PhilJ W

In the film 'Jaws' the first victim wasn't wearing anything, but she was swimming in moonlight.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was in full voice this morning but a bit of exercise plus Nurofen is keeping him quiet. I will be putting the bread pudding in the oven later. I was a bit worried about mould getting in but I used honey* as a sweetener and that should keep mould and other nasties away. While on the subject, should the Ministry of Cakes be renamed the Ministry of Cakes and Puddings? *Honey is remarkable stuff, not only does it stop mould it is a very good antiseptic and can be stored without refrigeration in a sealed container such as a jar for years.

Goodnight all.

I knew there was something I had to do today, bake the bread pudding.

Belated birthday wishes to Aditi.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. When I was in Tess Coes this afternoon they had Richard Osmans latest novel on sale so I had to have a copy. I haven't opened it yet but if his previous books are anything to go by it should be a good read.

You counted them?

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Smartphone duly returned to its owner who was very thankful. A combination of walking around the toy fair and then Tess Coes and the rain brought out Arthur Itis and the Nurofen is only just taking effect. Now watching the Darjeeling Railway from above on Channel Four.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Despite the rain the toy fair was busy and as you might expect this time of year there were plenty of youngsters there. I made an interesting purchase, a gas-electric railroad car and coach, HO scale for fifty modelling tokens. It appears to be kit built and I will be taking it for testing on Thursday. After I dropped my friend and his lad off I heard a phone ringing in the car and as soon as got home my friend rang saying he had lost his phone. It took a bit of finding but it was found stuck between the front passenger seat and the centre console. I will be taking it back to him shortly.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit of good news, the MRC member who we were told had died is still very much alive. However the one who had passed away was a former member and secretary. Off in a few minutes to the Rayleigh toy fair, the last toy fair locally this year.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I get my cable TV from Virgin Media. I was flicking through the TV guide this evening and found three interesting programs back to back on what I think is a Virgin Media test channel, it is labelled Virgin HD and has no ads. The programs were respectively about the New Forest, the Peloponnese and the Isle of Wight. The latter two programs even had a bit of railway interest, quite a bit about the I-O-W steam railway on the last one. If you are on Virgin its channel 228.

Found this on YouTube.

When I started on the council (1970) they tended to employ people as street sweepers who would find it difficult to find a job such as those with special education needs. Most if not all were very good and the streets were far cleaner than they are now. Shortly before I retired 14 years ago there was a company offering training to NVQ standard in refuse collection.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Had everything ready for the oven re. the bread pudding and then I went searching for a suitable dish to bake it in. I know I have some somewhere but I can't find them. At the moment the mixing bowl is covered over with foil and put in a cool dry place. I may have overdone the spices from the smell though that might be the tot of rum added to the mix. If I can't find the baking dish I'll use a foil turkey roasting dish that I found.

Welcome back @chrisf.

Someone on Twitter wants suggestions for a name for this (boy) puppy.

Talk about the filthy rich.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was making his presence felt this morning but a brace of Nurofen has seen him off. Not much planned for today except the bread pudding, it will be the first time I've used the oven in over a year so I'd better check it out.

Give a dog a name. This was on Twitter this morning, the owner of this puppy is asking for name suggestions.