Early Risers.

[edcayton]

Yes, £sd is the answer. Noel Fitzpatrick (the wonderful "supervet") has his patients in X-ray, MRI or CT scanners within minutes of their arrival, but the bills are more than 50 euros!

 

Ed

 

Sorry, slow fingers. This in reply to Killybegs John's post.

Edited March 21, 2015 by edcayton

[tetsudofan]

Morning all. Many thanks for all your welcome notifications, much appreciated. 

 

One of the joys of living in Folkestone and wanting to travel on Eurostar at a sensible time is that you have to travel up to St. Pancras on HS1 to board the train ..... and then travel all the way back again to get into the tunnel and on to Brussels and Germany. Needless to say one has to pay for this pleasure.....both ways of course!!

 

As we are booked on the 10:58am Eurostar (which means we get the rubbish so-called "breakfast" as they don't start providing their "better" culinary offerings until departures after 11.00am) it means I've got to get a Southeastern High-Speed service which arrives at St. Pancras before 10:00am which, of course, means a full-price Anytime ticket. Looking at the Southeastern website that's going to cost me about £60 return with the senior railcard).

 

What Southeastern don't tell you when you ask them is that there is a special "CIV" ticket to London International CIV for connecting to Eurostar services. Luckily "The Man in Seat 61" tells you about this and points you in the direction of "Loco2 website" through whom you can book the CIV ticket - at a cost of £38.90!! You then get an e:mail which tells you to go to Folkestone West Station and get your tickets from the Southeastern ticket machine!! Bizarre!! What is interesting is that in the timings they give you 15 minutes to get from London St. Pancras to London International CIV.....

 

One reason for getting the 10:58 Eurostar is that it arrives at Brussels at 14.05 and connects with the 14.25 DB ICE to Koln - we made the same connection last year so, fingers crossed, we make the connection this year. Arrival at Koln is 16.15 which gives us time to have a butchers at the book store and other places before catching the 17.10 to Hamburg arriving at 21.13. Plenty of time for a nibble and a nightcap before hitting the sack.

 

Must think about packing my bags for the trip.....passport, cash, credit cards, clothes etc., not forgetting a change of socks....

 

Keith

[The Stationmaster]

Great sympathies Keith - alas Eurostar catering started on a downhill slide within weeks of the Vermin management implants arriving and has never recovered since (although indications are that things might improve when the new trains enter service, we can but hope).

Edited March 21, 2015 by The Stationmaster

[Simon G]

Morning all.  Probably my last post for a week at least as the Costa del Sol beckons tomorrow.  Unfortunately looking at the forecast, there is more 'Sol' in Cumbria just now than we are likely to get for a couple of days in Spain.  Some travelling on the Malaga-Fuengirola line is planned, which we havent done before. 

 

As it was a nice morning here, I have been out for a walk to take the recycling to the local centre, then a walk over St Bees beach.  Originally Fraggle Rock was very clear, but has now disappeared in the haze.  Rugby beckons this afternoon - Mrs G doubted my 'ability' to watch three games on the bounce - after all this time married, she still underestimates my capacity to watch rugby!  Hoping for either an English or Welsh championship victory, but wont be too upset if it goes to Ireland, as they have probably been the best side.  Also a few years back, we were in the same sports resort in Lanzarote as the Irish team, and they were a really nice bunch of guys.  My teenage sons, both well into rugby, managed to play a game of tennis doubles against Gordon Darcy and Malcolm O'Kelly, which was an experience for them.

[Jock67B]

Afternoon all,

Just got back in as Joanna decided that it would be a good idea to do the gravestone cleaning/flower replacement devotion today in view of roast dinner preparation tomorrow. That done and Archie walked, I'm now nursing a steaming mug of strong tea, trying to get my hands warm again!

Ian, Really hope you get a date for your surgery soon, nothing worse than being in limbo, and of course you and Sherry can't begin the re-planning of your event until you know when you are likely to be fit again. Must be tempting to forget an invite to 'plan B' for the one person who grumbled!

