Early Risers.

[tetsudofan]

Another busy day tidying up the garden, maybe the last chance for a few days. Must not moan as the garden does need some rain.

 

Time for bed now, tiptoe through the bluebells......

 

 

Pleasant dreams,

 

Keith

[The Stationmaster]

6 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

Yes Warren twice over I believe!

Ah, so that's who he is   Due apologies to Bod.  And Mike Bellamy

Edited April 27, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[southern42]

' afternoon evening all,

 

Well the sun IS  WAS shining today - THREE parcels.

 

First to arrive this morning was some pick n pluck foam to convert my old artist's box into a case for my fifes and tin whistle - job in progress. 

 

Test with packaging material but a bit on the thin side.

 

Test with some strips of spare foam we use in our exhibition storage boxes.

And the 1"x 1" foam that came today.

I want to put down a base sheet next then space the rows to suit the instruments.

It will not be the sheet underneath on the left as this is too thick.  I have a thinner sheet of the dark grey stuff which will do nicely.  The two pale sheets came as a pair.  I will find a use for it!

There is plenty of the 1"x1" squares to do the lid. Perfect!  

 

Next to arrive were the Brassmasters GWR head & tail l*c* lamp brackets and the bore oil for the fifes.

 

So no toot on the flute but I did fit in a bike ride on the spot out in the sun.  Thankfully, the wind, a chilly north easterly, was coming from behind me so, the warmth from the sun on my knees enabled me to keep going the whole 20mins.

 

Late posting, as earlier in the day my laptop informed me halfway through both this post and my own thread that a certain website, mentioning no names, was not playing ball, then the evening was spent catching up on the final exhibits (pages) @ the (virtual) SWAG show.  So good that I now have that horrible show's-all-over feeling...Don't worry, it will pass.

 

I have some catching up on here to do now.

 

Fitt   and  Elfie keeping going...

 

Stay safe.  Be happy.

' night all and nos da.

_________

Best wishes

Polly

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by southern42

[Ozexpatriate]

Along with another total eclipse and an aurora (borealis or australis) intense ocean bioluminescence is something I would like to see.

 

That this was seen in/off Newport Beach, California is really surprising to me.

[newbryford]

49 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Is there a new species we're seeing?

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/getting-it-wrong/

 

As one of the locations mentioned is not too far from my workplace, then maybe i can use that as an excuse for 100% WFH?

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Barry O]

Trying to do family tree research can be bad for your health. One of my living relatives, according to their "system" does not exist. I toldher about this and she checked on another site..and yes she does not exist..perhaps she should claim her tax back??

Baz

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well this morning’s dull start didn’t last, by dinner time the sun was out and it was very warm, not the cooler temperature we’d been told we were getting. Sainsbury’s was fairly quiet, but there was a small queue, but within 10 minutes I was inside. I think I got my timing right, because the queue behind me was well over 6 times what was in front of me! I even managed to get some cleansing wipes for Sheila, so a few brownie points were earned there. Once home the shopping was packed away and a made myself muggertea No2 and then set about baking the rhubarb and cardamom cake I’d mentioned earlier, we had some after tea with a bit of vanilla ice cream. Once the cake was in the oven, I made a start on cooking the rest of the rhubarb, which was then decanted it into 2 small containers and once they’d cooled down, they were put in the freezer (which is now getting pretty full) and will be eaten, along with some freshly made crumble, at some point it the not too distant future. 

 

After dinner, the afternoon was spent doing some research on motorising the PECO turntable, (sometimes people have good ideas and it’s never too late to alter things), reading and doing a couple of sudoku puzzles. 

 

Goodnight all 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I had to read that twice to make sure I knew to whom you were referring. The same could be said of many governments.

 

 

 

Many here had the same kind of feelings towards Scott Morrison, especially after his risible response to the bushfires - ignoring the requests of fire experts to meet with him months before the fires broke out, then going on a Hawaiian holiday in the middle of the emergency, his refusal to link climate change to the drying out of the continent, then his Trump style self-congratulatory video about the governments response etc etc. 

 

So its nice  to give some credit where it is now deserved for a change - he really seems to have  learned his lesson and his governments response to the Corona virus has been a  huge step up in comparison. He banned flights from China before Trump did, then all international flights in mid March. His government worked co-operatively with the state governments of both political leanings to co-ordinate an Australia wide response, in stark contrast to the US mish-mash.  An early programme of comprehensive testing and contact tracing was implemented. We went to lockdown early  but  many  businesses have stayed open - I can still get my haircut, buy a pot plant  new telly or fancy shoes, have someone clip my dog. I just can't do yoga, get a tattoo or have a surf.

