Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Result! One quick phone call and tree surgeon called in on his way to a job. Very reasonable price quoted for removal and disposal of several largish shrubs and the work will be done next week. 

My back, hip, knee and I are very happy. 

The Boss may not be as I've included her favourite as it's in the way so I'll have to get a replacement

 

What's the betting that the next photo from GDB towers is of him being planted where the favourite shrub used to be...…..

 

Jamie

[roundhouse]

 

 

 Next thing I know she's ordered a complete set, AND a Bachmann S class train. She's a keeper!

 

 

 

 

We are both lucky on that front. SO are you bringing the S stock to the Freemo meet

 

I may restrict my diet to just beer  

 

meanwhile finishing off a pack of Twizzlers (says low fat on the packet) brought back from across the pond

Edited January 28, 2019 by roundhouse

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I didn’t get to see Casualty on Saturday night...

Good (late) morning!

 

Well, I got to see Casualty (cannot get used to 'A&E') at Lister Stevenage all the small hours of today, escorting MiL who pretty much slept through it all.

 

The usual interest while there. Was reminded of an action that's spent too long on the 'to do' list, now cleared up: keep a record of NHS number for myself and others about my person at all times. (A patient far from home who when asked if he had an NHS number replied, 'Yes, in a filing cabinet in Carlisle'.) Sister Commander announced it had been a good night as we departed, everyone going to recover and live.

[81C]

What's the betting that the next photo from GDB towers is of him being planted where the favourite shrub used to be...…..

 

Jamie

Or the old one stuffed and mount and stuck up GDB butt if his SWMBO has not been told.

[AndrewC]

We are both lucky on that front. SO are you bringing the S stock to the Freemo meet

 

I may restrict my diet to just beer  

 

meanwhile finishing off a pack of Twizzlers (says low fat on the packet) brought back from across the pond

It won't be going to the meet, no. I'm considering not taking any stock as there is usually an over abundance. Especially with locos. Last year I ended up packing away my locos by Sunday morning and less than half of my registered stock was actually used. 

 

After Friday and yesterday I need a few days off the ale but 8 weeks will be interesting. 

 

Fruit twizzlers or the boring red ones? If the latter our local sweet shop brings in the mini packs. 

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers, folks. Where did all that time go?

 

Hope you’ve been well all around, or on the mend at least. Thinking of John and Sandy in particular.

 

A brief wintry spell has come and gone, and the DIY campaign at FiL’s continues on my non-working days, too. The next item on my agenda there will be swapping the door lock as no additional keys for the present one can be obtained. We also exchanged the DSL router for something much more capable and upgraded to 250 Mbit, too, which is something FiL can profit from at this time already.

 

Annika recently got a push tricycle and is having a lot of fun with it.

 

Other than that, I admit to longing for this winter to end and the days to be getting longer anew...

 

Avagoodun‘ ...

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

 

Just back from the metropolises of Sheringham and Cromer.

 

Getting there was interesting, part way there I could see a couple of double decker some lorries then cars, in front of which orange flashing lights..

 

The cars were trying to turn round in the narrow road, luckily I'd stopped by a farm entrance, so a quick back in and away. A Mile or so then a right turn inland down narrow single track lanes. Only one lorry came the other way causing some manoeuvring into a field gate. At the next right I could see a line of lorries heading towards us from the other side of the incident. So I went on and took the next right, which still took us to Cromer.

 

It was school arrival time so there was no spare free parking on the road outside. I was surprised at how reasonable the parking was at the hospital , 50p for 30minutes, or £2 for 4 hours, more than four hours get a free display card from reception .

 

As it was SWMBO took less than 15 minutes, car door to car door, to go in get chest X-ray'd and get back. Meaning we were very early. So we went in to the hospital cafe, and we were impressed again, £2:80 total for a tea and a latte in large cups. I could see the prices for their food as they were making fresh filled baguettes very nice and cheap as well. Almost worth going there just to use the cafe..

 

On to Sherringham, autoloco was of course closed and the shop window displays looked half empty..

So just to The Works and Smith's. By some coincidence " THE WORKS" has for sale The Valiant Boys, The Victor Boys, and the Vulcan Boys books at £4 each. So probably available at The Works near you as well if you are interested.