On the health front, Pete75C, please give Louise our love and I hope that she strikes up a good rapport with the Addenbrookes specialist!

AndyiD, whilst on one of our trips to visit my late brother in Boston, we went to a check out in a store and the young lady asked me where I was from. When I answered Scotland, she said 'my grandmother Mrs Jean Dunlop lives in Aberdeen - did we know her?' The worrying thing was that we realised it was a serious question so I had to reply, tongue in cheek, that 'there are less than five million people living there (correct at that time!) so we might have bumped in to her!' She returned with a 'gee thanks, have a nice day!' As to your comment on Mel Gibson/William Wallace, I think the real story makes rather unpleasant reading. I believe that his reputation owed more to 'Blind Harry''s epic poem and Walter Scott's story than actual facts. He lost the next battle to the one shown in 'Braveheart', less than a year later and ended up being publicly hung, drawn and quartered in Smithfield, London in 1305 on the orders of Edward the first ( the baddie in the unofficial anthem 'Flower of Scotland!). He was only thirty-five!

Pete(trisonic), good luck with the painting commission, what you need is to find a rich patron like a lot of the old masters did!

GordonS, good luck in today's golf tournament, hopefully the dark blues will win but I feel it is unlikely that the chaps with the funny shaped ball will emulate you!

John(Killybegs) and '108' (sorry don't know your name), it looks from the BBC weather forecast as if you are due more strong winds, I hope you avoid any damage.

Fingers crossed that the weekend brings an improvement in the health of our ailing members,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[bluebottle]

For help in buying her house and for dealing with probate when her granny died, Miss bb regularly shows her gratitude by giving me her old telly when she gets a new one. So I've got Samsung 20", 26" and 32" sets and the MIL's old 21" Toshiba; all working in a satisfactory manner, particularly the Samsungs. I've a Virgin TiVo box which is easy to use, though the remote is unforgiving of the slightest sloppiness in using the oversmall main control ring. Any slight problems have been efficiently and politely dealt with - late night calls usually answered in an Asian accent by people who do know their stuff. 

[Jock67B]

Simon,

Just read your post, hope you have a great holiday,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Purley Oaks]

As far as I'm concerned the results should be a massive win for Wales, Scotland to win against Ireland and France to draw with  England (Other opinions are available elsewhere)

 

Looks like Scotland will get the wooden spoon - can't see them anything other than being played off the park by Ireland. Just watching the Italy-Wales game before heading off to the pub for ritual masochism as Scotland play and thought Wales would be winning by now (disclaimer - this may change anytime of course). England should beat France on past form so could be an exciting finish later this evening.

 

You get a pretty good complimentary hot breakfast or evening meal on weekdays on East Coast/VTEC - the 0830 ex-Edinburgh is the last train of the day to serve breakfast - if you get on at Newcastle you've missed it.

 

Mal

[laurenceb]

Have a good time Simon.

[newbryford]

Now at Lima airport. Will try and post more pics later.

 

Thanks for all the likes.

 

Good luck at golf Gordon.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[emt_911]

Well, the first part of my wish for the six nations has come true. Now just have to hope that the rest goes to plan

[Smiffy2]

Afternoon all.

Slept in this morning due to staying up till gone 4.30 (local) watching Catch-22. Great film.

 

Weather here is extremely variable, from warm sun to cold and windy. Bleak at the moment, and the wind is howling in the chimney. The wood burner will be in operation this evening, and the shutters closed tight. All domestics today, shopping, tidying and washing up, done, watching Soccer Saturday. I do admire Geoff Stelling...

 

Gordon - how many TVs do you need? Julie reminded me yesterday of when we got rid of our widescreen Sony CRT. It had lived in our living room in England and when we got our first flat screen we brought it out to France - the car scarcely moved with it on board. It was too big to get a grip on properly and too heavy for one person to lift. Pretty soon got rid of it when #3 son gave us his old flatscreen, which then died. Of course. The CRT almost took Julie's finger off when getting it into the car to take to the dechetterie.

