Early Risers.

[emt_911]

Morning all. It looks like summer might have returned. A few small jobs to do today in preparation for going away on Thursday morning for 11 days.

 

Chris - I hope that getting the tyre/warning light sorted out isn't too technical or expensive.

 

PeterBB - A belated Happy Birthday.

 

Thinking of Dave and Is as well as others ailing, supporting, recovering and missing

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Thanks for the update on Is Dave, still hoping that she can come home for a while. A bit hazy first thing this morning but the sun has burnt most of it away. Chris, in a way I hope your tyre warning light is not a false alarm, to have missed something you were looking forward to for such a reason would be annoying. Popping out shortly for a few essentials, be back later.

Edited June 5, 2016 by PhilJ W

[roundhouse]

Morning from an XC HST currently being diverted from its usual route between Derby and Brum. Just passing Loughborough.

 

A great day yesterday doing the Three Valleys beer fest which involved three free bus routes stopping only at the participating 18 pubs and Dronfield station. Superbly organised although much busier that in the past. Some,create ales consumed.

 

We finished the day in Sheffeild doing a few pubs that we haven't done for a while.

 

 

A lunch time stop in Brum, probably the Wellington then to Banbury for our last look at the semaphores before they ar replaced.

 

Home via Reading on GWR which will avoid any Southern services affecting our journey.

 

Maybe even some modelling when we get home.

Edited June 5, 2016 by roundhouse

[laurenceb]

Belated birthday greetings for Peter BB

Morning all

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

More belated birthday greetings for Peter BB - amazing how these things slip through the 'net when involved in a bit of catch-up reading.

 

Today we have sunshine - well most of the time, it is hiding every now and then - and it's forecast to be warmer than yesterday; more sun is forecast for tomorrow and it might well happen.  Nothing really planned for today but tomorrow we're off to Ealing to visit one of our fellow 'Patricia' passengers who has been aboard on the same week as us for the past few years (because I book our and his cabins at the same time - he's excellent company).

 

Have a good day one & all

[andyram]

Birthday greetings to Peter BB another of the true gents of this forum.

[davefrk]

Up early this morning, madam had a hospital appointment, yes on a Sunday, good old NHS in Scotland trying to get the waiting lists down...

Nice to see some empty spaces in the car park for once.

Another cloudless day here, going to be a scorcher again, 25 is forecast.

Some grouting to do then a few hours on the Landie.

 

Have a good one.

 

Dave.

[southern42]

Morning all from red dragon land.

 

Silly life indoors : The flood news from gay Paree is not good, and I was reminiscing about a 1950s pop tune by Winifred Attwell, called The Poor People Of Paris, and how on such occasions this takes on a new meaning. This led to mention of Russ Conway, also a '50s popular pianist, and his big hit Side Saddle. Sherry - who has a good voice and near-perfect pitch - began to hum the tune, playing it on air-piano. At this point Cooper, large orange cat stretched out on her lap, stopped dozing, turned his head round and gave Sherry the WTF look!

 

The treat of the day (before 1959 by which time we had a television!) was being able to stay up until after Winifred Atwell (and that wasn't very late in those days!).  http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/light/1963-01-11#at-19.31

 

 

Sunny but rather hazy here but don't let that put you off having a bogie woogie.sort of day

[AndrewC]

Morning all from that borough which is boring.

5 weeks of house guests over and done. Time to get life back to normal.

 

I'd say it was pleasant but I'd be lying. Hysteronics, hissy fits, and general misery was the norm over the weeks. If they could find something to whinge about, they did to Olympic standards. Never again. BiL's teddy & pram moments could fill their own thread. One such melt down means we won't be going back to our local tapas restaurant any time soon.

 

I've had a cracked rib & likely food poisoning on our 5 day trip to Amsterdam. Murphy had a field day as well. Dead coffee maker, boiler on the fritz, fridge acting up, one of the fluorescent fixtures in the shed went bzzzt, cat has an ingrown claw, and we just found our lovely vet passed away.

 

To quote Edmund Blackadder, "Fortune vomits on my eiderdown once again"

 

The only saving grace has been work. It's been very quiet and cockwomble free. I've been working from home, in the shed. That has led to loads of lunch and early morning modelling being done. The Freemo modules are up, 90% of the track is down with the wire droppers and tortoise motors installed. Hope to have the track finished today and all the wiring by next weekend. Famous last words.

 

Have a good one. I'm off to hide from Murphy before anything else goes wrong.

[AndrewC]

Oh bügger. Belated birthday wishes to Peter.

 

I meant to add congrats and commiserations to those up and down. Been trying to catch up on around 200+ posts. My bad.

[trisonic]

. BiL's teddy & pram moments could fill their own thread. One such melt down means we won't be going back to our local tapas restaurant any time soon.

