Early Risers.

[Smiffy2]

Morning all.

A clear and sunny day here in the Surrey Riviera. There were reports of frost, but I was asleep, so it didn't really happen.

 

Long but nice day yesterday with Daisy, and later Rose. Rose has now learned to run up to people and pull up her top and shout 'belly button' with the expectation that the unsuspecting adult will blow a big, wet raspberry in said location. She then laughs like a drain (she has a filthy laugh) and goes to the next adult. Of course, once she started Daisy wanted the same treatment, so three of us spent a little while doing that and crying with laughter.

 

Daisy and I also had a long conversation about natural selection, encompassing kittens (we worked out that if every female cat had 150 kittens each within a short space of time there would be over five billion kittens in the UK) and Peppered Moths. We also wandered onto why birthdays cluster in certain months and I discovered that her understanding of human reproductive behaviour is quite sound. Then she made an anniversary card for her parents. So a weirdly normal day, really.

 

After all that Julie and I went down to the local Thai restaurant as neither of us much felt like cooking. But I kept remembering Baz and his F&C and wanted some! It was very nice, though.

 

Jamie - I am excited for you! 

 

One sadness, an old friend from work retired and moved out to France a few years ago with her dog, which is really her only companion. He's an old rescue dog, and it looks like he's nearing the end of his days, and she has that decision to make. I'm sure she will do it right, and she will find another canine companion, but the interim will be painful and she's quite isolated.

 

I also booked our next two trips to France. We're hoping all is well there, as a local Brit family have had their house broken into whilst they were away. This is unheard of - people really don't lock their doors out in the countryside. The local word is that it was the English. There was a spate of metal thefts a couple of years ago, one family lost their gates and our mailbox was nicked. Nothing was ever proved, but the sons of a couple of local English builders were prime suspects.

 

Have a nice day, all. 

[AndyB]

Morning all, and it's wall to wall blue sky and sunny here. Sweet peas have started to pop above the soil and the snails are limbering up for a feast. 

 

The working day beckons with website content editing. I rather feel that writing websites by committee may not result in the most coherent linguistic effort.

Perhaps a better way would have been to set a tone for the content and then get one person to write and another to comment. Hey,  ho the world will keep spinning.

 

Jamie, enjoy your sailing to St Malo. I much prefer the overnight trip out than the 6 hour trip home from Caen. Having said that the first time we sailed to St Malo we barely got time for breakfast before we were told to return to our cabins to get our bags....so the second time I was prepared. I set my alarm for continental time and 05:00, got the family up and ready to eat and headed upstairs.....only to discover no-one was about. Hmmm. it was then that we discovered that although it was a French ship sailing into a French port, they kept the time British. I was not popular! Very strong coffee was needed that morning.   

[TheQ]

A Black Dog is arriving and I prefer sable and white,

 

First,       I know SWMBO will give me more grief about the lost wheel cover when I get home.

Second, I'm feeling rough after the long weekend physical work

Third,     I'm getting grief about my back log of equipment,

Fourth,   I Opened my test cable box for todays work, and someones been in there half the cables are missing or the wrong length.

Fifth,      I've received  a Email that we have free pizza's at 12:00, But to get them you have to attend the monthly meeting, do I attend? or Do I try to clear up the back log?

Sixth, another Email, more work due in in the next couple of days from the USA.

Edited April 19, 2017 by TheQ

[lightengine]

Morning all.

It may have been frosty overnight but there is no evidence now.

We are off to Heathrow later today to meet Aditi's uncle and aunt who are visiting from San Francisco. I am collecting them as it is seems to be too difficult for the Enfield relatives to drive to LHR. This doesn't of course include MiL who ceased driving last year. Aditi's uncle is only a couple of years older than she is so before she came to England he was like an elder brother. They are staying in Enfield for a few days, then with us and then they are off to Paris for a week.

Tony

Enfield or Paris? I wonder which they will prefer?

[Purley Oaks]

Morning all

 

After all the excitement yesterday, back to usual activities today. Grocery shopping for my mum, then "routine" hospital appointment to check for cancer markers in blood. Hoping to meet Gabe in town after that but all depends on her work; her last appointment today is with a woman who is 40-weeks' pregnant, so she thinks that she may be giving birth instead...

 

Yes, Andyram, choose your own time, much safer!

 

We have Norwegian friends who live in Hammerfest - they think we're all bonkers, too. Likewise the German relatives and French friends. So be it!

 

Have a good day

 

Mal

[grandadbob]

I don't think I'm bonkers, I'm quite certain of it. 

 

Headbonker of Sutton.

Edited April 19, 2017 by grandadbob

[Tony_S]

Enfield or Paris? I wonder which they will prefer?

