Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

 

 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

Been awake about 2 hours, unable to sleep, pink pills have just been taken. Upper back arms shoulders complaining.

 

Thoughts of what to do in the workshop to day, 

The lighting will have to be done, then I might install the lifting bar if my back and shoulders are up to it.

After that I think anything done will have to be a lower level.

 

I've been thinking of what to do with the workbench top it needs reinforcing and levelling after the weight of the keel  caused a permanent dip.. The most likely solution is another top glued and screwed on top, with the bonding filler I have, used to fill in the dip between.

 

Which reminds me, I need to do the fillet the other side of the keel today. The keel I've found I can "walk" by moving bow or stern alternately, which means I can access both sides easily, though how I'm going to access the bottom is another question.

 

I think the pills are beginning to work, time to hit the snooze button.

 

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Something funny caught my ear yesterday.   "Pointless Celebrities", an aptly titled programme if ever there was one, was on TV but I was paying it little attention.  I preferred to concentrate on the task in hand, which was to make a batch of pancakes.  There was a screen full of images of other celebrities that the contestants were tasked with identifying.  One hapless, or should that be hopeless, contestant identified a mug shot of Bill Haley, complete with trademark kiss curl, as Justin Bieber.  That has to be the best wrong answer ever!  Now before you ask, no, the TV set is not in the kitchen but it is in the adjoining room and I could hear the sound easily whilst slaving over the stove.

 

On the news as I type is a report of a violent disturbance in Queen Street, Cardiff, last night.  I confess that I thought this a commonplace occurrence.  What was not commonplace was the earliness of the hour.  To those who rule I say this: what do you expect if you close the pubs at 10 pm?  When I first knew Queen Street there was no room for fisticuffs because it was full of trolleybuses!  I last saw it in August last year when I walked along part of it from Cathays Park to Queen Street station after attending Pride Cymru on a very hot day.  It was pedestrianised a while back and it's not the same.

 

Today there will be unspecified pottering and the turning of a gammon steak into Sunday lunch.  What more could a lad want?  Try the freedom to roam for starters!

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Slept well last night..

 

Watched the England women sneak past the French women in a god game of rugby. I watched the England men win a bit more easily. Referees have no clue as to what goes on in the front rows! 

 

I then watched a bit of kick ball.. skills levels low.. far too much money being sloshed around players who seem to be incapable of passing forwards with one or two notable exceptions.

 

Today is a laundery day apparently.  This will mean i keep out of the way whille her indoors hangs items up to dry..good time to head to the loft methinks!

Please enjoy your day, time is precious!

@chrisfyou could always go for a walk if you want to wandr about a bit. I try to do this every day..very relaxing.

 

Baz

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, BokStein said:

.....At this point, I would usually quote an obituary to Common Sense. If it looks and smells OK and isn't moving, use it!

 

I've recently consumed a jar of marmalade with an expiry date in 2007. Heck, jams are a method of preserving food, as are cheeses, pickles and other processes such as tinning, salting and corning, for example. (Cheeses like Stilton are purchased mouldy and improve with age.)....

 

The “use by“ and “best buy“ dates have two very different uses. The former is a guarantee that the contents are edible and wholesome if consumed before that date (although that may be stretching a point with some of the junk food out there). The latter indicates that the contents will still be edible after the date but will not be at their very best (think stale bread or limp lettuce).

 

Another reason for putting a “use by“ date on perishables is that most foodstuffs are not properly stored by the consumer at home. Sometimes this is because the consumer is an idiot, but most of the time it’s because domestic fridges and freezers are totally inadequate. Most fridges and freezers don’t get cold enough to properly store food stuffs for anything more than a day or so (or month or so for the freezer). I have a fairly reasonable fridge in the kitchen, but it only goes down to 4°C - which is far too warm (professional fridges hover around 1°C or a bit less). My freezer is a bit better than average as it goes down to -25°C, but even that could be colder for long term storage (say -40°C).

Sadly, people think of food poisoning as being a little more than a “funny tummy“ for a couple of hours. Not so! My friend (the GP) told me about a case of food poisoning he treated: after eating a somewhat dodgy burger, the hapless individual came down with food poisoning which resulted in liver damage, their kidneys shutting down for a while and a number of other symptoms perhaps too gruesome to mention here. And lets not forget the very real danger of improperly tinned food: Clostridium botulinum. The toxin from this bug is the most toxic substance known to man. In fact, it has been calculated that a mere half kilo of pure botulin toxin would be enough to wipe out all animal life on Earth (it works by stopping the nerves throughout the body from communicating with each other and carrying out their functions. Although it is a reversible toxin, due to it shutting down every organ system in the body you are not going to live long enough for the natural reversibility of the toxin to be of any use to you).

 

On a more cheerful note: Mrs ID is off at the Holiday Hovel with the Wolfpack for the best part of the week (I am staying at home due to work), which means that the best part of today will be spent doing exactly nothing. A home-made mushroom soup awaits for lunch and the slow cooker will be delivering a turkey mole for dinner. and if I have enough energy, I might do something useful in the workshop.

