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Distant shot of the railcar

The 1.28 KX-Hull brings a borrowed March V2 back from London. It will probably come off at Doncaster, and return to March via the GN/GE. We haven't had a view through the arch for quite a while.

Greetings from a much cooler boring borough. We had rain. Well, almost enough to make the path look wet. <meh> Happy Anniversary to @andyram. Good to see @Robert popping in for a visit too. I know they are stretched to the max but the NHS really needs to sort its administration out. Pre-surgery assessment yesterday. Visit, nope. Video call. Logged in, sat in the "waiting room" as the countdown clock kept getting later and later. Eventually it reset to show 59:59 delay. Phone rings. Nice lady says they are locked out of the system, so she does the assessment over the phone instead. Now for the fun part. I need another Ultrasound. Go to Queen Mary. Need an MRSA blood test. Go to King's @ Denmark Hill. Can't go to the phlebotomy clinic that is literally across the street. Nope, different NHS trust. <sigh> Surgery? Orpington. Queen Mary's MSK has 2 separate check in desks. One of each NHS trust that has space there. Duplicated staff. What a waste of resources and desk space. <arrrrgggghhhh> Oh and post op will be at either Orpington or King's depending on the day of the week and phase of the moon. One thing I do miss about Canadian health care is most GP offices are in "medical centres". That means one stop shopping for blood work, cardio assessment, and imaging. Last time I had an x-ray there, it was GP > imaging > 30 minute wait > back to GP with the results. End to end in under an hour. Here, it is now, GP > random hospital depending on the form you get > 90 min wait at the hospital (usually a couple of days later) > results to GP in 5 to 10 days > 10 days minimum to get back to the GP. And now..... work. Looks like I'll be escaping the present project and moving on to a bank project. This will mean my first work travel in over 3 years. Off to Copenhagen in Sept for a couple of weeks. I may have to buy new clothes as I've been living in jeans & sweat pants for nearly 30 months now. I'm going to have to watch YouTube videos on how to tie a tie again. Latte consumed. Another coffee needed to investigate why said latte has failed to inject any caffeine into my blood stream. Enjoy the day.

I have received an extremely comprehensive and apologetic response to my email to Hornby, which I think does them great credit especially given the tone of my email to them. It doesn't explain what I should be doing about my pre-orders but there is probably no simple answer to that if there is not enough stock to go around. Personally I've not yet had notice of any of my own pre-orders being cancelled (touch wood) so I'm going to cross my fingers. I'm not sure that I follow their explanation of why Hornby Direct are still able to accept pre-orders when shops have had their orders reduced, unless they mean that Hornby Direct has had its sales quota cut too but because they charge full price they had so few pre-orders for it that they still have some free stock(?). In any event, having shared my sarcastic email here I think I owe Hornby their response: "Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in replying, this is due to annual leave being the time of the year. Last February and after an internal appraisal of orders received for the new 2022 product range our retailers were notified that some of their orders had to be reduced, mainly because the demands received for specific items were in excess of the production numbers we had placed with our manufacturers. Making the decision to reduce the orders that had been placed by our customers was not something that Hornby wanted to do but due to what can only be classed as human error allocations of several key products had been exceeded. For those at Hornby who have to make such difficult decisions as reducing orders is not an easy one but there is no point in maintaining an illusion if at the end of the day orders cannot be met. As an aside it is worth pointing out that the current manufacturing situation in China is not as straightforward as it once was mainly due to the issues caused by China’s handling of Covids. ie, they close whole areas down in a bid to control the spread of the illness. This action creates many problems for the manufacturers in meeting deadlines, therefore it is not possible to ask them to just add another 1000 or 2000 to a particular production run as they simply do not have that flexibility in manufacturing time. If we insist on an increase then another scheduled product would have to be delayed and not just by a few days! It is worth noting that we place orders with our suppliers many months ahead and even before the new range is announced. Returning to these latest adjustments. The management of the company was under the impression that the revised order quantities as a whole had been conveyed to our retailers in February but apparently that was not the case. It does now seem that our retailers were only told half the story and that all the reductions which had been agreed in February had not been actioned. Recently, Hornby has restructured its Sales division and it was the new sales manager who when analysing the order/delivery situation for the rest of the year discovered that many of the reductions had not been made and to make things even worse it was found that some products that should have been adjusted in February had been missed. Why these potential adjustments had not been picked up sooner is difficult to explain as the person responsible is no longer with the company. Of course it is easy to blame those who cannot defend themselves however, the fact remains that not all reductions had been actioned in February but were left until half way through the year has quite rightly caused a great deal of anger and annoyance with both our retailers and their respective customers. This situation is both embarrassing to Hornby and extremely annoying for our customers. For this we can only apologise and state that steps have been taken so that this does not happen again, which can sound like empty words but where 2023 is concerned a huge amount of time and planning has been spent so that what our customers order in January 2023 will be what you receive. One final point. Much has been made about Hornby’s Online service. Hornby has had such a service for well over 20 years and that particular sales avenue is and has been a legitimate route to market for that length of time and like other customers they are allotted a sales quota. As Hornby Online do not discount it is not unreasonable to note that they have free stock available on their website while others who do offer a discount do not. Hopefully the above goes some way to explain the current order adjustments. It is not in Hornby’s interest to upset its retailers and indeed their customers but I believe we need to be frank and honest rather than allowing those having placed orders living under the false hope that what the requested will arrive."

