southern42

Spam: Dear Staff...no more overseas travel... Staff: Let's meet on-line... Software update: Sorry...system overload....Please try later... Serious stuff. I remember 9/11 when a Staff Notice came up on screen: BBC News crashed...Try CNN. Hopefully technology will cope these days.

A quickie before an after lunch cuppa. Over the last few years we have been topping up this little fella on Betws-y-coed (Transport for Wales) station platform with our plastic bottle tops. The station itself is unmanned and the platform decoration/furniture is provided by the building occupants, including this one, by the Galeri. The first time I have seen it this full. The bottle tops are emptied into cages which, when full, provide a solid wall to the edge of the owner's garden at the far end of the station. I must remember to get some pics. You may spot the odd larger than 'small' bottle top requested in there, despite the notice (beyond the photo), including jar and tub lids! __________ Polly

A bit late in the day but I hope it is not too late for St David's Day greetings ...from red dragon land. Great to have a bit of sunshine whilst we were on duty. And to top the day off, I was spotted in the cab by Stubby47 of this parish. Great to meet another RMwebber. Edit. Ah! Yes. You know. I've just seen Stu's post (above). __________ Best wishes to all Polly

I guess that rules out playing toy tr**ns...

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Some pics from yesterday's trip to the playground to help Ray with some work to be done on the ash pit - as weather allows! AM. The A5, going up the Ogwen Valley Tryfan, West face PM. Tryfan, East face No snow at the playground but the sun is shining and the daffs are blooming... And cafe visitor, Robin, fluffs up his feathers on a Blaenau Ffestiniog slate product. Keep warm... __________ Best wishes Polly

Ah! dinghy sailing memories...mirror, fireball, GP14, topper... We had a scorpion...jump a season or two and we entered an inter-club class race on home waters... One by one more seasoned (better) sailors dropped out but we were determined to maintain home club presence, whatever our position. Two of us home club scorpions were left. Boat one came a cropper taking a chance with the spinnaker - we dropped ours early but nearly came a cropper ourselves...someone shouted from the shore to keep going...and we crossed the line (some way down the pack) to the delight of fellow club sailors. As novices, it taught us a big lesson...and applicable to building/exhibiting a model railway (among other things) - just keep going... Thanks for the memories... and goodnight. Polly

Occasionally make pancakes during the year, and more specifically after making the Chr***mas cake icing to use up the egg yolks - unless Ray needs them for the stuffing for the Turkey when I do the icing as late as Chr***mas Eve.

' morning all from red dragon land. Last night's pancakes superb despite the fact that I tipped in more milk than required - compensated by adding a bit more batter to the frying pan! Thicker pancakes but fewer to make! Topped with squeezed lemon and thin scattering of sugar. Remaining lemon squeezed into orange juice and drunk HOT - different! but Nice! Don't panic - be adventurous! __________ Best wishes Polly

' evening all from red dragon land. Time to go and make some pancakes...

Totally agree, Mike. I ordered a wool jumper to help keep me warm while playing driving tr**ns during the winter. Tracking by Slow-Delivery-Service-Co. said it was delivered through the letterbox - but it sure was not my letterbox. By the time I received it, and after several phone calls to supplier and SDS, the jumper had been returned to SDS and put through yet another letterbox - again, as before, round the corner! Weeks down the line it was finally delivered by the postman (Royal Mail not SDS, so guessing it was put in the postbox!), but not before a replacement was received by the supplier who included a postage paid label for the spare one to be retuned - well done Supplier's customer services. To be fair to neighbours of said letterboxes, they probably have no idea who or where we are as we are just part of a terrace on an old footpath (right of way), not a road! I've been here decades and I don't know who or where everyone is. People come, people go. The village is bigger... And no corner shop post office anymore to get to know each other. And, maybe, to be fair to the SDS delivery driver, his/her satnav probably placed my postcode in the middle of a field! It happens. So it looks like any door number that matched mine was fair game! End of sob story. ___________ Polly

Thank goodness, indeed. Fortunately, we have such removable boards, but even if we had used rubber seals, they would not have stopped the milk getting under the fridge.

