Gruffalo

You'll be up for assault and BATTERY then

Evenin All (he said in best Dock Green fashion). The Aunt has had her birthday visitors and tea, she did have a bit of a turn but seems over that now. Recent weather damaged greenhouse and repairs to be made tomorrow before the next blow arrives - a little too much catering and quaffing today to allow me to deal with it. Sales don't appeal to me unless they are in hobby related outlets so I will leave them to Madam Gruff. Tomorrow, if The Aunt is up to it, a short afternoon visit to the grandchildren is planned. I am unsure if I am intended to be taxi driver or not, no doubt I will be told in due course. We seem to have a mountain of food still to consume and I seem to have little appetite, except for liquids. Have a good day all, hope you aren't affected by the weather.

I am not about to argue with you BoD. I do enjoy a nice malt without cheese too, my doctor doesn't like me having more than a matchbox sized piece a day so generally I have a malt and a little filtered water, the cheese option is rare but enjoyable all the same.

And now some advice please contributors: I am more than chuffed that Madam Gruff has surpassed herself this year and handed me a Star as my Christmas present. I will operate it on a DCC layout so will be installing a chip but the question i would pose to you is: Which one? I am unsure whether to go with sound or just to stick with a decent decoder (I am currently using TCS M1-KA ones). I have seen the recent post of Neal Ball's Castle on his Warncliffe layout and though nice, the video clip lacks depth to the sound with a speaker in a larger tender. I am leaning more and more towards sound but will need to watch the overall power demand as I am running everything on an NCE PowerCab. Any and all advice gratefully received!

IMHO, a nice malt will go well with some cheeses, especially mature cheddars and stiltons. The softer and more creamy cheeses are too sweet to go with the pallette of most malts.

No LNER Footballers, please!

Bright, crisp views from the upper floors of a Gruff Towers as Madam Gruff enjoys her first cup of tea and wishes all her followers a Happy Christmas. I'm about to knock up some breakfast. Be good!

As a frequent dipper on this thread, may I wish you all a peaceful and happy day tomorrow and that you keep up the entertaining reports alongside some superb craftsman (and woman)ship.

For all the criticisms, it certainly seems to be a reasonable seller for Hornby. As stated elsewhere, we need some period coaches to match!

These are the ones that need soaking with a little bicarb for 12 hours before cooking, SWMBO has a penchant for them (I just have to live with the effects).

Just caught up with the world's news on RMWeb - you have been busy boys and girls! I was diverted by two planning applications, one sent to our parish last week with a response necessary very early in the new year for 5 off 126.5M high wind turbines that will be higher than the local Strategic Ancient Monument. The lack of planning policy in our area just invites speculative applications from subsidy farmers for miles around and we are in one of the lowest average wind areas in the country. The second is being floated as a valid plan to add twice as many houses as we already have in our parish with potential to cause significant drainage and flooding problems and cause irreparable damage to one of the most famous tunnels on England's canal system. The nonagenarian aunt of my wife's has been delivered so I sit here taking a break from food preparations for tomorrow whilst my ears are assaulted by high volume television of the frothy detergent type (the hard disk recorder system is going full chat at the moment). I wish every one of my 'new' virtual friends here a pleasant day tomorrow, may it be calm, peaceful and bring you everything you want. Tomorrow is one of the busiest days on the calendar at A&E departments, please ensure you do not become part of that statistic! Time for a little malt distillation I think whilst I prepare marrowfat peas next

Thanks Castle, and to you and those around you.

I believe it is about time for the real Darwin Awards, perhaps one of your elevated parkers may be amongst them Tony.

Our local Waitrose shares a car park with a number of smaller and more local shops / charity outlets. This private area has a one-way system with probably around 120 spaces. It used to have 150 spaces but we had to lose around 20% to make way for disabled parking and "parent & child" slots. People now block the road outside as they pull into the car park, only to find their way forward is blocked whilst someone waits for a vacant slot (there are rarely many of those). Given a lack of parking spaces for the traffic generated by these shops, one would hope that the queuing motorists would circulate but that seems beyond mosts' comprehension. Similarly it seems beyond the wit of some to move to the side whilst waiting for a presently parked vehicle to load and leave. 'Tis the season to be grumpy, sha la la la la, it's Christmas time!

