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Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Fairport Convention with the immortal Sandy Denny

It's bigger than a phonebooth

Afternoon All At last, one bedroom is finished, cleared, redecorated, and ready for use - and just to prove it - here's an image. It does look good, even though I say so myself. That big wardrobe was an absolute b*gger to reassemble. Regards to All Stewart

I Hate This Part - Pussycat Dolls

Afternoon All Well, we cleared the drawers which are being removed to make room for the dishwasher, then we started to make space in the loft to allow easy access to and removal of the boiler, being moved down to the bathroom, and various other preparations for the visit of the heating engineer/plumber, arriving Monday morning. We were upstairs doing some decoration of bedroom 2 when my mobile rang - plumber to let us know that two of his operatives have tested positive for Covid, and that he has an unexplained cough. So instead, we have decided to extend our holiday - there is a lot of unfinished business in Lancaster, including 30747's leaving do, haircuts for both of us, and some of the farewell visits to friends and neighbours which were necessarily missed. Lily will, on this occasion, come with us and stay at the kennels that we always used - we have yet to find a new one down here. Much skipping has happened again, and all I can offer is the usual generic greetings, which are offered most sincerely. Guitarists, eat your heart out - and she's not playing a Taylor - most unusual Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All Today, we actually had a break from houses for a while and took Lily to Croft Castle for a nice walk round the garden, then came back and I put up one guitar (Hohner), and then put up about 15 pictures - all spaced correctly and level. Now for music lovers, here's something from the Foxes and Fossils with one of their guest bass players. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All Sorry for absence, but house does take priority, and I'm knackered by about this time every night. Back another time. Regards to All Stewart

A great standby, Colin I resisted this time, though I've still got the album. Let's go with Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat

Guitar Man - Elvis

Afternoon All Editor cleared again. Today is, at last, T day, when I get to open the four boxes of locos, train packs, carriages and wagons - three are already done. I have not been able to sort into train lengths yet, but it is a great improvement over having the train cabinets on the floor (I put them up this morning) and the locos carriages and wagons are all just stacked in there - all the locos, all the wagons, and all the carriages. Now for the bad news - plumber's extimate to move the boiler, and plumb in the dishwasher and fix some leaky taps, and replace a couple has come in quite a bit more that we had guesstimated. Now listening to the Mona Lisa Twins on the revived hifi. Regards to All Stewart

Evening All Much skipping has happened - but for a good reason. as we have been SO busy with the house. Apologies to all. Got 700+ railway books onto shelves and cupboards - then while the big cupboard was out, we painted the back wall, then got the books in - it holds around 350 books. It also now holds the hi fi - which also got comissioned today, and I discovered that the speaker leads are too short - drat. Still, I've got 12m on order from Richer Sounds. When getting the cables and so on out, I finally found the planet waves lead and the mains lead for the Marshall - so some noise was made. Also played a few CDs - now need to sort them out as they got very jumbled up in the move. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All Had to visit the fangmeister yesterday as I had a nasty toothache late last week, and they couldn't fit me in on Friday - toothache abated, but still giving a bit of a twinge now and then - new fangmeister (NHS no less) is a lovely young girl - must be about 18 by the looks of her - amazing how as one approaches 70, just about everybody looks as if they have just left school. The upshot is that the wisdom tooth had an infection, and also has a large hole in it - and has had it for quite some time - so how come my last dentist didn't pick it up - I had a check up ony a couple of months ago. The verdict is that it can't be filled, and a root filling might just work, or might not - so I will be visiting again soon for an extraction - wow. Today is CPU (curtains put up) day, and I am putting up the poles - two more have been ordered from Argos, and will be in aroud 4 today - Argos is only about half a mile away, which is good - also there is a Tool Station, Screwfix, Travis Perkins, amd Co-op all within easy walking distance. Car was due to go in today to have a new lambda probe - got there, and the part hasn't arrived yet. The garage was one of the places that I gave the wrong phone no to, so they couldn't ring me to let me know, and my mobile had gone into aircraft mode (God knows how) and wasn't ringing either. Garden is also looking a whole lot better, as we spent yesterday painting the fence, and generally tidying it up. It's small, (very small) and really is what we want now. The little patch of grass is already seeing use thanks to Lily. Regards to All Stewart

Call Me - Petula Clark

Afternoon All Well, that was an odd morning - went to the Leominster car boot sale, which was very good, and then 30747 suggested that there were a few bits that we "needed" in B&Q but I decided for some of them that Tool Station was a lot cheaper for some of these items - but she saw some rolls of turf outside the shop at £4.99 a roll - 4 bought. We had already bought some topsoil and some grass seed from the garden centre - the grass seed can go back. The area that we were doing to seed was part levelled, so we deployed the topsoil to level it and then laid the turf - not the job that we were planning, but it means that Lily has got a bit of grass to wee on. Then came the blow - 30747 wanted to look at the fencing for the front. That resulted in an order for the stuff that we need being placed - more expense there. Delivery can't be arranged until after Easter now. No guitars up today, and still can't fnd the mains lead or the Planet Waves lead. Still we're getting there Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All Got the Tanglewood up - then the G word was uttered - this time it did mean Garden - it's small, but still a bit back breaking, as some of the plants which 30747 wants removed are quite deep rooted - and we both needed to do a of pulling. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All The G word was uttered - well the Trellis word - we brought the trellis with us from Lancashire, as it is very good quality, and not overly expensive. So it is now at the top of the fence panels, and it does finish it off. So no guitars today, though I did get the Marshall combo down, only to find that the mains lead is nowhere to be found - nor the Pacific Waves lead to connect the guitar to the amp - drat - no noise tonight then. Not a lot more to report, other than the boiler inspection/service today to shift our Homeserve cover to the new house - and taking Lily to Croft Castle for a nice walk round the gardens there - which was excellent and took our minds off of the unboxing for a while. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All Much skipping, as computer needed for other purposes earlier - so only some posts read and rated. Two more guitars up now - Ovation and Hofner, and the tenor uke. 6 down, 5 to go - they won't all go in the living room, but maybe the Tanglewood will get in. The doll's house has now been moved to its permanent place - but I despair of the railway books, which have wound up all over the place. I'll know that the job is nearing an end when I finally manage to get the hifi wired up - it is in place, but the speakers are still in their box, as are the stands - could be a few weeks yet - but as the old BR advert said we're getting there. For anybody interested in garden railways on a large scale, the Littledale Light Railway (see my thread in Garden Railways) is open if anybody happens to be in North Lancashire on 25th and 26th June, or 10th July - it really is an eye opening railway for a home job. Mike who owns it has spent a lot of time, not to say money, on getting it right. Now then any REM fans here Regards to All Stewart