 

Back to Cromer and the secondhand book shop several books on unmentionable subjects acquired.

With that and those from the previous shops there are 11books , the MRJ, a landrover magazine and awaiting for me when I got home, The Tiddly Dyke. All waiting for me to read.

 

Coming home the road blockage turned out to be a fallen tree. It's evil out there, wind occasional rain and very cold. You could hear the sea pounding the coast from inside the book shop or from our house at the moment.

 

I'm now lying laid up on the sofa, having taken painkillers, the cold and walking on hard tarmac has caused my left knee to play up. I can hear SWMBO have come back quickly from his walk.

 

Eyelid inspection time I think before some reading..

[81C]

It apppears there is an upgrade to the forum tomorrow and it will be off line 24-48hrs, we could have a sweep to see who gets the nearest beyound the 24hr mark,

  put me down for 72hrs 

[Tony_S]

Afternoon.

We had a trip to the big city ( Chelmsford) this morning. Aditi changed her mind about the bread maker, and wanted a different one. John Lewis had already processed the order but just said phone up the Waitrose it will be delivered to and get it sent back. So we went to get the alternative, not available online, from Chelmsford. Shopping on a Monday morning seemed quite stress free. Lots of space in the car park. I will unpack the bread maker soon and start a test loaf. I used to dislike going to Chelmsford to shop but now I would rather go there than Basildon, Lakeside or Southend. Chelmsford does of course have a model railway shop but we didn’t visit there today.

Tony

[jamie92208]

How are we going to cope with no time wasting on here.   Heaven forbid I might have to go to the shed and engage in activities that cannot be mentioned on here.....

 

Jamie

[roundhouse]

So tomorrow looks like more time for live rail cams starting with Praha Hlavni till it gets light in the USA. I will be at mums with the 009 layout set up to test YEO EXE and TAW plus the new couplers on the Peco coaches.

[Simon G]

Afternoon all, been awol yet again for a few days. The weekend was spent with no 2 son in Leeds, where we went to the Strictly Come Dancing live show on Friday evening, which was greatly enjoyed. Saturday we had a walk around Otley Chevin Forest Park, which had good views north, and yesterday another walk, this time around Eccup Reservoir, which is just north of Leeds. Despite the strong winds, it was a really nice walk. Fortunately neither of the walks were too muddy, as we hadn’t taken walking boots suitable for mud.

 

On Sunday evening, our son had arranged an “escape room” booking for 4 of us, which was new to us. We basically had one hour to solve a series of clues to escape from the room. I reckon we failed by about 1 minute, as I had just started to crack the final puzzle when the time expired.

 

Today, we have driven home from Leeds, with a stop in Keswick. Being a cloudless Sky all the way, the views were amazing, especially over Bowes Moor on the A66. I took a quick photo of Skiddaw from Keswick, which I have attached.

 

[Ian Abel]

Morning...

Busy and enjoyable weekend with a variety of topics handled.

Managed to be roped in to helping Jemma get/setup a new Laptop which took most of Saturday afternoon!

 

Normal Monday here now, except for the 6 inches of snow that fell overnight. Already "sorted" by our snow service.

Weather setting in for near records starting tonight/tomorrow.

It's -17 now at mid-morning, overnight expected to be -26, tomorrow a HIGH of -23 and dropping to around -34 with some wind giving some serious advisories!

 

Beautiful outside right now, sunny and fresh snow, but it is "just a bit nipply"  

 

Carry on...

[bbishop]

Well tomorrow starts with my annual blood letting (rather than blood donating) so I'm ABOUT TO START THE FAST. So I'm missing anyway tomorrow morning.   My GP has received funding for me to have a trivial operation so, like Andrew) I need to lose some weight.

 

Bill

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all.

 

Somewhat ERish this morning as I was off out to Stoke Gifford aka (almost) Bristol Parkway for those unfamiliar with the area for today's OFs' lunch meeting at The Beaufort Arms.  Like most of the venues for for this particular group it's within a couple of hundred yards of a railway station and, coincidentally it would appear judging by Chrisf's post, today was Thatcher's Gold day for me as well in the form of a couple of half pints of that liquid delicacy.  My next alcoholic consumption will no doubt be more of the same at the next meeting of the group which will be in Wokingham, where the venue is even closer to the station.