 

enjoy your Sunday

 

iD

[jamie92208]

Good morning all. It's sunny and cool here but the room is still warm from last nights fire. Said fire mightbeven rejuvenate  itself.

 

Various things got done yesterday.  The Cotoneaster met the chain saw., success at last.  Beth mowed the main weed patch, aka a lawn and a buddleia was trimmed. Lockdown is obviously good for gardening.

 

We are heading for the market this morning so I will wish you all well.

 

Jamie

Edited November 22, 2020 by jamie92208

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry and overcast here and there may be some sunshine later.

No bedtime reading for me as by the time I go to bed my head hits the pillow and I sleep.  This does not amuse Herself who always struggles to have a good night's sleep.

The Boss was fed Eggy bread or "Gypsy toast"  frequently as a child. Also the wonderfully named "Eye in Egypt" which is made by cutting a hole in bread, frying one side, flipping and then putting egg in the hole and frying t'other side.  Whilst looking it up it has at least 66 other names:

https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/there-are-at-least-66-different-names-for-egg-in-a-hole

Another thing The Boss said was that her Nan always used to say " Give the kids fried bread, it greases their chest!"

Both England rugby matches were watched and enjoyed in the main although I found myself shouting  at the TV on occasions when things were going wrong.  I still get wound up about the ball being put in the scrum cockeyed along with one or two other things. Today I've a choice between Scotland v France or Wasps v Bristol at 3pm.  I'll record the latter as rather annoyingly the matches on Amazon Prime can't be recorded.

Tonight I'll be doing my usual few minutes in the kitchen lovingly dealing with some sirloin steak.  I've got a very nice Shiraz to accompany that.

After dinner we have a family Zoom meeting with both kids and all grandchildren and possibly sister in law and niece so that will probably be a bit noisy.  I hope so - we're missing them all quite badly.

Breakfast is imminent and I'm hoping to have my chest greased so farewell for now

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by grandadbob

[jonny777]

Hello from Somerset. Thick fog here. I can't see the church which is only about 100 yards away. Just had my Sunday morning fry-up. Nothing too healthy, just bacon, sausage and eggs. 

 

I only have two choices of sausage, Black Farmer pork ones, and Boston sausage Lincolnshire variety. The latter are ordered online and I only have them because their taste always takes me right back to the ones my mother used to buy from the butchers in the early 1960s. 

 

I'm still searching for the ultimate nitrite free bacon, and will have to try the M&S version now they seem to be available via Ocado. 

[Dave Hunt]

When we lived in Lincolnshire we used to get sausages from Phipps butchers in Mareham le Fen, who had lots of gold medals for them and delivered by mail order all over the place. Personally I'm not fond of Lincolnshire sausages as I prefer mine without the herby taste but I'm told by those who do appreciate them that Phipps' examples are the best. Their plain sausages were pretty damn good too. That's twenty years ago, though, so whether they still exist I don't know.

 

Mm, I wonder if we've got any sausages in the fridge? 

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

One of the delights of holidays near Sedbergh* is the local butcher's shop. For many years this was Steadman, who displayed an impressive array of prize certificates and also sold local Howgill Fells lamb. He retired but the business was taken over by William Peate of Barnard Castle - so much of the meat comes from the other side of the Pennines now but none the worse for that.

 

*Not this year, for the first time in a quarter of a century. My first holiday there was in 1972!

[Coombe Barton]

All this talk of sausages - wondering if I should make my own?

Researching it I came across this quote about the equipment necessary:

"It's possible to buy hand-operated mincers which not only chop the meat but also, with the blade removed pack it into the skin for you. These are reasonably successful but producing a single kilo of sausage will leave you with a hypertrophic forearm like a fiddler crab on steroids."

From https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/nov/04/sausages-how-to-make

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A little late on parade this morning, but it's Sunday and we always have a lie-in on a Sunday. Anyway, now that breakfast is but a distant memory it's time to head down to the workshop and carry on with the turntable control panel. Hopefully I'll get the control wiring finished and I can give a test run later. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian 

[greatcoleswoodhalt]

On 15/11/2020 at 11:34, jafcreasey said:

12°C

SW 21kt, gusting 46kt

 

Showery start to the day though drier and brighter conditions hoped for this afternoon (before the next band of rain, at least).

 

Still we wait for quotes for our roof repair; the second roofer to visit did however clear a lot of debris which has helped no end.  Our drive is now finished, ready for a ceremonial return of cars later today.

 

Mrs C and I had been due to holiday in Cornwall this week, so for a second time this year I'm having to use my annual leave during a national lockdown.  Our first wedding anniversary is Wednesday so a to visit to Wakehurst, Ardingly is planned.

 

For now I return to my coffee and continue to ogle over @NHY 581's Sheep Dip in December's BRM.

 

Stay safe.

