Early Risers.

[5 C]

Update from increasingly blowy Bedfordshire.

 

Ventured out shortly before 9AM. One or two hardy souls were braving the elements; hanging onto coats, hats and anything strong and stable. Roads littered with inevitable tree debris and bin contents. Anyone in the fence panel and tree surgery professions is doing good business today hereabouts. Police directing traffic near the park on New Bedford Road due to a fallen tree , which had been reduced to logs and chippings when I passed by on my return journey.

 

Managed the gym class and feel quite virtuous if somewhat kn*ckered as a result. Squeezed in a supermarket stop on the way home to stock up with essentials before it got too busy. 

 

Hatches will now be battened down and washing, ironing and maybe some m*delling awaits.

 

Regards to all.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from a very windy Estuary-Land. Its certainly blowing a hooley out there, enough to rattle the roof tiles. I have but one wheelie bin, a green one for garden/kitchen waste. Its still upright but has 'walked' backwards a couple of feet. It must be bottom heavy as the biggest content is used tea leaves which fill about half of it. The only other damage is one of the mature shrubs has lost a couple of branches, twigs really, not that it matters as it needs a good pruning anyway. When I arrived home yesterday from the show I realised I had sprained a wrist. I have not the slightest idea of how I done it. Fortunately this morning it has little troubled me so its well on the mend. The 4-D-Jones cartoons were by Peter Maddocks but as I have never read the Daily Express I can't add any more. 

[81C]

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

 

It was absolutely lovely and delicious and mouthwatering and yum yum yum. 

 

Possibly "slightly" fattening but what the hell!  

OK you win you #hit bag I've just come back from shopping with a pack of bacon yes the will to slim has just #ucked off out the window it's bacon butties for lunch. 

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.

 

The Hill of Strawberries is extremely windy.  According to observations at nearby Heathrow we are blowing 7 gusting 10 on the Beaufort scale.  There are bins rolling around outside and it makes no sense to intervene until the storm eases.  There has been little rain so far but the bulk is forecast in the coming three or four hours along with the worst of the wind. Heathrow is still open for business.  I wouldn't want to be flying today though the wind is at least close to direct head - tail and not across the runways.  

 

Sleep was an intermittent affair last night owing to the noise of the storm and the usual Saturday night activities of Neighbours, Various at all hours.  

 

This morning the internet has been a very intermittent beast.  There has been a 4G signal most of the time but our wifi has not been available except for brief moments.  I reset the box twice but to no avail suggesting the problem is upstream.  As of a few minutes ago everything seems to have returned to normality.  

 

We are taking the advice to stay home today.  Nothing much was planned anyway and our local trains are resting to allow the Orange Army to do their thing.  SWMBO is slaving over a warm computer and I am browsing when service allows because the alternative is swearing at wires and wondering why they don't do what I expected them to.  

 

All things being well I shall return later.  Stay safe for now.  Heads down.  Wigs superglued.  Beware of airborne fences.  

 

 

[roundhouse]

Good morning.

 

A very good day yesterday with old friends in South Croydon.  Most turned up including one form Cheshire, another from Hampshire and another from West Sussex plus those of us more local. One friend form Norfolk couldn't as he has no trains for a few weeks. Plenty of ale consumed before heading home by bus via Wetherspoons but we didn't stay as service was carp as we had been waiting for a while due to staff   disappearing then reappeared once the bar was getting crowded and just served the first person they saw who had just walked in, so we walked out and headed home for food.

 

Very breezy here with the tall fir trees bending over quite a lot in the gusts so have yet to venture to the shed. It has given me chance to sort out a last minute request to help out with a show where they have had an exhibit drop out, so in two weeks time we will have our first show of the year.

[5 C]

** Newsflash! **

 

Local social media news groups reporting that Storm Ciara has damaged the roof over Platforms 1 & 2 at Luton station, causing thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

 

In all seriousness, anyone familiar with Luton station will know it desperately needs investment and the money spent on repairs will probably be the most it gets for years.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

An evening of power cuts last night, mostly of short duration until 8 when it went foomp until after 10.  Then it was off and on all night, everything in the modern world beeps when power is restored it would seem.  It then went off again at 8 until 11.30 or so. 

 

There are trees down everywhere, 40mm rain which is less than expected, but round 2 is on its way apparently, the 'real' storm Ciara as this was only the pilot.  All ferries and flights are cancelled, probably for the next two days, so the UK is once again cut off.

 

Barometric pressure is in its boots, my gammy foot agrees, the arthritic remains of the bits that aren't fused protesteth loudly.

 

[grandadbob]

 Still extremely wet & windy here but the table cover has been replaced and weighed down with half a dozen bricks. 

