andyram

Don't worry, I only use those terms for certain parents.

To be fair, although all the football was rubbish, it was only England who looked like they did not want to be there!

Evening all. I hope you have had an enjoyable Sunday. Certainly it has been quite an enjoyable sporting day with wins for Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray and then Heather Watson. I watched the end of the Grand Prix and the first and third sets of the men's tennis final. In between there was a little bit of gardening, tackling the weeds. There was also some time to lay a couple more concrete blocks that are acting as a track bed for the garden railway. A couple of pictures of progress can be seen below. The plan is for a g scale line and the first part of the route is clearly in mind. However Sarah has thrown a spanner in the works. She mentioned that she thought I was going to run "smaller" trains in the garden. I had previously considered making the layout 00 but had opted for g scale believing it to be an easier build. The foundations could easily carry either scale. As I looked at the current route I could certainly picture a 00 gauge Black 5 or Jubilee travelling around at the head of a generous train of maroon Mark 1 coaches. Now I am suddenly not sure what to do - other than continue with the laying of the foundations! Earlier in the day Sarah and I enjoyed a nice pub lunch with Amber. Sarah did stick to soft drinks after yesterday's excess. Meanwhile number 3 cat is certainly happy at home. When we adopted him at Christmas, the Cats Protection staff were concerned that he may not get along with children. Well I think we can answer that question!

Well this final is a summary of the entire tournament. Complete and utter sh1te.

Really has bee in a foul mood today!

Through her nose

So true

There was plenty of refilling at beer festival yesterday.

No more like crawling into bed for a summer hibernation

And making herself

Decidedly lacking in posting inspiration recently due to end of term workload. Oh well, just 10 teaching days to go!!!

Putting both fingers

Before moving onto

You Win Again - Beegees

Generally heard a lot in November

Despite a few threatening clouds and a couple of minor rain showers, there has been a little bit more progress on the line today. The final two concrete blocks have been put in place. These will carry the curve that will take the line away from the back fence, cutting the Southwest corner of the garden to reach the western boundary and the approach to the site of Saffron's Rest Station. Due to the contours of the garden, the track bed is slightly more raised - you will see that it is less "buried" in the ground than the earlier sections. This section runs through the part of the garden that was landscaped two years ago before the route of the line had been planned. This is another reason for the raised tracked as it has to pick its way between some already established plants. Clearly the bush will require further cutting back before trains can run. You may notice the gaps between the block that ends the southern straight and the one that starts the curve. This will be filled in before the track is placed down permenantly. Today's work has completed the laying of all the blocks I have in stock. I will need to purchase more before any further progress can be made. The school summer holiday begins in two weeks time. I hope to purchase more blocks before then. I will also need to dig out the rest of the route through the southwest corner. This will involve digging out a plant that has spread too much, relocate a length of lawn edging and then dig out part of the route. Lots to do!

Good morning everyone. A quick switch from marking pages as Black 5's - to formally name this page 5021 "Whittington Castle". The young child was clearly not the only person who "could not take her drink" - Sarah woke up ill in the night. I think the alcohol did not combine well with her rhinitis. She was feeling very sorry for herself. Best wishes to all, especially to those with illnesses of their own or parents / in-laws to consider. The weather is better this morning - the sun is shining and it is dry although quite windy. An early football match will start the day then, if I still have energy left, I plan to go out into the garden to pull up some weeds and lay a couple more foundation blocks for the garden railway project. Enjoy your day.

Evening all. Here is a picture in honour of today's page number. Despite the changeable weather today has been most enjoyable. The inlaws looked after Amber for the day whilst Sarah and I went to the beer festival in Derby. An enjoyable few hours spent sampling a variety of ales. The Bewdley brewery had sent two of their Severn Valley Railway special ales - Jubilee and Sir Keith Park. Both decent enough ales. I am guessing that whoever wrote the notes for the programme must have been a diesel enthusiast since the "Sir Keith Park" ale was described as being named after a type of tea urn!! The bus journey home from the festival was delayed after a small child decided to vomit all over the top deck and we were forced to wait for the following service. When we left home this lunch time cat number three had settled happily on our bed. He was still there when we returned. It is a hard life!

Just to continue the insult theme of combining private body parts with classic children's characters how about these? Fannyclanger Moominar$e Mr Spoonhead Fraggleco#k Elmoc#nt Knobclanger

Except I could not support any team that includes the over gelled, winking, strutting, peacock!! I must admit I paid little attention to the Germany v France game. I lost all interest in the tournament when Wales went out. I don't think the competition has been particularly good. The French probably deserve to win as the most consistent team. However I do not feel we have seen that much quality football. I can't think of a decent game across the whole tournament. England's first 45 minutes v Russia and Wales' entire 90 minutes against the same team have been the most entertaining. Wales may have been seen as the tournament surprise, although Iceland probably claim that crown - sadly achieved through very negative football. Their approach reminded me of how Greece won the competition a few years ago. There have been a few good goals - Shaquiri's goal for Switzerland v Poland being the standout strike. Payet's first two goals, Modric's strike v Turkey and a couple of Bale free kicks are perhaps the pick of the bunch. All in all though, an underwhelming tournament.

Morning everyone. Another grey and damp day here in South Derbyshire. I hope the start of the weekend finds you well. NHN - I am glad you enjoyed your visit to our part of the world. I hope you enjoy your purchases from the treasure trove that is Bill Hudson books. I also wish you a safe journey home. Brian (BSW) I know of the pub you are visiting tonight. It is a lovely location and the pub, as I remember, is a nice village public house. I went in there a few years ago with an ex of mine whilst accompanying her parents who were having a hot air balloon experience. I also recall a visit one evening whilst visiting some colleagues who were at a Dukes Barn residential. I hope you enjoy your evening with friends. Dave (TG) I am glad the funeral arrangements are progressing and you are getting to spend some time with friends. I notice the continued absence of our old friend Andy (leopard). I do hope he is ok. He did contact he a few weeks back to suggest that he was not in a good place, although the hip was progressing well. I will try and contact him shortly. Today's plans centre around the beer festival in the city centre. I had hoped to make it over earlier in the week but work rather got in the way. The fallout from the class structure announcement continues. It looks like I may have appeased the parent I met face to face on Wednesday, however the Thursday parent remains well and truly on the warpath. I received a rather curt email yesterday morning demanding another telephone conversation. I have declined because she has a face to face meeting with the head teacher on Monday. She will be able to discuss her concerns then. Enjoy your day.

Evening all. Firstly I would like to pass on birthday wishes to those who I have missed recently. I am sorry for the delay. Best wishes also to Dave. I hope you had an enjoyable time with your friend today. The school term is racing to a finish. There are now 11 teaching days left. The end cannot come soon enough. Recently we have sent out class lists for next year. The numbers have meant a couple of year groups will need splitting into two classes. One or two parents have been less than happy with the decision resulting in me having to conduct some awkward meetings. Today saw a phone call from one such parent. In 17 years of teaching I have never been spoken to with such a lack of respect. Perhaps, considering our end of year results are significantly above national average, parents should accept we actually know what we are doing! On a positive note - the release time this afternoon has allowed me to complete all planning for the rest of the school year. One job ticked off.

The Triceratops came from our local branch of "The Range" a couple of years ago. They used to do a good range of dinosaur garden ornaments. They don't seem to be in store any more, but I am hoping to find some others in due course. There are various other strange characters littering the route of the railway.

Does this mean the layout has a new home?

I have also not renewed my membership. Whilst the new magazine showed promise - the lack of new club models (or anything available at all) I feel that my voucher will be meaningless.