 

As a result, yesterday nationwide there were 7 new cases.  Not deaths - new cases. In a population of 25 million . So far we've had just 84 deaths. Theres still no talk of opening things up any time soon but restrictions are starting to ease. From Friday NSW residents can visit other peoples homes - a maximum of 2 people on the visit so no parties etc, but its a start.

 

Toilet paper, flour, eggs, pasta and yeast are now easy to get again, just hand sanitiser seems tostill  be on the hoarders must-buy list.

 

There is a growing sense that we have maybe dodged a bullet down here, especially when the nightly news is full of horror stories from Europe and the US.   We seem to have flown under the radar a bit though, I've read stories on international news sites of how well Germany, Singapore  and even New Zealand (that hurts!) are going, but little about Australia.  There is a theory among  the rightwing pundits here  that its because we don't have a woman in charge so we don't fit the popular narrative of how female leaders are managing the disaster much better than males...

 

It hasn't been entirely problem free - the Ruby Princess debacle was a lowlight.

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[TheQ]

Mooring awl,  inner Temple Hare, 

Just three hours sleep so far. 

 

Woken by.... Bites,  there is an ex mosquito in the bedroom, two bites on my left hand and one on my right. Now on the sofa,  stingeze has been applied, to little effect.  The bedroom will get a full insecticide spray in the morning, in case the little barstewardess,  has friends. 

 

One of the things Australia has and to a greater extent New Zealand is they are destinations, there is little through traffic. The UK and particularly London are transit points for much of world travel,  often with stop offs for business meetings or tourism. Hence London is perfectly sited for a maximum dose of anything before you really know what's going on.

 

The orange one says "I can't imagine why",. He's the only one who can't... 

 

Time to try hitting the sleep button again.. 

 

 

 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 ...snip...  just hand sanitiser seems tostill  be on the hoarders must-buy list. ...snip...

Maybe because one tends to use a lot of sanitizer ?

 

Anyway, good night owl from the Piedmont.

[polybear]

Anyone else can't sleep too?

Turdycurses.

Now what can I do that's noisy, just to p1ss off the neighbours?  Lawn cutting is out - it's been raining all night.  Already pressure washed the drive and car.  I feel a leccy drill time coming on....

[Gwiwer]

Morning all. 
 

The sky is leaking quite badly. I may need the big coat. 
 

 

[iL Dottore]

Morning All,

 

Is it me, or are others loosing track of what day of the week it is? Funnily enough, my life hasn’t actually altered that much: I still work from home as before, I still exercise the dogs at the dog club and I still manage to NOT model/play guitar/organise my books & CDs as before. I suppose what has changed is the possibility of “going outside the box” (tm management speak), I rarely went in to town, and then just buy used games for the PlayStation or stock up on Asian ingredients, but now that isn’t, as yet, a possibility.

 

As of yesterday, Garden Centres and DIY places have reopened in Switzerland and we are cautiously returning to what now passes for normality. Interestingly enough, despite - in a way - Switzerland being more authoritarian than the UK (e.g. mandatory ID cards, registering change of address with the authorities etc.) there seems to little or no overreach by the Police, unlike in the UK where some coppers seem to be inventing the law as they go along. I don’t underestimate the difficulty or seriousness of the job they have to do, but they aren’t doing anyone any favours, least of all themselves, by some of their behaviours. Of course, poor leadership on the part of their senior management and government dithering and incompetence doesn’t help either.

 

Posters have mentioned the reaction of many Americans to the lockdown and I wonder how much of it is due to an uncritical adherence to one of the many, some slightly loopy, ideologies the US seems to host? As Terry Pratchett has observed (and I paraphrase) “if you want to find the reason/cause of anything, follow the money” and I would argue that many protesting against the lockdown have a financial interest in removing the lockdown - many justifiably so (a definite risk of loss of livelihood with a continued lockdown), too many unjustifiably so (all those “business leaders” afraid of not getting their obscene bonuses this year). Of course (dons Captain Cynical spandex outfit) there is much to be said, from the perspective of species fitness, in favour of lifting the lockdown now.