 

 

 

My Imagination is working on Overtime......................

 

Best, Pete.

[AndyB]

Agree with Pete.

I think we need that thread, Andrew C! 

 

Anyway, to cheer me up the plumber - advising me from his holiday home  - mentioned that the leaking boiler may* need a new heat exchanger. If anyone was ever put off O gauge due to the rolling stock costs then this could put it in perspective! I feel my wallet quaking like a quaking thing that senses today is the day that tectonic plates will unleash hell.  

 

May has been and gone, white rabbits. I suspect June will be bring certainty on this. 

[Purley Oaks]

Thanks for posting Winifred Atwell's Five Finger Boogie, Polly, a great mid-morning tonic. Really cheerful.

 

AndrewC - you must expand the tapas restaurant story. Sounds great... sorry, horrible!

 

Happy birthday BB, congrats to Andyram, and hope your car is not too expensive to repair Chrisf.

 

Many thanks to AndyP for going to Jock's funeral and for posting the Order of Service which seemed to attract some pollen to my eyes. Opened a bottle of Lagavulin of Friday night.

 

Out for a few beers yesterday with a work colleague; started on some  Glaswegian weissbeer which wasn't too good, then some chilled Czech Pilsner which was just right for a sunny day.

 

Been a great few days weatherwise here, and the coming week could be very warm - the swallows are scooting and swooping around the gardens and rooftops in suburban Edinburgh this morning.

 

Hope your Sunday goes well

 

Mal

[Purley Oaks]

 

Anyway, to cheer me up the plumber - advising me from his holiday home  - mentioned that the leaking boiler may* need a new heat exchanger. If anyone was ever put off O gauge due to the rolling stock costs then this could put it in perspective! I feel my wallet quaking like a quaking thing that senses today is the day that tectonic plates will unleash hell.  

 

 

 

How much is that in Bachmann Blue Pullman sets?

Mal

 

[lightengine]

Silly life indoors : The flood news from gay Paree is not good, and I was reminiscing about a 1950s pop tune by Winifred Attwell, called The Poor People Of Paris, and how on such occasions this takes on a new meaning.

Ian that reminds me of the old BR Area Manager at Chichester, Attwell oft referred to as Winifred. Did you know him?

[AndyB]

 

How much is that in Bachmann Blue Pullman sets?

Mal

 

Exactly!

Depending on the damage it could be either one coach (in my dreams) or at least 1 set plus labour.  

[Coombe Barton]

Doing hayfield in stages.

 

Rather warm.

[The Stationmaster]

My Imagination is working on Overtime......................

 

Best, Pete.

 

We had one like that in our then local Indian restaurant years ago although fortunately he wasn't with us.  Started by him getting more & more inebriated and louder & louder until the staff refused to serve him, at which point the loud obscene language got much worse so his wife took him outside to calm him down.  That seemed to work as a few minutes after getting back into the restaurant he slid under the table.  At which point his family/friends removed him and themselves leaving us and every other table (only three by then) to receive a free bottle of wine compliments of the management.

[AndrewC]

Agree with Pete.

I think we need that thread, Andrew C! 

 

Anyway, to cheer me up the plumber - advising me from his holiday home  - mentioned that the leaking boiler may* need a new heat exchanger. If anyone was ever put off O gauge due to the rolling stock costs then this could put it in perspective! I feel my wallet quaking like a quaking thing that senses today is the day that tectonic plates will unleash hell.  

 

May has been and gone, white rabbits. I suspect June will be bring certainty on this.

 

depends on the boiler but I replaced the heat exchanger on mine 4 years ago. Smiples. 4 clips and some WD-40. Saved me £400 in labour. It's the only thing still working on the f***ing pile of s**t.

 

I'll post the whole tapas thing later from a proper keyboard and after a rather large absinthe. The restaurant was 50% to blame but BiL's ott reaction was embarrassing.

[bluebottle]

I saw Winifred Atwell at the Queen's Hall theatre, Edinburgh when I was a wee laddie in the 1950s. My father was a big fan of hers, and could play a rousing "Poor People of Paris" on his chromatic harmonica. She was a nice cheery black lady, and the audience loved her and her music. It was doubly a night to remember; Tommy Cooper was also on the bill - the funniest man I'd seen in my young life.

Happy days...

[Donw]

Mornin' all,

 

Best regards to those that ail

 

Blue sky warm fragrant kick off in The Moorlands. More calories burnt around the weekend circuit....

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P10303551.JPG

 

....the canalside crane/hoist adj. the flint mill at Cheddleton is having its wooden boom/jib replaced with new.....

