Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Debs. said:

1- Have you perhaps, been watching it during the pre-boiling phase?

2- Have you not been watching it sufficiently lately?

 

 

John's clearly in his element, now. 

That was a typo, now ammended from off to on.

[Dave Hunt]

Spent what seemed like half the day in the loft dragging various boxes and bags labelled 'Christmas stuff' or 'decorations' out of spider infested recesses. The end result is that SWMBO has done a sterling job decorating the tree and it now sits in the living room with its little lights sparkling looking very cheery. I got to assemble the bits of the (artificial) tree prior to its decoration, stick the cards up and wield the vacuum cleaner as bits of tree, tinsel etc. fluttered to the floor. Just a few edible goodies to make and a sum approaching the national debt to be spent before all is ready for the invasion of the horde family. Definite hints, not to say warnings, have been issued that I have to get into 'Ho, ho, ho' mode by then rather than 'Bah, humbug' if I want to enjoy some of the luxuries I have become accustomed to such as sleeping indoors.  

 

High point of the day (well, evening) was escaping to the workshop whilst SWMBO was glued to the haunted fish tank watching strongly go prancing.

 

Must go and practice being cheery but just to get me into the right mood I'm going to have a small libation of some Tamnavulin I bought this morning.

 

Have a peaceful night, afternoon, morning or whatever you are currently experiencing.

 

Dave   

[brianusa]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

Yes, that was it!

 

Just a few flakes here and there's also a very small amount of snow.

 

Thanks to the proximity of Puget Sound, snow of any consequence is rare here in GH.  Good job it doesn't happen very often, my skiing days are over so its more an inconvenience now rather than an asset.  We are in the midst of the December gloom though and while its not that cold, its all fog and mizzlin' rain all day long - proper PNW weather.  A bit like Devon actually!

      Brian.

[pH]

Sorry to bring up anything C*******s, but ...

 

I've just ordered a couple of things from the "Marks and Spencer Canada" website. Orders over $C75 are free delivery - ours was for $C84, so it qualified. It will be delivered in 2-3 business days, by air courier - from the UK!

 

That looks like either great service, or a quick way to go bust (or perhaps both).

[Kingzance]

5 hours ago, Kingzance said:

That was a proper "Oh Sh!t" moment Neil! I don't have pictures of things like a rod through a crankcase but somewhere I do have a few pics of a VLCC with its deck ripped open from No3 to beyond No5 centre tanks. I must look them out.

I'm putting further details of that incident with an explanation on the "ships" thread for those interested.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

Perhaps it was Andy's subconscious "statehood for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands" campaign. They have a certain appeal at this time of year.

 

How much snow are you getting in the Idaho panhandle today? 

 

Should have been 53, what about American Samoa. We visited there in May and the lical taxi driver had some very interesting things to say about the Statehood debate. Apparently the Samoans annoy the Americans by being avid Rugby fans whenever the other Samian team is playing.

 

Anyway back from the repas. A geat eveni g has been had and an ample sufficiency of red falling down water.  Bon nuit a tout.

 

Jamie

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

We were awoken about 5:30 this morning with heavy rain blowing hard against the bedroom windows, this window faces west. When I went into the bathroom at about 9:30, the wind had changed direction and the rain was blowing against the bathroom window, this window faces south. As a consequence of being woken earlier, we had a bit of a lie-in this morning, so I didn’t get to post as it was a bit of a rush before I went to pick up Ava, who was spending the day with us. Ava was duly collected and when we got back home, we set about making a tray of rocky road, a task that Ava always enjoys, not to mention the fact that she also likes ‘cleaning out the bowl’ afterwards.

 

After that she sat and watched a film, her choice for today was ‘5 Children And It’. Vickie and Ian came round to collect her mid afternoon. They stopped for an hour or so and we all enjoyed a cuppa and a chat. Whilst Vickie and Ian we’re here Mike telephoned, he and Sarah should have been coming round for a takeaway, but had to cancel as Sarah has a bad cold and didn’t want to pass it on. As it happened Sheila didn’t really fancy an big meal, so I had a quick rummage in the freezer and I found some lamb kofters, so we had them and a small portion of rice instead.

 

Thankfully, Sheila isn’t interested in strictly come prancing, so we caught up on a bit of recorded TV as we opened a bottle of Shiraz.

 

Goodnight all. 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning Evening all,

 

I think I started this post about 12 hours ago but then got diverted to another task - see below.

 

I don't know if it's down to their seaweed reading skills or their sooper dooper 'puting engine but not only has the rain been replaced by bright sunshine but the change has taken place almost precisely when the Met Office forecast it was to take place.

