Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

 

BTW: for those really tough ones:

[5 C]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

 

BTW: for those really tough ones:

 

Izal.

 

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

It's funny how things turn out sometimes.  Yesterday I was at the most enjoyable Skills Day in Didcot.  To the palpable relief of the organisers it was well attended and appreciated by all present.  I was in some difficulty because I had done something to my left foot and it hurt, transforming my customary purposeful stride into an ungainly hobble.  I am most grateful to Natalie for delving into her gander bag and finding me some pain killers.   I had been anxious that I would not be able to dance at the ceilidh - same as a barn dance only different - due to be held at The Stables tonight.  As the day progressed my foot became less painful and the improvement has continued overnight.  Meanwhile The Stables had postponed the ceilidh.  This from the e-mail breaking the news: "We have reluctantly decided that the event should be postponed to avoid the necessary hand-to-hand contact involved in ceilidh dancing".  I have mixed feelings about this.  i would have enjoyed the event whether as a participant or a spectator.  On the other hand the distinct possibility of me making a complete mess of it has receded for the time being.

 

Meanwhile that ruddy virus continues to disrupt our lives.  Up to now I have been impressed by the way that the Government has handled it, guided by scientific advisers who appear to know what they are doing.  The danger now is that those who rule us will be bounced into more draconian action with panic not far away.  Fear of the unknown is something that we all experience.  The hard bit is keeping it under control.  I say again that I am 72 years old with pre-existing medical conditions - type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer, since you ask - but I am not scared.

 

I was sorry to learn that Mike Stationmaster will not be at Ally Pally on Saturday.  For some years now there has been a conclave of ERs.  It is perhaps defiant of me to suggest that this tradition should continue.  May I suggest that those at the show might gather in the Palm Court at lunchtime, say 12 noon, for half an hour or so?  Face masks and handshakes optional!

 

Now who was it that used to say "Have a good week till next week"?  Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, 5 C said:

 

Izal.

 

Softer than the corrugated bog paper they used to have in Germany

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny and bright Charente.  Today is the ides of March as has been alluded to above. A significant day for Beth and I as it is the anniversary  of the deaths of both our mothers, 30 and 26 years ago respectively. For many years we have marked this by goi g out for a good meal and raising a glass to absent friends.  As restaurants are now closed it's fortunate that we had decided to eat at home this year and some fillet steak is in the fridge. A suitable bottle will be put on one side as well.  It looks as if No 1 son and fiancee will not be heading to California next weekend.

 

Anyway we are OK for food and the kit mou tain will sustain me for several years. We will visit yhe market this morning as ysual vut not have our usual coffee and chat in the bar.  Shutters will continue to be painted and there ard still 22 holes to square, i got 16 done yesterday.  Some muddling will no doubt be done as well.  With thd sunshine life us not bad at all.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Chuckditdarn for most of the night.

 

After 8 days the jetlag has almost gone. (I didn't have a y going out to singapore or Oz).

 

Chrisf, you are soright. Many of those in charge around the globe have (to use a USA term) " Seen the elephant"..ie been involved in a real nasty war. Some of the UK Scientist are flapping as well. STOP PANICKING!

 

I wonder how many people have died of the flu this year? Against the last UK records this pandemic is still  ot as bad as "ordinary" flu.

 

What I do detect is a "if we don't stop big meetings happening  the organisers will stop them anyway so they can't blame us " amongst our esteem3d senior members of HBM Government.   Cynical? Me? You bet!

So go out, make every minute of your day count andjust continue to use Common Sense and heed the advice given (Of course HH needs some support on the Common Sense bit..but his exploits cheered me and her indoors up no end!)

 

Perhaps I should have stayed..

 

In Blenheim...

 

Baz

 

 

 

[TheQ]

Mooring awl,  inner Temple Hare, 

A very good 2 piece sleep of about 8.5 hours,  after the last few days I needed that. 

It might have been longer but Ben the I want out Collie decided otherwise. 

 

It was dry and sunny when we strolled down the garden.  But there was a dark black line of cloud to the south west. This as I type, has arrived it's gone very dark out there.. 

 

The first 4 cases of the virus have been found in Norfolk,  one is now in the Norfolk and Norwich hospital,  the others across at kings Lynn..  

My niece,  who helps look after my parents in central Scotland, will be now wearing gloves and a face mask when she attends them.  The bigger problem will be the 4 nursing / home care visits a day,  the staff will be going from patient to patient which I think will be somewhat hazardous. 

 

For us,  being isolated won't make much difference,  I've lots to do round the house and garden,  taking Ben for a walk won't change, as it's exceedingly rare to meet anyone. The only problem would be bread and milk.. SWMBO is however making a shopping list...

 

The sailing clubs are on change over at the moment,  with the last winter event today.  So the summer club starts next week,  the clubs numbers at any normal event are probably below any baned event size,  but they are monitoring the situation. 

