The White Rabbit

Surely pie>brandy>chips>peas? Though TBQH (and at the risk of going on Bear's list) I could quite happily do without the chips! That's disgusting! Olives on a pepperoni pizza? Ugh!

Of course one potential accompaniment to pies is ... baked beans! Teasing aside, I tend to favour peas - mushy or otherwise - but for me at least, it really does depend on what's in the pie. Sometimes roast parsnip and/or carrot, in the green line, I have been known to have leeks, cabbage and cucumber. Though not all at once. If it's a fish or chicken pie, then a well-chosen salad could well be selected.

Morning all, Very grey here but not much other weather. Perhaps a slothful day? On the subject of pies (and pasties and 'stews with lids'), mine tend to be rectangular. Mainly due to laziness or practicality - most of my baking containers are rectangular. I have a couple of ramekins and a muffin tray but these are rather small for pies. I could do pasties as semicircles but find it's a bit fiddly with cutting the shapes out and then re-rolling the spare pastry into a new sheet. I know, I know, not much of an excuse but it's simpler to use rectangles, which form square pasties. Likewise, my scones are very often square(ish!). With a few weird shapes reminiscent of modern art! They are the ones which tend to get scoffed straight from the oven and the square/round ones kept for public viewing/consumption. Some strange dreams last night, for once I remembered them. It wasn't worth it! Time to go and try to do something useful... TTFN.

Morning awl, To borrow a phrase from @grandadbob, another day in the fast lane. Hope he's having a few days off for the right reasons (possibly afloat?) and not the wrong ones. Welcome to @OwenTheSignal - I like Ivor too. So much that the awl might be pricking its ears up shortly... (The longer you read ERs, the more 'in jokes' you'll pick up on). 😉 ION ... err, um, really exciting times in this burrow, staying in for parcel, waiting for others to get back to me, watching the raindrops roll down the window and wondering about the alternate lyrics to Sacha Distel (you know, the ones about Italian waiters and Dracula*). Then where all the birds have gone and why the snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils are all out at the same time rather than in sequence. Carpe diem everyone, stay dry and warm if you can. * Not PC (though told to me by a PC!) and Andy wouldn't approve...

M'lud, may I advert you to certain evidence* which I submit is relevant to this case: Contrary to popular belief, this 'wee scrap' was not caused by disagreements over government but by the North Yorkshire S4 Group deciding they had had enough of the West Riding EM Society getting all the finescale exhibition invites. Perhaps tame by Geordie standards - only two mass graves were required - the Battle of Naseby Moor made a lasting impression within the local community. A spokesman for the OO9 Society attempted to explain, "Narrow rails, broad minds. Broader rails, narrower minds". He promptly received invites from all factions** to inspect the inside of a cannon barrel to check it's bore. I am now going into hiding for fear of the awl, Debs has been sighted recently... * Courtesy of CC's Time Machine (patent pending). ** Don't worry, I won't mention the Judean People's Front ... err, oh dear, sorry...

I'm on flowers this year, using the conservatory as the greenhouse blew down in the gales. Nearly through a fence but we managed to stop it just in time. Alyssum, aubretia, antirrhinums, campanula, cornflowers and lobelia.

Safest to take the battery out. Some mobiles continue to 'transmit' even when they are 'switched off'. Discussed a few years ago by Mr. Holmes: https://classic-literature.co.uk/a-c-doyle-the-valley-of-fear-sherlock-holmes/ - he used Bradshaw. One false start, as it was a new year/edition. He drops 100% of his pancakes...

Ah, go on, go on, go on... Careful now... that's one of my muddlin' ambitions and before we know where we are the awl will be saying, "down with this sort of thing"... Windoze 10? I'm still on Windows 7. But then I do like to make things last. If only to really P off the commercial lot which want to extract as much £ as possible for as shoddy a product as possible. Serve the b'sterds right... Morning afternoon evening all, Another day disgracefully late on parade. I got a little sidetracked, maybe a tad more than a custard tart to a Grizz or a LDC to a polybear. Not by food - this time! - there's a bit going on at the moment and some days feel like I'm juggling more skittles than my co-ordination can handle. Still, things worked out OK in the end. Though I too have forgotten the Grand Prix retiming. Kettle filled and will be switched on shortly for a hot water bottle to warm the chair.

Evenin' all, Hideously late on parade or sycophantically early? I'll let you decide. Sparky's visit meant I didn't get my morning perusal of RMW, so 24 or so hours' worth of posts to catch up on. A few bits done while we were without electric, boring minor repair work generally. A few seeds sown for the kitchen windowsill salad solarium. One set of bookshelves from Oakworld assembled, I wasn't impressed. Other brands have been better quality, cheaper and easier to put together. Still, in ER speak, we won't look a free field ornament in the mush. And it's got some books out of their piles. I wondered if we were going to get buried under those piles earlier, they shook a little when a certain low flying helicopter in grey came past, it was very low. Rattled the saucers a tad too... read the sticker in the rear window, 'How's my flying? Call ***********'. It must have been all those messages spelt out in daffodils on our lawn. Must write bigger next year... Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant Hapus.

