Kelly

Thanks. I have muscular atrophy to some degree from not being very active. My left leg has tended to be the good leg after I ripped the ligament in my right knee at 16 and not knowing I had done so proceeded to go over to the Netherlands and do the nijmegan marches (100 miles over 4 days, plus a number of practice weekends before going over! ). I later was sent privately via my father's health insurance via his work and had the knee investigated and that is when they discovered the damage. All that because a locum gp dismissed it as water on the knee. Have yet to see any of the physio team. I don't think I will until the surgeons are happy with the stability of my ankle.

Hopefully won't see the physiotherapist until after the plates are in as the surgeon deemed my ankle too unstable currently.

Thanks for the positive well wishes. Much appreciated. As for flasks of tea, unfortunately there's a strict no visitors rule in place. Richard has been able to leave a bag with security, but it took a while to eventually get to me. As for pain management, unfortunately since the transfer from the amu to the surgery ward the pharmacy has not sent up my full medication and still have my card so I haven't been able to be given more than gabapentine and paracetamol since getting oramorph after the surgery yesterday. Fortunately I have not been in as much pain for the most part today so the strong painkillers have not felt as needed. Probably the gabapentine working too.

Not only dislocated ankle. But I broke the ankle and the bottom of the fibula. And they suspect I have strained ligaments and tendons. Though they don't think I have torn any of them, which is something. Looking at 8 weeks on crutches and upto 8 months for a full recovery. Longer if external scaffolding is deemed required, depends on how the ankle bone looks when they cut into it in surgery. Yesterday's surgery was manipulation only, though they amended the consent so they could put the plate in if they thought it doable. They didn't. I was also supposed to have the aneasetic via the spine due to risk concerns owing to my weight. They ended up doing GA when they kept failing with the spine, which hurt a lot whilst they poked. Currently on the ward with one foot in the air and the other in a cushion boot to prevent sores. In good spirits generally, but missing poppy, Richard, Nat and chocolate! And decent sized cuppa!

This reminds of another story... but first, they missed the opportunity to use 'Lizzy took an axe' here... My step grandfather (fathers side, rather than my mums side as in the previous story) after the war (where he was in the RMP and was at pretty much every major battle or event in the war except for the Pacific theatre) joined the Metropolitan police specials rose to the rank of inspector. To the end he was known by every copper in the area and at Scotland Yard (where he had a reputation for always winning the raffle! ). Anyway, one time he had to go to court. The barrister for the defendant was none other than the former prime minister Blair. When Bill saw him on the telly when he won the election in 97, Bill said 'never liked him, was always a self important nuisance and disliked by everyone who had the dubious pleasure to work with him! ' or words to that effect.

I always hated those adverts. When I was a kid, we'd visit my grandmother in Southport, who lived in a former vicarage, so a rather big house, just to this tiny old lady. Well the study, it was always kept closed and locked, no-one went in there unless it was a special occasion as it was my grandfather's favourite place (I never knew him sadly). Anyway whenever we'd be in the garden, there were 3 nodding dog ornaments on the windowsill of the study. No one went in there, they nodded randomly. For some reason as a kid it freaked me a bit, I have no idea why. But there you go anyway, a rather silly story from a random picture on the internet!

Morning all. Am awake early due to not managing to sleep before Richard got up for work. Time for a cuppa, whilst he takes Poppy for her morning walk. Hope all are well? if not sympathy and best wishes as appropriate.

Some interesting items. The 0-6-0 Semtinel is probably more most interest to me atm. The 755 is certain something I didn't expect. But certainly different and new. The 423 returning to the range, with some updates is welcome, though it would have been nicer if they'd have redone it fully, but until reviews appear I guess we won't know how much has really changed. Overall I think it is a catch up type of announcement really. The well known delays to the 2020 and 2021 releases mean they probably have more in the pipeline but have to wait, we'll see I guess!

Like with the harton inspired layout, this layout idea has pretty much run its course for now. A house move, combined with the effects of the pandemic mean it is unlikely to see the light of day in anyway like what I might have originally hoped. The house move means theres simply no room to work on it/store it if I went ahead with it. So the plan will be shelved and looked at at another time, probably in a much smaller space. Who knows...

I realised I haven't updated this thread in quite a while. The project hasn't been forgotten about. However, it is on hiatus, in part due to the pandemic, but more due to a house move and uncertainties about a layout being stored. So until the space has been sorted for it, I will likely have to redo the entire plan again to fit a smaller place. I suspect the viaduct will go as will some of the width perhaps. We'll see!

Poppy has a dog bed somewhere... but she rarely uses it, we long ago lost the fight over the sofa and the bed. The moment she can, she will go curl up on the bed upstairs at Richard's. She likes her comfortable places.

The problems arise if you had the parrot and tortoise conspiring together against you. Though your last line did remind me of Small Gods by Pratchett, though I don't think a parrot could manage to lift a Galapagos Tortoise to drop on you... well not unless it was a very large parrot or a unusually small tortoise...