Creechly Somerset and Dorest railway 1961

I have seen the sad news on FaceBook that Robbie has passed away earlier today. He had a FB page for his model photo's - 'BR Steam Photos' that he said he would be taking down a few weeks ago as he was no longer able to maintain it. Rob has of course been a regular (and sometimes controversial!) contributor to RMweb over the years. I was a big fan of Robbies work and felt he added something unique to this hobby. I had some brief correspondence with him a few years ago when he asked if he could use one of my photos for his art. I felt honored to be asked and he created a lovely image from a camera phone shot I had of the then yet to be released Hornby Ivatt Duchess. RIP

Having grown up and spending 42 years of living on the edge of what used to be called an Indian Reservation, I can say the First Nations people have been treated like sh*t since day one. That discrimination is always in the background. One of our longest friends is part Metis & Innu. She suffered racism that would make being Asian in the 70s UK seem like a picnic. SiL is part Cree and again her and her kids from a previous have been subjected to a lot of sh*t. I won't repeat any of the derogatory names that have been used. A big part of the problem has always been their status and the residential school fustercluck wasn't part of general knowledge. The stereotype of the drunk Indian has self perpetuated for the past hundred years. One thing I did learn was in school there was a whole social studies/history section on the prairie whisky trade. Basically they got the natives addicted to alcohol (using "alcohol" term loosely), screwed them over, and left them as broken people. Another thing I learned when working with several FN people in Northern Alberta when I was 18 was they work to live. Like their forefathers, they only take from mother earth what they need. In European culture that is looked at as lazy. They'd show up for work for a week, get their pay, then live until they needed to work again. Maybe we could and should learn from them.

Reality or Rule 1? Having not come off at Salisbury as it ought, this engine will be impounded by the Southern on arrival. (Re-created from an actual event which occurred in 1963 - but in this case, an excuse for me to run a very handsome locomotive)

Summer on the Canadian prairies. The b*stards would just carry off the electric bug zappers for some late night kinky fun. Driving more than 100km meant stopping at the next town's self serve car wash to power jet wash the front of the car. Seriously, they'd block the grille and cause overheating. Grass hoppers the size of eagles. Mosquitos show up on the Flight Radar app. horse flies that were about the same size as a palomino. Those up side down people ain't got nothing on our prairie bugs.

HSTs at Morpeth for today. Morpeth 43084 down 16th April 87 C8297 Morpeth 43074 Aberdeen to Kings X July 87 J9000 Morpeth 43104 down 30th May 89 C11923 Morpeth 43087 up 21st July 90 C14567 Morpeth 43113 Inverness to Kings X and Class 47 in up loop. Oct 90 J11648 David

Thanks, I am still around and pop my head above the parapet now and again, I've only been shot at once or twice lately, 🤪. I have a new ????? to build so quite busy, plus playing the last couple of weekends, and next. Off back to my nest now for some well earned eye lid inspection. Thanks again. 👍

