Happy Hippo

John, Would you like a broken fridge and a couple of used calor gas bottles to go with the sofa in the garden? Sadly I can't offer you the scrap car parts, as my son took them to the scrappie this morning. Regards Richard

Polly, Look on the bright side of life..................usually in your neck of the woods, it's rain! Either vertically or horizontally, depending on the wind. Regards Richard

Yes, especially on a Hornby horsebox! Well we have high cloud, a smattering of frost and the beginning of what is called sunshine. My task today is to cut and fit new skirting boards for our bedroom. Yesterday the Obergrumpenfuhrer painted the walls. I offered, but we did want the floor left as it was! Regards Richard

One presumes it would also have a gay bar, which I am led to believe, is(or was) a song of the popular music variety by Electric 6. Very misty here at present, although there is definitely something in the sky trying to burn it off. Regards Richard

Pete, I don't know enough about music to identify lyrical twaddle! I do however, know what I like, and LC is best described as 'Dronin' and Moanin' rather than singing. He'd be so much better if accompanied by bagpipes. Regards Richard

Our remaining Staffie, Elsa, has been bated by one particular Grey Squirrel, aka tree-rat, for some days now. It arrives at the bird table, winds her up, then teasingly runs along the fence, into the hedge and away up the oak tree. Yesterday, after the barking and howling at the back door, I let Elsa out for the statutory 'pointless chase up the garden' only to see GS try to take a short cut diagonally across the lawn. Had the garden been five yards shorter, the squirrel would have made the oak tree. You marvel at the BBC's Africa, but savage nature is there, right in your back garden. Squirrel pie anyone? Regards Richard

I'm hiding in the 'office' today, as we are having two bedrooms being given a major makeover with fitted wardrobes etc. It was rather a manic weekend shifting furniture and other stuff, and suddenly realising that having two bedrooms done at the same time meant there was very little space for temporary storage. Then my dear wife thought it would be a good idea to paint the ceilings before the new stuff went in. I have to say that we did have a major clear out of junk just before Christmas: Now we are going to need another! Plus, I've just been informed that it would probably be a good idea if we replaced all the skirting boards and had a new carpet fitted, before all the stuff went back into the master bedroom. This sort of inspired thinking is what destroys the extra 52xx and coal wagon plan I had in mind! (I have found it is so much easier smuggling 4mm stuff into the house that it ever was with 1:12 stuff.) No sign of rain here for a few days, so everything is drying out slowly, although a number of massive potholes have appeared in the local road surfaces. Regards Richard

Debs I don't suppose you're into needlepoint or flower arranging as well are you? Regards Richard

I've used chainsaws in the past, and guns. Pete is quite right, chainsaws can turn from friend to foe in an instant if not handled correctly. I don't use them anymore as I have a son who is a fully qualified arboculturist, so he can do all the chopping and trimming needed in our garden Apart from the usual cuts and scrapes from modelling tools, the only big injury I've managed to give myself was slicing a chunk out of my right index finder with a Myford lathe. It didn't even have the motor attached at the time! I was re-assembling it and tried to push two adjacent gear wheels onto their respective shafts simultaneously, to try and mesh them together: A bit of resistance so I pushed harder, then the resistance was overcome and the gears shot down onto the shafts, meshing together as they did so with my finger stuck between them. I was able to remember and quickly recite all the rude words i'd learned when I was in the Army! Regards Richard

Mike, You are not alone, our trees still stand in the conservatory and will remain there until 12th night. The exterior lighting, two single strips of Blue lights, I asked for red, but got frowned at, will get switched off at the weekend and taken down during a period of dry weather. Having said that, the subsidiary decorations, such as cards, were taken down today, and recycled into labels and the like for next years festivities. I hid away using the excuse that I needed to shift two sockets to different positions in the bedroom to allow for the new bedroom furniture, which arrives next week. There are some rather large holes in the walls where the old dry wall boxes used to be that now require filling. If I can finish that tomorrow morning, I'll be well pleased, and amazed as well, as I never seem to have a project that ever goes to plan. Now I can hear a G&T calling, so I will bid you all a good night. Regards Richard

Well, it is bright, calm and sunny(almost) at the moment. One can only hope that this is going to be the quality of the weather for the rest of the year. We were tucked up in bed by 2300 last night: unable to get enthused by the almost manic celebration that the arrival of the new year now brings. I am saving this pent up excitement for when my Hornby 42xx arrives! However, I do echo the sentiments of other ERs in wishing you all a happy new year, and I hope 2013 bring peace happiness and fulfillment to all. Regards Richard

Well I'm glad it was you Debs, because if it had been me, the dog would have been in the vets, I'd have been in jail and the psycholist would have been in intensive care having his testicles removed from his thorax. Regards Richard

Some say we are an odd family! We always eat our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, candle lit in front of the Christmas tree. Today will be a do what you like day, so after gift exchanging, I'll walk the dog and then do some of the little jobs I feel are special. Yesterday was to re-battery the watch of an elderly neighbour. (I gave it a whizz in the ultrasonic cleaner as a bonus.) However, I will not be fixing my friend's lawn mower today. Today's jobs are strictly indoors with the rest of the family Please all have a great day, especially Olddudders. Regards Richard