 

So a pleasant day, most trains were punctual although was slightly delayed as a result of signalling problems.  Bit nippy out there especially while standing around on stations (various) and the return train from Parkway to Reading rode like a bucking bronco on speed - not impressive.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all.

[NGT6 1315]

Well, cooked spag bol for dinner, assuring that Annika is well fed and content as she loves pasta in most any form! That being said, she is quite fond of Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai food as well, especially if it’s with noodles (obviously!) or rice. I think one cannot go wrong offering children a broad variety of tastes early on, can we?

 

I’ll be optimistic about the forum maintenance job and make a bet for about 36 hours!

[jamie92208]

Afternoon all, been awol yet again for a few days. The weekend was spent with no 2 son in Leeds, where we went to the Strictly Come Dancing live show on Friday evening, which was greatly enjoyed. Saturday we had a walk around Otley Chevin Forest Park, which had good views north, and yesterday another walk, this time around Eccup Reservoir, which is just north of Leeds. Despite the strong winds, it was a really nice walk. Fortunately neither of the walks were too muddy, as we hadn’t taken walking boots suitable for mud.

 

On Sunday evening, our son had arranged an “escape room” booking for 4 of us, which was new to us. We basically had one hour to solve a series of clues to escape from the room. I reckon we failed by about 1 minute, as I had just started to crack the final puzzle when the time expired.

 

Today, we have driven home from Leeds, with a stop in Keswick. Being a cloudless Sky all the way, the views were amazing, especially over Bowes Moor on the A66. I took a quick photo of Skiddaw from Keswick, which I have attached.

 

D9F3787E-C95F-4FF1-899C-77E26315610B.jpeg

 

That's a cracking photo in the heart of my home county Simon.  I remember climbing Skiddaw at the age of 3.   I was told that I was on my father's shoulder at least part of the way but certainly walked a good bit of it.  We did Helvellyn the following summer.  My aunt lived in Keswick so we went there a lot.   It would be returning from the Skiddaw holiday that we had to take a different railway route and I fell asleep as we went over Stainmore summit.

 

As to Thatchers Gold that is a real nectar amongst ciders.  I first tasted it when doing a demo weekend at the Nottingham show and it was on in the hotel.  The first pint never even touched the sides, the second didn't last much longer.

 

Jamie

[grandadbob]

In other gnus, today sees the beginning of 8 weeks of very restricted diet. This is to lose tonnage prior to an anticipated knee op, and to bring down my glucose levels that came back just below the borderline for pre-type 2. 800 calories, no carbs, no alcohol, no dairy. I have a feeling I'm going to be grumpier than normal. 

 

 

Ouch Andrew. I am currently trying to lose weight and am struggling to keep below my permitted 1600 cals. I have managed to considerably reduce the booze intake and have only had 2 bottles of beer and 4 small glasses of wine in the past week. This for me is an achievement as I would normally drink (a lot) more than that just on a Saturday or Sunday. I have  lost 2lbs which is my weekly target so I'm happy about that.

Or the old one stuffed and mount and stuck up GDB butt if his SWMBO has not been told.

 

Yep, she now knows and is OK about it as various promises have been made about what I intend to the garden after Shedgate. This buys me some time to come up with a cunning plan about how I intend to keep those promises.      

Edited January 28, 2019 by grandadbob

[grandadbob]

Hello Pete, how are you doing? 

Edited January 28, 2019 by grandadbob

[Tony_S]

The new bread maker works nicely so I can have toast for breakfast tomorrow.

There may be some snow tomorrow afternoon but a few cms isn’t likely to be a problem. It could be quite frosty early tomorrow morning. MiL phoned to ask me for a weather forecast. Aditi was amused that her Mum wanted my opinion rather than hers.

Tony

[Tony_S]

GDB’s plant removal reminded me of next doors gardening error.. Neighbour, Ted, told his wife which shrubs he intended or would like to remove or prune. His wife didn’t hear properly, she is having hearing aid problems. What he removed wasn’t what she expected. He is hoping the cuttings take!

