which you would know as the Westland Wessex. I can confidently say it was big and yellow and used as a taxi.

[Happy Hippo]

13 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Does it matter what the number is?

They all look the same......................

You can go off some people...........

 

At least we can be grateful that they never painted them yellow.

[New Haven Neil]

7 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

You can go off some people...........

 

At least we can be grateful that they never painted them yellow.

 

A temptation indeed....

 

[newbryford]

41 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

You can go off some people...........

 

At least we can be grateful that they never painted them yellow.

 

 

As good as yellow...

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by newbryford

[New Haven Neil]

Fine colour for a loco....

 

[AndyID]

11 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Way back when, Montana was a wild state. No speed limits outside of built up areas. When the 55mph came in the state either complied or lost federal funds. They chose to comply with a $5 ticket for depletion of natural resources. Pay the cop on the spot. Found out farmers used to keep a small stack of $5s in the sun visor. Personally, I had several of these tickets. 

 

 

Surely not that long ago? When we came here Montana still had no daytime speed limit. I remember hammering along in our Ford Crown Vic. The snag was the speedometer stopped at 85 so I had no idea how fast I was going. Probably around 110.

 

Eventually the thought that the tires were not rated for that sort of speed and the fact that I found it very tiring made me slow down to something a lot more sensible.

 

 

[newbryford]

I have one of these in my garden. (Well almost - no need for my daily exercise to see this today)