Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

Day, interrupted.

 

Had to go to next door's 60th, lunch thing but it was 2.30 eats which is a silly time for lunch, and disrupted our days plans.  Nice do, good grub, but achieved little else of course as it was in the big city so three quarters of an hour travelling each way to add to the disruption of train time. It's also bu££ered my blood glucose good and proper.....ah well, you can't be good all the time.  The first sweet thing I have eaten in a month, was lush though!

 

Oh yes, train plans....big O gaugy plans.....and a Pannier...and a Victory,,,

[pH]

52 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Now I did wonder about the leaking hydraulic fluid bit until a mate of the lad, who lives about 5 miles from Gatwick, has recently posted on Farcebook that it  might explain why part of his garden has had hydraulic fluid dumped on it this afternoon.

 

I stayed in Englefield Green for the summer of 1972. When certain Heathrow runways were being used, and the wind in a certain direction, some types of early jet aircraft taking off could precipitate unburnt jet fuel on the place.

[AndyID]

31 minutes ago, pH said:

 

I stayed in Englefield Green for the summer of 1972. When certain Heathrow runways were being used, and the wind in a certain direction, some types of early jet aircraft taking off could precipitate unburnt jet fuel on the place.

 

Handy if you had a paraffin lamp or a primus stove.

[AndyID]

Rats! The B17 just flew right over the house but I was too slow to get a pic.

[AndyID]

Maybe the B25 will do a "Barnes Wallis" down the lake? That would get the attention of all the pleasure craft.

[Coombe Barton]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/sandys-treatment-day-214/

[brianusa]

One thing about the take off roar from a B-17 - its unmistakable!  You can hear it for miles away and be out in the garden in time to see it overhead.  Also we are under the SEA flight path to the Orient with a southerly wind and just about every carrier who flies there can be seen at certain times of the day, usually early afternoon, which presumably gets them to their destination at a reasonable hour. Most are 777s  or 787s ( hard to tell them apart) but there is still one or two airlines that use 747s which like the B-17, can be heard climbing out, a long way off.

    Brian.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Today's been storm-sunshine-storm-sunshine. Now at least its cleared and is a bit fresher. Time to put the kettle on, be back later.

Edited July 20, 2019 by PhilJ W

[roundhouse]

We heard about an incident at Gatwick today but didn't say what. Luckily our flight home is with not with BA so hopefully a different engineer will be inspecting our plane.

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, brianusa said:

One thing about the take off roar from a B-17 - its unmistakable!  You can hear it for miles away and be out in the garden in time to see it overhead. 

    Brian.

Many years ago I took my niece and nephew to an event at Old Warden (Shuttleworth collection). Part of the event was a visit from the BoB flight that included the Lancaster which overflew the airfield at no more than 200 feet. The noise was tremendous.

[Dave Hunt]

I haven't been on ERs for a couple of days following the death of SWMBO's cousin but we had a good day today as we went to see my good mate Bob Essery and his wife and had a convivial pub lunch, which did us both a power of good. I also got back a loc***ive that I made for Bob about 20 years ago to run on my la**ut so that's pleased me.

 

Have a good night/day/whatever is in your immediate future.

 

Dave

 

[Barry O]

Cricket umpired. No rain disruptions. Tea excellent. Now very tired so early night beckons.

Goodnight all.

Baz

[Kingzance]

Patios and furniture cleaned, floors washed, plants lubricated, short interval watching golf then dragged out to the Village Picnic - could have done without that and done the intended railway signal modelling instead. Night awl.

[tigerburnie]

Evening all, nice trip to Dundee, went in the MacManus gallery, a lovely little museum and gallery with a nice café, even the wee grandsons were impressed, dodged some hefty rain and got home dry, did a bit of the "G" word and a bit more ballasting, can almost see the end of that job now.

G'night all.

[PeterBB]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/sandys-treatment-day-214/

Like the 'pirates' quote … reminded me of a parking problem we had at the Lizard some years back … took a month or two to sort out  some dishonesty but, while we liked the Lizard, as a result of that experience we will never return. 