 

The MRC is also continuing for the moment we are lucky our main show isn't till October.  But the main Norwich show is 4th April. 

I'm guessing but many clubs are waiting to see what happens,  if the government or hall owners cancel then there are no fees to pay,  if the club cancels they may be still liable for the hall fees.. For us that's around the profit from a show, so we'd lose two years profit from the show that would severely dent the club finances.. 

 

 

Plans for today..  Ivy cutting

 

But first Muggacoffee number 2

 

 

[45156]

Morning All

 

TWO days running - wonders will never cease.  And all posts read and rated.  And as usual generic greetings are on offer to the ailing and the celebrating, and to anybody else who deserves them - so under the present panic conditions, that's each and every ER.

 

As I have a delivery of some fence posts. featherboard. trellis. and fence clips coming on Tuesday morning, as one of our fences succumbed to storm Dennis, and is now being held up by two green wheelie bins.  And as I am LASAR tomorrow, the fodder run is being brought forward to today - and 30747 has said she'll come too - when I do the shopping, she moans about the cost, though when she comes too, the bill seems to be much higher.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[AndyB]

Morning all. 

Richard, for what it's worth....

U bend in the kitchen sink got blocked once upon a time.

Sink full of dirty water failing to drain. 

Put a washing up beneath the U bend and proceeded to remove the U bend.

Contents of sink successfully captured in washing up bowl.  

Now what do we normally do with water in the washing up bowl?

Yep. 

Just about got the plug in the sink before it was toooo late.

[Kingzance]

Us old folk seem to be reacting against rather than with the mass panic that the Woke and Millennial generations espouse. I have a nephew in the British Army and he / they have been briefed on his / their anticipated role - some forward planning at least it seems. As for telling every septuagenarian to remain behind closed doors indefinitely, what a load of row locks! What penalty do the authorities intend to impose on those who disobey? Are they planning on using The Army to put down dissenters? Let’s face it, the police can’t even control Extinction Rebellion protesters as it would impinge on those protesters’ human rights if they did! I know it is serious and particularly for anyone who cops a dose (to which I will not be immune) but, as anyone who has any connection with organisations where black humour prevails knows, “sh!t happens” - maybe that has caused the run on Andrex (other brands are available). 

 

Last night there was a Soul Night in our village hall. Probably around 100 people attended and much gyrating and / or dad dancing occurred, no doubt involving handling parts of other dancing partners. One of my daughter’s friends had a birthday bash in their house, no doubt there were at least a score of people there in a relatively confined space. How many cases of Corvid-19 will result, I do not know. We did not attend either so could it be that we will be some of the few left able to roam this village?

We shall continue with our planned expedition to the foothills of The Malverns later today. We shall be meeting just one person so the gathering will not fall foul of the lower social limit. That person also can not look forward to a 70th birthday as it has happened for him too. At least we are never short of something with which to gargle when in his company.

 

Like Baz, I feel Blenheim would be nicer but sadly I am here and not there. I urge you therefore to be (reasonably) good, be careful and please, have fun!

[Kingzance]

3 minutes ago, AndyB said:

Morning all. 

Richard, for what it's worth....

U bend in the kitchen sink got blocked once upon a time.

Sink full of dirty water failing to drain. 

Put a washing up beneath the U bend and proceeded to remove the U bend.

Contents of sink successfully captured in washing up bowl.  

Now what do we normally do with water in the washing up bowl?

Yep. 

Just about got the plug in the sink before it was toooo late.

I have tee shirts recounting such events for sale Andy .

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Chrisf, you are soright. Many of those in charge around the globe have (to use a USA term) " Seen the elephant"..ie been involved in a real nasty war. Some of the UK Scientist are flapping as well. STOP PANICKING!

 

I wonder how many people have died of the flu this year? Against the last UK records this pandemic is still  ot as bad as "ordinary" flu.

 

 

 

It seems that around 165,000 die just in the UK every year from the Big C, so around 450 per day, every day.  The worst day for C-19 deaths saw 448 deaths worldwide, if internet statistic are to be believed....

 

[Andrew P]

3 hours ago, 5 C said:

 

Izal.

 

Bless you.

[Joseph_Pestell]

48 minutes ago, AndyB said:

Morning all. 

Richard, for what it's worth....

U bend in the kitchen sink got blocked once upon a time.

Sink full of dirty water failing to drain. 

Put a washing up beneath the U bend and proceeded to remove the U bend.

Contents of sink successfully captured in washing up bowl.  

Now what do we normally do with water in the washing up bowl?

Yep. 

Just about got the plug in the sink before it was toooo late.

 

I've got that T-shirt too.

[Oldddudders]

2 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I've got that T-shirt too.