Gruffland seems similar to that inhabited by many contributors. We had rain by the tanker-load violently cast against the bedroom windows through the night but a lovely bright morning interrupted by occasional showers. My morning perambulation round the parish was cool but not too windy. I have discovered some normal cleansing items that will be consumed before the end of this coming week so will have to replenish those before the great retail shut down but I will walk to the nearest shop rather than try and park whilst summoning a family member to collect me for the return home. I need lessons from the erudite Debs to manage anything more verbose. Nidge, you have been afflicted by PSS (pre-sweeny syndrome) brought on by exposure to TGBBCTR (The Great BBC Train Robbery). The only cure is at least two episodes of Thaw / Waterman spinning Granadas Guv - accompanied by the Harry South Big Band. Our Dining Table is barely covered - SWMBO shouts at me too loudly if I get near it! I am sure she does that so it will literally groan under the weight of food in 72 hours time. Today's meal will be something I shall knock up from smoked bacon, chicken and rabbit - probably without a pastry crust but who knows, I certainly don't until Madam Gruff leaves the kitchen and I pull on my apron. Sympathies to all who are without someone for the first time this Christmas and to those where the anniversary of a loss falls during this period that for many is festive rather than reflective.

Yep, with a dark chocolate substitute coating!

Clearly this will be available through Mr Gostude's normal outlet!

Very wet round here, winds around Beaufort 3. The nonagenarian is now panicking about the weather - will it be too bad to get here? I watched the BBC forecast last night and saw why old people get worried, what a real doom-monger they got to give that one! They certainly don't care about who they scare. Still, on the positive side, she won't be astride her broomstick for too long. No sign of the light overcoming the darkness - guess the hints that I would like Lode Star have fallen on stony ground! Not too manic today but tomorrow brings a deluge of baby Gruffs so need to pack little parcels of home-made tablet fudge for them.

A difference here Pete is that we don't seem to be able to discipline or dismiss judges - they are part of a cozy club that, with the Justice Secretary, appoint themselves! The huge disparity in sentences handed down for the same offence seems to depend on which side of whose bed the judge got out of that morning! I accept that there is a difference between justice and vengeance but people who continue to terrorise society or get caught multiple times for burglary should not be treated as if they are the people who should get preferential treatment over those who are their real victims. Equally, prisons should not be somewhere that the inmates can run businesses using illegal mobile phones or continue with a drug habit. I struggle to see that prison here is any real deterrent when politicians lean on the system to suit their whims.

Methinks the advent of a lot of the video games in which the participant is virtually driving around, crashing but continuing unharmed to cause yet more mayhem has a lot to answer for!!! Kids get these games at an age when their minds are susceptible to such influences and they play them for such large amounts of their time that the divide between reality and virtual life becomes blurred. I don't offer a solution, only an observation.

There's no such thing as a "fair share" John, just that the rest of us are more than glad: a) that we can offer such ratings where appropriate and perhaps even more importantly b) we're so glad that you are recovering and we have not had to go through your tribulations.

Cue Mel Smith and Gryf Rees-Jones and "livid gorilla" sketch. I am sure these TV companies encourage misbehaviour as it makes "good television" for the masses - just look at some of the people sharing the communal IQ cell on reality tv shows. I hope your friend recovers her costs but she may struggle - TV companies have some very smart legal departments!

Tha climb out of Bath Green park towards Midford was pretty impressive, the line was above many of the houses so you could see and hear them going at it!

Past times have had this household well stocked with a variety of alcoholic beverages, chocolates, biscuits and other items that diabetics would have to be somewhat restricting in their participation. For some reason this year seems different. The cellar is less than half full, I couldn't find a chocolate anywhere last night and only a few cheese biscuits are hidden (unsuccessfully) in a box in the larder cupboard. Do I go to the off-sales in case I need to offer a glass to visitors or do I pull up the drawbridge and lower the portcullis? I am so looking forward to the arrival (in four days time) of Madam Gruff's nonagenarian widowed aunt - who has been telling us for the past 20 years at least that "I probably won't be around next year" that I think the LP has got a damaged groove. I need to study a resume of all the soap operas' story-lines for the past 12 months so I can hold a polite conversation and not sit groaning in the lounge whilst 'being sociable'. At least she only comes downstairs after 11:00 so I can get out for a walk beforehand - my version of the normal Christmas film fayre "The Great Escape". Weather here is bright and quite still, somewhat different to last night's offering. I thought Fraggle Rock had bumped into this house at one point! Time perhaps to go and spread my brand of Christmas Cheer amongst the traders of nearby towns, no doubt the barbers will want to charge me a search fee again. Hah, bumbug. PS - hope Debs is OK. Edit for tryping errors

Ouch if I get your drift Pete! No jokes about soap and showers.