Evening all. Mixed fortunes today, some bits done in the garden and on the house repairs. A sparky due for tomorrow to hopefully fix a few problems there. But still no news from the doctor (ticking clock with nasty consequences if he doesn't pull his finger out PDQ). Some progress made on admin. And an acquaintance has had a baby today, cue comments about leap years, saving money on pressies, aging slowly etc.. The parents are having second thoughts about names ...

For me there was always something special about them. Two 'good blokes' as well as some cracking TV and culinary inspiration. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/feb/29/genuinely-groundbreaking-how-the-hairy-bikers-dave-myers-redefined-masculinity-on-british-tv gives a view on why, how and friendship. Thoughts with them and families.

I would speculate there's many triggers but some of the physiological changes with growing older may well be a cause. In a highly unscientific survey, about half the people I've known who have talked about sleeping have said their patterns have changed as they got older, half didn't. 'Older' I think was anytime in their 50s, 60s & 70s. In women it often coincided/followed from their menopause. In my case the problems were caused by surgery - I used to sleep (usually very soundly) on my front and now I can't. The body hasn't adapted after a few years, I doubt it will now. Often the problem is mid-night wakefulness, potentially like yours. I've sometimes likened it to a sailor being on a watch system - a few hours asleep then the body comes awake suddenly and is most insistent it's going to be awake for a few hours even though I'm tired and there's nothing to keep me awake. Then (usually just as everyone else is about to start getting up) I fall asleep again and if I'm lucky, will have a few more hours. If not, it's zombie time for that day. Have you tried the doctor? I wouldn't be hopeful but it could be worth a try. I'm sceptical because with me they tried all sorts of things without any success and kept wanting to put me on tranquilisers. I've seen what they did to three people I know and there was no way I was going down that route - better to die than live like that. Other opinions are available of course but - based on evidence rather than emotion - that was my judgement. With me (and a medical person could probably suggest plenty of other non-chemical options) some basic self-nursing sometimes helps. A change of mattress (and sometimes type of mattress), then at the relevant time, hot water bottles, hot (non-alcoholic) drinks, half an hour standing up and looking out of the bedroom window. They seem to have made a difference - not enough for the problem not to still be serious and limiting but enough to change it from gruesome enough for me to be incapable of most things or contemplating suicide. Two common problems with pumping bilges is the light in the bathroom can trigger 'it's time to get oop and on with the day' reactions, and if the tap water's cold then washing hands usually shocks me out of snoozy-mode. If I can go through it on auto-pilot then I have a better chance of getting back to zeds. My wierdest dream was playing three way chess with the Pope and Putin. I think the unicorn won...

Or (between gritted teeth) "lessons have been learnt".

I think that have been more due to the naughty Danes?

One - a bit nit-picking and hypothetical - query: with autotrain operation, wouldn't the engine and coach buffers be hard against each other to stop the coach bashing against the loco when braking or accelerating, gradients etc.? I know running a model like that could well be tricky because of the tighter than prototype curves we have to contend with but (as an out of ticket operations person on a heritage line) that leapt out at me. We never operated autotrains though and I've never got to a line which does when they were running, I know the coupling arrangements are a bit different, so wondered whether that would also apply to buffering. No offence or criticism to Kevin intended though, if I could model a scene like that, autotrain couplings wouldn't be high on my priority list. Just asking out of curiosity. Not for a friend - this time!

My name vill also go on ze list... Not this am but yesterday tea was bacon sarnie time, no doorsteps but decent bread and bacon with some camembert and pesto. Piddling down today, so various inside odd jobs done and more time allocated for cooking. An onion omelette had for lunch, accompanied with a few triple cooked chips, some runner beans and a glass of white. As Jamie might say, 'it's a hard life'...

Elsewhere in the statute book, that's described as a conflict of interest and all sorts of punishments are decreed, right up to permanent removal of cake scoffing privileges. It might make sense if your surname/family name is Janus but for simple peasants like myself, it just seems like there's one law for the lords and one for those who shovel the *. Further comment could get me into trouble... Here it's been dark - sunny - dark - sunny (ad infinitum) like some giant toddler's been fooling around with a dimmer switch all day. Not to mention playing with the watering can. A good day for landscape photography, you can get some great frames in dramatic lighting conditions. And soaked. And frozen to the marrow. And - a day or two later - a streaming cold. Achoo! So I resisted temptation to suffer for my art and did a few jobs at home. A little cooking, some DIY repairs and ordering some things/upgrades to replace various bits which have conked out. Like phones, printers, gutters, waterproofing and sealant. And a few seeds were sown, veg/salad and flowers. Chives, cress, lettuce and aubretia, alyssum and snapdragons. Many, many yoghurt pots filled...