They will have a few days with us in sunny South Essex too so Paris will have to be extra special to compare. Next Tuesday Uncle Vinay is fitting in a day trip to Edinburgh too. I persuaded him that perhaps flying from Stansted was more practical (and a lot cheaper) than going by train. I am sure he will like Ryanair. I have been tracking his Virgin Atlantic flight. It is predicted to arrive an hour ahead of schedule. I will adjust my departure from Benfleet accordingly.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. It looks as if GDB is intent on squandering his hard won brownie points, or is it that they have a very short shelf life. The plasterer called yesterday about the shed ceiling, I accepted his offer and a date has been set for early May so the painting has been put off until after its done. I tested the plywood I had cut yesterday and its a very tight fit, so tight in fact that I will probably have to break out the sander once the walls are painted. The narrow gauge railway at Upminster I mentioned last night I have put onto my Facebook page, it would make a great layout in 009 or O16.5, as the author pointed out it was half standard gauge (2' 4"). Thats it for now, be back later.

Edited April 19, 2017 by PhilJ W

[Tony_S]

Morning all from Estuary-Land...

The narrow gauge railway at Upminster I mentioned last night I have put onto my Facebook page, it would make a great layout in 009 or O16.5, as the author pointed out it was half standard gauge (2' 4"). Thats it for now, be back later.

I liked the Upminster tramway stuff on Facebook. I suspect horses were involved however the page suggests all will be revealed soon. Edited April 19, 2017 by Tony_S

[AndrewC]

Morning all from the borough de boring. Quiet work week thankfully as they continue regroup from yet another reorganisation and the start of a new financial year. No VPs floating around but a sh*t load of useless managers. To me VP was always Vindictive Pr*ck, based of past experience. My highlight of the week so far was crafting a rather snarky reply to a nasty-gram from the department's governance cockwomble. This is someone who clearly shouldn't be let near a computer. They are claiming my timesheet is missing 2 days. To start the idiot can't count as they attached a 9 day section but screwed up the total column for the hours. Secondly, he/she forgot to include the bank holiday in the extract. I'd normally be nice about such mistakes but the aggressive tone of the email meant I replied in kind, with a not so subtle hint on basic Excel operations and which Oracle Financials filter to use. (also copying in the person's manager and the department director). 

 

For those in the far south east, there is an NMRA mini meet in Hastings this coming Saturday. Come see my Freemo module and have a play. 

 

MODEL RAILROADING REVEALED

SATURDAY 22 APRIL 2017

STADE HALL, ROCK-A-NORE ROAD, HASTINGS TN34 3DW

 

For a whopping £2 (free if you are an NMRA member), you can enjoy 3 layouts (2 HO and 1 in N), 36' of L shaped Freemo, and half a dozen clinics/demos on subjects like weathering, DCC, garden railways, baseboard construction, and more.

 

That's about it from me. I have a few hours of banked time that I've just now decided to use for the rest of the day. Off to the shed to prepare for Saturday's trip to the seaside. 

Enjoy your day. 

[lightengine]

Andyram, don't forget the old joke.

What's the difference between a wife and a terrorist?

[PhilJ W]

I liked the Upminster tramway stuff on Facebook. I suspect horses were involved however the page suggests all will be revealed soon.

The second part of the article has been added and I have shared it to my Facebook page. Indeed as you surmised Tony it was horse operated but a bit of modellers licence is all that will be required to install mechanical power. As an aside with mechanical power in mind McEwan-Pratt had their factory making small petrol locomotives not that far away at Wickford. In fact the factory still exists and is still in use making double glazing and conservatories.

[lightengine]

Tony, we have some very nice mugs in a shop in town.

The decoration is;

New York

Paris

Munich

Teignmouth.

 

Does,

London

Edinburgh

Paris

Enfield/Benfleet

have a similar ring

Edited April 19, 2017 by lightengine

[andyram]

Morning all. A very bleary eyed post this morning. For the third night running I struggled to drop off. Then at 2.30am we were disturbed by Amber coming into our room, complaining of stomach ache. By 3am that transpired into another of her famed vomiting episodes all over the bed. So an early hours bed strip and change was needed. Then Amber could not settle and needed more room to spread out in bed so I was decamped to her room to sleep there. Normally that would not have been too bad on a holiday day, except for the fact I had a hair cut booked for 9.30am. So it was up with alarm and out of the house by 9am with a few extra calls to make whilst Sarah stayed at home. A parcel to post and more Avon books to deliver on my wife's behalf!

Just back home after those jobs were completed. A quick cup of tea being consumed to help stay awake before heading into the city centre to pick up my new mobile phone. I am guessing the day will then be spent at home and the planned family afternoon at the zoo will be understandably off. I am going to stake my mortgage on betting that my planned jaunt to the Severn Valley Railway will also be off tomorrow. That was already looking doubtful due to a couple of other things creeping into tomorrow. Sadly there are no other days to rearrange it to so it now looks like I will have to wait until the May / June half term break at the earliest for a visit there.