Indeed not, especially after it is the second such occurance, the previous time, just before the pandemic the ceiling for the gas room collapsed due to upstairs boiler leaking. Took the housing association a good 6 months to fully fix the ceiling, and even then they didn't bother to fix the light fixture until months after when they insisted on a full flat electrical safety test, which was fine (and found one of the sockets in the front room was dodgy!). We'll be back over to the flat Sunday, to ring them on Monday and see what is going on, I've left a key with the neighbour as he's going to get them to check his bathroom. At least this collapse didn't damage/destroy anything like the last one did! I'll be glad when the moving is all dealt with and then we can focus on sorting things out and settling down properly. I'm sure Poppy will be happier to have me around permanently.

Morning all. I've actually remembered this place exists, plus am awake in the morning. All is mostly good here. Poppy is her usual one moment snoring, next moment tigger impersonator (though in truth she is nowhere near as bonkers as she used to be, when she used to use the living room for wall of death antics). The house move preperations took another step forward, and one backwards yesterday when we got over to my flat finally. Managed to do more packing and tidying, only to discover the cieling in the bathroom had collapsed, due to a leak upstairs most likely, that will be fun to deal with, wet sand and ceiling board everywhere, making the wet room unusable. Hopefully by the end of the month or early next month should be ready to move the big items across and then it will just be final clearing and tidying ready to hand over the keys and bid farewell to what is quickly turning into a headache of a housing association. I hope George the cat makes a good recovery. Vet bills can soon add up, pet insurance is definitely worth its while, though with pre-existing conditions the 200/m for medication will still need to be found (though it should be noted you can get just the prescription from the vet and order online far cheaper than directly from the vet and perfectly legal, I believe Natalie does this for Bracken's insulin injections?). Also hope Keith's head isn't too sore after his mishap, ouch!

Hi baz, Thanks for your enquiry after my well being. As Nat says, I keep forgetting that forums exist! Life has also been rather hectic the past few months. I have been in the slow process of preparing to move in with Richard and also having the usual health issues (mostly migraines and vertigo from getting used to new varifocals and putting my back out as well as the usual everyday stuff). As well as that, Richard had his 5th (first was july 2019) eye surgery just before Christmas. He recovered quite well as this time it was a less serious cataract surgery. Hopefully that is the surgeries out of the way now! But he's glad things have improved with his vision, in August 2020 he was very much thinking he could end up blind so feels very relieved to have recovered his eyesight. Throughout once again poppy has been a trooper and kept moral up. We had a nice, if quiet Christmas and New year (Richard had to go back to work on new year eve and worked new year day. Somehow he slept through the fireworks that went on past 2.30am! Poppy was very upset by it all and I spent most of the time cuddling and stroking her. Aside from the above all is well. Natalie is currently sat next to me at the nuneaton railway circle meeting - 21st century trams. Attached is a picture of poppy enjoying her Christmas day. Hope everyone else is well if not sympathy and thoughts as appropriate. Kelly

Morning all. Hope everyone is well? if not, best wishes and sympathies as appriopriate. Awake early today as Richard tends to wake me up regardless when he gets up at 4.30am for work, so I tend to wake up ahead of him and get some things done, before eventually going for a nap in the afternoon until he returns home. Now I don't have to do the driving, I can be a bit more relaxed at home at least and Poppy is a bit more calm knowing she isn't going to get left on her own in the mornings, though she gets a grump on when Richard leaves for work and then causes tremors with her bouncing when he returns. Love that dog! she has made our lives so very much easier to cope with over the past couple of years. The best decision we made was taking her on. Ordered the wheelchair yesterday, which should arrive next week. Managed to find a better deal than expected, so thats saved a little money for other things at least. It will hopefully make life a little less painful and tiring when going places. The scooter batteries were also tested after being on charge overnight with the original scooter charger and still show as one red bar on the scooter. So new batteries will be ordered at some point (the smaller battery pack needed its batteries replacing anyway mind, as I just bought a bigger pack instead of replacing them), as they're a standard lead acid type, they're not overly expensive at least. Now to go grab another cuppa and see what Poppy is upto...

My mobility issues aren't really something new, just expected really with weight gain and chronic illness. I regularly tended to use a mobility scooter at shows, and have had a wheelchair for holidays in the past, just haven't been able to justify getting one until now as there wasn't much need with my own car and a working scooter. With the downsize of car bootspace and the house move pending, it makes more sense to get a wheelchair which takes less space up. The scooter won't go however, as I should be able to replace the batteries if needed. The important thing is that things seem to have settled down with Richard's eyes finally after the saga started in July 2019 with his left eye suffering a detached retina followed by surgeries in March 2020 and the right eye retina detachment in July 2020 followed by a wait until April 2021 for a cataract operation on his right eye, followed again by a wait to be able to get glasses. The fact he can see close up again better will make both our lives a lot less stressful and has allowed him to get back to taking poppy on walks around a local park, which he hasn't been able to do for about 2 years due to his eyesight issues. So whilst my health has declined as expected, I am hopeful it will recover to something more stable without those stresses on me as my fibromyalgia can be rather variable anyway. Hopefully I can manage to shift some weight over the next few months, which will certainly help.

