Early Risers.

[Simon G]

Morning all,

Rather under the weather for the past couple of days, but at least the headache has gone, leaving the sore throat behind. When the throat does clear up, it will be replaced by a tickly cough which may take ages to go, if past experience is anything to go by. A few household chores to do this morning, then I may just settle down to the rugby this afternoon.

 

Like GDB, I watched Quins play Worcester last night, but Quins seemed lacking in any real guile or penetration and the better side won.

[Coombe Barton]

Been off for a bit.

 

Debs is waiting for her (hopefully) final operation, the one that repairs the damage that previous treatments have caused. It's the waiting.

 

Sandy (other half) had been having problems eating and it was blamed on a hiatus hernia. When it got worse the doc sent her off to have an endoscopy, which came back with the probability of cancer of the oesophagus. That was a week last Wednesday. Last Friday she had a CT scan and we spend a worried last weekend. On Monday we got a consultant’s appointment through for yesterday, and we found out, to a great deal of relief, that it is treatable.

 

So we’re in for an ultrasound endoscopy, a different type of CT scan, seeing the consultant oncologist, three sessions of chemo and then an operation. We’d not been home a couple of hours from the appointment when a phone call said endoscopy on Tuesday.

 

So things progress. And things look very much brighter this evening than they did yesterday morning.

 

John

[AndyB]

Morning all, 

 

I hope that all that attend Warley enjoy themselves. I've not been but I suspect that peeking at a layout through a 4-deep forest of bodies and rucksacks is not my cup of tea. And tbh, most weekends are predefined in terms of activity - and sometimes if I don't get caught, inactivity. 

 

john, my thoughts are with you, Sandy and Debs. 

 

Mention of Essex's mental health institutions reminds me of one that was called Runwell. I don't know if it was, however, having not graced its doors. 

 

Good to hear that AndyRam's shop is on the up. I think it is very wise in these early days to have the financial backup of the marking work to do. 

 

As part of a major infrastructure enhancement in my garage I'm thinking of investing in a tool chest and cabinet. At present there is an old chest of drawers in one corner. In one sense it will be a shame to see this go as it may well have been constructed by my grandfather. However, it isn't any use for storing tools and I don't think we can really keep all the things from generations past. 

 

Pressure is being applied to come up with a wish list for C********. A wagon and some track spring to mind. 

[Judge Dread]

Regarding Garden Villages, so as not to be left out, Hull has had such a thing since 1908.

This link will take you there. 

If memory serves, there isn't a pub on site. Memory, parh, I can remember what I did in 1962 but yesterday, not a chance! I suppose it's old age after all I will be 75 on the 24th. That's if I get that far!  I've just found the wife dusting insurance documents.

Can't stop, I'm off to hide in my "shed".

Happy days are here again, it's the 24th and it's my birthday. The only trouble is, I'm now 75 and I could do to be 25! No chance there then and the prospect of a free TV licence is a small reward. 

I shall have a good day and I trust everyone here will have one also. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Thoughts are with Sandy and Debs and many happy returns to Judge Dread. A bit quiet here on ER's this morning, I gather there's a show on somewhere. I'll be collecting a small diorama this afternoon from a chap who churns them out as a hobby. Just show him a photograph and tell him what scale you require, he gives you a price and produces a bespoke model building/diorama for you.

 

Oh dear!  Sent The Boss to get the bread and she said "Is it going to rain?" I said "Probably not for a while yet dear."

 

She's just  returned..... soaked.  Ooops.  

That must have cost a lot of brownie points, you might even be in deficit!

[81C]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Thoughts are with Sandy and Debs and many happy returns to Judge Dread. A bit quiet here on ER's this morning, I gather there's a show on somewhere. I'll be collecting a small diorama this afternoon from a chap who churns them out as a hobby. Just show him a photograph and tell him what scale you require, he gives you a price and produces a bespoke model building/diorama for you.

 

That must have cost a lot of brownie points, you might even be in deficit!

 

He's probably flat on his back K.O'ed by the Bossness.

 

And you lot going to Warley enjoy yourselves and don't forget  "Spoons" @ 13:00 how twee. 

[grandadbob]

Many Happy Returns to His Judgeship!

 

 

That must have cost a lot of brownie points, you might even be in deficit!

 

 

He's probably flat on his back K.O'ed by the Bossness.

 

Oh ye of little faith! Actually no on both counts. I am quite popular at the moment as the parcel I was waiting for arrived early which meant that we could go shopping and she's just bought me a C#######s present and asked if there's anything else I want! 