 

I am pleased that the Garden Centres are back trading. Mrs iD has given me permission to install a Japanese Garden into an area of our garden that - until recently - was the province of weeds, scrub and unsightly bushes of unknown species. However, I must do so on a tight budget, which means I will be recycling things like lawn edging and making my own water feature.

 

Off to walk the dogs.

 

Stay Safe, Stay Well, Stay Sane,

 

iD

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all, with belated birthday greetings to Andrew P and thanks to Roundhouse for wise words.

 

I ventured into the jungle yesterday morning to take the vegetable peelings to the compost bin.  It was not a pretty sight.  As I feared, there is much which needs attention and there are nettles in unaccustomed places even for nettles.  To get it sorted will call for determination but what I had was wrecked when my trip to Dublin collapsed.  A couple of years ago I found that an hour or so of hard gardening did much to mitigate the effects of depression after an episode on the bus to Morrisons.  I decided to split the task into sensibly sized chunks.  The first chunk, done yesterday afternoon, was to attack with shears the ivy overhanging from Mrs Electric-Chair’s garden – which, by the way, is an absolute picture.  She gets a man in, you know.  The garden waste bin is not yet full so I might attack some of the nettles this morning.

 

Postie brought something nice yesterday – singer-songwriter Sam Carter’s very new CD, complete with autograph.  He was to have been in concert at The Stables next week but the ruddy virus put paid to that.  It will take me a long time to listen to the CD because the car is only doing four miles a week at the moment.  What the heck, it’s time I learned to be patient.  A totally unexpected bonus was a gift of £30 from Mr Camelot, called, apparently, a lottery win.  Long may the world run on infinite improbability drive.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Morning all.  The xalendar informs me that it's either Chewsday or Mardy, depending on which I look at.  One of them would also tell me who the Saint of the Day is, but ICBA to get up and look.

 

It certainly rained yesterday  and I believe that there is more to come.  Apart from my routine quarterly visit to the quack this morning for my prescription, not a lot has yet been ordered.  However there are dark clouds on the horizon as mention of decorating was made yesterday.  This may well reduce muddlung and scanning time.  

 

Anyway regards to all, breakfast us to be made.

 

Jamie

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 However there are dark clouds on the horizon as mention of decorating was made yesterday.

 

Couldn't you just hang up a few strings of fairy lights?

[pH]

Beautifully clear sky tonight, with the moon and Venus prominent. We've just watched the Starlink train pass overhead at a rate of more than one a minute, plus other satellites, and a shooting star in the middle of all this. It's starting to cloud over now, and it's time for bed anyway.

[roundhouse]

8 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

Another busy day tidying up the garden, maybe the last chance for a few days. Must not moan as the garden does need some rain.

 

Time for bed now, tiptoe through the bluebells......

 

 

Pleasant dreams,

 

Keith

Yes its been good weather for the garden rails. A bit too wet this morning so far though.

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by roundhouse

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Grey and overcast sky this morning in the North West Leeds Highlands. 

Possibly the police in other parts are OTT. The West Yorks and North Yorks police forces are having their work cut out for them. It has been said "treat the popularion like grown ups" ..unfortunately there are those in the UK who cannot be treated that way due to being so self centred..luckily these are a minority but they do cause problems.  Whereas in Spain..would you tabgle with the Gardia Civil??

 

Today involves some preparation for a furniture move as our repairs continues (the bits should be here and installed by the end of next week. Once that is done a good walk is to be taken and some muddling should be done.

 

Hopefully we can all get through this Ok. I do note some ERs are missing and wish them positive thoughts.

 

Time to drink my mugatea and get Tuesday sorted tout suite!

 

Baz

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a grey and wet Sidcup where the lovely dry weather has finally ended. Mrs Lurker is working today and did yesterday as well, so I am on supervising home schooling etc as well as wfh. It's not a great hardship but I didn't have time to call in here yesterday.

 

I noticed that the nearest micropub to me,the Hoppers Hut was open at the weekend for takeaways, but wasn't open yesterday. It's good to see them attempting to get money in, They had already closed the tearoom that the same family ran next door - bizarrely it was 1940's themed, when rationing would have meant that there was no chance of having a nice high tea. that and the chance of an air raid!

 

We were talking haircuts a few days ago, Bravely Mrs Lurker instructed me to trim the very ends of her hair at the weekend (about half a centimetre).  I appear to have done it OK, judging by the absence of subsequent haranguing.

 

Anyway, onwards with the day. Sta safe and well