Morning all. I hope everyone is well? if not best wishes and sympathies as appropriate. I've not really been in a frame of mind (or energy) to check in with rmweb much over the last several months or so. However, things have started calming down somewhat now Richard finally has his new (varifocal) glasses and can see enough to read and more importantly drive. I no longer have to drive him to work and collect him, reducing the strain and stress on me considerably. My health has been in somewhat of a decline however over the time I've been having to take him to work, mostly the stress, and weight gain has occurred, so I'll be having to try to deal with that going forward. As I no longer have a car, unless Richard is off work I'm not likely to be getting out much anymore, especially as my scooter seems to have suffered battery death during lockdown (I couldn't find the charger, so I'm hoping the bigger batteries are still ok now we found it, we'll find out Friday). I'm about to order a wheelchair however as the scooter is a bit too big for the boot of Richard's car and with the battery problems hasn't been reliable enough to use when we've gone out into town or otherwise. This probably all means my attendance at exhibitions when they eventually start returning to normal is going to probably be fairly limited as again unless Richard is off work I won't have access to a car (unless I can maybe hire one somehow?). It is what it is though. Anyway, that gloominess aside, all isn't so bad otherwise overall. We're looking at my moving in with Richard fully currently and it is just hopefully a matter of aligning finances and finding the time to box my stuff up and move it across.

It had sat idle for some of the Covid lockdown. Though Natalie had been using it for some of that time, so it wasn't totally idle. The brake lines were an advisory on the MOT in December, however, the garage said they should be fine for another 12 months. It had a persistent oil leak, which probably made it harder for Natalie to spot if brake fluid was leaking too as it'd all be the same colour on the ground. Given the cars age, the deterioration of the brake lines was to be expected though. Just didn't expect them to go that quickly!

I perhaps downplayed it a little, but it wasn't the first time such a thing had happened to me, so I kinda knew to lift off and let the engine slow the car until the hand brake would be usable, going down the gears in the process. Perhaps a bit more scary for Richard being the passenger. Thankfully when I realised the brakes weren't going to slow the car to make the turn, I didn't indicate. Had I done so, I probably would have T-Boned a little VW Up car at 50mph in a big heavy Mondeo, that wouldn't of ended well for the other driver at the very least!. Thankfully he didn't pull out on me and the road after the junction was fairly quiet and I was able to find a safe spot to park and await the RAC to come tow the car to Richard's. The RAC guy inspected the car and discovered the problem had been one of the main brake lines had burst (possibly air had gotten into the system through a worn flexible hose and the brake fluid had leaked as well). Could have been much worse. The reason for not replacing it is mostly because I'm aiming to move in with Richard and two cars just wouldn't be financially viable. As for a motorbike, hell no. Other enjoy them, and thats fine, but they'd never be for me with my health and so on.

Someone called? Afternoon everyone. I have been rather quiet online over the past few months as life has been rather hectic with my other half and his eyes. He had his surgery 4 weeks ago, and has had good recovery so far. Had a bit of a scare with my car the other week mind. The brakes failed at 50mph, but I was thankfully able to bring it to a stop. The car is awaiting being scrapped now however, so future show attendance is going to be somewhat hampered as it will not be getting replaced at this time. Poppy continues to keep us smiling though, so there's that. Kelly

Since posting earlier this morning, Nuneaton has had a spattering of snow , which quickly melted. Poppy is happily snoring away on the bed (I can hear her from the office across the landing!)

I believe it is the test runs for the 91s before the Mk4s were fully ready. They did some runs up/down the WCML just prior to introduction, and I think the middle carriages in that formation were indeed Mk4s on test as well as the 91, with a Mk3 to provide a translation between the HST power car and the Mk4s and a translator coach of some kind between the 91 and Mk4s. I am however going on memory of a thread that was posted about it elsewhere!

Morning all. Hope everyone is well? if not, best wishes and speedy recoveries as appropriate. This morning wasn't quite as cold as expected in Nuneaton when taking Richard to work at around 6am. However, by the time we got to Daventry, it was -1c and snowing fairly heavily (0c and no sign of much snow in Nuneaton/past Coventry). Getting out of the car park at his work was 'fun', all I'll say is I was glad of the stability management at one point. Hopefully by the time I return this evening to collect him (assuming it doesn't snow here in the meantime of course) they'll have gritted the car park and DIRFT roads... On the subject of Richard. Tomorrow was provisionally supposed to be his cataract surgery date, but I'm doubtful that'll happen as he was supposed to be told to go get a covid test 3 days prior when they've got a confirmed date. Of course, understandable that it isn't likely to happen what with the pressures on the NHS, etc, but equally understandable how fed up he is not being able to see to do one of his favourite things - reading -, though he can at least see to watch TV, which is still an improvement over pre-retina surgery in August. Positives however small and all that. Anyway, now to have a cuppa and some toast and look at doing a bit more UPDate related DTP whilst I'm awake. Hope everyone's day proves to be a nice one.

I wasn't sure no, hence the ? But it looks like they don't have their shoes, but retain the beam it looks like.