 

She's also just asked me what I'd like for lunch and reminded me that there is rugby to watch this afternoon, not that I'd forget that. 

[Coombe Barton]

Many Happy Returns to His Judgeship!

 

Oh ye of little faith! Actually no on both counts. I am quite popular at the moment as the parcel I was waiting for arrived early which meant that we could go shopping and she's just bought me a C#######s present and asked if there's anything else I want! 

 

She's also just asked me what I'd like for lunch and reminded me that there is rugby to watch this afternoon, not that I'd forget that. 

Prezzies? Rugby? Food? This all sounds very very suspicious. At least it would be if done to me.

[laurenceb]

Be afraid Bob-very afraid

Birthday greetings J D

[New Haven Neil]

Mor....ah.

 

Chainsawing here too, but fire wood that has been making a discreet pile behind our bay hedge for a couple of years - quite a mixture, some beech, cherry, eucalyptus that won't be burnt in the house fire (oily wood) and something we can't identify but was very hard and had a dark brown, close grained fibrous bark.

 

Absolutely shattered now, so showered the sawdust off and we're off out all the way to Laxey for cake n coffee is in the offing!  No trains to see now though as the season has ended on the Manx Electric. 

 

Hear a neighbour warming up a bike just now so went for a chat - my jealousy arose...he's bought a Paton,

 

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/first-rides-tests/paton-s1r/

 

OOoooohhhh want one!  Wow how much.....EEeeek!

[lightengine]

Imagine my surprise this morning when it dropped through the letter box. as usual it was accompanied by a glitter coated painted picture of a stagecoah and four.

Yes, its the dreaded Christmas round robin. It's where I discover that Sonia & her 3rd live in lover welcomed Corey into the world last April. Sonia had been dormant for 30 years but miraculously found Jesus Christ and then discovered that a diet of tofu and organic beetroot helped her become pregnant. Auntie Joan has passed (quite what she passed, I am not told) and am left intrigued. Roger and Glenda went on their 3rd cruise, this time to the Indian Ocean to re-establish their vows in front of a guru that Roger met in a Turkish jail whilst on a sabbatical. Little Chardonnay, who I used to bounce on my knee (allegedly) aged 12 months is now 35 and has been appointed as a mentor with some foreign advisory agency. Great Uncle Albert lost his cap on the 135 bus and his wife later in the day, but she was found 3 weeks later in a retirement home.

I know none of these people but Jerome & Phyllis, who I met on the £1 London to Basle coach last year included me in their greeting. Apparently Jerome thought I liked his ability to strum a guitar for 37 hours (I think I just had wind).

It's now dispatched to the shredder.

Names have been changed to hide identities, except Chardonnay, because I quite like that. The wine, that is, not as a name for a child.

[Northroader]

Do you write the plot for Eastenders?

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Work on the layout carriages went err not well.

The bottom door was fitted, but I forgot to allow for hinges.

 

When sat considering the carriage I then realised the top hinge of the main door was incorrect and it would take major rebuild to change it. The door hinged up to leave a step in the layout level. After much thought the only solution was to raise the top level of carriage. This now means instead of the planned level of 36inches. It's now 30inches of case, 6inches of wheel, 1.5 inches of Caster bracketry, 2.5 inches of layout and now a further inch of timber. Totalling 41inches.

Strangely that 1inch of added timber stiffened the carriage a huge amount.

 

When it came to designing support legs for the hinge up door, I found the socket for the adjustable leg would require a minimum of a 2.5 inch square leg which is a bit big. So I used 1.25inch square but screwed a 1in square 4 inch long piece to each side then the socket to the bottom. It looks like a square rocket with 4 boosters strapped on..

To the top on one I fitted a hinge, to the other a clip so it's removable. I couldn't fit a hinge on both legs as one would fold up into the area the internally carried section of layout lives.

The solution for the bottom door hinge is to fix it on with two strings and then just push it into place held in by a magnetic catch.

 

Left to do,

Fit ply floor and internal side above the internal layout, for the future electronics bay.

Fit internal catch for top door to stop it opening in transit.

Fit lifting handles when they arrive.

Fill, sand and paint case. Internally cheap white, externally Highland railway olive.

And then...

Fix the layout section on using a piano hinge down one side, and catches the other.

 

After that it was off to the Beach with Ben the border collie, that he especially enjoyed when he found a second tennis ball, we were being watched by several seals from the sea.

