Smiffy2

My son's partner's father is an ex-GP in Lombardy, so right in the centre of the Italian spike. His advice - very strongly worded - was to wash hands frequently and when entering the house (any soap will do, it's the 20 seconds that matters), wear a proper mask if you can get one when in places with other people, keep a distance of at least a metre from others and wear gloves when handling anything that may have been handled by another person. Rather different from some advice in the UK, but he is dealing with this every day - he has been called out of retirement, but as an older person is being used to do telephone advice work. Stay safe, no need to take risks. Julie and I are self-isolating because we have been out of the country and passed through airports. We feel fine at the moment, but we are both in the high-risk groups. We are also suspicious that we may well have had it - all symptoms match- after Christmas when we met some people from Spain who had also been ill.

Give her our best wishes for a rapid recovery, please.

Just had a phone call - friend too ill to come out. Very worrying, as he is in recovery from bladder cancer. It just goes on...

Morning all. I've not been around due to a rather heavy visit from the Black Dog, several weeks now and affecting everything. Despite quite a few nice things happening and more in the offing I'm battered down by it all, disrupted sleep patterns, lethargy and so on. Very much Brexit related, and how it is likely to completely change my lifestyle for the worse. Then I had a serious Grandad Bob moment (last Saturday week). What happened? Well, it was a lovely, frosty morning so I went out to take some pictures of the frost-dusted plants on the patio. In shorts. Forgetting that I'm not 30 any more, that ice is slippery and sandals don't have grippy soles I did the Photographer's Crouch (right leg bent, left leg stretched out to the side) and just slipped. Impromptu splits, strained/torn thigh, grazed bum, then slid (still doing the splits) down the steps of the patio, ripping the flesh of my ankle, shin and inner thigh off on the edge of the paving. Dropped the camera, but that seems OK. Proud of myself that the first thing I did after was make sure I got the photo. Pretty painful, so I covered it in healing gel, took painkillers and felt a bit stupid. A week on I'm just getting back to being able to walk, as it seems I also twisted my ankle and my left foot is swollen. The pain for the last week has been less than pleasant, and added to the Black Dog hasn't made me a happy bunny. Some pix for the gory. Today I'm off to have lunch with my oldest, bestest friend in Kingston - cabs both ways - and I hope that will do something to lift my mood. Have a good day, everyone.

It's still true...

Used to do carvery lunches, with special rates for pensioners! Not exactly cordon bleu, but not too bad.

Umm... Have you read this? https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7658865/fake-poppy-british-legion-cheetham-hill-manchester-remembrance-sunday/ Best to buy a proper British Legion poppy so the money goes to support ex-service men and women.

I'll be thinking of you, John.

I don't normally go in for conspiracy theories, but it's interesting that Ferrari lost pace straight after a Technical Directive banning an alleged 'loophole' in the fuel flow monitoring system. As Lewis rather mischievously noted earlier.

I popped over to the neighbour today, and we went through her father's photographic gear. Three large, rather damp cardboard boxes stored in the barn... One had a whole family of mice which waited until we put our hands in the box to make themselves known! There was an enlarger and 'computer' for controlling it, loads of developing tanks dating back to the 50s (I took four Paterson System 4 off her hands and a load of spirals), thousands of stainless steel film clips, glass plates (never found the field camera they belonged to, the Canon that there was an instruction book for or the 120 camera which we found the negatives from. Presumably he converted them to cash when he went digital). Loads of old photos from when he was a jobbing snapper, cuttings from newspapers and a Spurs programme - oh, and an Ian Allen ABC for the Eastern Region c1960! So an interesting haul, then time spent washing and reassembling the tanks. I've now started to amass a processing set for France, and I've brought out an old scanner. So much easier than a darkroom... Thanks for the nice comments about the foggy morning picture - I just snapped that from our bedroom window with my phone. This is the view out the back.