As quite a few of us know, the trouble with being awake in the dark hours is it's too much of an encouragement to think ... Last night, my 'specialist subject' was alliteration, with a side order of tongue twisters. For some reason I woke up with a mental picture of a dozen or so assorted bears feeding from a cattle feeding trough of baked beans, so, thinking about menu options when dining out: Bear's bargain baked bean barbeque bowl bonanza. Bear's beef bearnaise butty blends baba, boiled brisket & brandy butter. (Best not try that at home folks...) Better biscuits baked by Bear, blessed by Barings Bank brainy boys. And potential business/GmbH slogans? Bare bears bake baked beans by brewing better bowls. Bear's brilliant before breakfast beer bouts backed by bubbling bowels. By balking brilliant badinage, bantering bears bait baffled barracking bandits. Bad bears boil beans by burning bonfires, baulks bearing bubbling bowls, barring beefy blows by belching bears, baffling better bears' brilliance? At which point - thankfully - it was back to snoozy-land.

I've found the thin ones are useful kneeling mats. Not thick ones as the edges can dig into your shins but the 'weedy' ones are useful for weeding, whether kneeling on flags or damp grass. So mine take a circuitous route to the recycling!

Welcome back Bear. I had toad in the hole recently (I'm having to deal with a few things atm and many days are blurring into one another...). The way I do it isn't laborious, just mix the batter a couple of hours ahead of it going in the oven, brown off the sausages (from a local butchers, with a high % of meat) then add together and place in a hot oven. Cooked but not excessively crispy, it's a traditional style. (And yes, I know other opinions are available, I remember the last round of comments about YP)! Adding sausages (or other meat pieces) does seem to help the batter cook. Maybe about ten minutes prep and then about half an hour doing it's thing in t'oven. The thought of an air fryer being used to make tea is a touch 'peculiar'. I'm not a tea drinker but ... hmmm ....

Snap... I don't think I had any specific reaction to codeine but I didn't like it, was very happy to stop taking it. It's difficult to be certain whether you are feeling grotty due to the drugs - or due to other factors - or a combination of both. So far, after my surgeries, I've felt considerably better than medical science suggests I should have and have been able to walk (and talk!) and do more than official doctrine suggested I would at that particular time. I was able to come off painkillers a lot earlier than the doctors anticipated. What annoys* me is that where it really counted - deep inside me - my body decided it was going to 'sulk'. And not heal the way the rest of me suggested I should have. No address given for a 'PX' form either, pah & TCs in spades... Fingers crossed you do not suffer from such capriciousness. It would be easy to sit in a corner and sulk, though the weather today has helped steer me away from such negative thoughts. The first of the garden daffodils are out, rather earlier than anticipated, and it's been relatively mild. A certain amount of gentle G-word activity has been done. Two robins have been making themselves known, I think they must have a nest close by as I've heard a lot of territorial warbling. Some earth-turning has been done and both robins have been showing a considerable interest in this. Much Pecking under the Bush could be the name of a garden railway station... Though I think I might be holding out my cap and cadging for a tip, in view of all the work I've put in and no bill sent in. No cheques, no credit. And no contributions of dead bifurcated earthworms and regurgitated woodlice please, my local branch of Nat West won't accept them and give you all sorts of funny looks if you try. It's strictly coin of the realm chaps, preferably guineas rather than rusty 1890s pennies... * That's a major understatement, made in consideration of RMW's rules about Anglo-Saxon language in pursuit of excessive honesty...

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/173912-metcalfe-modelling-miscellaneous-memories/#comments I have a couple of MDF laser cut kits waiting, hope to have a go at them later this year if a couple of other things can be dealt with so I can focus on modelling. So at the moment, I'm trying to pick up some tips and see how others get on with them before making a start.

Morning awl, Positive vibes to Bear Towers, been there myself (mainly 'thanks' to the NHS) and I'm very glad things are improving. Perhaps the cure is one of those prescriptions pharmacists can't fulfil, but - like Jerome K Jerome's case - is one of those which need taking elsewhere? An hour muddling or fighting the evil machinations of CC every eight hours. One dish of pizza (and curly fries?) every lunchtime Two helpings of LDC every evening Twelve really dirty jokes every 24 hours A few friends, worthy of the name One comfy bed sharp at ten. Also, fingers crossed for Dave, more best wishes that way too. And - while I won't claim I fit the motoring homepage's description seen earlier of 'playful and beautiful' 😉, I did see an article earlier which was a bit more cheerful (and less political!) than most of the news, brought back some memories: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/feb/14/he-always-deseeds-my-tomatoes-17-little-gestures-that-make-you-feel-loved - a little bit of solace goes a long way.

I've heard of that being done the other way, with Japanese ideograms or Chinese characters printed on a T shirt being used to say something derogatory about the [Western] wearer.