 

Now the good news - the jeweller called late yesterday morning to advise that Mrs Stationmaster's Christmas present had arrived from the workshop and was ready for collection.  She duly insisted we should venture out to collect it pdq so that she could get it on her finger (it's a replacement wedding ring to take over from the one she lost a few months back).  So off we toddled down the hill to the  jeweller's emporium where a very pleasant lady relieved me of the money i was going to spend on a Bachmman breakdown crane plus most of what I have already committed to a Terrier from the NRM - just as well I had already cancelled the crane a couple of days back!!  Anyway one happy swmbo and I'm officially told that I needn't buy her any more items for Christmas - I'm feeling brave enough to give that a try and see what happens, I wonder if the wifi works on the garage so I can advise you if she did.

 

Yes, it turned into  a just job day.  Herself was fully intending to erect Christmas today - basically a tree in the living room, another in the dining room, one in the hall and two in the porch plus a wreath on the front door.  Before you get amazed by her industriousness three of them are pretty small and come in one piece ready decorated, another also comes in one piece but stands about 4 feet tall and only one is 'BIG' and needs to be assembled.  They all live in the attic and need first to be recovered from their storage spot - a task for the Good Doctor and myself.  But the bit of Christmas decorating which involves creativity is decorating the mantelpiece in the living room and before that is done it has to be cleared and given a new coat of good old fashioned wood polish.  

 

But with the mantelpiece cleared and polish applied to the oak herself decided it might be nice to just remove the picture that lives above the mantelpiece and see how a long stored, and physically quite long mirror looked in its place.  So the picture needed to be removed along with the GNR No.28 paperweight which helps keep it in position.  The GD and I then 'just' had to bring down the mirror from its storage home in the spare room, unwrap it from its protective sheath of bubble wrap, and hump it up into position above the mantelpiece.  All duly done and it met with managerial approval so the next job was to fix it in place.  Regrettably after an extensive search of the garage I managed to find that I didn't have any No.8 X 2.5" round head  brass screws (but I have got 2" ones - not long enough for the weight I decided), and I didn't have any wall plugs long enough for even 2" screws.  So I was sent across the road to the neighbour who 'is bound to have some because he's always doing stuff' - despite me pointing out that before he went off to a temporary job in Edinburgh 2 years ago he'd unloaded his entire stock of screws and nails on me and he hasn't been back here long enough to have rebuilt his stock.  But still I was instructed to go - despite me saying their car wasn't there so they were probably out (which they were).  So lacking in the fixing wherewithal the mirror had to be taken down, repacked and returned to storage and the picture put back in its place.

 

By then it was obviously time to get moving all the Christmas stuff down from the attic and any chance I had of getting back on here was immediately squashed by a 'gentle reminder' to carry on tidying the dining room.  So here I've finally got round to posting the post.  i hope you have all had a good day.

 

The picture incidentally is an original print, not a modern reproduction issue, so  it is a little faded but is still rather nice

[figworthy]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

it is cricket! 

 

But not as we know it.

 

Adrian

[newbryford]

21 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Up early today. Faulty fire alarm in hotel.

Going back to sleep soon I hope. 
Tony

 

A good few years ago, Mrs NB work had a visit from the local fire service carrying out their annual inspection (although it had been about 5 years since the previous one..........)

In the intervening years, the regulations had changed and all guest bedrooms now required smoke detectors. The FB advised upon the positioning of them - immediately outside the bathroom.

Mrs NB commented that steam from a shower would set them off and moving them about 2m into the main bedroom area would be as effective, but far less likely to give false alarms.

 

Nope - not allowed.

 

After a number of false alarms - usually about 6.30/7am, the FB were getting a bit fed up of the auto call out and advised that the detectors needed to be re-positioned................

 

Niece has returned today from the US for Chrimbleytide and will hopefully deliver a package tomorrow that may be a small circuit board with a few wires and speaker attached

 

Maybe next tern, a similar package will cost me less £s

:-)

 

Work to be worked Sunday - 4 to go and counting.

 

Have a good one folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. New kettle tested and ready for duty tomorrow.

[Tony_S]

We are back from the wedding. We did pop back to our hotel for a couple of hours at 5pm. A lot of the younger people went for bracing walks in the countryside. Some of the guests from Singapore were rather astonished by the weather today, we had rain, hail sleet and snow.  On our return we discovered the heating had been restored. 
We will have a drive out tomorrow. We volunteered to take a couple of Matthew’s friends to Penrith station to get their train. The bridegroom collected them on Friday but we all assumed he wasn’t available for taxi duties tomorrow.

