southern42

' morning all from red dragon land. Just a quickie. Sun just popped its head up above the mountains. Clear sky - hmm...freezing, then. Fabulous weekend with a birthday gathering of families including our two granddaughters. (Three birthdays in a week!) Photos later when I get a chance to sort them out. Some shopping in the pipeline. Be good. _________________ Best wishes to all Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Looking through a new pair of specs - Wow, I can see you all, at last! A tad windy this morning but rain has stopped. Most of the Ch******s cards done, only to find out, yesterday (via google after finding her website had been taken down) when I got to her card, that one of my college friends I had kept in touch with died last February. Still, I have many lovely comforting memories and thankful I am still around for awhile. A hard thought though. A day of taking it easy beckons. Take care all. _________________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Rather blowy this morning. Ray is giving a neighbour a lift down the village shortly, so he will pick up a few necessities in the garage shop round the corner - if you understand what "round the corner" means round here in the middle of nowhere - although in some countries, I guess, it would be considered to be "next-door." Still, it will save a longer trip through the forest worrying about fallen trees, branches, etc on the way to the big-store-outta-town. The wind is, supposedly, dying down about 3pm. I am still struggling (like lots of others it seems) with little oomph after the cold of 6 weeks ago, so dragging my feet over everything and trying to get some motivation to do the Christmas cards and such like. I knew I should have done them in the summer! Ah, well. Must make start... Keep plodding along, folks! _________________ Best wishes to all Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. We expected to run the diesel at Betws, yesterday. But, the builder of the steam loco put his own loco in steam which Ray drove while Will got on with work on the other engines. I mainly kept out of the cold and showers but did clip some tickets and took one ride as passenger with a West Shore member who turned up with his young son. Wet, but not as cold as last weekend as seen along the A5 between the Ogwen Valley and Betws-y-coed... Cwm Idwal Tryfan River Llugwy near Ty Hyll (the Ugly House) Betws-y-coed, Capel Brynmawr on the right looking East towards the Conwy Valley Line (mainline) and the Conwy Valley Museum Railway which is built in the Old Goods Yard. The sun goes down behind the mountains early at this time of year so the afternoons can get as cold as the mornings! Add the wind funnelling down or up the valley, or a bit of rain, and some warm cosy windproof / waterproof clothing is a must! I have just tried out a pair of sheepskin insoles for my safety boots under my merino wool socks! Just the job! Time for a cuppa. ________________ Best wishes Polly

Hmmm, that sounds familiar.... Well, ' morning all from red dragon land. Up at 5 yesterday for Mancunian land Christmas Show but there were no sitting-down-on-the-job white metal figures found just a few plastic standing folk on one stand which I do not need. Disappointed. However, we did bump into George of this parish and also had lengthy chats with a few exhibitors/traders we have got to know over the years. Enjoyed some layouts too. At the end of the afternoon I dragged up some courage and ventured to enquire about building your own trees. Very impressed. Only missed one friendly face as he was always engaged with someone else - quite normal at this sort of event, of course. Time to get off to play tr**ns. Take care _________ Best wishes Polly

