jonny777

Someone in Sheffield must be having fun - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-ASSORTED-OO-HORNNY-WAGONS-1O-/162249900866?hash=item25c6d90342 Maybe it is the Christmas party?

I have noticed that there are weeks when fatballs vanish rapidly and other weeks where they remain virtually untouched. I am not sure why this is, but I think at this time of year a lot more folk put food out for birds, and maybe they are just spoiled for choice. If (or when) we get an inch or two of snow on the ground, it is amazing how suddenly the food that has been previously ignored suddenly becomes very desirable.

I hardly use by refuse bin, so I tend not to notice how infrequently they turn up. We recycle just about everything, and kitchen scraps/peelings go on the compost heap. The recycler and food waste lorry comes every week, which gets rid of most things, and the green waste every fortnight (but we rarely use that either because we have a shredder and everything ends up on the compost heap for use on the allotment at a later date). We waste as little food as possible, unlike a lot of folk apparently - who appear to chuck out kilos of the stuff - and at this time of year old meat bones and the like tend to end up on the living room fire. They only items the recyclers do not take is black plastic, because their computerised sorting system cannot cope with its opaque qualities (or something like that), but they tend to make good firelighters on a day when there is little draught. I have no idea why others cannot do the simple sorting and recycling; but one Christmas when it snowed the refuse men lived up to their cynical name and refused to do the rounds because the routes were iced up and deemed too dangerous. Many people left their black wheelie bins in the street because we had no idea when they might come again. After less than two weeks the chap in the house opposite could not close the lid on his bin, and when the lorry eventually turned up, another 10 days after that he had a second bin piled high with 'waste' of varying descriptions; whereas we had not even filled our normal bin. I get the impression that a certain section of society see taxes as regular payments for slave labour who should be grateful for the job of clearing up peoples' mess two or three times a week. Oh dear, I am close to another rant - it must be the festive season.

Hello from a dull and wet Somerset. Rain is quite steady now, but the first real rain this month so musn't complain. Wellies duly found in the garden centre, and the ones we thought were best just happened to be 25% off. I am not a fan of these establishments, with their thinly disguised flouting of the retail sales laws on greenfield sites; simply by calling themselves "garden centres" rather than retail warehouses selling everything under the sun at over-inflated prices. This place includes a rather rustic looking food hall which purports to sell local produce. I was tempted from a distance by some indecently large gammon joints on one shelf; but on closer inspection they had "produce of Denmark" stamped discreetly on the plastic packaging. On an even closer inspection with fingers and thumbs, the contents seemed to have the consistency of jelly. No doubt pumped full of dodgy chemicals in order to incorporate as much added water as possible and get a 1.5kg ham up to 3kg. I think I will stick with my expensive Wiltshire outdoor reared ham that I have on order, rather than subject my innards to the Danish cocktail of unknown inorganic substances. Sorry, rant over...

Hello from a much brighter Somerset today. I might even try putting some washing on the line. Apparently, we need to buy wellies as a present; but much head scratching has ensued as to which local retailer might have the best selection. Department stores are ok for the posh designer type costing four times their true value, but that means a visit to Bristol with associated travel fares or park-and-ride charges (Mrs Jonny is not yet eligible for a free bus pass - unlike my geriatric self). We have finally decided to try the largest garden centre in the area, where parking is free. Prices will still have a 400% mark-up (as with most garden centres) but there may be a few pairs of wellies suitable for wearing to walk muddy footpaths at this time of year.

In fact, she was home by 1045 this morning. Here is the little fella - looking very content.

Hello from a very misty Somerset. Yesterday's motor neurone cloud has been lifted temporarily by my daughter giving birth to her second child, an 8lb 8oz boy named Leon, at 1:30 this morning. Apparently they may allow them home again at lunchtime, and she only went to hospital at 10:30 yesterday evening. They don't mess about at Southmead, it would seem.

Class 31 5524 in blue livery photographed by M Whatmough at Frodingham on 8 the September 1973. Loco appearing to lack a yellow front

1970 does seem early as you say. I have spent a pleasant 30 minutes going through my postcard/photo collection for any from that year and in that livery variation but found none. However, I did come up with a couple of green FYE examples with BR symbols under the cab windows and numbers behind the drivers' doors, which is a variation I don't remember seeing before. D5557 and D5561 were the locos. Even more unusual is a photo of D5524 at Frodingham in Sep 1973 in all over blue with central BR arrow but no yellow front at all, at least on the end facing the camera. Sorry for wandering O/T.