Ditto. Except the last line. Sigh. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from a sunny and bright Charente.  Today is the ides of March as has been alluded to above. A significant day for Beth and I as it is the anniversary  of the deaths of both our mothers, 30 and 26 years ago respectively. For many years we have marked this by goi g out for a good meal and raising a glass to absent friends.  As restaurants are now closed it's fortunate that we had decided to eat at home this year and some fillet steak is in the fridge. A suitable bottle will be put on one side as well.  It looks as if No 1 son and fiancee will not be heading to California next weekend.

 

Anyway we are OK for food and the kit mou tain will sustain me for several years. We will visit yhe market this morning as ysual vut not have our usual coffee and chat in the bar.  Shutters will continue to be painted and there ard still 22 holes to square, i got 16 done yesterday.  Some muddling will no doubt be done as well.  With thd sunshine life us not bad at all.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

Sunshine is good for the immune system. Sadly, not much of it here today.

[Happy Hippo]

Flushed with the success of yesterday's DIY, I'm off to fit the new basin!

[Barry O]

HH

 

wear a full NBC suit.

 

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Rather dull here. 
Aditi was chatting to a friend yesterday (by telephone) who hadn’t rushed out and bought toilet roll and is now close to running out and is rationing until her Sainsbury order arrives in the week. No loo roll anywhere in Brentwood it seems.  However our friend’s main concern is how her husband will cope without all the sport he watches and listens to. 
Tony

[81C]

Morning All

I braved the stampede in Horrorsons yesterday only went in for milk and bread got there just in time to grab some of the last of both grabs some #rse wipes as well there 

was the odd couple packs sitting on the shelf with a crowd watching them, some feckwit suggested they sell a single roll only,

 

I returned to the car park back home to find my regular spot empty so I parked it in the one where they leave snotty notes on the windscreen still no one has said anything yet.

I was tempted as Barry and Yvonne's spot was empty. 

 

I started to remove the tiles in the bathroom with a paint scrapper a 100 fell off without force it will keep bully boy down stairs happy less noise but I do let them drop on the floor 

just to keep him on edge.

Better get on lots to do.Maka Rackett 

 

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

It is perhaps defiant of me to suggest that this tradition should continue.  May I suggest that those at the show might gather in the Palm Court at lunchtime, say 12 noon, for half an hour or so?

 

We are waiting for a statement possibly tomorrow which may determine whether or not this event takes place.  The topic is currently locked.  

 

Good morning all from a Hill of Strawberries where the morning is not particularly good.  Another indifferent night's sleep was had; this was caused not by anything under my control but by Network Rail.  The Orange Army has spent the night (and will spend the rest of the day) doing Something More Than Drinking Tea at our level crossing.  It involves noisy machines which warn anyone in bed trying to sleep that they are moving by means of flashing lights and loud sirens.  

 

Outside is cold and windy.  The cat asked to be excused while I was cooking breakfast so I opened the door and wished I hadn't.  He was recalled after a very short perambulation and probably before any wumpus were caught.  Gujarati spiced potatoes with fried eggs on sourdough toast were enjoyed for brekky; ideally the meal is served with roti but we haven't been able to locate a nearby supplier and I really can't be bothered making my own!  Muggertee Nos 1 and 2 so far also enjoyed and it must be getting near to Coffytime.  With biscuits.  

 

If Ally Pally does go ahead there will be significant gaps across the floor as we know already that the Red Box Business and the Good People of Ford are not coming, ditto several layouts.  I have no fear of this Borisvirus (though I do take the advised precautions) and would be at Palm Court if it's open.  

 

In the meantime there is some paper and glue lurking in the other corner of the room and my attention is required to combine them into a backscene.  

 

Stay safe.  Back later.  

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

STOP PANICKING!

 

I wonder how many people have died of the flu this year? Against the last UK records this pandemic is still  ot as bad as "ordinary" flu.

 

Abso-bl**dy-lutely.  One can "prove" anything with statistics but despite this thing being more contagious than some others it is still far less lethal than annual flu, common cold and many other non-viral conditions.  The planet has assumed panic mode and lacks the firm leadership to ease the collective mind.  

 

Keep clam and curry on.  

 

 

[roundhouse]

Morning.

 

Other half has just text to say the large Tescos near Gatwick has many empty shelves. She couldn't get any toilet rolls and the place is wedged. Now she has to do battle with all the diverted traffic off the m23 which is shut Northbound this weekend.

 

meanwhile I am sitting here with a pile of windows produced on the Silhouette cutter. Now to fit them to the stable block

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I suspect Ally-pally will be called off, what with layouts and traders pulling out. If you are not attending or it is cancelled there is this.>>

Though you have to be a Farcebook member to participate.

[JohnDMJ]

 

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

It seems that around 165,000 die just in the UK every year from the Big C, so around 450 per day, every day.  The worst day for C-19 deaths saw 448 deaths worldwide, if internet statistic are to be believed....

 

 

As 'twas once said, there are lies, damn lies and statistics.