A couple of hours spent in The Shed with not much being achieved except Much Aching in the Back so I've returned to the house for a coffee and to consider my options for the rest of the day. Rugby of course but that's only for a couple of hours at most.

Edited February 9, 2020 by grandadbob

[Gwiwer]

2 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Wetherspoons ..... service was carp as we had been waiting for a while due to staff   disappearing then reappeared once the bar was getting crowded and just served the first person they saw who had just walked in

Sounds just like most of their establishments and definitely the local one here.  Even ordering on the app does not guarantee any form of service.  The last time I did that I was kept waiting over half an hour for a pint before asking the bar staff and being told "it's coming".  So is my funeral ......... but hopefully not before my beer!!!

[Tony_S]

Other people get trampolines in the garden. A fox has arrived in ours. 

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by Tony_S
Officer Crabtree

[roundhouse]

2 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Sounds just like most of their establishments and definitely the local one here.  Even ordering on the app does not guarantee any form of service.  The last time I did that I was kept waiting over half an hour for a pint before asking the bar staff and being told "it's coming".  So is my funeral ......... but hopefully not before my beer!!!

One reason why we often avoid Wetherspoons although with so few pubs left in Redhill its hard to avoid and is fine for breakfast. Not used the app as the guest ales never used to appear on it when I installed the app. Not sure if that's changed. The one that we walked out of in Purely we have done the same the last few times we have been in there but at least I made use of the gents whilst my other half waited to get served so it wasnt a wasted stop off

 

9 minutes ago, 5 C said:

** Newsflash! **

 

Local social media news groups reporting that Storm Ciara has damaged the roof over Platforms 1 & 2 at Luton station, causing thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

 

In all seriousness, anyone familiar with Luton station will know it desperately needs investment and the money spent on repairs will probably be the most it gets for years.

Yes Luton station is a bit of dump, often used to go to the bricklayers pub.

 

Euston station is wedged due to problems on the West Coast so only allowing passengers to exit the station at present

[petethemole]

Wet and windy here also.  I ventured outside to check for damage but none so far. I have one wobbly fence post but the rest of the fence is holding it up...so far. 

 

I was in Eastleigh 'spoons yesterday about 5.30 for a while. I didn't intend to eat, as I sometimes do on a Saturday, but the kitchen was closed, so no food. Whatever had shut the kitchen had also taken out the glass washers, so no pint glasses!  I had a bottle of Angry Orchard but they got the washers  working again, so I had a couple of pints of Black Dragon before the bus home, where I had a big fry-up, a rare treat, and more cider.  I thought I'd sleep well after an almost sleepless previous night but was kept awake by wind, internal as well as external, until about 5.  So today I may be Grumpy.  I have the T-shirt.

 

Stay dry and firmly anchored down,

 

Pete

 

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by petethemole
wrong picture

[Coombe Barton]

I think I've only been in a Wetherspoons once. The experience was memorable in not wanting to repeat. 

 

I'll go elsewhere

[The Lurker]

Greetings all. Sidcup too is windy. The old folk over the road were out early trying to put the barriers round Thames Water’s hole in the ground outside their house back upright; a futile effort as it is now more horizontal than vertical again. A quiet day here listening to the wind!

[Ref44]

Getting very breezy and wet in Shenfield. The power has blipped three times in the last hour, but resumed. Hopefully nothing else will happen.

[Gwiwer]

48 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

I think I've only been in a Wetherspoons once. The experience was memorable in not wanting to repeat. 

 

I'll go elsewhere

Not my establishment of choice either but when accompanied by those with lesser-lined pockets (former Neighbours Upstairs were students at the time) one goes with the flow.  On the other hand the nearest pub to the Hill of Strawberries asked £7.20 for a pint of Doom Bar and I won't be going back there again either.  

 

I manage to order drinks remotely for friends in Margate on occasions.  The app has it uses and their Elephant & Wheelbarrow seems to be rather more efficient at service than the William Webb Ellis here.  

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

With apologies profuse to Andy and John that I have not been able to offer condolences any time recently, but I only read the respective posts about five AM when listening to the wind and rain.  I have been so busy with other matters.  We had planned until the storm was forecast to go to the first open day at Gresgarth Hall's gardens - no such luck, and decided to stay at home instead - which I had planned to do nothing much, other than pootle about, but 30747 had other ideas, and when I was hoovering, suggested that as I was pulling out all the furniture, I might as well get the carpet shampooer out as well.

 

It is windy here, but not as bad as some areas of the country, and the wind speed in quite moderate - I think that Fraggle Rock has certainly come off worse, but apparently the worst is yet to come - currently, it is sunny and cloudless!  Wind speed I would estimate to be about 35mph with gusts to 50.