 

The easterly wind for the last week has completely changed the shape of the beach. We had to climb over a couple of dunes that filled the approach road. They'll come along with a bulldozer and push it back onto the beach soon.

 

Dinner has been had, eyelid inspection beckons...

[81C]

Many Happy Returns to His Judgeship!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh ye of little faith! Actually no on both counts. I am quite popular at the moment as the parcel I was waiting for arrived early which meant that we could go shopping and she's just bought me a C#######s present and asked if there's anything else I want! 

 

She's also just asked me what I'd like for lunch and reminded me that there is rugby to watch this afternoon, not that I'd forget that. 

 

She is probably after something like 2 or 3 trips a day down to Sainsbury's leading up to Christmas.   

[jamie92208]

Evening all.   Many Happy returns to de Judge.    

 

Various tasks got completed this morning, the Fig tree hols was dug, Beth's two planters near the door were filled with Broken tile topped by several inches of soil from various places.  The Fig tree was collected, hole modified to fit and then it was duly planted and a large mound of leaves piled around it to protect it from frosts.   All these outdoor activities to the accompaniment of hunting horns and yapping dogs.  The Chasse were out somewhere nearby.   They normally only hunt on a Wednesday and a Sunday but I have heard a rumour that there are some extra days as the Wild Boar population is getting out of control.

 

Then Beth got invited to go to a broccante, a sort of car boot sale, so I headed for the shed and had a frustrating couple of hours working out how to fit details to a loco with no instructions and a deficiency of parts.   We're both now ready to go out for a meal at the home of some French friends in the village.

 

Jamie.

[AndyID]

Replacement microcontroller board for the 3D printer ordered from the place of the large Greek ladies yesterday. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow (Sunday) which means our postman will have to make a trip from town, in the snow. Mind you, at this time of year he might have quite a few deliveries to make.

[AndyID]

We dodged a bullet on Thursday. Friends invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner which, of course. means turkey is on the menu. The lady of the house is usually a very good cook, but there seems to be a bit of marital stress going on at the moment and she was definitely "off her game" and we were off her game turkey as there was a lot of blood visible when they started carving it (I suspect she had not given it anything like enough time to thaw.)

 

So what do you do? Can you say "I'm not going to eat that!" and simultaneously terminate a beautiful friendship? Hoping for the best, Lorna and I carefully selected the most well-cooked bits from the serving platter. No ill effects. Phew!

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Diorama duly collected, it only took 25 minutes as the maker is quite local to me. Jamie, are the results of the local boar hunt made available? Though I object to hunting in principle I do appreciate that some wild animals have to be controlled, after all its not Oscar Wilde's 'Unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible'. Whilst on the subject isn't it wild truffle season down your way? Muggatee to be drunk, be back later.

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Happy birthday to the Judge and fingers crossed for CB's nearest and dearest.

 

So to Warley (the show) I have been, and returned (a process which as it turned out was not without difficulty - see below).  Numerous members of RMweb and this little corner of it were met and conversed with and nice to see you all and nice to meet you Brian (BSW of that name) so it counts as a good show because the company was good and the chat was good and in many respects that was, as expected, the best part of the show.  Sorry I missed Ian (Roundhouse) but he was either hiding or on his meal break when I passed by.  There were some veery nice layouts, some very good layouts, and some I'd seen more than a few times in the past.  I don't include New Bryford or Dobris in that category because I'd not got close to that end of Mick's railway previously and Dobris is still developing of course so both were, in a way, different from past views of them.

 

I duly spent some money, in fact quite a lot of money but some was on Christmas presents for me which will be reimbursed by the donors (probably) and the only item which involves the putting of metal wheels on parallel bits of metal was a Christmas present for the lad - Baz was suitably impressed by the weight of that lot and many thanks for the left luggage facility.  Overall the show wasn't too crowded in most areas but virtually all the layouts I looked at involved a wait to get near a suitable viewpoint.  Four of us met at the 'spoons for a chat and a drink - most enjoyable although I wouldn't say the same about Wetherspoons chicken burger and chips although it did fill a hole, sort of - but the chat was most convivial and that's really why we were there.