Ooooh, sunny now, thermymomomter device now functioning again, however only when transmitting in channel 3 with the receiver on channel 1. Yup, Chinese. However, 24 centithings indicated, washing out on the line, and time wasted on a You Tube rabbit hole about nuclear accidents. Lots, worryingly. 'Plainly Difficult' if you want a look, he does other disasters/accidents in general. MER overhead wires now repaired after a moron forgot how high his recovery truck was at the end of last week, it had a Land Rover with a huge kayak trailer on the flatbed, the trailer cocked at an upward angle to get it on - the trailer had high posts to retain many kayaks in layers, which snagged the wires - bang! Unfortunately, the wires were new and strong so three poles were pulled over and one snapped in the accident, so not just wire repair to deal with. Then someone stole the wire (4 tons!) length that had been taken down and coiled ready for putting back up. Three arrested a couple of days later, but they had cut the wire into metre lengths, so that was ruined too. Mrs NHN's office colleagues in a tizzy, the enthusiasts gala starts....tomorrow! Repaired just in time. Cars 1, 2 and 33 out today, the oldest (1893) and newest (1906). https://manxelectricrailway.co.uk/motors/

Ey up! An interesting day yesterday.. outcome of which means more work for Baz and more meetings pencilled in.. pah! We are off to Masham ( pronounced as mazam by the locals) for cricket today durham/northumberland over 60s. The last time we played them they one by 1 run.. fingers crossed it goes slightly better this time! Nice to see @Robertpassing by. Great to hear all is well. Mugatea is valuing.. Time to gerronwithit. Stay safe! Baz

Morning All, I thought it was about time I put in an appearance! All is fine in this part of the world. Have a good day everyone...

Northbound the 1.18 KX-Leeds is due to stop for 5 minutes between 2.40 and 2.45pm. A very highly polished KX A1 is in charge. Coming south is an Up Leeds, Victor Wild of Grantham at the head.

The wife says I need something to do and said I should make a bird table. Now she’s not speaking to me because I only put her at No8….

It started dry yesterday but by the time I had done some washing it was starting to drizzle, so the tumbler drier was called into action. While it was working I went to Seaton Sluice, parked overlooking the harbour and had a quick walk round Rocky Island. Just as I got back to the car another light shower arrived, so I'd timed it well. There should be a photo below. As usual there were birds about incluiding gulls, oystercatchers, small waders and a curlew along with larks and a linnet. Mentioning oystercatchers reminds me of a morning in Porthmadog some years ago when I saw a group of birdwatchers very excited about seeing oystercatchers - they thought how lucky I am seeing them almost every day at home. They had travelled from somewhere near Birmingham. The book I'd ordered came in the post, very good value for 50p, well writen and informative on the history of Britaoin's wild flowers since the ice age. The only slight annoyance is that I had put Mum's copy in the charity box not my bag so I had to buy it. It does ilustrate how little many good books are worth. My local second hand bookseller no longer buys railway books for that reason. In the afternoon I sorted out more of the pictures I'd brought from the flat, there are a few more of Dad's now on my walls. I looked up when I last went out taking photos of trains in Northumberland, it was around 2016, not simply because of Mum's care needs which were not very onerous until late 2019 but I just lost my interest in taking such photos - they all started to look alike and it got a bit boring. I was still taking her out until 2021, not long distances but to nice places to look at the sea or the inland views. Blyth Bay from Seaton Sluice David

Morning, from a rock that looks a bit cool out, but dry. Good to see Robert pass by - we have several ER's missing these days. Bedding washing beckons. Pah.

I telephoned my aunt in Bristol yesterday. She was pleased to learn that I will be driving to Sidmouth later this week and will be dropping in on the way. It will only be a flying visit but it's still a visit. Nowadays she lives in a care home so I will not be getting a cuppa. This matters little. Chris

Yates and Jackson. I've had to model their old cask store that was in the coal yard at Green Ayre. Good to hear from Robert again. It's cloudy here. However thst means that it's a bit cooler which is good. Last night as I walked up to shut the hens away the barn owl flew out of the woodshed very close to me. It was still quite light and it looked fabulous. Probably about 15 feet from me. Beth and I went out a bit later and sat a bit further away but didn't see or hear it again. Supermarket run this morning then trainspotting this afternoon. A good plan I think. Jamie

Hosepipe ban announced on Fraggle Rock - it's been on the horizon for a while.

Bear, in a moment of madness, wandered down the Quack's to collect the blood letting form. Arrived at 0825, expecting madness in the place. How many in the waiting room? One. How many at the Reception Counter? One - a white furry Bear. I guess the madness is confined to the telephones. Afterwards a quick dive in the Co-op was called for - a LDC on the clearance shelf (short date - which makes bvggerall difference) at a very attractive price. It would've been silly not to..... Thanks - that's the man. Right, wardrobe here Bear comes.....

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Woke up again at six this morning then went back to sleep again until gone seven. Thats despite Arthur Itis putting in a shout but he soon went back into hiding. Congratulations to @andyram on your anniversary and good to see @Robert back.

