Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Tony, glad to hear that Robbie is recovering well from his op. Jaywick used to be another 'tidal car trap', not helped by the soft sand but the vehicle access to the beach has now been closed. I can't remember now exactly where now but a few months ago a pic appeared on Facebook of one such car that had been abandoned many years ago and had recently been uncovered by the tide, about the only thing that was recognisable was the tyres yet someone was able to identify the make and model. Off to do some shopping now, be back later.

[45156]

Back now and posts all read, rated, etc.  Pleased to hear that Robbie is on the mend,

 

Now waiting for Mark in the Market Street van to bring the comestibles - he seems to be on his way.  Got a few tasks domestic to tackle as well, and dinner to prepare, but with half of the ingredients still in transit.....

 

Good news for those visiing Lancaster, the M6 slip roads are now all reopened, and the new bridge over the Lune carrying the Northbound traffic is now open.

 

Greetings are given to all celebrating and ailing.

 

Possibly back later.

[Purley Oaks]

Morning all

 

Beautifully warm day here yesterday, today is cloudy; expecting rain tomorrow and Thursday.

 

As Mike said, Edinburgh's gearing up for its festival, would be good if it was dry for the tourists. Have some tix for the bookfest, nothing for the fringe yet. The bookfest is not just authors reading from books, but usually a 20-30 minute interview followed by questions from the audience then a book signing session where you can chat with the writer. And there's a bookshop, café and bar.

 

Have a good day

 

Mal

[Oldddudders]

Its been ages since wevisited the pub in Bosham. Think the last itme was in our friends tiny bathtub like boat.

Is that the Anchor Bleu, or similar?

[roundhouse]

Is that the Anchor Bleu, or similar?

Yes thats the place

[Oldddudders]

Yes thats the place

My first, maybe only, visit was in early 1972. The girlfriend of the time was at Bishop Otter College in Chi, so it was walkable. She needed to walk down the slipway to collect a water sample, something to do with her college course - teacher training.

 

Decades later, Deb and I visited, but I'm not convinced we had a drink there. Odd, given Deb's capacity to drink pints of bitter from a straight glass!

[45156]

Is that the Anchor Bleu, or similar?

Not been there for decades - good pub from memory.

[45156]

Decades later, Deb and I visited, but I'm not convinced we had a drink there. Odd, given Deb's capacity to drink pints of bitter from a straight glass!

The only sort to sup from - beer tastes better from one than from a jam jar with a handle.

(ducking behind parapet as handle glass afficionados start to froth)

[Donw]

Am I the only one who thinks that spending £400 per month on HIV protection is unaffordable. After all we are all at some risk of HIV so either every one gets it or you have to decide who is at risk. I could see a logic in treating those with spouses who have HIV but forking out for the sexually irresponsible seems too much. We cannot afford all the health treatment people really need. So when there is a delay in your op or cancer treatment you can be reassured they are protected.

Don

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all (just) from a grey Scottish HQ.

 

Good to hear that Robbie should be due home soon.

 

Yorkshire played badly and lost .. on Yorkshire Day.

Thankfully Durham beat them on Sunday too... Unfortunately our game against the Red Rose county was washed out yesterday, leaving us languishing in 5th and unable to qualify for the next stages.

 

Seagulls

Pedant mode. As every tv wildlife presenter keeps telling us, they are Gulls not Seagulls!

Just what I was going to say! Herring gulls, Great Black-backed gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls can be killed in Scotland under a general licence (including, I note, by semi-automatic weapons!). They're a blooming nuisance where I am too - they nest on the flat rooves of buildings, including mine - and I'm a top floor flat so can hear them tramping around on the roof at all hours and the screeching of the young wanting fed. They also have an amazing habit of strafing my windows as they fly and poop at the same time. The spatter patterns are quite something...

 

As Mike said, Edinburgh's gearing up for its festival, would be good if it was dry for the tourists. Have some tix for the bookfest, nothing for the fringe yet. The bookfest is not just authors reading from books, but usually a 20-30 minute interview followed by questions from the audience then a book signing session where you can chat with the writer. And there's a bookshop, café and bar.

I've got tickets for Ian Rankin on 24th at the Book Festival. Haven't booked any Fringe shows yet, but we've got a shortlist of stuff to take Jamie to this Sunday. Will have to get on and book soon, and try to work out what's on half price for the first weekend.