' morning all from red dragon land. Photo books turned up on Saturday and no errors. A few were posted yesterday and should arrive at family addresses today. Hope they like it! A bit of oomph is gradually returning so hopefully I will be fit for purpose at Betws at the weekend - Geirionydd is back in steam. Ray had to take a circular route to Betws on Sunday as part of the A5 was closed due to yet another tree down with electricity lines. Fallen trees, flooding and landslip had been the previous weekend's plot which did stop play. Time to put the hoover round. Thoughts with any who are adversely affected by the floods etc. Sunday, a bottle of milk got spilt on the kitchen floor - that was bad enough. It took us both to mop and clean up and caused quite a bit of stress as it got under the fridge and adjacent cupboards. It could have been a whole lot worse but, thankfully, a couple of towels were conveniently within arms reach and saved the day and no odour on the carpet tile it reached on the other side of the breakfast bar. Just a minor irritation. I feel so much for those losing everything. Small incidents throw so much light on others' disasters. Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Windy! ...and the rest of the world is misted out! It might be fun at the weekend down on the tr*ck...heavy rain and strong winds forecast by the pine cone observers... Last weekend, the A5 was blocked by a tree, flood and landslide... Is there any point in me worrying about getting my oomph back, I wonder? Staying at home....? Nana's birthday Photo book is due today...Keeping fingers crossed that it does actually arrive today and it has printed OK as, on my photo calendar, a couple of the text boxes misprinted - one line did not print in one box, and the other box missed off the last word. My fault, that one - it looks like I chopped it off before I ordered it. Time for a mugadefcoffee to keep me going til the postman arrives. And here is a link to current road conditions if you are just hanging around waiting and looking for something else to do, as if. https://traffic.wales Keep smiling. _______________ Best wishes Polly By the way, nice cake, GDB. Two slices, please...one for me, and one for SWMBO.

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Cold-or-whatever symptoms on the wane but I can suddenly feel like going to sleep... So, no venturing out...will see how it goes at the weekend. I have always turned down an invite to be a club committee member, although I did become a sub-committee member of the MES with no requirement to attend committee meetings... I just submit reports, written or verbal, to an appropriate member, if need be. Does me! Talking about reports, recently, I completed the Figures spreadsheet for West Shore re our Public Running days last year. Interestingly, it confirms that after we introduced tickets for passenger rides, although the number of rides fell, donations increased by a significant amount. The next thing is to see how this year's figures compare as the last Committee meeting gave the go ahead to continue issuing tickets. Best go and do myself some lunch or lingering symptoms won't be my only problem... Thinking of others smitten down with the lurgy, and other ailments... keep smiling... ___________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Condolences to John and Andy. Despite the symptoms being very low key, I know my cold-or-whatever is getting the better of me, this morning - I have reclined the sofa to do this! Needs must... Ray is out playing t***ns and I aim to get a few jobs around the house done, but first, a mugadecafcoffee...and, judging by the way I feel, maybe an early lunch, too... After the next dose, then. Take care to avoid the bugs. _______________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Make the most of it - it is sunny! Well, I would if I could - I am nursing a cold or whatever. Weird, this one, as symptoms come-&-go. One minute here, next minute gone. My favoured painkillers seem to calm it all down - until the next dose, anyway. Yesterday, taking my mind off it, I had an enjoyable day assembling an online photo book of my last birthday with (most of) the family. It brought back some lovely memories. Several copies ordered with a (Valentine's Day) 50% discount. I just hope it turns out alright as the design section had a border all round, the review-and-buy section did not! As I need to get one to my sister as near to her birthday as possible, I left it as is - fingers crossed! It features scenes of family members with both, serious and wildly excited, little granddaughters tackling grown up activities, sharing their new found abilities, playing, and getting what they want (in particular, an ice-cream cone)... Thus, with added text, the photo book reads: "How to celebrate Nana's Birthday" Lay the table : Cut the cake : Count [GDD reading to Grandad]: Get the balloons down : Have a laugh : Throw balloons : Walk through... : the Park : Have lunch in the... : Coffee Shop : Share joke. He! He! : Take Selfie! Smile! [Nana with eldest GDD] : Walk back [eldest GDD out of the pushchair] : Hey! Wait for me! : Get out of the cold [into ice-cream shop!] : Open wide : Make a mess : Eye's off! Get your own! : Cuddle Paddington Bear : Say Cheese! : Say Cheers! : Carry umbrella [adult assisted] : and go undercover [under another adult assisted, golf-size, umbrella] : ...back to the car! The End Just got to wait a week...or so... Hope your day consists of good things. Time for another dose... _____________ Best wishes Polly

Agree. I like it HOT.