Evening all. Thanks for the steam railway suggestions. There was a change of plan today. We had misread the Bure Valley timetable and the more frequent service runs Tuesday - Thursday. As a result we headed off to Sheringham, overtaking the Class 24 as we drove alongside the golf course. I would have taken a trip up the line, but Amber decided she did not fancy a diesel hauled trip so I had to be content with a wander around the gift shop. Since today is Sarah and my 12th wedding anniversary, I was not going to rock the boat by insisting on a trip. The dozen years have been generally been great, but have been more than slightly rocking in the last 18 months. The day in Sheringham was spent around the shops and arcades en-route to the seafront. Sadly the model shop was shut which was another set back. In addition to this mum and dad are still testing positive so the shop closure extends into tomorrow and is likely to stretch to at least Thursday. It cannot be helped, but it is frustrating and not what the business needs. Tonight we changed location for evening meal and headed to the Golden Lion on the green for a meal in their restaurant. It was very nice. The only drawback was the choice of bitters. When the waitress stated the only option was "Tetley", I did stop myself from saying "is that all" in view of the selection at our previous establishment. The walk back paused by one of the play areas for Amber's benefit. This is her, silhouetted against the setting sun. Take care Andy

The Class 31 fan assembly has a dedicated, custom geared servo motor which, after exhaustive testing, has been tweaked, engineered and programmed so the fan spins visibly and in relation to engine load / real world conditions. We’re very happy with it.

Been there, done that - but while stationary. The insects flew into me ... honestly. All it took was a sunny day, a railway carriage, a tin or two of maroon paint and my foolishness in thinking it was a good day to give No.10 a top coat ... Commercial insect traps - pah!

Moorin Awl, An awful nights lack of sleep, at no point did I get a solid hour, pain from joints and it being too warm.. Ben the I want out Collie cut short his morning patrol, but only after demanding a big cuddle.. Puddles on the road locally grass was damp, it's already turning green again.. I know Buoys Toys https://www.facebook.com/buoystoysandmodels in Cromer has had a few days off due to Covid, but I think it's probably reopened by now. Several members of Broadland MRC http://broadlandmodelrailwayclub.co.uk/ are or were volunteers on the BVR, so will have known Stuey.. Must speak to those who do our web site in the club to get it up dated. Sadly AndyRam has missed this months opening of the Barton House railway in Wroxham.. https://www.bhrw.org.uk/ and our regatta next week https://www.horning-sailing.club/ 30th July -5th Aug @ NR12 8AA and our MRC open day / show 28th Aug 10:30-16:00 at NR12 9DE just Awaiting this weeks first system to finish it's overnight run then there's about an hours work left and it's finished.. Time to... wait.

If @PupCam fancies a leisurely train trip to Switzerland (Eurostar then the TGV) he could get his MRI done here: http://www.mrzentrumthun.ch/MR-Tarife.php (typical pricing). Interestingly, the use of Gadolinium as a contrast medium doubles the price and the most expensive investigation on the list is the cranial angiogram with gadolinium contrast at £695. Prices include the scan, all materials, the radiologist’s “read” and the report to the patient’s GP (or whomever ordered the MRI for the patient). Reports are sent - electronically - the day of writing, together with copies of the MRI. One of the great things about my GP’s Praxis is that he has an in-house lab and radiology suite - so for routine stuff it can, quite literally, be done “while you wait” I think that I may cause a little envy amongst certain ER posters when I say my GP does not employ any “Checkpoint Charlenes” - just nice ladies who are most helpful and can answer the phone in less than 10 rings. I was a bit sceptical when my friend and former GP turned his Praxis over to the “Boy Doctor” upon retirement (“Boy Doctor”? well, I am old enough to be his father). But I’m very happy about continuity and quality of care.

