jamie92208

Good moaning. I think it's damp outside, It was certainly blowing and raining in the night. The bonfire wouldn't light yesterday and the wind was getting up so I abandoned that idea. Indoor work then commenced and I hung 3 drops of wallpaper in the passage to hide where the redundant doorway was walled up. Painting needed in a few days. Today we're off shortly on a shopping trip. First off it's time to unplug the internet box and exchange it for a new one, then on to Niort to try and sort our Orange mobiles. Such fun. Beth is going to visit the cheapy shop called Aktion. Hope you all stay safe and flood free. Jamie

Yes that would make sense from the date. Thanks Jamie

Good evening, it's dark and windy here but dry at the moment. However it was sunny in Cardiff on the 24th April 2014. Here's a clearer shot of the 66 on the steel train. That was followed by our friend the Red 60 on the Robeston tanks. Then I headed for Swindon as the only line that I needed to complete Mainland GB was the line from Thingley Junction to Bradford South Junction. That was done and I headed back to Bristol to meet Keith and then Cross Country Home. We then move on to June and we were in Bournemouth for a week. I had a very interesting trip to the testing tank at Haslar, in connection with a horse tram restoration project. No it wasn't underwater, the remains were in the basement under the tank. Anyway en route this 313 came into, Havant. This was the station is case I've got it wrong. Next is a Colas 70 on 20th June, I think it's at Doncaster. And finally a foreigner but probably familiar to some. An English Electric export 20 in Lisbon, heading across a main road junction down towards the docks. This was the 19th September. They do sound like class 20's and have English Electric equipment though most were built under licence in Portugal. Still going strong though some have been withdrawn. Jamie

Good moaning. It's still good weather here but 7 days of rain are forecast from tomorrow. With that fact in mind I went to the Mairie yesterday and obtained a permit for a fire forom the deputy mayor. To be more previse I now have a completed and signed application form as Fabienne couldn't find the actual permit forms and the Secretary wasn't there. Fabienne also supplies us Guinea fowl and other sacrificed birds when needed. Anyway with the piece of paper obtained I'm off out to start the fire. The currentbpile will be moved to the fire site, bit by bit, to ensure that there are no nesting hedgehogs. Regards to all. Jamie

And in North Wales the men sing bass as opposed to South Wales where they sing tenor, something to do with the way that slate dust and coal dust effects the lungs I am told. However all Welsh sheep are very wary of men especially if they are wearing wellies. Jamie

There's only 4 corners to tie knots in on my hanky. Jamie

A lovely prototype Douglas. Like Dave I also built a K's Kirtleybover 40 years ago and now have an unlined black one and a lined red one, both 7mm from Slaters kits,. I didn't build the red one. I'll try and post some photos. Jamie

Thanks for that. Now corrected. Jamie

Yes in 68 things were quite bleak. I actually stopped trainspotting for 3 years I was so disheartened after steam finished as we had steam through Settle till the very end. However quite a few dreams have been fulfilled. Who would have thought that I would be able to ride the first portion of the Waverley route or see a Big Boy in steam, so dreams can come true. Anyway back in 2014 we are still high in the Welsh valleys. It's still 23rd April (My eldest's birthday). After Aberdare and a filling sandwich we went back down to Pontypool. And the footbridge gave a good view up the valley with the first of the junctions visible behind the pacer. Then it was time to head up the Rhonda Valley to Treherbert. Just to prove we got there. And looking back down the valley. Heading back down there are a lot of reminders of the areas past. Also some very sure signs of poverty and deprivation and also a huge amount of Japanese Knotweed. I had never realised just how tights and confined some of the valleys were. Anyway then it was back to Cardiff and another night in the same B and B opposite the stadium overlooking the river. 3 more pages completed. next morning we headed down to the station and a bit of freight action with a 56. Then a 66 on a steel train. More to come next time. Jamie

Early memories for me, ceryainly from when I was 3. As farcas I can tell my earliest is sitting in the waiting room at Chesterfield Hospital having some sort of check up/treatment for a broken collar bone. A modelling friend was a junior Dr there at the time and confirmed my memories of the layout and decor. I remember my first day at nursery school, probably aged 4, standing bawling my head off as I watched my mother walking away. As soon as she turned the corner I stopped crying and ran in to play. However I can't remember the four things I wad told to do this morning. Jamie

And on Android in France. Thanks for the updates. It's great to see something interesting on Twitter now that a certain soon to be ex personage has had his account cancelled. Jamie