It's time for the song that the Beatles "recorded" on Our World All You Need Is Love

That is a fancy one - and as we now don't plan to move again, and I am getting no younger, it is probably better to have it moved while we can afford it - also if I was unable to get up there for any reason, 30747 doesn't "do" lofts - we've also got a local heating engineer today who may well come in cheaper.

Afternoon All Not all posts read and rated, as I "lost" my internet due to a failed Firefox update and it took a while of fiddling to get back to the previous version. I'm very worried that the Windows 10 updates are going to tie my machine up for quite a while, as my broadband speed is dire. Today, I got three guitars up on the walls - the SG, the Barry Vernon, and the Ibanez - things are definitely progressing now. Car needs to go in tomorrow as it's got a warning light which will not extinguish. Also got the heating engineer coming as we want the boiler shifted to the bathroom, so that I don't have to keep going up the loft - after the ladder swung back and hit my bonce, causing a bit of bleeding, I am keen to avoid that again. Regards to All Stewart

Evening All, All posts since yesterday read and rated - it's a long time since I was able to say that. Very strong email sent to my lender this morning, complaining about the way in which they mishandled the move. No response yet, but I've got the CEO's email address, and will use it in anger quite soon. We were due to have the boiler inspected and serviced today - got a call from the engineer to say "between two and four". Got a call on my mobile to say we were out, and was he at the right address - I gave him our address, and it turned out that he was actually at our old address - Homeserve had changed our address on the policy, but not on the claims file, so the engineer had a wasted visit, and we were just angry. More boxes emptied again, and we also managed to get five of my guitars out of the loft where they had been stored as a temporary measure, and they will be up on the living room wall before the weekend. Then it's a start on the railway books, a taks which I am really dreading, as they are all over the house. Seems that we may have fallen on our feet with the medicals - we have got registered with an NHS dentist, who admittedly is 14 miles away, but is on a bus route from Ludlow, so if I have a raging toothache and can't drive, then I can get a bus. And 30747 had a phone call from our new Dr about an ear condition which has been troubling her for some time, and which our last Dr sent a letter to our new one. Saw the nurse practitioner this morning, and she has some serious wax - they have arranged for them to be hoovered out next week - something which her BIL and also her best friend could not get on the NHS, and both had to go private - hers is free on the NHS, and is in the evening as the surgery is open from 8 til 8 daily. Regards to All Stewart

Great news, Chris, and although we no longer live in Brookhouse, but Ludow we will be there - we have already booked a hotel, and will visit on one of the days. We will also combine it with some visits to our friends up there and to a visit to the A6 car boot. I look forward to seeing the new layout, and your dad's magnum opus, that superb bridge.

Afternoon All I thought that I would not be here today, as I called that well known phone company to query the paltry compensation that I have been offered, and during the conversation, for some reason the advisor decided to carry out (without being asked) a line test - I was on the mobile, but as soon as the test was done, my land line and Broadband both went down, and it was 20 minutes before I got a dial tone, and then I had to do a factory reset on my hub before the broadband came back - still at the same abysmal speed. Other than that, it's been more of the same - undoing boxes and hanging shelves and cupboards - until I heard a humming noise, and a burning smell coming from the tumble dryer - the motor had burned out. It's a good job we brought the old one with us, as I was going to leave it behind at our old address for the metal fairies. It appears that Argos now do a little one should the old one bite the dust. Manged to get a few railway book bargains today at Ludlow antiques market - a 1950 Trains Annual, with intact dust jacket for a fiver, and a copy of Diesels In The Duchy for a quid. As it's just down the road, we'll be going often. Regards to All Stewart

Down The Dustpipe - Status Quo

Afternoon All We're back, and I'm back. Moved but I won't bore you with the details - suffice to say, it was traumatic up ti 4.30 on the day of the move - then no landline phone and no broadband - just the mobile and a wifi hotspot which kept going down - then here wasn't here. Ludlow is proving to be a very friendly place, and just about every tradesman who has attended has been efficient, reasonably priced, and cheerful - the one exception was a locksmith who came out after we had pre-arranged it, then charged us £189 to change the garage door handle - £100 of that was an "emergency call out plus first hour's labour". When we almost got locked out due to a problem with the front door lock, a different locksmith was called, and came out - no call out, £135 to change the mortice for a BS one and to fettle the door surround, and check the rim latch. Guess whose card I kept. TV had no signal, and we now have a very good reception thanks to another very good aerial rigger. Then there was the phone call that the cooker for which we had paid had been condemned and scrapped. So a trip to Ludlow on the day we moved in resulted in a new one delivered the same day, and installed by a first class electrician who came out on the Saturday - so on Friday, we had a celebratory meal out at the Squirrel as we couldn't cook anyway. Boxes are slowly disappearing, as we have now been moved for a fortnight. Great to be back, and great to be moved. Regards to All Stewart