 

Embroidery and cushions look fabulous.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well despite several showers we managed to get quite a lot of the new plants in the ground this morning. Under my supervision, the girls planted 8 small white creeping thyme plants between the box hedging and the hedging Of the patio. These will hopefully form a carpet and disguise the hard edge completely. We then turned our attention to the shady garden which is beside the path that leads to the cellar. In there they planted 6 evergreen ferns, which I’m hoping will spread a little and hide the large expanse of bare earth. Whilst all this activity I had a text message from our local bookshop, informing me that the 2 books I ordered were now in and ready for collection. We had just started packing up when it once again started to rain, so I sent the girls inside for dinner, whilst I finished putting everything back in the shed. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the garden today and would both very much like to do it again, which, as far as I’m concerned isn’t a problem. 

 

After dinner the girls and Sheila sat and watched a film, whilst I finished off preparing some fruit, which will form part of  for tomorrow morning’s breakfast. Once I’d finished that and cleaned up, I took a walk to the bookshop to collect my books. The film was still playing when I returned, so I sat and perused through the books until the film ended. The girls and I then decamped to the kitchen where I made them a drink and gave them some chocolate as a treat before I took them home. 

 

Upon my return Sheila and I had a hot drink each, after which we decamped to the living room, where Sheila read her kindle, whilst I inspected my eyelids. Once completed, I then phoned our favourite Indian takeaway and ordered tea as I think we both deserved a little treat. The evening was then rounded off with a nice bottle of merlot. 

 

All in all, it’s been a really enjoyable day and a good time has been had. 

 

Goodnight all 

[roundhouse]

Good evening from Tukwila Washington. Another pleasant Amtrak trip from Portland. Good to ride past the narrows one more time as eventually the cut off will reopen after the very first train crashed onto the freeway in December 2017.

 

We booked through to Seattle but there is an event going on, so decided to get off at the penultimate stop where our hotel is.

 

A quick trip round the nearby shopping mall to see if I could get new walking shoes but no luck. The ones I bought a couple of years ago are wearing out but no one seems to sell them these days.

 

Now sitting in a brewpub having our last few pints of the trip.

 

 

 

[BR60103]

We're ensconsed in our motor home in northern Michigan.  The weather has been overly hot, but yesterday a thunderstorm blew in from Ian Abel's area.  Started just after midnight with much lightning and then terrific downpour.  Crop of mushrooms appeared in the lawn area. Stayed in all afternoon as it rained some more.

 

[roundhouse]

14 minutes ago, BR60103 said:

We're ensconsed in our motor home in northern Michigan.  The weather has been overly hot, but yesterday a thunderstorm blew in from Ian Abel's area.  Started just after midnight with much lightning and then terrific downpour.  Crop of mushrooms appeared in the lawn area. Stayed in all afternoon as it rained some more.

 

Everywhere in the USA has been hot except for the North West which has suited us perfectly. It may well be hotter back home.

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.  Not so much an Early Riser (at 03.50 this Sunday morning) as a Late Retiree.  After a very quiet day doing notterlot I took myself off at half past 22 last night to the centre of Town. 

 

A wander through Trafalgar Square - very busy as it usually is at midnight - and St. James's Park stretched the legs and filled the ears with everything from some inebriated Pakistani youth flag-waving and singing by way of a mariachi band complete with green smoke effects, the squeals of small children being lifted onto the great lions and then the nocturnal calm of Horse Guards Road before the intense quiet of the park broken only by the occasional quack or splash of a duck or the crack of a twig somewhere.  

 

I could have returned on the late night train had it been a train.  It was - as it usually is - a bus.  Instead I opted for the regular N87 night bus which arrived moments after I did at the stop and saved an hour's wait for the train-replacement version.  That took me to Kingston.  A 2am kebab was enjoyed (yes, really) whilst waiting for the 285 to Teddington which dropped me within walking distance of home but the N33 was due and dropped me a mile closer and is the nearest a bus goes to the Hill of Strawberries.

 

We are indeed lucky to have such a network of all-night-every-night buses.  It's a shame most are not well used.  Even on a fine and warm-enough Saturday night most that I saw were carrying between 0 and 10 passengers.  My N87 did rather better and probably carried upwards of 50 folk in total along the entirety of its trip and for the most part had 20 - 30 aboard.