Timely comment, Mike. I found some photo albums in the workshop on Saturday. One of the photos showed two ladders down on the mainline standing up against the centre section with a painter up on each one. Was one of them, you, I wonder?

And a 7 1/4" miniature railway... Ray is in the cab of "Douglas" although "Gwydir Castle" (diesel) runs on weekdays. Shop and museum are in the building beyond. The Cafe is in the last carriage, the kitchen car next to it. Great place to work/play, even if it is for just one or two days a week! Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Unusual sounds were coming from the microwave oven yesterday morning but the popty ping still heated my orange juice so, I carried on with caution. I then got that smell of overheated metal...and...yes...the top of the microwave oven was hot...and the poor thing gave up the ghost altogether...Remove half-cooked bowl of porridge from oven and transfer contents to saucepan on the hob to finish off. Drat! Sometime later, after a much delayed breakfast, a trip to Llandudno was undertaken to pick up a new one after reserving it on the store's website. The same model, although, with evidence of slightly faster cooking times already, I suspect that newer parts have contributed to a more efficient working (maybe) - I am no expert on these things...but I am good at guessing...even if I am wrong... The nice thing about having the same model is that I know how it works...and no heavy reading of Manual, Labels, etc...just plug it in and use. And, this morning, it was breakfast as normal although somewhat later as I had a much longer sleep-in. Time to catch up on some jobs. Keep smiling! ___________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Not a hospitable place for parrots (or public running loco* drivers, come to that) - cold, windy, and chuckinitdarn. Keep chuffin'. _________ Best wishes to all Polly * You've gotta be loco in this activity...

Er...hum...Not this one, she ain't! __________________ Night all and nos da Pretty Polly....

' morning afternoon (!) all from red dragon land. My best beat-the-clock commute was back in the early 70's: Blue diesels to Ealing Broadway, Across the platform onto the District Line to Ealing Common, Across the platform onto the Piccadilliy Line to Hammersmith, ...And this is the important bit..! Race across the platform and jump on the District Line train in front of the one I got on at Ealing Broadway And get to Sloane Square and work in time for a cuppa before start of play. HOWZAT, then? I came home the pretty route...! Tube to Ealing Common/Broadway, 207 AEC Routemaster along the Uxbridge Road, then a walk through the horse field past Hayes Cricket Club ground and through the park to home. Sanity restored! Now back to Wednesday of this week... Arrival at West Shore, the Great Orme just about visible, and the Isle of Man some distance beyond... Leaving West Shore after a chat in the Clubhouse Nearing home Yesterday, mist - sun - mist - sun - mist Today, mist and wet underfoot. And here's the promised pic of the Terrace Patio Lambkin Friendly looking girl, isn't she? Not got a name for her yet... Time for a mugadecafcafetierre (Chr*****s pressie! - Roberts coffee). Take care, all ____________ Best wishes Polly

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Another sunny day. Some weather photos from the weekend going to and from Betws-y-coed (and some in-between!) Saturday morning. Dark, isn't it, mun? Frost everywhere and sun most welcome. Trusty steed waiting... ...for the points to be unstuck and oiled! Sunday morning and snow has fallen overnight above Llyn Ogwen (Lake). We arrive to a heavier frost and minus temperatures. On the afternoon run, I took a S L O W tr**n over the bridge (by the white post) so as not to frighten the heron that had arrived after the ice had melted on the pond, as well as to give the passengers a chance to have a good look at the heron at close range. Sunday afternoon, Ray saw the heron on the pond but standing on the ice which had not melted due to the lower temperature. A quick pic taken between preserved carriages at the end of our day. We will soon be going home in daylight. Yay! Lunchtime... Keep warm. ____________ Best wishes Polly

The sun came out this afternoon so we went to the RSPB Conwy to get some bird food to attract some wee birdies before the Big Garden Birdwatch next weekend and the rest of the winter. Chuckinitdarn now! I can hear it pounding on the new terrace--patio. And talking about the new patio, Youngest gave me a stone sheep to keep watch out there, tho it is keeping warm in the living room at the moment... Photo to come...when I remember (!) __________ Polly