When explaining that to friends in the US and France I refer to the miracle of Barry. Jamie

But think of all the methane produced by the suppliers of the daub. Jamie

Not even I have thought of having the two together. Mint jelly does go rather nicely with cold roast beef as well as hot roast lamb. As to toppi gs for eccles cakes, i've never tried jam but I used to put butter on Chorley cakes, something else that can't be sourced locally. Jamie

Good moaning to all, and of course sundry. Breakfast is being consumed and the fire is rejuvenated. I even managed a bit of shed time yesterday and used a soldering iron. Wonders never cease. Today I have to visit the fair and lissome Veronique for her to trim my locks that are getting longer and wavy. Then onwards for the shopping. This afternoon I plan to visit the Mairie to get a bonfire permit so that we can dispose of a large mound of garden rubbish. Not a lot else in daily orders yet, however as always they are subject to change at short notice. Regards to all. Jamie

Now that is a real shame Robert. I will have to task PB and HH with a seek and acquire mission. On our trips across when we head back to Pompey for the ferry a good stop is Moreasons at Waterlooville on the A3 for the cafe and stocks of their large Eccles Cakes for me. Jamie

It's all we can get here at the moment. Have to wait for visitors from the UK for some Yorkshire tea. And of course ECCLES CAKES and mint jelly. Jamie

Good evening from the land of dark skies. Orion is visible above our neighbours house across the road, it will be cool tonight. Anyway the Tardis is still in South Wales. From Bridgend we went round the coast to Cardiff. The first target was Barry island and we passed these rather sad remains of a 9F. As you might realise from my screen name I rather like 9's. I never saw Barry scrapyard. Then off to Barry Island. I have never watched Gavin and Stacey one of our cats was called Gavin so we went into the town and bought some souvenir mugs. When we got back I took a photo of the remains of the original line that I believe went down to some sort of jetty. set off into the valleys proper. The next train was heading for Merthyr Tydfil and as we stopped at Aberfan, looked across the valley at the memorial. Having worked in a mining area for many years it was a poignant sight. I remember being punished at school for looking at a Newspaper picture of the disaster the next morning. Then on to Merthyr. A quick turnround before heading back to Pontypool and then up to Aberdare where we were able to see the freight only section to Tower colliery. The gradient off the end of the platform is quite severe. We made use of an excellent sandwich shop across the road then waited for the next train back to Pontypool. A very Welsh valley scene with the chapel. More next time. Jamie

That was quite common. Onevof my buildings on Lancaster is a former school that was cut back and became a brewery store. It looks strange on photos and the model caused comment. I suspect that the railway would have to buy the whole building and tried to recoup some money by reselling the modified structure. Jamie

A useful morning has been had. It's lovely and sunny. I started with half an hourvon the phone to Orange and we will be getting a new and updated hub/router for free. They couldn't sort out our mobiles though so I have to make a trip to Cognac to speak to someone in a shop. I then set up the ironing board and started when the fosse man arrived. He started pumping 20 cubic metres of gunge out whilst I continued with the ironing. Suitable music was supplied by All about Eve and Peter Frampton. Jamie

I do hope thst you weren't in flagrante delicto with the bride. Jamie

Good moaning. It's still dark here and probably frosty as we had a brilliant starry night when I went over to lock the shed last night. Anyway we had a lovely meal with our two friends yesterday. They briughtvtheirvrescue dog, Ickare, who is some sort of black poodle cross. He's settled down well with Jill and Grace and is much less timid than he was. He spent most of the time in the garden, whilst we ate, drank and chatted. At one point he had gone very quiet so I went out to see what was happening. He was sitting quietly staring up into a tree where a neighbours cat was perched about 15' up. He sat there wiith them watching each other for about 2 hours. Ladders were mentioned but I suggested waiting. Eventually Icare came back in to tell Jill and Grace that it was nearly time for his tea. By the time they left the cat had gone. All safe in the end. Today the fosse is to be emptied so I have to wait in. The ironing needs to be done so I may well bring everything through to the sitting room and select some suitable vinyl for my entertainment. Regards to all. Jamie

UM was Leeds along with U and UA. The mayoral car in Leeds is U1. At least it's not Nottingham which had RA BRA38D was a sought after combination for some reason. Where's that Groan button. Jamie

Thanks for the confirmation. It's 6 yrs ago and had been a long day. Jamie