Update from the workbench, it’s a bit of this and that at the moment. Another Slater's clerestory has been started, this time the E37 Tri-compo. The C19 from the same range is running well, so I decided to build a companion for it. No need to repeat the build details, will just point out a few differences. There was more flash around the windows on these sides, and as the window edges are quite thin they are hard to distinguish from the flash and easily damaged when worked on. Inspecting the sides from behind helped. This time I remembered to drill out the holes for the door furniture before assembling the sides. One advantage of building similar kits in succession is that the experiences from last time are still fresh in mind (famous last words!). The E37s had two small lavatories for the First Class passengers at the center, accessed from neighbouring compartments, with the seating arranged like this. The kit doesn’t provide for it, but I rebuilt the seats to indicate it. The lavatories won't be visible, so I'm not doing them. I won't be adding arm rests to the First Class seats either. Interior detailing doesn't seem to interest me at the moment. Incidentally I've found that when fitting the seats it’s worth ensuring that the slight gap at each side is equally spaced. It’s a help when fitting the glazing, as it can then be slid down either side of the seat. I’ve also purchased an Easi-liner pen and am currently practicing with it. There are four different stylus widths in the basic package. In principle it’s simple. A few drops are filled into the stylus/nib and off you go. Since taking this photo I found it works better to pull the pen vertically towards yourself. First attempts were a bit bumbling, but the instructions provide good tips and I’m now able to do uninterrupted straight lines. The liner was designed with Humbrol in mind but I’m using Vallejo acrylics, which I understand others have done successfully. Large curves are also not that hard. The lower one illustrates how the paint can creep under the guide/ruler. Raising the guide from the surface avoids this (I used a sliver of plasticard). I do have a problem: The lines end up too thick. Ignore the crude line and test piece, the point is to illustrate that the smallest 0.25 mm nib tends to result in 0.6 mm lines, too thick for 4mm scale. A query with the proprietor Chris was very quickly answered and he suggested that the paint might be flowing too freely and/or I am pulling the pen too slowly, in both cases leading the paint to expand. So I’ve rebooted and have spent some sessions just drawing freely to get a better feel for the pen, and experimenting with the thinning/viscosity. This does seem to help – but whether I can get to 0.25mm is yet to be seen. Will report back. Also a variety of figures on the go, including some Andrew Stadden ones. Andrew’s figures are all good, but I think he made an extra effort with the women. I can sympathize with that. Some Modelu ones too. Mr Chapman’s Amazing Leverage Machine, tested and proven at Farthing, available worldwide! Anyway, this is getting long and silly, will post more in the blog later 🙂

This is why I'll be painting Blue Moon in the winter in the future, I was suprised to find that the paint would set down to 5C , so I just chose a dry day, with a minimum temperature of 5C, and painted first thing in the morning.. no insects!!!

I am some sort of terrible person. I really like seeing the wind turbines as we drive around the country. I don’t mind seeing the offshore ones either.

Afternoon all Desk now fixed,back is killing me. We couldn't get the desk out from where it is so someone had to go under the desk fasten the new legs on then remove the old monkey metal. Got a bit pi55ed off this morning took Swmbo to drs for another blood test. Me and Lucas went to Tesco and wasted £2 50 on a Euromillions ticket. Coming out I ran into the to55er who used to live next door to my parents at their last house. My Gran once had to stop me and our kid from going out and battering him cos he upset Mum. How she managed to stop us I don't know we are both big lads. Anyhow he stuck his hand out for me to shake and asked how my Dad is. I could have kicked him down Tescos car park.

Just checked which countries have the largest Thorium reserves... Between that and lithium for batteries and precious metals for electronics, along with the usual bauxite and iron ore etc etc etc looks like everyone in Australia could end up working in the mining industry, and we'll all slowly sink from view into a bloody huge pit. Pays bloody well though!

Same here. Go to GP, get referral if required and go straight upstairs or next door for pathology or x-rays. Many also have an onsite pharmacy so it's straight across the corridor to get any script filled. Which isn't a doctor's indecipherable scribble on some paper, it's been electronically transferred to the pharmacy computer system so if you walk slowly enough it's already been filled and is waiting for you. There is a national health database that you can opt out of but if you choose to remain on it you can go into any doctor's surgery in the country and they can bring up your entire medical history in seconds. If you need a doctor anywhere or at anytime there's a website that'll show you the next appointment available wherever you are, with the details of each the local doctors if you are fussy and want to pick one with a particular speciality. Choose the doctor and the appointment window and book online. Like the NHS it's all usually free too, though some doctors may choose to charge rather than bill it to Medicare, but in that case there is a sign on the door (and on the booking website) to let you know. I can't remember when I last phoned a surgery or had an old school paper script

In Scotland they are building offshore wind farms, they are currently building one around 17 miles off the coast of Angus where I live, seems it will generate enough power to feed over one million households...........................as long as the wind blows.

One very dirty off white car has now been restored to its original shade of brilliant white. Took over an hour and a half which is a bit longer than usual mainly because on the drive to Norfolk and back last week I became a serial killer and so had to remove the remains of dozens of squidged insects, some of which did not want to be removed. Now having a well deserved muggatea and waiting for the rain which I just know is now going to come as the car is now dry and gleaming.

