Oldddudders

Evenin' all A hot and sunny day in la Sarthe, but I did manage a bit of a strim before lunch. Dave - I feel Is's news may be more comforting for you than we think, especially if she will be home and settled, since I had inferred a much shorter timescale had been on your mind. But those precious days will disappear fast. Things you have said in the past imply you have the capacity to make the most of them. Surely we all wish you well with that. Charities are seldom in my face, living in a country where even charity shops are uncommon. But they are big business these days in the UK, and salaries are commensurate. There used to be, maybe still are, a host of 'charity muggers' or 'chuggers' in Central London, anxious to sign you up for whatever worthy cause. The chap that ran them, I believe, also ran a Ferrari in the European Championship. Quite some years ago, my father received a Xmas charity appeal, which received no response. Just after Xmas, a further note appeared, mysteriously without the originating address, saying that, no thanks to my father, this person had still had a good Xmas due to the kindness of others. The reason dad hadn't responded was not unconnected with his death in the November...... A dozen assorted bottles of Greene King products arrived with Sherry this time. I owe it to her to sample a few, I feel.

And he also seems to have the world's leading collection of check shirts!

A mere detail to those who can't pronounce Hertfordshire!

The poor chap is obviously affronted by the sight of a Bulleid minus its air-smoothed casing. And so he should be.

They looked very dreary in all-over blue, which tended to look matt after a short time. Oddly, the feature which distinguished the prototypes in green - painted window frames - looked really poor in blue. It was a great day when blue and grey got the nod for repaints.

3.9 litre Ferrari with

Big Noise From Winetka - Gene Krupa

It also helps if you know how to pronounce Welwyn. For anyone not aware, the second w is silent. Tony S - that's Wallington, close by those whelking types we hear about on ERs, rather than Wallingford, a bucolic GWR sort of place.

Fairly certain this was where the LB&SCR originally got its ballast, too, so having a spoil tip there is kinda replacing what had been extracted in the C19.

Poor Little Puppet - Jan & Dean

World On a String - BigUp Jazz

I'm not sure about them running mainly at night. Since I lived nowhere near the GW Main Line, and the very few GW places I spotted were all in daylight hours, the fact that I saw several of these suggests they were allowed out by day, too. I am sure I saw one inbound to Paddington, while I was standing on Royal Oak platform.

Little Old Lady From Pasadena - Jan & Dean

Mind? It has gone from one top-notch modeller to another! Honoured!

I got it bad ( and that ain't good) - Nat King Cole

Crikey! My old, half-baked Van B is doing the rounds! At least it's getting a going-over!

Much better, Andy, although Jason has a point, too. But low-relief structures only really work against the backscene, I think. Any other location and you will inevitably find a viewing angle that shows them to be false.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Richard! Petethemole has a Lawrence/Goddard loco? They are never cheap. I'm proud of owning a coach by them - a Bulleid BTK - but a loco is superior by some margin. We actually had a sunny afternoon yesterday, and a true Summer evening, but a misty morning today only yielded to the sun a couple of hours ago, and it's now clouded over prior to stormy showers being due. Glad I made use of the dry day to take another layer off most of the grass. I know zilch about tapas, and Iberia is the least interesting part of Europe to me. Ignorance is probably bliss. Hope your week going well.

Huh. I was once in the illicit company of a lady when her phone rang. Hubby was on the other end, wanting to speak to one of the girls she had said she would be with. She afforded herself a moment's thinking time by saying they were in the loo, but then announced that they were back. Placing a finger against one nostril, putting on a little-girlie voice, and deploying her acting skills, she said "Hello, this is Lesley" whereupon hubby said "Oh, thanks, can you put my wife back on please?" You couldn't make it up!

Westchester Lady - Bob James

The man himself hath posted three times in an RMweb thread in the last 24 hrs. Edit! Ah, I see he has a layout thread here again. Sorry for being slow.

Certainly better than Rosberg.

Evenin' all Belated birthday congrats to Peter BB. I hope I'm still as capable if/when I get that far! Relieved to say I managed to buck up a bit yesterday, and completed 90' mowing, before we went off to watch the kids' 'spectacle' in La Ferté Bernard. That was really quite enjoyable, although since Sherry and I are not fluent French speakers, and young actors of all races tend to gabble their lines, we missed some of the subtleties! Alison's son did very well - not least because until a couple of years ago, he spoke very little French. A pleasant time was had by all. Today we spent a couple of hours watching the Le Mans Test Day, mainly from the Maison Blanche grandstand. As well as offering excellent views of the double chicane, this also has a sort of gallery at the front which is ideal for snapping the approaching cars. As I now have a camera capable of 10 frames per second, there are a few pics awaiting inspection. 50 years ago, Ford won Le Mans for the first of 4 successive times, so it is good to see a new Ford showing promise this year. After a quick nosh, we headed off for the model railway exhibition at Tuffé. This proved rather good, really, but the hall was a little hot at times. With exhibitors and traders from a wide area, there was plenty to see, and we easily fell into conversation with several layout-owners. Charles Attwell? Yes, I remember him quite fondly. He was one of the first wave of Area Managers in the mid-sixties, most of whom were found offices at stations where the Stationmaster - as they still were then, I think - wasn't! So Hove instead of Brighton, Polegate instead of Eastbourne, Hurst Green instead of Oxted, South instead of East Croydon and Cheam instead of Sutton. I think Charles was originally at Barnham, so neither Bognor Regis nor Chichester. Common sense prevailed after a few years, and most of those posts moved to the natural centre. Sadly I have today learned of a former colleague lost. A charismatic architect - they do exist! - Debbie had an exotic surname, having once been married, so 'twas said, to a Russian count! She had been feted for station reconstructions that garnered civic awards etc, and was generally a good egg. A few years younger than me, too. I hope your weekend has delivered.

Silly life indoors : The flood news from gay Paree is not good, and I was reminiscing about a 1950s pop tune by Winifred Attwell, called The Poor People Of Paris, and how on such occasions this takes on a new meaning. This led to mention of Russ Conway, also a '50s popular pianist, and his big hit Side Saddle. Sherry - who has a good voice and near-perfect pitch - began to hum the tune, playing it on air-piano. At this point Cooper, large orange cat stretched out on her lap, stopped dozing, turned his head round and gave Sherry the WTF look!

City of Tomorrow - Ben Tankard