Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Evening everyone

 

Well I managed to up early and get a glimpse of the Mars Jupiter conjunction this morning, just and then I went back to bed. It was bl00dy cold looking out of the attic window though, I’m glad I stayed inside as it was frosty when I got up later.

 

Then, as is usually the case for a Sunday morning, we had breakfast in bed followed by a bit of a lie in. Then it was back down to middle earth where, for a change I didn’t do any muddling. Instead, I cleaned and honed my bow pens. Once I was happy with the finish I’d got on them, I did a bit of practice lining and I must say I’m pleased with what I managed to do, but I think I need to practice a lot more before attempting to line a model.

 

Goodnight all.

[Horsetan]

Aspall cider. Not Adnams brewery.

Only a matter of time?

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a rather blustery morning in this part of the world - and to be honest, much too mild for the time of year.

 

We have had a huge amount of rain over the past few days, so river levels are extremely high.  Fortunately, feet have remained dry!

 

Time for a coffee - Have a good day everyone...

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I have a bone to pick with my local pharmacy.  Yesterday I opened a new box of statins and found that four of the supposed 28 tablets were missing, having already been pressed from the little blisters that encase them until the time comes for their ingestion.  The explanation for that should be interesting.  A modest fodder run needs to be done and letters committed to the post.  The feedback about my Swiss holiday needs a bit more tweaking before I send it but it's just about done now.

 

Yesterday evening I was fascinated by a TV programme about Lloyd George, presented by his descendant Dan Snow.  So fascinated was I that I nodded off before the end and woke with a start as the credits rolled.  I have two excuses.  The first is too much concentration since I returned from holiday.   [All together now: yeah, right]  The second is that common inconvenience, the beginnings of a cold.  I will try to snuffle quietly so as not to wake you.

 

Here I acknowledge that, as always, there are others in trouble a lot worse than me.  To the distressed, recovering and missing I send felicitations and best wishes.

 

Chris  

[TheQ]

Aspall cider. Not Adnams brewery.

Entirely correct, too much merlot in the typing... What is it with all these people from the Dark Side (Suffolk)starting their names with A

[AndyB]

Morning all,

 

Potentially a chilly one outside today - the curtains have yet to be drawn to confirm this. 

 

Not much to report, other than some plywood sheet has been cut to size, pencil marks scribed on to it...,

 

Interestingly the circular saw that I thought would transform my sometimes  less than straight line cuts with a jigsaw did nothing of the sort.

On a few practice pieces the cut was sufficiently wide to look more like I'd routed the material out. 

And tbh I feel less comfortable using a power tool where the blade is hidden inside the gubbins, rather than seeing precisely where it is attacking the wood. 

A small point also, the trigger and it's associated thumb-operated locking mechanism could only be activated by a right-handed person.

Well, to be pedantic, by a person using their right hand.   

Said saw will be going back to the shop. 

 

Anyway, got to hurry up and queue now so ttfn. 

 

I'l try and post some pictures of a model railway later; my small contribution to getting Debs up and about and swooping in to unleash vengeance.

[Barry O]

Morning to most from a coolish Settle.

 

Slept like a log, unfortunately I can't fit the bed in the back of the car to get it home.

 

Time for some breakfast then..off home pah!

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Not so cold here todsy.

I am not aware of any great plans for today. So far opening the back door for Robbie and making tea for us has been successfully achieved.

At last my cough has subsided to a slight tickle.

Have a good day.

Tony

[DDolfelin]

Watched a bit of a programme with Dick Strawbridge on C4 last evening.

Circumstances meant I missed some of it.

Seemed they were building a 70 mile long model railway in the Highlands.

The last I saw they hadn't got very far and dropped a bridge into water.

One of the volunteers was called the Fat Controller. (!!).

Did it finish or is there more to come?

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Very dull, gloomy and a bit chilly here and will stay cloudy with some rain to come, possibly.

I've been sniffing and snuffling for a couple of days and now have a sore throat so it seems a cold is developing.

Enjoyed the Wasps v Saracens match yesterday with the latter eventually winning comfortably.

Today's plans involve visits to a couple of shops and the post office. Can't wait!

After that I may start looking for a new printer as the print nozzles on mine are clogging up too often and the Epson ink I use is too bl##dy expensive. Using more to clear the nozzles than print. I bought this one a few years ago when I used to print quite a few photos and the quality of them is excellent. Nowadays the printer is mainly used by Joe & Gemma for their homework and I could probably buy a basic one for less than the £60/65 a set of ink cartridges cost.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[BoD]

.............Another four programs to come so I know what I will be doing the next four Sunday evenings.

I will be doing something else as Strictly Come Falling Over on Ice is on the other side. As we only have one TV and Mrs BoD has preference (except when the Rugby is on) I will have to wait and watch it later.

 

DD. When we were on holiday in Scotland last June we saw the first few sections of 'track' alongside Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal near Fort William. Since then I have wondered if they ever did get it finished. As there are more programmes to follow I have to assume that they did.

 

Have a good day peoples.

[Happy Hippo]

I notice that there is a thread called something like 'Film and TV show errors'.

 

I can't see what all the fuss is about.

 

I am told there are howlers much closer to home ........ Have they ever looked in the 'Layout topics' thread?