I had a message from the gp recently. I think they had forgotten that they had given me a years worth of blood test forms last year but just as I was about to book a test using my last form, I received a text asking me to arrange a blood test. In the text was a link to print the form. If I were unable to print they would do it and either post it or I could collect it.

Just a few from this morning, hereford to dee marsh, should have took it back to wrexham but the other driver came to deeside to relieve me, a nice result! hereford, GWR 830 about to set off for london My train Into dee marsh, first time I’ve ever been in the yard, worked trains past it for 20 years but only just signed off the yard itself! pushed the loaded train into the arrivals line then took the loco into the headhunt light loco Then into the yard to pick up the outbound wagons, they will be propelled into the headshunt from there before drawing forward and heading off south strike day tomorrow but I’ve got an East Midlands gateway job

When I was at uni in Lancaster (1974 on) you could get a good pint of Tetleys somewhere, I think it was The Green Dragon in Galgate (no pumps, just casks). But mostly I preferred more local beers (Mitchell's, Yates & Jackson). In the city centre you could smell when Mitchell's were brewing. Lovely. All long gone.

Here's one more, taken while some shunting was going on. I had to do a bit more work on this one to get it up to scratch so don't zoom in too close!

I recently spent £16,500 on a registered Black Angus bull. I put him out with the herd but he just ate grass and wouldn't even look at a cow. I was beginning to think I had paid more for that bull than he was worth. Anyway......I had the Vet come and take a look at him. He said,, the bull was very healthy, but possibly just a little young, so he gave me some pills to feed him once per day. The bull started to service the cows within two days……. all my cows! He even broke through the fence and bred with all of my neighbour's cows! He's like a machine! I don't know what was in the pills the Vet gave him ...... but they taste like peppermint.

There was a suggestion that thorium nuclear power plants should be built but the governments do not want to know. Thorium is a lot safer, it can be switched off like a light and doesn't produce such nasties as plutonium. Plutonium is one of the main ingredients of nuclear bombs.

I don’t know why @polybear is complaining about a mere 20% increase in Amazon Prime costs, does he know by how much aviation grade kerosene, landing slot and airport fees have gone up recently? I’m going to have to halve the number of Caribbean Long Weekend Getaways I can take this winter. I may even have to sell off the Cessna Citation and just have the one Dassault Falcon. It’s tough at the top, I can tell you!

In the 50s there were plans for countrywide nuclear power plants ... but lost its way so now we pay e.g. France for supplying nuclear power. . personally I hate all these 'windmills' all over the place taking up farming arreas so we have to buy more from abroad. Rant over.

This does not explain why several retailers who have spoken to me who did have their allocations reduced in February saw a further reduction recently. When joining the dots with the first Rocket packs in 2020 when this 'diversion' of stock was very apparent I was told it was really down to ensuring the web (direct) sales had sufficient quantities to meet their overall sales targets. To me, that's what it's all about but more transparency, at very least, would be good. Behind the scenes I have done what I reasonably can in terms of feedback from a wider perspective that has been freely given by so many retailers and sensible people on here but can't wave any magic wands; it's something they need to resolve.

Oh Herr Dokter it was all going so well until you said the report would be sent electronically along with the scan. The NHS is still using fax machines so I'm afraid the report will need tobe printed off and faxed - that includes the scan by the way. Alternately you could always send it by mail. No scrub that. Royal Mail will either lose it completely, forget about it and then deliver it two years later or try and delivery only to say you were out and its been sent back to sender due to insufficient postage. Perhaps it could broken down into eight inch strips wrapped a pigeons leg and sent by 'air mail'.

Good morning all, A grey start to the day here and cooler at 16°C. Chance of some scattered showers today, let's hope they're heavy. I'm guessing you're referring to Andrew P. He has been posting elsewhere, looks like mainly on proper muddling threads. My only plan today is to wash the car before we get a hosepipe ban. Have a good one, Bob.

Good evening everyone Well the weather has been very unpredictable, mostly rain. There was a short lull when I went shopping with the sun trying to shine, but that was followed by more rain after I’d got home. The afternoon was pretty much the same, apart from an hour or so straight after dinner. Needless to say, apart from my shopping trip this morning, I’ve not ventured outside again today. I spent the afternoon reading or doing some sudoku puzzles. Andy. Happy anniversary

I confess. There was one slightly dirty weekend.