jonny777

Ok, so you think I am insane? And a Merry Christmas to you too.

I agree. One of those lines which would have served the import/export container industry very well over the last couple of decades. However, in the 50s/60s rush to abandon most railways in favour of the obsession with road transport, the die was cast with little thought to the future (unlike those in Victorian times).

Dry and sunny in North Somerset. 7mm of rain overnight and so watering will be kept to the bare minimum today. Youngest son had motorbike problems yesterday and a rear wheel needed to be brought from the local repair shop to his workplace for him to fit on the bike. I duly obliged and received a suitable amount of logs as a payment. Everything is now running smoothly, I gather. Made some lemon ice cream, which will be set enough to eat by lunch time, so looking forward to my little treat. Of course being a woman, SWMBO is capable of scoffing a couple of litres of ice cream while watching Dirty Dancing for the nth time, so I am in the market for a lockable mini freezer, although I'm not sure such a beast exists.

Yes, I think that is the general opinion. Forget my initial enthusiasm.

On another forum, someone has posted a colour photo of ex-GW pannier tank 6431 in black livery but with orange/black/orange lining as normally used on a green loco. I can't ever remember seeing a lined black BR steam engine with anything other than red/black/grey lining. I wonder if this is unique?

Also, an excellent line of vans behind.

Dry but cloudy here in North Somerset. Rain not too far away - judging by the black clouds to the north. CH boiler duly serviced, and no expensive replacement parts needed for another year. I managed to mow the grass yesterday afternoon, so that is another chore out of the way for a few days. My cough and head cold is no better, but I managed a decent night's sleep; and so will just have to fester on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.

Dry and sunny in North Somerset. I now have SWMBO's lurgy - mainly a cough (but I have no temperature and still have my sense of smell) but also a feeling of exhaustion if I do anything. I ventured into the garden and watered some of the tomatoes, but had to sit down for 5 minutes between each watering can-full because the little effort I had done felt as if I had just tried to run 5km. Oh well, I can't go anywhere today because the CH boiler is going to be serviced this afternoon. At least sitting in the garden watching the bees does not take much effort.

I'm amazed the 313s are still running. I remember seeing lots of them newly delivered to Hornsey back in the 1970s.

There is very little in it, to be honest. The day length (sunrise to sunset) on Sunday was (in Bristol anyway) - 16 hours 37 minutes and 47 seconds. Yesterday it was 16 hours 37 minutes and 48 seconds, and today it will be 16 hours 37 minutes and 42 seconds. Sunset will only change by one minute by the end of the month. I fail to see why people make so much fuss about the summer solstice. After all it is not as if it is something which takes everyone by surprise in these enlightened times. Even in the Stone Age, I suspect that the population were more worried about the sun getting lower and lower on the horizon, during December at this latitude, than they were about how early it rose in summer.

Dry and bright here in North Somerset. There is cloud to the south, but blue skies to the north and west; and I am hoping the latter is coming our way. Yesterday was cold, although didn't break any records. I was on the verge of lighting the fire midway through the morning. However, in order to do that I would have to make it first. There followed a battle between my skin temperature and my laziness, and I have to say the laziness won out in the end. I don't want any more days like that in mid-June, thankyou mister weather god.

Cloudy, cold and breezy here in North Somerset; but dry. I am wondering how close we might get to a "1972" today. That was the year when over parts of the UK the daytime maximum on June 21st was lower than the maximum on the previous December 21st. A very rare occurrence here, but then 1972 was one of the worst summers of the 20th century. It is too cold to be outside, so more slide scanning is likely.

I have a similar problem when SWMBO switches on her reading lamp - the tv goes blank. However, after about 10 seconds the picture comes back and the box doesn't re-set. I have put this down to some form of sensitivity to power surges. I'm afraid I gave up with phoning the company many years ago because I can't understand what the call centre staff are saying. Their fast talking sub-continent accent is far too complex for my ears. If I ask them to repeat their last sentence, they treat me as if I am some awkward 7-year old.

An unusual disc code for ECS, or whatever it may be.

Must be one of those E numbers which has the lemon flavour. I'm not an expert on them, because (as you might have guessed) they frighten me.

I'm not sure how they get that past the trades description people, as it appears to have no lemon in it. My choice in that situation would be to go home and make my own, probably with some Limoncello in it.

I'm afraid that when my M-i-L was instructed she needed grab rails, I became fed up waiting for the official visit. I bought the items I decided she needed (with her as consultant) and fitted them myself. I'm sure that is what social services had hoped would happen when I phoned them to tell them to cancel their fitter. Saves them a few shillings.

Dull, damp and misty here in North Somerset. Not a lot to do today, because everything is so wet from overnight rain. Like ChrisF I too have macular degeneration, but only in one eye so far. I pay for eye tests at my local opticians who laser scan my eyeballs and then call them up on a screen to explain what is going on. They have several years worth of images now, and so can flick through the sequence to see how it progresses with time. Fortunately, only a very slow deterioration thus far. I can recommend the £50 test fee, if you can find a decent optician who does this. It certainly puts my mind at rest.

Cloudy but dry here in North Somerset. The grandchildren were duly visited yesterday and appear to be on good form. A large red-handled screwdriver was noted on their stairs, which I am sure was last seen by me in my garage. I am now going to inspect the toolbox and see if mine is still there. It is strange how things seem to go walkabout.

Yes, and the Balloon Fiesta has been cancelled this year as well. I think the problems are the unknown numbers of crowds and the inability of organisers to control the same. Dry and bright here in North Somerset, but rain appears to be not too far away (from the weather radar). Winds are freshening from the northeast and I will not expect a warm day. At least watering is suspended for a day or so, and nothing seems to have blown over, apart from a few poppies but I can't stake them all. SWMBO has a bad cold, and so her visit to the grandchildren is cancelled. I could go on my own, but she reckons she caught the cold from her last visit there (while I was away at Dad's care home) and so I don't really want to infect myself with the lurgy. However, if I stay here and watch her sneeze, I am going to catch it anyway. Decisions, decisions.

I think that the reason there is only a prob 40 of certain weather on aerodrome forecasts is that they are not allowed to have any other option. If it is less than 40% it is counted as not worth adding to the length of the message; and if it is over 40% then it has to be included in the main part of the forecast anyway. However, rules may have changed since my day.

Dull and damp in North Somerset. 8mm of rain overnight - which will do very nicely, thank you weather gods. It would appear that the highest rainfall totals were in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings where 40-50mm fell according to the rainfall radar accumulations. I watched the RH&DR Dungeness webcam last evening (well, SWMBO was gripped by the 'excitement' of the Sewing Bee final) and was treated to a full blown thunderstorm, with lightning flashes every few seconds at one point. It was virtually dark by 9pm on the camera, even though the sun had not set by that time; and was made even more spooky by a small spider on the lens, which looked huge when it walked across the glass. Rainfall radar shows another batch of the heavy stuff moving north from France and, for southern England, I suspect summer has been cancelled for the time being.

Yes it would, but might add an extra security dimension if passengers were allowed to join the train at St Pancras. I wonder if Glasgow might be a more logical starting point? (And I'm not even going to mention possible Scottish independence).... ooops, I just did.

Well yes, but previous comments mentioned a hopeful Newcastle stop.

What I can't find, is the route the trains intend to take to get them from the ECML to HS1.