 

Travel sunk to new depths with so many folk trying to squeeze into trains both going and coming home in some cases with a level of stupidity which ought to have amazed me but didn't.  The lowlight of this was the Guard on the train to International on the pa while we stood at Coventry imploring people for Birmingham to get off so that passengers for Manchester could get on, it had some effect.  My plan to escape a bunfight by travelling into New St and south from there turned out to be a dismal failure as the intended Virgin train was reputedly, and increasingly, delayed 'by a broken down train' and the 4 car EMUs operated by NWR were loading to Japanese style crush loading,  so much so that access to the New St bound platforms was closed with large crowds waiting to get onto the platforms.  So I amended my plan and headed for a Cross Country train and actually got a seat straightaway.  Showing just how bad things were three chaps heading for Derby from international made a sensible decision to actually get them away from International by setting off on my train for Leamington whence they could get a train back into Brum centre.  The system and number/length of trains really isn't adequate to cope with three fairly big shows on simultaneously at the NEC, let alone a further - fourth - one today, but fortunately some of the Comic Com visitors were sporting entertaining costumes which helped cheer things up a bit.

 

Overall a good day out, great company, and pretty enjoyable.

[Judge Dread]

Happy days are here again, it's the 24th and it's my birthday. The only trouble is, I'm now 75 and I could do to be 25! No chance there then and the prospect of a free TV licence is a small reward. 

I shall have a good day and I trust everyone here will have one also. 

Did I mention free TV licences for over 75 year olds?

Well the notification for next years DD payments dropped through our letter box this very morning and in the spirit of a true Yorkshire man*, I went on their website and informed them of my birthday. I will receive an answer in 21 working days (two in December, two in January and the rest in March)

* I was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire due to wartime evacuations, of good Hull parents but to quote the Duke of Wellington when he was labeled Irish because he born there of English parents, "If I had been born in a stable, it would not have made me a horse!"  I am English!!

Thanks to all those who send me "likes"  

[AndrewC]

And do you think I can find the picture of the sign reading 

 

Badgers Mount

Pratts Bottom

 

?????

 

I think the search engine has run out of steam!

When I had my old satnav I'd get Badgers Mount Pratts Bottom all together in one row on the screen whenever I drove the M25 approaching junction 4.

[lightengine]

I am tucking into a recent Lidl purchase, Hardys Stamp Shiraz/Cab, something over £4, mmmm. Sufficiently priced for my present circumstances.

[jamie92208]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Diorama duly collected, it only took 25 minutes as the maker is quite local to me. Jamie, are the results of the local boar hunt made available? Though I object to hunting in principle I do appreciate that some wild animals have to be controlled, after all its not Oscar Wilde's 'Unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible'. Whilst on the subject isn't it wild truffle season down your way? Muggatee to be drunk, be back later.

 

You can get Sanglier (Wild Boar) sausages in the local supermarket.   However the venison and boar meat is apparently distributed around the members of the Chasse.  I believe that all kills have to be labelled so that they can be inspected by the authorities. As to Truffles we are going for afternoon drinks to one of our neighbours tomorrow.  He has an orchard of summer truffle oaks alongside the top of our garden and another orchard of winter truffle oaks at the other end of the village opposite the cemetery.   He is apparently and expert on their production.  We will no doubt find out more tomorrow.

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

On our recent trip afloat wild boar sausages were available on most days for breakfast. There were also chicken sausages and Cumberland seemed to be the normal everyday choice. There was black pudding of the Bury variety too.

Tony

Edited November 24, 2018 by Tony_S

[Gwiwer]

Evening all

 

A belated Happy Birthday to our resident Judge.

 

A slow morning was followed by a scrummage of an afternoon. I braved Kingston which is the nearest large shopping centre, as opposed to “out of town” locations which usually require use of a car. It has been decided that thermals are definitely required for the early morning shifts at the House of Fun so while SWMBO plonked herself in front of the idiot box I did battle with the oxymoronic Black Friday Weekend shoppers who looked much the same as C*****s shoppers. Nothing which took place nearby today involving English, Australians and a leather-effect egg would have come close to the manners encountered.

 

Rival and somewhat drunken crowds of 13 and 14 olds were running amok and probably running off with more containers of what ever they had already been at. The more civilised members of our society were simply barging and shoving their way into and out of shops, leap-frogging till queues and surrounding buses rather than any semblance of order.

 

I procured the required at M&S, popped into Sainsburys for a few bits and walked out to find my 281 bus home already loading at the stop.

 

You can probably call yourself an old fart when you spend your Saturday night in with a glass of rum & shrub trying on thermals!!!

 

I am however reliably informed that if I wish to go out later I am free to do so. You never know where I might end up. With all of London served to at least some extent by night buses and tubes I have wandered off before now. And so far always come home again

 

Coffee first. Decision on nocturnal peregrinations later. See you in the morning.