 

One main reason for my non visiting here has been that there has been a failure of our hot water just after the filling loop was changed.  A call to Homeserve was made at 5am on Friday morning - but even at that early hour, they were unable to attend that day, and would be out yesterday morning.  So I went to my writing class, and then into town to visit the market.  I was looking at a copy of Stanier 4-6-0s of the LMS on the book stall, which has been there for some weeks at £6.  I was just about to pick it up when somebidy else bought it - b&gger.  But I then went into a charity shop nearby, and there was a copy there (in a shop where I've never seen railway books before) at £2, and on a BOGOF offer, and I found a copy of Bob Pixton's Main Lines Around WIgan prices at £2 which I got free - result.

 

So on Saturday, the engineer arrived in good time, and quickly diagnosed the fault, as being that a cover to the combustion chamber was loose due to a broken clip - so not caused by anything done on Thursday.  Of course, he didn't have that part, and said he would order it - went on his tablet to do so, and found that a firm in Preston had two in stock - rang them, and they were open until 12, rang his control and got them to block him off for the rest of the morning,  drove to Preston, picked up the clips, and returned to fit them within just over an hour - service beyond the call of duty, and I have emailed Homeserve to compliment his efforts.

 

Back tomorrow?  WHo knows, LASAR and a visit to the bank are indicated, so maybe not.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Tony_S]

I think I have only been at a Wetherspoons once.  I met Matthew (Gatwick I think ) after a flight from Kuala Lumpur and for some reason he wanted their full English vegetarian breakfast with a beer.  It was quite early in the morning.

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not much evidence of any storm damage here but apparently the roof has been blown off the Cliffes Pavilion at Southend. The pics show it as being still attached by one corner but with the rain getting in the damage must be considerable.

[Shedman5]

Afternoon, After torrential rain which has seen the road to the next village become inpassable due to flood water the sun is now out and blue sky prevails. However that has not stopped the wind which seems to be getting stronger.

It was nice and toasty in the shed this morning as I ran a few  trains  as I tend to do on a Sunday morning. Time now for the morning papers crossword etc and a glass of something to keep me company.

 

Enjoy what's left of the day and be safe

 

Alan

[TheQ]

Similarly my only experience of wetherspoons  was gatwick,  the only place I could find a seat...  It was still very crowded and not that pleasant. 

 

Fraggle rock is showing 37 to 49 mph at the moment, I would guess that's down at where parallel bits of metal actually start flying.. 

 

Ben the displeased collie has been walked,  what was he displeased about?... 

 

I didn't talk his tennis ball,   I didn't want to throw it and bombard Denmark with it.. 

 

So he picked up a sugar beet,  it gradually got smaller as chunks flew off when I kicked it.  At one point down on the marshes Ben decided to sit and hide behind a tree from the wind... I joined him.. We had a second break when we hid behind a farm building as a short horizontal shower went over. 

 

The wind speed here has dropped  it's now 39 to 66mph which looking at the wind arrows is the peak of what's coming over, however the weather radar indicates the heavy wet stuff is about to arrive... 

 

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

Having finished the work and uploaded it, now stretched out on the sofa without the excuse that I can't disturb the dog if I get up, so better get a move on and do things, including the ironing.

 

[EDIT] however a quarter of an hour later I haven't moved

Edited February 9, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[roundhouse]

Been into the shed and all is Ok up there apart form the rear fence to the garden which belongs to the house behind. Its still upright of sorts due to the ivy holding it up but for how much longer we shall see. Did a bit of matt coat airbrushing on a loco and also painted the roof of the good shed on the new layout and now back in the house having fitted din plugs to a DCC Concepts meter so that it can be plugged in between the DCC  or a DC controller and the track / test track.

 

Still very windy and wet outside and noisy in the conservatory as I have Youtube playing the live webcam at Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City. A very busy junction but its been some weeks since we last saw Boeing 737 Max fuselages passing now they have suspended building them.

[TheSignalEngineer]

5 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

I have an (usually) infallible method - they don't offer, I ASK REQUEST DEMAND!

 

When I'm buying a meal and drink, I will not only require the card receipt but the VAT receipt as well. This can then be accurately assigned in GnuCash.

Requested a receipt once in a cafe in Harlesden when I was working in Brent Sidings. The owner suggested that it may be better not to return, took me ages to convince him I was not the VAT man in Hi-viz disguise.

[Gwiwer]

Wildness ceased.  Wind dropped significantly.  Rain eased to intermittent spots.  

 

It might be time for a quick stroll around the block before sacrificing tonight's cluckbird.