Hello from a dull and cold Somerset. Apologies for my lack of comments/posts recently, but I have been informed that my brother-in-law has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and haven't been in any mood to partake of the internet; although my depression pales into insignificance compared to the horrors that he and his family are going through. Life can be very cruel at times.

I can't remember the name, as it was about 30 years ago, but it emitted a high pitched noise (allegedly ) which deterred animals.

I was watching a dunnock on my holly, doing the same thing (or so I thought, initially). However, on inspecting the bird close up through the binoculars, I found it was actually eating bird droppings off the leaves. I couldn't believe it at first, so I carried on watching and it carried on picking the droppings and eating them. I emailed the BTO (as I contribute to Garden Birdwatch) and they replied that although the behaviour had not been reported very often, it had been seen before; and was thought to be a form of extra recycling because there are undigested items in many bird faeces. I learn something every day.

I bought one of those cat scarers when my children were very young, but they all complained that the sound hurt their ears when they triggered it by going outside. I could hear nothing.

Hello from a freezing-fog-bound Somerset. Temperatures this morning are even lower than yesterday, and I see Filton (ex) airfield is currently reporting minus 6C, which is not bad for the outskirts of Bristol. It is virtually impossible to break ice this morning, so it may have to be down to boiling the kettle again. Starlings are having their usual noisy breakfast. My pregnant tropical fish has vanished today, so am not sure if it is dead or is hiding in the dark part of the tank and trying to give birth. Hopefully time will reveal all.

A frosty morning here, with very hard frozen ground - so it was a time to man the binoculars and hope to see the occasional winter visitor. After an hour or so I was not disappointed, with a pair of blackcaps (first of the season) and a fieldfare looking for the surviving holly berries.

Hello from a very frosty Somerset. Birds are fed, but ice unbreakable with my trusty screwdriver. The ice seems to be about an inch thick so I boiled the kettle and melted it (the ice, that is - not the kettle, before any resident 'comedians' start) instead. Had our first Christmas card yesterday, but before anyone throws their arms aloft in horror - it was from the wife's cousin in South Africa and I gather the postal service is less reliable there than it used to be (aren't they all?) so better to send it early.

Because it is their way of making you feel guilty about all those trees they had to chop down for each bill. These utility companies are completely blameless for everything these days.

And is this a photo of the building under construction, or just under repair in 1969?

Because you omitted to tick the "choose paperless billing" box on their website.

Hello from a frosty Somerset, although the sun is up and the skies are clear. Garden birds have their breakfast provided and ice broken on their water supplies. I always like to make sure the birds have their food before I have mine in these situations, because at least that way I get to appreciate conditions outside where they live 24/7, rather than the centrally heated comfort that I have provided for myself. Having seen and heard of the dreadful conditions in Mosul with young children just skeletons covered in skin, I feel rather guilty about having breakfast at all; but a donation to one of the relevant charities may ease my conscience somewhat.

Hello from dull but dry Somerset. Not going to Warley because I have too much to do. Have 23 lires of beer to bottle and Mrs Jonny saw Monica Galetti produce Steak Diane on Masterchef a week or so back, so she has now demanded that I cook it for her as a trip down memory lane. Cold northeasterly winds continuing for another week, I gather. As an old boss of mine said one winter many decades ago "an anticyclone will persist".

Oh my. That is good... Must resist temptation, must resist temptation

Thanks Mark, that is excellent.

Hello from a cloudy and breezy Somerset, but still dry - hoorah. Had a curious dream last night that I was being given a very detailed guided tour around a collection of refuse skips at a recycling centre where items had been dropped into the wrong skips. This may have been partly due to the mouthful of 'vinegar' I swallowed yesterday evening while concentrating more on my book than the liquid. I should have realised when I unscrewed the top of one of my homebrew bottles and there was no fizz. However, I did not and just up-ended the drink into my greedy gob - OMG, beer vinegar. Fortunately the rest of that batch have been fine, so maybe just my poor cleaning/sterilisation of that particular bottle or its top. Mrs Jonny is going festive shopping today with her ladies wot lunch, so it might be an opportune moment to give the aquarium a decent clean-up and partial water change.

It might be just as well not being 'into' the WR, because unless you are into re-numbering D3045 spent a good deal of its 18 year life at either Ashford or Feltham. I would love to see a photo of it out of the box. I have often wondered if I should dabble in 7mm just to see what it is like, but have tried to contain such temptation on the grounds of finance.