Having narrowly escaped a David and Goliath moment (age 11) on our road's field (now a large housing estate) when a catapulted stone landed on the side of my head, just missing the temple, I followed my friend to her garden and we did free fall off the the shed roof. All those junior school years learning how to land after jumping off the Hall stage in PE lessons obviously paid off - luckily! No injuries, but since it took me many weeks to have the guts...er courage, I mean, (more ladylike ) to do anything above ground level in PE, I am surprised I even ventured onto the shed roof, let alone jump awff! ___________ Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Hope those of you who went to Warley had a great day / weekend - with no whinging. We had an nteresting day at Betws play time tr**n running, yesterday. It had been very wet on Saturday so we were delighted to know that Sunday was going to be DRY. But there is always a BUT... It was still quite DAMP and wheel slip was an issue all day. We both had an occasion when we had to stop. At one point, the loco was faltering at such a slow speed I decided to stop, set everything back to the start position and set off before the passengers were aware we did actually stop - no probs. On Ray's turn of duty, the loco came to a stop, Ray got out of the cab, had an explanatory word with his passengers, and went off for some sand to put down on the track before continuing. Later, on another run, coming up the bank towards the level crossing, there was Ray, between wall and fence (no way out except forward!) putting down sand ahead of me. I slowed down... Images of head-on collision... I did not fancy picking up bits of flesh and bone afterwards... OK, yes.. I have a gory imagination... and... a tendency towards exaggeration (?)... We were driving No. 2 steam engine, Douglas, whose regulator I found a bit of a handful to get used to - or, rather, getting to know how the loco responds to it and how long it takes to respond in the difficult conditions. Two consecutive runs at a time were enough for the old braincells. We are looking forward (hoping) to turning out the loco / train in suitable December festive gear next weekend. EDIT We will also be at Manchester on the Saturday - just look out for the li'l ole lady in the bowler. Do say hello if you see us. We'd love to meet you. _________ Best wishes to all Polly

' morning all. It is going to be wet here, today, according to the pine cone watchers but no rain at present. All of you going to Warley this weekend - Have a good un. Shame we can't be there to say, hello. So online greetings instead! ___________ Best wishes Polly

Look after yourselves, BoD, and anyone else similarly afflicted. If it is anything like the cold we have just had, it needs a lot of TLC and patience. ___________ Polly

' afternoon all. Before I go, Elin Fflur video with English Subtitles. Hope this helps you appreciate the song. That was back in 2011. The previous link I posted was in 2018 - she just gets better and better. _________ Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Sun, light cloud cover, breezy. Pretty good then. Oomph still ailing 2 weeks since I went down with a cold but not enough to stop us going to see Elin Fflur later. Mugadecafcoffeetime Catch up later. ______________ Best wishes to all Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Soggy out but rain stopped for now. Still cold and windy, though. As to my cold...still lingering. Plan is to get enough oomph to get some h****work done...and get "fit"(!?!) for Sunday playtime... Er...it does not feel like it... Still, I try not to indulge in self-pity, and you never know... so... DECAF coffee time. _______________ Best wishes for now Polly

Me, too!

On the other hand, I have had evening class students who, vocally, try to put themselves above their tutor and/or carry on in their own way showing no attempt at improvement or trying other/better ways of doing things. Thankfully, these were in a very small minority - but the trouble is, you remember them! ' morning all from red dragon land. Wey hey. No rain.... Good time to put the recycling stuff out. Last week we had a change of day for putting out the bins. It used to be a Friday, so, when the bin men "couldn't" get along the road (past a couple of parked cars), the bins would be there over the weekend, if not the whole week, until they were collected. Now the bins are collected on Monday. The general waste (bin bags) is now collected every 3 weeks instead of 2. Last week, there were so many bin bags from others, there was no room for our recycle bins! Time will tell how this revised system is going to work. Coffee time. Be good. ___________ Best wishes Polly

Happier days...before I went down with this awful...cold...RATS! Hope none of you get it. Not nice. A walk at Llanfairfechan before lunch at the beginning of last week. Sheeeeesh!...it seems ages ago. This year's brood, eight in all. And you always get one who is a bit behind the others! Shame about the shade. Anglesey and Puffin Island. The lighthouse is just visible. I watched the tide coming in over lunch in the cafe. The long thin thing turned out to be the 1333 1H89 Holyhead-Manchester Piccadilly thundering past. And next, check out the Muddy Hollow but no Woolly Hippos around today. I was going to get a closer view but the fallen tree caught my eye... Time to check the leeks. Slow cook for a leek & potato pie.