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Well Heelas John Lewis in Reading failed to call back yesterday to answer my query so I assume the staff were either too busy, too lazy or incompetent or maybe the passing of messages simply doesn't work or maybe they don't want 1400 quids worth of our housekeeping money. So today an expedition might be mounted in the direction of Reading.  But in the meanwhile the black screen seems only to affect Mrs Stationmaster's log on and is also seemingly a short term aberration in any case - some sort of hint to go shopping perchance.

 

Andy I have exactly the same trouble as you with a circular saw - just like a jig saw it won't v cut in straight lines.  there is a simple answer - tack a known straight piece of wood on the sheet timber you are cutting and use it as a 'fence' to guide the saw, then you'll get a straight cut.

 

 

Anyway 2nd mugatea is undergoing consumption and I might take a dip into the froth lake on here to see if there is anything to interest me (I don't think there will be if my spy network has been efficient in its operations) plus have a good laugh at all the moans.

 

Have a good day one and all and welcome those joining the land of ineffective '24hour cold cures' - which don't do what it says on the packet.

[BoD]

It has always been said that a common cold will clear up in a week.

With treatment though, it will be gone in seven days.

[81C]

The biggest problem for saws not cutting straight is the user forcing the saw through the job like Mike said use a guide if possible and make sure the blade is sharp.

[Horsetan]

...the Epson ink I use is too bl##dy expensive. Using more to clear the nozzles than print. ...

I get my genuine Epson cartridges on eBay. Much cheaper.

[grandadbob]

Thanks Ivan, just checked and the pack of 6 I normally buy are from £10-£15 cheaper than Amazon and others. Can't think why I haven't looked there before.

[Horsetan]

Thanks Ivan, just checked and the pack of 6 I normally buy are from £10-£15 cheaper than Amazon and others. Can't think why I haven't looked there before.

...and if you go for the unopened packs that are auctioned rather than BIN, you could have them cheaper still. £9 for a genuine black ink cartridge? Yes please!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit late on parade this morning for the same reason as I was late on parade Saturday. Not a lot to do today so it doesn't matter.

Evening all again. I watched the program 'The biggest little railway in the world' and IMHO its well worth watching. I saw quite a few familiar faces particularily in the opening sequence including a mate of mine, Steve at the Bristol show. I think I spotted a few RMwebbers as well. Another four programs to come so I know what I will be doing the next four Sunday evenings.

 

Watched a bit of a programme with Dick Strawbridge on C4 last evening.

Circumstances meant I missed some of it.

Seemed they were building a 70 mile long model railway in the Highlands.

The last I saw they hadn't got very far and dropped a bridge into water.

One of the volunteers was called the Fat Controller. (!!).

Did it finish or is there more to come?

Another four programs to come, their biggest problem seems to be wobbly track but the preview of the next program suggests that they managed to drop their radio controlled live steam engine into the canal (ouch£££££).

[Tony_S]

Perhaps viewers will be able to vote for which loco gets dropped each week?

[PhilJ W]

The 'Biggest little railway in the world' is being discussed here on 'Channel 4 model railway challenge'. Its not getting as bad as some threads on RMweb such as the Peco bullhead thread but the discussion has been a bit heated at times. The people who actually built the model railway were split into teams one of which was led by our own Jenny Emily.

[AndrewC]

Only a matter of time?

Don't think so. They straddle the line between traditional and craft. The inBevs & Molsons of the world are looking for the next big thing. Molson swallowed up Sharps as a traditional brewer and Miller grabbed Meantime as their halfway one. (now resold to the Japanese along with Grolsch) All the other acquisitions have been smaller but rapidly growing "craft" brewers. Interesting to note that in each case they've had massive drops in sales after being bought out. (see also Camden Town brewery) That has led them to taking a bit more cautious approach as of late. The resurrection of London Fields brewing in East London between Carlsberg & Brooklyn may be a sign of things to come. 

 

If I was a betting man, I'd say the most likely UK brewer takeover in the next year or so will be Thornbridge or possibly Beavertown. The latter having just closed their restaurant operation and is in the middle of yet another production expansion. That was the same phase that Camden was at when InBev came to town with a bucket of cash and paid for the massive new brewery in Enfield. What you may see is more of the UK breweries either merging or buying each other up to prevent the big boys from taking over. Canadian brewer Sleemans was in the same boat a few years back. If you believe the whole story, Sleeman was basically told by InBev to sell up or be crushed. The next day he sold to Sapporo to prevent InBev from getting their feet under the boardroom table. Unibroue in Quebec has a similar story and is also now owned by Sapporo. 

[Horsetan]

Perhaps viewers will be able to vote for which loco gets dropped each week?

 

It'll be the same one, then.

 

.....Interesting to note that in each case they've had massive drops in sales after being bought out. (see also Camden Town brewery) That has led them to taking a bit more cautious approach as of late. ....

 

Because everyone clearly thinks that the product quality nosedives once the big brewers get hold of it.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Horsetan

[Barry O]

Heineken (still run by the family) have bought into a number of smaller breweries. Seems they, like the old whitbreads, don't like small breweries being swamped by other people.

 

Baz

Edited January 8, 2018 by Barry O