Tony

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[BR60103]

5 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Two oxen, a lamb, and two mentions for a donkey.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/sounds-of-the-season-14-the-animals/

John:

Have you run into a carol The Gentle Donkey?  By David Ouchterloney, who used to be a well-liked organist in Toronto. There are a  couple of recordings of it on the net, and we used to sing it at our carol gatherings.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Should have been 53, what about American Samoa. We visited there in May and the lical taxi driver had some very interesting things to say about the Statehood debate. Apparently the Samoans annoy the Americans by being avid Rugby fans whenever the other Samian team is playing.

American Samoa is different from all the other possessions (Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands) in terms of citizenship jus soli (birthright). Samoans are US Nationals, but not US Citizens. There is a case in Federal Court right now over this, asserting that (under the 14th amendment) they deserve full citizenship like those born in the other territories.

 

Polynesians are a hot commodity in American College football right now, and many of them are subsequently in the NFL (along with Aussie punter kickers). Americans football fans are usually quite curious about Rugby.

[chrisf]

 

Good morning one and all

 

It had to happen, I suppose.  I walked into the shop where I bought my last pair of cords, saw none on display and asked an assistant.  The gormless look he gave me must have taken some cultivating.  Debenhams was not open at that hour of the morning so I caught the next bus to Tesco, there to try my luck.  There I found a pair of ordinary denim jeans which not only fitted me perfectly but was a size smaller than the one I was wearing.  Bonus!  I had had enough by then and deferred the search for new trainers indefinitely.  I will have one more look for cords on Monday and may try mending the pair I’ve got later today.

 

Tomorrow I am due to see Professor Oncologist in late afternoon.  Just how late I will see him is a good question, for punctuality is not his strong point.  It is of course far more important that he tells me what needs to be said.  My PSA level has been more or less stable for three years so my luck is bound to run out sooner or later.  What better time than four days before I go to Switzerland?  On Tuesday evening I will dine sumptuously on chicken and mushroom pie at the LCGB’s take on Christmas dinner.  I was supposed to be at Area Group on Wednesday night at a member’s home but it is over-subscribed and in any case it is a bit tight for going away the next day.

 

On Friday last week I bit the bullet and booked my Sidmouth tickets while I had the money in the bank, however fleetingly.  Some may disagree but I reckon £479 is good value for a week’s season ticket, two extra concerts, camping permit and bus pass.  Although I am now over 70 I can still rough it with the best of them.  A week’s spartan existence in a tent helps me to appreciate the creature comforts of home!  The coming fortnight is an antidote to that, for the hotels in Interlaken and Chur are of a higher standard than I would choose for myself.   This in turn raises the question of the accommodation I have reserved in Dublin at the end of June.  It’s at Trinity College and may well be of a higher standard than I recall from when I was a student, 50 years ago.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Two oxen, a lamb, and two mentions for a donkey.

Perhaps some turkey chili, in addition to the curry? 

 

I'm also a big fan of turkey sandwiches the next day - with cranberry sauce. This year I bought some "holiday jam" of figs, cherries and cranberry. Perhaps I should roast myself a small turkey breast and make sandwiches?

 

Unless your dinner guests are very abstemious, it's hard to imagine even a large bird providing for you over a whole fortnight.

 

I find the Christmas mélange quite fascinating with all the layers of different traditions and even blurring of the Christian tradition itself. 

 

While I do not personally profess an option and there are many conflicting points of view, I've seen scholarly evangelical Christian literalist opinion (sorting through literal differences in accounts) suggesting that the visitation by the Magi occurs not in the manger scene in the proximity of the birth but sometime perhaps within the first year. (This is consistent with the story of the slaughter of the innocents being focused on those aged two and below.)  Events like circumcision (at 8 days) and the purification at the temple (after 41 days) all occur before the appearance of the Magi.  

 

Apparently Greek versions of texts use the term brephos (unborn/newborn/infant) at the birth and paidíon (small child) during the visitation by the Magi. An oikian (house) is referred to as the location.

 

Also interesting is the use of the word kataluma (guest house / room, rather than inn) in Luke, substantially altering the "no room at the inn" narrative to "no space in the guest room". Luke later uses the word pandocheion (inn) in the Good Samaritan story. 

 

(I'm not trying to project any belief here, I just find the details of Christmas traditions fascinating.)

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Ozexpatriate

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Awake at silly oclock this morning..no chance of getting back to sleep so some articles read and a mugarea has been brewed. Her indoors has now gone back to sleep so if her mugatea goes cold(ish) then I will be forced to drink it.

 

Early music group here this afternoon. Numbers depend on who has had snow overnight. None here but it did chuckitdarn for most of the night.