' evening all from red dragon land. Looks like we will not get to Warley with the rail strike...but hoping... __________ Best wishes Polly

Well done, Chris. Well done everyone. ____________ Best wishes Polly

' night all and not da ___________ Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Thoughts and best wishes to John. _________ Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Sunny but a lot of cloud around. Looking to go for a walk somewhere... Yesterday, at Betws, Ray handed over half the driving to me (lucky me) - and got some jobs done in the engine shed (lucky him). The shop and buffet cafe staff were delighted to hear (not from me) that I was now a passed driver so, I treated them to the bowler hat trick Youngest taught me which delighted them even more! Little things in life, eh? Hope you get to enjoy some of the little things, today. ___________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Interesting day, yesterday. It was raining when I got up but by the time we left for West Shore it was sunny... but it was quite murky when we hit the coast road to Llandudno so we were not surprised to see the public carpark empty and barely a soul walking the dog along the beach. After an early lunch and chat, the brave few that turned up decided running trains was pointless and we all left. Ray and I took a diversion home via the railway at Betws-y-coed. I had a Royal Wedding London Transport ticket for the museum (donated by an acquaintance) and Ray was hoping to give the steam loco a clean in advance of this morning's run, expecting the diesel to be in use because of morning's wet weather. No, the steamer was running. But...after a coffee...I had an unplanned driving assessment...Delighted to say, I am now a passed steam driver and able to help Ray out when it get's busy. I took two more passenger trains round - in the wet... So, all in all a much better day than expected! Weather looks ok for today. Enjoy your day. _________ Best wishes Polly

' Night all and not da.

' morning all from red dragon land. Just to let you know it is Tuesday, just in case I forget to post again.... Sunny...and wall to wall blue sky. Happy anniversary to Dudders and Ashers. Plan is to get out and cut down the forsythia. Yesterday, I could not find the loppers in the garden "toolbox". "They are inside the grass bin". Ha! Now he tells me! At the time he was out! Try again...when the sun comes round... At least I will be sheltered from the wind. Ah! That is the windbreak...! Oh! Not for long, then! Be intelligent folks! _____________ Best wishes Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. One of the first things that dawns on me (eventually!) is that, with the clocks going back, I lose an "extra" washing machine cycle. We have Economy 7 which is great in the summer - out one wash in at night to finish by 7.00am the next morning. Get up, empty said load and put in second load to finish by 8.30am - though only once or twice a week, I might add. Finish time on E7 is now 7.30am! So, when am I up that early? Hmm. Better plan it to meet those early appointments "they" tend to give you...not that I have any at the moment...dentist is not until sometime in 2020. Hairdresser (whenever) lunch time...Optician (imminent)...pm... Good news...I can now send my rather old fleece for recycling - I managed to get a nice soft replacement, yesterday, in Betws-y-coed. Last week they just had a couple of fleeces but the arms were way too long and no cuff to keep them above the hands. After failing to get an alternative from other stores, I went back and saw they had a new lot in... the sleeves are a bit long but hey! I have them folded over. No probs! Just the job out in the kitchen when it gets chilly or lounging on the sofa with laptop... Yes, some of us do read this stuff..... .....and THAT was Y E S T E R D A Y 's (Monday's) post. Still in the Reply box....Doh!... I think I might just about have made Homer Simpson look even more intelligent... __________ Polly Tuesday

' morning all from red dragon land. One of the first things that dawns on me (eventually!) is that, with the clocks going back, I lose an "extra" washing machine cycle. We have Economy 7 which is great in the summer months - one wash in at night to finish by 7.00am the next morning. Get up, empty said load and put in second load to finish by 8.30am - though two washes only once or twice a week, maybe, I might add. Finish time on E7 is now 7.30am! Yikes! Will I have to be a REAL ER...? Better plan it so I only need to do ONE wash a day...Hmmm...in winter?...with all those extra woollies and stuff...? Good news...I can now send my rather old fleece for recycling - I managed to get a nice soft replacement, yesterday, in Betws-y-coed. Last week they just had a couple of fleeces but the arms were way too long and no cuff to keep them above the hands. After failing to get an alternative from other stores/online, I went back and saw they had a new lot in... slightly different style but the sleeves are a still bit long but hey! I have folded the cuffs over. No probs! Just the job out in the kitchen when it gets chilly or lounging on the sofa with the laptop... ERs (NOoooooo not MRS...!!!??!!!) comes to mind... and YES, some of us do