 

A few of the better photographic efforts from the night are attached.  Two of the Trafalgar Square lions and the third of the Queen Victoria memorial.  

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

There has been a step forward in getting reconnected to the outside world.  Post lady brought a cardboard box containing a new router, or hub as we must now call it.  I have connected it and dreamed up yet another new password.  Tentatively I say “so far so good”, which is relative as my broadband only went down three times last evening.  The only thing is that an e-mail from BT – and how did that get through? - tells me that another package is due to arrive on Monday.  What’s the betting that it will contain another hub?  What to do if it does?  Also on Monday I am expecting a visit from a BT engineer with a magic wand that should bring my landline back to life.  What will actually happen is anybody’s guess.

 

For relaxation yesterday I made a batch of chicken casserole and cut down Mrs Electric-Chair’s overhanging creeper.  Today there is sirloin steak for lunch and, I’m afraid, more laundry to be done.  There was ironing yesterday which is not relaxing but provides some slightly less rumpled apparel.  In a week and a half I‘m off to Sidmouth and would like to look my best.  They say there is a first time for everything.

 

A jiffy bag arrived on Friday bristling with Belgian stamps.  I guessed correctly that inside was the new CD by Trio Dhoore, “August”.  I was rather chuffed to find the following inscription on the sleeve: “Hi Chris, thanks for supporting us!  Ward, Hartwin and Koen”.  When to play it?  Soon!  It’s in the car already - no hessian bag purdah for this one.

 

I have just enjoyed reading Rick’s account of night bus travel.  I did a bit of it myself last weekend in Bristol, having found before I went that buses run half-hourly through the night from the city centre to Cribbs Causeway [where my hotel was until it burned down on Wednesday]. Well, so they do, but only one of the routes goes past the hotel.  Let’s just say that Cribbs bus station can be a lonely place at 1.30 am.  What I should have done was to catch the last of the day buses from a stop much nearer to the nightclub.  Let’s see what happens next time.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

Edited July 21, 2019 by chrisf

[TheQ]

Mooring awl,  inner Temple Hare, 

a good nights sleep. of 6 hours plus 1 hour,

 

Last night Ben the scare-dy collie hid in his cage for another 2 hours came out looked around,,  and went back into his cage for another hour.

 

It, the weather,  long before he came out, changed to clear blue sky's, as it is now.

 

Today's plans,  boat work,  hoover up,  affix some dress panels,  look through my stock of metal bits to see if I've got a suitable Stainless Steel tube, to use as a traveller,  if so cut to size,  then start trying to cut the keel to the new required shape. It could get noisy out there... Ben will have to be taken to the house instead of supervising in the sun. 

 

I was trying to think when I was last on a bus or even a coach,  the late  1990s I think, National express, Milton Keynes to Heathrow for a flight to Saudi.

 

Time to.. Laze around and do nothing,  Ben is still asleep,  and has not given the I want patrol stare... 

Edited July 21, 2019 by TheQ

[pH]

Every year for the past 5 years, our town has had an annual 3-day event called 'Ribfest'. As the name says, it's a celebration of barbeque cookery, mainly featuring ribs. We've not been before, but decided to try it tonight. Several thousand attendees, six huge barbeque kitchens, live music, beer tents - all in all, quite something. Something called a "Vegetarian Nightmare" (i.e. something that would give a vegetarian a nightmare!) between my wife and myself and a few beers from one of the local breweries went down very well. Met a couple of friends in the crowd that we hadn't seen for a while, which was nice. A slow walk home should have worked off a few ounces, I hope. 

 

(We bought our food from a kitchen called "Gator BBQ - Original Deep South BBQ Since 1983", well decorated with US flags, University of Florida alligator mascots and awards from previous events, mostly in Ontario. We found out later, it's owned by a Vancouverite, the brother of one of our son's former bandmates!)   

Edited July 21, 2019 by pH

[AndyB]

Morning all. Another busy week is on the horizon. But in the meantime I managed to collect two "Highly Commendeds" and a "First Prize" in the local flower show. 

Sone time fast been set side for work on the layout today. Although SWMBO has suggested I dismantle the previous one first. No problem with that.  The first few bits of track and points I lifted simply crumbled in my fingers. Reckon the glue I used must have been quite corrosive!