Pulling turkey legs must be a Welsh tradition. Most people just end up pulling each others legs! Regards Richard

I both love and hate turkey. The love is of the yum yum variety, but the hate is because I used to work in a butchers, and found I got an allergic reaction to the turkey feathers............my fingers and wrists would swell up after prolonged contact. Difficult when you are plucking all the feathers off the legs! My favourite job was removing the feet and tendons: you'd break the feet at the top end of the scales with the back edge of a cleaver, then the broken claw was threaded through a hook on the wall. A strong tug on the leg then removed the foot, and all the tendons in the leg. Something that the mass produced turkeys of today do not have done. Hence the stringy bits you eventually find in the legs of your Christmas lunch. The weather here has been much better today. The dog got a mega walk, and I've been able to do some general clearance and maintenance duties in the garden............Carefully avoiding the small pond that has appeared at the low point of the lawn. However you couldn't really get to it unless you were prepared to bog snorkel across the rest of the garden. Regards Richard

Post..................it works! I just did Beast's Ctrl F5 trick (thank you DAS) and I'm now back in the land of ER comms. Lots of rain here overnight, but at the moment it is bright and sunny. Regards Richard

I do hope you are a comfy Chair.......somewhere weary ERs can park themselves when visiting Torbay! Regards Richard

Well it's nice to be back among friends, after the cruise to Antwerp and Amsterdam. (But again too much to catch up on, so I hope all are well etc) Although themed as a Christmas markets event, the Antwerp Market was a collection of wooden huts with any nationality except the Germans, selling tat! The Amsterdam experience, was alluded to as the smallest market was so small that it wasn't where it was supposed to be, it wasn't even found under a rather large tree. I suspect the stall holders were all Mayans and had not bothered to turn up knowing the end of the world was upon them! (Birmingham does put them all to shame) One presumes we'll never hear another Mayan type prophesy, as they would not bother to predict anything else after the world ended....would they? Although the world will probably end on 24 Dec if the postman has not delivered all the 42/52/72xx locos that are eagerly awaited. The floods of recent days will be nothing compared to the floods of tears as grown men (and women) realise that their Christmas special coal train will NOT be running behind superpower! Apart from all that we did enjoy ourselves, it was a nice break away with no phone calls or other distractions. I even finally managed to finish 'The Claverings' on my Kindle. In contrast to Mike's comments about the weather, the sun is out and shining here at present, so a quick bite to eat for lunch and then a long walk with the dog. Regards Richard

Got up: fed Dog: TIB delivered. Scanned through RM web and now arrived at ERs. Too much to catch up on and offer comment yet again (thank the Lord you mutter!) The weather started bright, but there is now a number of bands of low grey cloud acting like a venetian blind on the sun. The exterior Christmas lights go up this morning followed by the dog going off to kennels for a few days. We are off on a cruise tomorrow, but before anyone gets any ideas about cocktails on the pool deck under the warm, westering sun, we are going across to Antwerp and Amsterdam. Duffel coats sea boots and hot chocolate laced with rum are more appropriate for the NordSee in December. Regards Richard

Do you ever get hacked off by medical professionals? I do! Yesterday, I went to the optician for an eye check and test. Turns out I now have cataracts. What annoys me is that my previous notes say this, but nobody bothered to inform me at the time. It would have been much better to have been told I had glaucoma and that cataracts were forming at the same consultation Do they like to ration the amount of bad news they give to you at any one time?............................or do they deliberately hold a little bit back for the next visit in order to prolong the misery? Still, it was a nice day today, and I've posted all the local christmas cards and given the dog a good walk: Bad news will now wait tomorrow when I have to visit the dentist for a checkup. One wonders what surprise she has got in store for me? Oh Mr Ough, you're teeth appear to be falling down your throat. Never mind you just have to change the brushing technique slightly. You now have to push the brush up your a*** first! Regards Richard

Just got back from a family weekend in Margam. Unfortunately I seem to have developed Shingles along my waist line. My two youg nephews decided to serenade me: Shingle bells Shingle bells...................... Trying to catch up on 3 days of ERs has proved almost impossible, you lot have been having far too much fun without me. Boo Hoo Regards Richard

Got up this morning with instructions to do some cleaning, so I've blitzed the en suite shower room, and run the vacuum cleaner around the upper level of the house. Now taking a break from painting shields for my nephews' castle. The paint I bought is not brilliant, and masking up a couple of times for each one is a pain. Three down, five to go! Then I can finish the bread bin re-furb.......................I need to as I've got a loaf rising and going into the oven in about 5 minutes time. Lovely dry and sunny day here in Shropshire I shall need a long nap this afternoon to recover from this hyper exertion Regards Richard

My nephews do, because the are both minors! Regards Richard

Ashers wrote: Ashcombe Towers is looking quite festive with most of the decorations in place, including the tree. As requested many moons (posts) ago, I've attached a photo of me with one of the younger weasels. Are you sure? Looked like a fox to me! Regards Richard

Oh God! The thought of Ian pirouetting across the field on a cold and frosty morn dressed only in a pair of ballet slippers and (pink?) tights in order to entertain the horses prior to feeding them might be the epitome of chic, but I would summise that by the end of the performance, there would have been visible shrinkage in the Olddudders department. Regards Richard