Morning everybody. Foggy and damp in la France profonde. Autumn has arrived. Just off to a friend's, she has discovered several boxes of old photographic equipment in her barn. I wouldn't say I'm trembling with excitement but there might be something I want, and I've been offered first refusal. Apart from that, shopping and then starting to winterise the house and pack for home. Wondering when, and if, we'll be back, and under what terms. Best wishes to all.

Not in France.

Morning all, from a rather damp but sunny France Profonde. A question. Our house is heated by a big woodburner and some bottled gas heaters, apart from the bathroom which has an electric heater. We usually only plug this in for a few minutes before having a shower. Today, when unplugging after said ablutions, I noticed the plug was warm. I touched the metal terminals and got a burn, they were so hot. Obviously that heater is now scrap - but is it likely to have been just the heater, or could it be a wiring fault? The wiring is relatively new, put in by a builder when we had the bathroom converted a few years back. Off today to see some friends and have lunch in the lovely little oyster-producing town of Cancale in Brittany. Black and white photos to come!

My deepest condolences, John. Love endures.

Car changes during the race - I don't think so, but driver changes were acceptable in the fifties.

Well put.

John, my heart is breaking for you. I don't have the words - but you and Sandy are in my thoughts and in my heart.

Did they lose the race? I thought Bottas won.

The story goes that a keen Roman inventor went to Vespasian with plans for water-powered corn mills, which would do the work of dozens of slaves. Vespasian pointed out to him that Rome ran on slave labour, and the importation of slaves as war booty, so the idea wasn't much of a runner. The inventor was given a purse of gold coins and told to contract amnesia. In Gaul the economic situation was different.

Bon soirée, TLM. Safely back in La France Profonde. And breathe...

Morning all. Soaking wet, and no breakfast yet; I've just taken Julie and all her gear to a craft fair at the Diamond Riding Centre, and my word is it raining... Plus point - squad of Air Cadets helping unload cars. Minus point - the venue smells very strongly of horse apples. So, a day on my own watching F1, then picking her up again (I've been promised Air Support) and then off to son and grandkids for dinner. I think that counts as a good day, and I hope you all have the same.

2 things. Way back in my childhood my grandfather (station porter at Carshalton for the LBSCR, SR and BR) told me the story of the LBSC overhead electrification. His take was that after two deaths of firemen who were on their tenders using the water tower at Sutton the system was abandoned - now I know it was a financial decision to go over to the LSWR system. If you would like to see some of the photo work I've been doing it's on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/96815759@N06/ richardsmith5 and Instagram @smudgesmith Constructive criticism always welcome.

Hi all. I've heard that people want an update on the Whelkmen. Well, as I am sure will come as no surprise they are abed today and not plying the briny surf in their colourful coracles, whilst the lighthouse at Carshalton-sur-Mer sits idle and unoccupied, due to high winds and predicted bad weather. Nowadays it is only active in fine weather. Today is the feast day of Saint Len of Fairclough, when his followers remain in their beds until lunchtime, emerging only to progress in file to Wetherspoons and then enact the ceremony of Signing On, in which small Giro cheques are distributed to devotees. It doesn't make a lot of difference, really, as the leader of the Whelkmen prorogued all whelking some weeks ago and now, even though the UK Whelking Council has decreed that they should return to work, someone has lost the keys to the coracle sheds. As for your captive chimpanzee, I've had to give up the modelling due to arthritis in my hands, close-focus eyesight, lack of space and time (continuumly), and being in France a lot whilst I still can. In fact I've got a few bits and pieces I would part with for Euros, including a metal guillotine which I paid £150 for and used once... I was also a bit crook (diabetes ran out of control) and got a bit black dog for a few months - family stuff, the state of the UK and so on. Now I've got back into film photography, having bought several Nikons (FE, FM, FE2, EMx3, F90x (2)) and a load of lenses. I now have the optical equivalent of a grey siding. I'm enjoying it a lot, and if anyone is interested I'll point you at my Flickr and Instagram accounts. It takes up less room, and I can manage the technical side much more easily. I'm completely out of step with the ER stories, so sorry if I'm missing anything important. Will post again unless I receive howls of 'No'.

Much love, Mal.

Merry Christmas all! May the forks be with you.