Tony

[AndyB]

In other gnus, today sees the beginning of 8 weeks of very restricted diet. This is to lose tonnage prior to an anticipated knee op, and to bring down my glucose levels that came back just below the borderline for pre-type 2. 800 calories, no carbs, no alcohol, no dairy. I have a feeling I'm going to be grumpier than normal. 

 

 

Ouch Andrew. I am currently trying to lose weight and am struggling to keep below my permitted 1600 cals. I have managed to considerably reduce the booze intake and have only had 2 bottles of beer and 4 small glasses of wine in the past week. This for me is an achievement as I would normally drink (a lot) more than that just on a Saturday or Sunday. I have  lost 2lbs which is my weekly target so I'm happy about that.

 

Yep, she now knows and is OK about it as various promises have been made about what I intend to the garden after Shedgate. This buys me some time to come up with a cunning plan about how I intend to keep those promises.      

 

Andrew, this might sound stressful but I can perhaps offer some insights and reassure you.

 

Muggins happened to mention to his GP that he fancied losing a couple of stone. 

"What's your plan?" says she.

"I haven't got one". That didn't last long. 

And so that's how I ended up on the BSD 800 calories a day. She did offer a 5:2 diet, but obviously pitched it in a way where the challenge to go for broke was firmly laid down.

 

This was followed by my drinking buddies doubling down and saying we were all doing Dry January.  

My joy knew no bounds. 

 

I started on 1st January, so will have done 4 weeks tomorrow.

By day two I was feeling fine and although the calorie intake was sparse to say the least, my energy level were a lot higher. No lethargy and felt great. I put that down to low carbs. 

Waist line has dropped a few inches. 

And after 27 days I've lost about 1 stone. 

Got about 12-14lbs to go over the next 4 weeks and then onto the 5:2.

 

Couple of tricks and tip.

Eat slowly and pause to let your tummy know it is starting to fill up. Wolf it down and you'll be hungry at the end of the meal. 

Drink plenty of water - at first you do get headaches. 

Set yourself a completely unrealistic target for weight loss. The bigger the goal the greater the motivation. Seems to work. 

Weigh yourself a couple of times a day - forget weighing in once a week. 

Write the results down - its good to see where you started and the progress. 

 

Each lb of fat you lose has 3500 calories. Your recommended daily intake is around 2500 calories. So, by dipping down to 800 calories you can expect to lose about 0.5lbs per day. This does tend to slow down, so after a couple of weeks throw in some exercise. 

 

Hope this helps. You'll be fine. 

Andy

[Barry O]

see you all in a day or twos time!

 

Goodnight all!

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. We have a 'yellow snow warning' for Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, could be up to 3 centimetres (just over an inch), I expect Ian A will be laughing his socks off. The shutdown will be as long as a piece of string in my estimation, I'll have to log on early tomorrow before it starts. Thats it for now, be back later.

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.

 

Took my Frankenfoot to hospital today for its latest and for now final review, after 2 years - weight bearing x rays, twist it until it hurts etc.  It is stable in terms of the repaired broken bones but slowly deteriorating, with my old friend Arthur Itis making his presence known in the bits that still move as the cartilage is all lost in the joints that are left working. The recommendation is to bear it as long as I can then go for a total fusion (more screws and a plate or two), but this brings a new set of problems to the toes and ankle apparently, not sure it would be much better of an option from what they say.  The thought of yet more surgery isn't appealing at this time, it isn't very nice.

 

They were very good at the orthopaedic clinic, but the message is basically 'it's totally knackered mate, you just have to cope with where you are'.  Together with having had to hand in my driver's card at Groudle due to inability to walk on ballast without serious pain, has fair made the start of 2109 rather crepe.  Still, could be worse, looking around me on here.  Worse things happen at sea....they did!

 

Weight loss - ah yes.....if only! Well I have lost a few pounds this month, 6 or 7, but another stone or two would be a good thing I suppose, given the above. I drink very little now (1 or 2 bottles of beer a week) so I will just have to eat less! Running about the place obviously isn't an option, I try to walk every lunchtime, manage about a mile.