 

The upside of flat screen TVs is that you don't read tragic stories of toddlers being killed by 50kg TVs falling on them from flimsy stands. That used to be a regular thing in the Mail.

 

Jock - the other thing to remember about the Wallace is that he was a Norman-style knight - not a kilt-wearing highlander! Real history is so much more interesting than the Hollywood versions.

 

Pete - best wishes for Louise. And all others in travail.

 

Just off to brine some duck for dinner tomorrow. Never done that before, worth a try. May make some hamburgers for this evening, and possibly chips. Evil. But nice.

[Happy Hippo]

After a lacklustre first half Wales cut loose in the final 40 minutes to finish the game 61-20.

 

I was there!

 

All we need now is Scotland to hold on and France to play their socks off.

[Ian Abel]

Quick check-in hardly time to read everything... we've got to rush out as there's a family get-together (dozens of cousins, NONE of who I really know at all!!) and we need to help prep for it <sigh> No modeling today.

 

-2 and partly cloudy here still at 10:30AM, more seasonably correct, but may make 5 as a high...

 

Enjoy your Saturday

[Happy Hippo]

I said Scotland hold on!

[bluebottle]

Must disagree with you, Jock, that Edward I is “the baddie in the unofficial anthem 'Flower of Scotland'” - he was never “sent homeward to think again” as Edward II was after Bannockburn. I spoke to Roy Williamson (who wrote the song) a couple of times back in the early seventies – my girlfriend at the time lived in the Edinburgh New Town flat below Ronnie Browne (the other half of The Corries duo) and I occasionally passed Roy on the stairs. I didn't tell him what I thought of “Flower of Scotland”, though – I've never liked it. A pale wee thing against Burns's blood-stirring “Scots Wha' Hae”, though as a Unionist I wouldn't advocate that song's use as an anthem.

I detest Gibson's “Braveheart”, partly because of his English-bashing, partly because his film made it virtually impossible to have a sensible discussion about Scotland's place in the UK – suddenly people whose knowledge of the subject made “1066 and All That” sound like Simon Schama's handiwork were experts on Mediaeval History!

Ant and Dec – for goodness sake - “satirised” the film by mocking its flaws. The trouble was that they didn't give credence to parts of the story that were more or less accurate. For example: “Well, I suppose it's possible that the King of England was gay...“ When Helen was in her early teens, we took her to see Joseph Fiennes play the lead in Marlowe's “Edward II“ at the Sheffield Crucible. She obviously enjoyed the play, and I asked her what she thought of Edward's sexuality. “Oh he was well gay, wasn't he?” she said. Yeah, England's second-only-to-Shakespeare playwright thought so.

 

Sorry, it's been a while since I've had a rant on the subject.

 

Dick - as I live alone, I usually have a TV switched on to one or other of the news channels or documentaries such as "The War" on the US PBS channel - which I listen to rather than watch. So it's one in the dining area where I sit at my laptop, one in the living room where I can wrap myself in my sleeved blanket if I want to lie on the sofa and watch a film on the biggest set, one in my bedroom to watch something to help me doze off and one in the box room where I work on the mac.

I agree with what you say about real history vs Hollywood. The film could have been more interesting if Andrew de Moray, the co-leader with Wallace, had been given his rightful place in the story. It's now thought that many of the deeds attributed to Wallace belonged to Moray, and coming as he did from a wealthy and influential northern family he would make an interesting contrast with Wallace. Sadly for the Scots, Moray died, of his wounds, after Stirling Bridge. Had he lived, his background and his knightly military training might have brought enough of the nobility onside to make a difference at Falkirk.

[NGT6 1315]

Right, off to the kitchen in a few to prep our dinner of savoy cabbage rolls with rice. Didn't have that for a while, so looking forward to it!