On the plus side Amber seems much brighter this morning and the good weather may allow me to make some more progress in the garden. Of course there is also the school work to do. Now where is my motivation for that hiding??

 

Enjoy your day.

Edited April 19, 2017 by andyram

[AndyB]

Tony, we have some very nice mugs in a shop in town.

The decoration is;

New York

Paris

Munich

Teignmouth.

 

Does,

London

Edinburgh

Paris

Enfield/Benfleet

have a similar ring

 

No doubt they'll be rifling though the souvenir shops looking for one of those. 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Leek soup (homemade of course) coming up over the horizon so gladness and joy isn't far away.

 

Interesting to compare anywhere with Paris (i.e. not just Benfleet).  Reminds that one afternoon a good while back I was talking to a former boss of mine on the 'phone and told him that I'd have to hurry as I needed to catch the train to Paris.  Getting all the usual comments about 'some people having all the luck' etc I replied that in many respects I much preferred my regular visits to York back a few years previously when he'd been my boss and he was based there (I was based in Swindon at that time).  And in many respects I meant it - York had as much to offer as paris albeit in different ways and at least if I was there overnight (which was a rarity) I could even get a proper breakfast although Paris did at least offer a reasonable chance of getting a decent meal in the evening in one of the restaurants I regularly used in Montmartre and a better than passable lunch the next day in the SNCF staff restaurant at Gare du Nord.  Actually, albeit with mixed feelings I do miss, the relatively frequent travel my last big railway job involved as I occasionally got to some far nicer places than Paris.

 

Have a good day one and all.

[roundhouse]

A visit to the doctors this morning. blood pressure coming down but not to the level it should be yet so another appointment to be made for a couple of weeks time.

 

A poor nights sleep last night so hopefully a few mid week beers tonight will help. Need to have a few good nights sleep before the drive to Liverpool but luckily I do have my other half who is happy to do much of the driving.

 

This wil be our last show till August. One Freemo meet in May though but that gives us weekends to do other things.

[DDolfelin]

 

_{I drove into the garden and frightened Mummy deer and baby deer who ran off Into the "jungle" part of the garden.}

 

 

A deer corpse was on the verge this morning. (Deer departed).

No sign of vehicle debris - they can be a real hazard here. Had two very near misses as they jump the hedges into the road and then bound over the hedges on the other side.

[The Lurker]

Greetings from a bright but chill London Bridge. Nothing much to report so have a good day all

[Horsetan]

.....Interesting to compare anywhere with Paris (i.e. not just Benfleet).  ....

 

Harlow could probably pass for one of the Paris banlieues...

[Donw]

They will have a few days with us in sunny South Essex too so Paris will have to be extra special to compare. Next Tuesday Uncle Vinay is fitting in a day trip to Edinburgh too. I persuaded him that perhaps flying from Stansted was more practical (and a lot cheaper) than going by train. I am sure he will like Ryanair. I have been tracking his Virgin Atlantic flight. It is predicted to arrive an hour ahead of schedule. I will adjust my departure from Benfleet accordingly.

Tony

 

It may be quicker and cheaper by plane but I would consider the train journey to Edinburgh worth it for a chance to see the country. 

Don

[bluebottle]

Overheard on the bus, this morning -

 

(Middle-aged lady):              "We've seen a show house we like, on the new estate over at Swallownest. It's called a 'Boo-Chan'."

(Middle-aged lady's friend): "That's a strange name. How do you spell it?"

(Middle-aged lady):              "B - U - C - H - A - N."

 

Priceless ...

 

 

[TheQ]

Morning all,

 

Leek soup (homemade of course) coming up over the horizon so gladness and joy isn't far away.

 

 

Have a good day one and all.

Is this the right comment to make considering Ambers' problems over night?

 

PS Amber, is the second from the right of my avatar as you look at it (not the same Amber).

 

Buchan, RAF Buchan that is, I was stationed there for 18 months, but never went there at the time, as I was on a sub unit in the Outer Hebridies...

When I did go there a couple of years later for a couple  of days (one night stop) I was glad I went to the Outer Hebridies....

[Donw]

We have bluebells and cow parsley out here as well as the Hawthorn, Apple, Choisya, Weigela. All but one of the trees and bushes we planted have come into leaf. However the Wild Madder and Bineweed are fighting back. Lots to do.

 

Enjoy your day

 

Don

[tractionman]

It may be quicker and cheaper by plane but I would consider the train journey to Edinburgh worth it for a chance to see the country. 

Don

Absolutely, it's a lovely journey by train and advance purchase tickets can be had for a reasonable price in my experience, and compared to being couped up in a Ryanair plane and pushed from pillar to post in airports at either end, there's no competition!

 

All the best,

 

Keith