 

So my day will consist of tidying up, more wiring, making tea (yorkshire puddings have been requested) and a bit of eyelid inspection.

Time for my mugatea...

Have a great day and positive thoughts to all who ail!

Baz

[45156]

Morning All

 

Have had to skip a few pages that I still need to read to get caught up, and hope to do so later today - probably this afternoon as the kitchen ceiling still needs finishing. 

 

Meantime, can some kindly soul here direct me to the doghouse, as I am well and truly in it here as I managed to book tickets for the local amateur pantomime for the wrong date due to a mistake in navigating of their website, and booked for last Saturday instead of yesterday - compounded by me not checking the tickets.  Hence many many brownie points need to be earned.  Still had to go to Lancaster anyway.

 

Meantime, here's some festive cheer from one of my YouTube favourites.

 

 

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited December 15, 2019 by 45156

[roundhouse]

Good morning. First cup of tea sans milk was had in the shed whilst laying last turnout on the scenic side and working on the bridge. second cup with milk once back in the house.

 

Had a good day yesterday with fellow ER with beers in Worthing after buying various mudelling bits in Squires then Gaugemaster. Should have been Shoreham but someone got in the way of a train so ours terminated at Worthing.

 

I fell that soundly aseleep back home that I didnt hear the wind or torrental rain setting off our car alarm (and others). My other half got up and went downstairs to reset the car alarm but I was still sound asleep.

 

This morning a friend is bringing over my next crust earning job - decals and weathering of an On30 loco then its back to work on the new layout whilst my other half does battle in Tescos at Gatwick - its so much cheaper there than the Sainsburys in our town plus free parking that its worth the drive plus Tescos is way more likely to have what she wants on the shelves.

Edited December 15, 2019 by roundhouse

[TheQ]

Hello Awl,  

I think my slave arrived on the sofa at very early ( 01:30) I'm not sure,  as I was snoring at the time so I'm told. The slave dozed a fair amount for some time till I got him up at 05:30,  only out short time to water the jungle.

I let the slave get really comfortable just dozing again and demanded out for a longer patrol round the garden,  it was still before dawn but there was now a bright blue sky and strong chilly wind. 

 

Then a good stare was effective in getting me some toast for starters  breakfast,  after which I went upstairs to get the other slave (female)  up.  This was achieved,  they are required later,  to get me another sack of food,  even though I don't approve of them not taking me. I know that they will follow instructions to take me to the beach after.. 

 

I think after that the male slave will tidy up the big white tent,  while I'm  rest in my bed away from the noise of the pheasant massacre. 

 

Must go now, female slave is making my main course breakfast.. 

 

Ben,  the very clever slave master Border Collie. 

[Kingzance]

30 minutes ago, 45156 said:

Morning All

 

Have had to skip a few pages that I still need to read to get caught up, and hope to do so later today - probably this afternoon as the kitchen ceiling still needs finishing. 

 

Meantime, can some kindly soul here direct me to the doghouse, as I am well and truly in it here as I managed to book tickets for the local amateur pantomime for the wrong date due to a mistake in navigating of their website, and booked for last Saturday instead of yesterday - compounded by me not checking the tickets.  Hence many many brownie points need to be earned.  Still had to go to Lancaster anyway.

 

Meantime, here's some festive cheer from one of my YouTube favourites.

 

 

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Not quite the little Brenda Lee that I grew up with Stewart but far, far better than some of the "seasonal carp" that is pushed towards my lugg'oles whenever I venture out at this time of the year. And what is it about women wearing red clothing, be that in the adverts alongside RMWeb or around and about, that raises my interest levels?

 

It has rained and blown in NEHerts throughout the night so a somewhat broken level of sleep was achieved. Similar to the report from our Henley correspondent, this house's electrical demand has shot through the roof as various twinkling and steady state devices now occupy almost every plug in the bl@@dy place - bah, humbug and pah, all rolled into one! The steely focus on such matters throughout daylight hours meant that a trip to raid the shelves of that grocery partnership that boasts two greens in its latest logo didn't occur. I did offer to do a lamb stew tonight (not letting on that it would be a navarin of lamb) but was resoundingly corrected that stews are ONLY made with beef! At least the Y list celebrities dancing is over for another year, as is that programme dedicated to Z list celebs sitting around a camp fire but what she will now impose upon me as we sit of an evening is yet to be determined. I could of course choose not to sit in the lounge with her but I am already accused of having a severe case of anti-socialness.

 

The sun is breaking through, time for another mugger methinks. Best to all, later...

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It has snowed overnight here. I don’t siuspect it will stay long on the ground. 
Have a good day.

Tony

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Tony_S