 

Weather report can be summed up in one word: Dreich.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Yet again, I'm having to plead lack of time (not inclination) for not checking in.  Starting to sort out for the car boot season, which begins next week, and a very long session with a calculator and a wet towel round the head as my final pension figures are starting to gravitate from the provider, and need attention. 

 

Also Lily's a bit under the weather, lethargic and a little bad tempered, and a rather expensive trip to the vet's yesterday showed that she has an infection which is in both eyes, and in both ears (may not be the same infection, and I'm sure that my pet insurer will rule so, as then I will need to pay two excesses, one for each condition).  She's now on antibiotic ear jollop, and antibiotc ear drops. 

 

I hope that in missing seven plus pages, I'm not ,missing anything too serious vis a vis health and other matters - if so, I must apologise sincerely.

 

Unlikely to be making any useful (do I ever?!) contributions here in the next few days, as my diary looks fuller now than it ever did when I was at work.

 

Must shoot as I've got to do the dinner as well.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Smiffy2]

Gordon - Julie and I discovered sometime ago that a key to marital harmony is two televisions (and in effect two living rooms). That way there's never a clash and we can get together to watch things we both want to see.

 

Unfortunately in France it's just one living room and one TV. So a degree of laptopping.

 

 

Tony Robinson did a pretty good debunking of Braveheart a few years ago now.

 

 

(And try telling people that Macbeth was an Anglo-Saxon thegn...)

[trisonic]

I miss out pages too, Stewart. I was shocked to find I was in hospital..... There’s more “Petes” on ER than in my 30K population town in New Jersey where the name is quite rare, something to with slang for a certain part of male anatomy, so I understand.

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

 

(And try telling people that Macbeth was an Anglo-Saxon thegn...)

And Robert the Bruce was an Essex boy!

Tony

[trisonic]

 

 

Tony Robinson did a pretty good debunking of Braveheart a few years ago now.

 

 

(And try telling people that Macbeth was an Anglo-Saxon thegn...)

I’ll de-bunk Tony later.........though I agree with any type of adverse comments on “Braveheart” - Mel Wotsisname is a serial Anglophobe from way back in nearly all his movies.

 

What does continue to surprise me is actually how accurate W.S. was (I still believe he did write the stuff btw).  A branch (ho) of my family actually owned part of Birnam Woods (and the quarry therein) until it was taken away from them by a ruling on a case in the House of Lords sometime in the 1800’s.

 

Best, Pete.

[gordon s]

Back from Bannockburn II. Sadly we finished third out of four with England taking home the spoils, but an enjoyable day for all....

 

A few pints of London Pride as Doom Bar wasn't available in the upstairs function room. Decided to walk home and get some fresh air. A hot bath, a coffee and now curled up in front of the log burner to watch England play. With dual nationality, I can happily support England this afternoon. :-)

 

Played with some young guys who hit the ball a country mile, but as the round went on I counted my blessings. In reasonable health, a roof over my head and retirement at an age I can still enjoy life. Some may think it's all a young mans game these days, but overall those of us from the 'baby boomer' years have been pretty fortunate one way or another.

 

Put's gauge wars into perspective.

 

7-0 to England so the day just got better still..

[Donw]

It was sunny yesterday (good views of the eclipse but not a total one doen here) so I took the camera with me for the dog walk and took this shot from the lane walking back. This morning it was dull and we were late so I left it behind. Where the gorse is close to the trees there were a dozen deer. Who were standing nice and still. I must write out a 1000 time always take the bl**dy camera.

 

Don

[pH]

The Diggers being actually called the Athletic Arms, very close to the Heart of Midlothian FC ground at Tynecastle. So called as it's right by the graveyard!

 

And even closer to the site of Dalry Road shed. It was on the other side of the graveyard. Going from Haymarket shed to Dalry Road shed, you went up Coffin Lane from Dalry Road to Dundee Street.