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P10303571.JPG

 

Another 'on form' Is visit for the Wimborne family members yesterday (an hour this time) led them to question how poorly she actually is. The underlying ovarian, kidney & bone cancer not being treated with chemo leave no doubt as to the outcome but the daily undulations of how she feels appear to be controlled by the how well the kidney issues are being addressed. Surviving the rollercoaster is currently down to trying to understand/allow for the randomness of this cocktail.

 

Breakfast in the garden again

 

Feathered ones provided for

 

Church duties beckon

 

Enjoy what you do

 

Dave 

 

Dave I assume not having the chemo is one thing less for the kidneys to handle. Is sounds to be less stressed which is good. Nice pictures thinking of you both.

 

Don

[Donw]

Belated Birthday greetings Peter.

 

Chris F thanks for the gen on the WRRC.  The volunteer problem is common these days. For me one of the issues is travelling to meetings. I did four years as Editor for the GOG and am currently Membership Secretary and committee member for SRMC. With having taken on a property which needs a lot of work and is likely to need a fair bit just to maintain it, I cannot really take on more. I know Johnathan (SARN layout thread some interesting wagon builds )  does quite a bit for the WRRC.

 

Interesting task We need to remove a cast in concrete lintel some 8ftx1ftx 9in above a first floor window. I think keep removing bricks under each side until it is down to sill level then cut it up with the stone cutter messy but  it is much too heavy to move. Someone posted about a 97 year old falling off a roof must get all the DIY done long before then. 

On one cottage I erected a platform to work on the chimney. I asked the neighbour if he wanted his pots reset while I was at it as the flaunching was all cracked. He said yes please but failed to tell his wife. She was none too pleased. I had been careful but .... well you can imagine.

Don

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone, late on parade again today.

 

Sunny start to the day, but it went a little dull towards late afternoon. Another day has been spent in the garden, but at the front today. Weeds removed from the block paving and the border that I planted up last autumn. I also clipped the box hedge, which I also planted last autumn too. It's now looking very tidy and doesn't look as neglected as it did.

 

I heard news this afternoon from an old pal who was my best man. He told me that another pal of ours has finally succumbed to throat cancer, he was 58, he'd lived with it for about 6-7 years. The 3 of use (as well as many others) have been friends for over 40 years, have been to many football matches around the north of England, and sank far too many pints together. He's the first of my old mates to go.

 

As it's the first Sunday of the month, I'll be speaking to my brother in Canada this evening, we're usually on the phone for well over an hour chatting about what has gone on over the last month.

 

Dave. You and Is do seem to be on a roller coaster ride but I'm glad to read that she was again on good form. My lost my a few years ago to kidney cancer. She too had her ups and downs, depending upon how her kidneys were coping, once the stents had been inserted, things really improved for her.

 

PeterBB. Belated happy birthday.

 

Back later.

[Oldddudders]

Evenin' all

 

Belated birthday congrats to Peter BB. I hope I'm still as capable if/when I get that far!

 

Relieved to say I managed to buck up a bit yesterday, and completed 90' mowing, before we went off to watch the kids' 'spectacle' in La Ferté Bernard. That was really quite enjoyable, although since Sherry and I are not fluent French speakers, and young actors of all races tend to gabble their lines, we missed some of the subtleties! Alison's son did very well - not least because until a couple of years ago, he spoke very little French. A pleasant time was had by all.

 

Today we spent a couple of hours watching the Le Mans Test Day, mainly from the Maison Blanche grandstand. As well as offering excellent views of the double chicane, this also has a sort of gallery at the front which is ideal for snapping the approaching cars. As I now have a camera capable of 10 frames per second, there are a few pics awaiting inspection. 50 years ago, Ford won Le Mans for the first of 4 successive times, so it is good to see a new Ford showing promise this year.

 

After a quick nosh, we headed off for the model railway exhibition at Tuffé. This proved rather good, really, but the hall was a little hot at times. With exhibitors and traders from a wide area, there was plenty to see, and we easily fell into conversation with several layout-owners.

 

Charles Attwell? Yes, I remember him quite fondly. He was one of the first wave of Area Managers in the mid-sixties, most of whom were found offices at stations where the Stationmaster - as they still were then, I think - wasn't! So Hove instead of Brighton, Polegate instead of Eastbourne, Hurst Green instead of Oxted, South instead of East Croydon and Cheam instead of Sutton. I think Charles was originally at Barnham, so neither Bognor Regis nor Chichester. Common sense prevailed after a few years, and most of those posts moved to the natural centre.

 

Sadly I have today learned of a former colleague lost. A charismatic architect - they do exist! - Debbie had an exotic surname, having once been married, so 'twas said, to a Russian count! She had been feted for station reconstructions that garnered civic awards etc, and was generally a good egg. A few years younger than me, too.

 

I hope your weekend has delivered.

[AndyID]

 started on some  Glaswegian weissbeer which wasn't too good,

 

Glaswegian Whizzbier? Can't say I'm surprised.