 

The Book Festival is held in Charlotte Square, just across the road from the FM's official residence, Bute House. It always has a great atmosphere, a lot calmer than the Royal Mile where you can scarcely move for crowds and people handing you flyers for their shows during the three weeks of the Fringe. I do enjoy the buzz it brings, though getting anywhere becomes a struggle. Once the Fringe leaves at the end of August the city suddenly changes, becomes a lot quieter, and it feels like autumn is on its way. It's a very strange, empty feeling when the Fringe goes each year (actually much like a house without a dog when you're used to it, as someone said earlier).

 

Have a good day all!

[Ohmisterporter]

Morning all.

 

The beaches from Burnham to Sand Point W-S-M are a trap for the unwary. The tide does go out a long way and the sand does look very inviting. Indeed the even have Motorcycle racing on the beach at Western. But there are softer parts and the tide comes in quite fast. For those who wish to lose vehicles or endager life other beaches are available such as Morecombe and Maplin sands Essex.

Don

 

I had a friend who got trapped in quicksand at Bolton-le-sands in Morecambe Bay whilst dog walking. He just stepped onto a section of wet sand and couldn't move his feet. He got out by lying full length on the ground and after a lot of effort managed to drag himself to a solid patch. All the while his two dogs thought it was some new game and spent the time running round him wagging their tails and barking. Just as he had about exhausted himself another walker came along and helped him up. He was very lucky. Oddly, the dogs didn't step in the soft stuff; how do they know?

Stay safe all. 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Ohmisterporter

[bbishop]

Yesterday's procedure went well. Ten minutes having my tummy rubbed (by an instrument and it was a male nurse). An immediate result, that part of me is fit and healthy. However, on the way home I dropped into the GP's surgery to collect a prescription and decided to book an appointment for my knee. Good think I did, because since then it has given me nothing but grief.

 

Best wishes to Robbie.

 

Bill

[45156]

I had a friend who got trapped in quicksand at Bolton-le-sands in Morecambe Bay whilst dog walking. He just stepped onto a section of wet sand and couldn't move his feet. He got out by lying full length on the ground and after a lot of effort managed to drag himself to a solid patch. All the while his two dogs thought it was some new game and spent the time running round him wagging their tails and barking. Just as he had about exhausted himself another walker came along and helped him up. He was very lucky. Oddly, the dogs didn't step in the soft stuff; how do they know?

Stay safe all. 

Happens all the time round here - some of the most dangerous pieces of coastline in the country with hidden quicksands, holes, hidden channels, and a tide which can rise from all directions at once - and quickly.  Cars get caught on the seafront at Arnside, which has a tidal car park - likewise the parking area at Sunderland Point, which also has a causeway which gets covered by a rising tide faster than a car can escape it.  If caught at Sunderland, get your car off the causeway, and onto the terrace, you'll get out about three hours later intact and with car.  You'll be bored, as there's nothing to do there, but you'll be alive and still have wheels.

Edited August 2, 2016 by 45156

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a wet and grey London Bridge.

 

I'm not sure gulls have really changed their behavior - they have always been opportunistic scavengers. Just watch them swoop on other seabirds returning to feed their young, or on the chicks themselves. Chips are easy in comparison!

[Gwiwer]

Oddly enough one thing I miss about being away from the UK, and Cornwall specifically, is the gulls.  

 

Sh1tehawks, we call 'em.  

 

The common Herring Gull is the worst offender and has the distinctive and very loud call.  They have become airborne vermin and moved inland as they discovered food sources from domestic bins to rubbish tips.  Less common gulls are the Lesser and Great Black Back which are not aggressive despite the size of the latter and neither are they raucously noisy.  For the twitchers among us there are numerous other species of gull frequently seen in the UK.  Only the Herring Gull has become aggressive and then not by any means universally.

 

Here we only get the Pacific or Silver Gull which are half the size of a decent Herring Gull and very quiet.  They are also non-aggressive and are barely noticed let alone commented upon.  So yes I miss the raucous calls, the huge flocks and even the aggression at times.  Though not the mess which used to arise when they attacked rubbish bags in the era between the tin bins and wheelie ones.  And I miss the excitement of spotting a rarity among the numbers on a beach or clifftop.  

 

Unless your name is Jonathan Livingston there is no such bird as a seagull

[shortliner]

'ere - wot sort of gull is a "rarity" - don't think we have any of them round these parts!

Edited August 2, 2016 by shortliner

[Gwiwer]

@ere - wot sort of gull is a "rarity" - don't think we have any of them round these parts!

 

 

The Common Gull is actually remarkably uncommon in many areas

Others you might find if you're lucky are the Black-headed Gull, Glaucous Gull, Sabine's Gull, Iceland Gull, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull and Kittiwake (which is a gull).  The Yellow-legged Gull is now recognised as a species distinct from the Herring Gull by most authorities.

 

Guillemots, Puffins, Razorbills, Auks, Gannets, Fulmars and Terns are not gulls though are common on many shorelines and sometimes mistaken for them, or mistakenly described as gulls.

[Happy Hippo]

You cannot make this up!

 

This morning I received an appointment (overdue as it happens) to attend the ophthalmology outpatients for a further check on my eyes.

 

On exactly the day and the same time as the appointment I'd booked to see my GP.

 

I'm currently tossing a coin to see which one gets canned  and rescheduled.

 

However, today, despite the grey skies and intermittent rain, I have been outside in my workshop and on the garden railway site making and laying track.

 

I am now completely around the bend, figuratively speaking, so the yard throat is now a distinct possibility this weekend.

 

Somewhat annoyingly, our ministrations with the hedge last weekend has uncovered quite a tract of land that would have been useful as an extra section of sidings.

 

One could get back into the area and widen the track bed in places, but i'm minded to leave it as it is, and create some form of scenic area where a few buildings may reside.

 

These would give some purpose for the line, although the smell from a scale sewerage works might offend the rest of the household and my neighbours.

 

Besides, I'd have to make the extra track to fill the void!

 

Wandering over to the gull saga, one of the oddities of the law is that you may destroy the nests and eggs of herring gulls, but the bird itself is not listed on the general licence.

 

for those interested the GL covers:

 

• crows
• collared doves
• jackdaws
• jays
• lesser black-backed gulls
• magpies
• pigeons (feral and woodpigeon)
• rooks

You can catch alive or kill, as well as take, damage or destroy the nests, or take or destroy the eggs of:

• Canada geese
• monk parakeets

You can damage or destroy the nests, or to take or destroy their eggs of:

• herring gulls

You must still follow animal welfare laws and kill birds in a quick and humane manner.

You can eat birds killed under this licence, but (other than woodpigeons) you can’t sell them for human consumption.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

We had a Seagull outboard motor for our dinghy that Dad built. It could even be in my brother's garage.

[newbryford]

Talk of gulls with a railway connection.

 

The staff at a certain depot in Birmingham were nicknamed the Saltley Seagulls - "coast to coast and sh1t on everyone....." (a mate of mine was there for a couple of years)

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Gwiwer]

 

 

You can eat birds killed under this licence

 

But, other than perhaps woodpigeons, why would you?  Rooks, crows, jays, magpies and especially lesser black-back gulls would surely be gristly and the latter very salty as well.  Think I'll nip down Tesco's and grab a pack of cheap sausages.  They're surely better.

 

 

[Robert]

When I was at school, I was a member of the local history group.  We interviewed various old people in and around the town, and wrote down their memories.

 

One chap, who was a retired railwayman used to collect crows which had been run down by trains, and his wife would then make crow pie.

 

We asked how crow tasted, but his reply was unfortunately not fit for publishing!

[45156]

Shopping is here, and when I went to Dr, I called in at Boots (other pharmacies are available, but not in our village) to find that my prescription from last week was not ready as they'd not read it yet, despite having had it in their inbox since Friday.  So another trip down to pick it up.  I thought that this new system was meant to speed things up, but not here, as they seem to check it when you call in, then get the stuff - which is fine IF they have all the items in stock, and as my insulin and needles are not standard items according to the NHS, well, they then need to be ordered????  Now got everything....as I only needed some of the "standard" drugs.

 

Other than that, hooving done and washing is in the tumble - and I think it's going to rain.

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone.

 

The sun never came out and it's been grey and dull all day. After threatening to rain all morning it finally arrived at lunchtime. Four site visited in total and once again my mileage was low, only 26 miles covered and home for a mid-afternoon cuppa with Mrs W too.

 

After said cuppa I managed to get out to my shed, and remove the distribution board and also the outside light from the back, so all that's left to do now is dismantle it, which I'll do at weekend.

 

As it's a Tuesday it means we'll be completing the Sainsbury's Grand Prix this evening. Not one of my favourite pastimes, but we've got to eat so it has to be done.

 

Back later.

[45156]

 

Sainsbury's Grand Prix this evening. Not one of my favourite pastimes, but we've got to eat so it has to be done.

 

Don't they deliver round your way, order can be controlled more easily, and you don't need to leave your home - however, my preferred supermarket (Aldi) is still a shop based operation, but I tend to get every second shopping from the Morrisons' online service, which is brilliant.