 

10°C

NW 5kt, gusting 12kt

 

Another grey morning, though hopefully dry.  An early start was had for a COVID-19 test ahead of work-related travel tomorrow - not a pleasant experience!  A quick walk is planned for this afternoon before essential shopping, no doubt.

 

As expected, the week was long and slow, outdoor plans mostly curtailed due to persistent rain...  I did however manage to tidy-up the garden, squeezing-in a final mow of the lawn for this year!

 

Our visit to Wakehurst, Ardingly on Wednesday was better than expected with the grounds significantly large enough that the one-way system didn't feel too restrictive.  On Friday we abandoned Petworth House and Park when the heavens opened, managing only a quick drive-by of the former Singleton station to check on the extensive renovation.

 

 

Turning back to the present, all this talk of sausages means I know what to add to the shopping list...

 

Stay safe.

Edited November 28, 2020 by jafcreasey

[tigerburnie]

Morning, this talk of sausages is most unfair, the Sainsbugs cavalry don't arrive until tomorrow and I've eaten all ours............................

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

A touch of sunshine outdoors and a couple days without rain are promised by the seaweed wranglers of Exeter   I sometimes wonder if they made better forecasts when they were at Bracknell and a long way from fresh seaweed?

 

Nice to hear about another surviving local hardware shop - there is an excellent one in Pangbourne although they have definitely reduced their timber department over the years.  It used to be very handy with a wider range than the d-i-y sheds in the area plus free cutting.  The village also boasts an excellent butcher who we use occasionally and will be visiting just before C*******s in order to collect our necessities for the festivity(?) period including one of their excellent pork pies plus sausages and sausage meat.  On top of that the village has some rather good eateries including Ninos Italian trattoria which over the years occupied various premises in Reading before leaving there for Pangbourne, and a very good Chinese restaurant as well as a somewhat dodgy & grubby looking chippy which does top notch chips (or definitely dd in the recent past).  

 

I don't go much on either of the hotels for food offering (they might have changed, again - you never know?) but if you're adventurous you can venture across the toll bridge which spans the river/county line and visit The Ferryboat in Whitchurch which does some really good, slightly superior, pub food.

(N.B.  This is Whitchurch-On -Thames to use its latest name,  no doubt an addition to plain 'Whitchurch' in order to distinguish it from the various other (12 I think) places called Whitchurch in England and Wales)

 

Right end of travelogue/shopping guide although there is news locally of a virtual Christmas Festival to replace the real one this year.  No doubt it will be difficult for the youngsters to cuddle virtual reindeer and of course this year they should be using hand sanitiser for more than washing off bits of reindeer.  But we might see the illuminations being illuminated for their first shining of the year and it will be nice to avoid the crowds and some of the less interesting and mankier food offerings; I wonder of wozza will be virtually burning burgers to make up for really burning the things and leaving a haze of smoke from burnt burgers across the Market Place?

http://awtrestaurants.com

 

And in case you are missing them R4 is broadcasting a dramatisation of the James Bond stories on Saturday afternoons.  The two I've heard so far are pretty close to the original books and come without all the gimmicky nonsense which came to pervade the film versions.  Well worth a listen and they're also on digital should you happen to live elsewhere on the planet. 

http://radio.garden/listen/bbc-radio-4/CO4JBP8X

 

Have a good day one and all

Edited November 22, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

4°C - which is far too warm (professional fridges hover around 1°C or a bit less). My freezer is a bit better than average as it goes down to -25°C, but even that could be colder for long term storage (say -40°C).

When I did my Basic Food Hygiene Certificate it was 4C for a fridge and -18C for a freezer. The rider was that the entire fridge must be at or below 4C meaning some spots would be colder but must remain at or above 1C. Due allowance must be made for “high traffic” fridges where it was necessary to open the door frequently. 
 

Likewise with freezers which musy not record a temperature warmer than -18C. Commercial deep-freeze premises could indeed operate at much lower temperatures but we were not required to wear gloves or coats provided that there was a door handle inside any walk-in area for emergency egress. 
 

Good morning all. The Hill of Strawberries is enjoying intermittent sunny bits with purring from the Orange Beast on the couch. Breakfast has been enjoyed - bacon and eggs all cooked fat-free in the non-stick pan.  Kitchen-cleaning has occurred. Laundry has been put away. Muggercoffy is being consumed following which it will be time to put the Gwiwer in the shower. 
 

SWMBO is engaged in her eye-crossing cross-stitching which we are promised will soon turn itself into a cushion.

 

Amazon has threatened to deliver some illuminations for next month later but without saying how much later. 
 

So far today is a brighter one than many we have had recently. Let’s hope it continues. 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

Not wishing to reignite the security and bomb alert chat but I thought this might be of interest, and dispel some of the myths of the magical powers of the security services and UK special forces.

 

When we got the heads up that such an exercise was planned,  a quick recce would take place and the 'bomb' would be well hidden within the location shortly afterwards.  Once the exercise was fired up, all one had to do was go into the premises, quite legitimately and remove the packet from its hiding place and then replace it in a much more prominent position for the hapless building security to find and then anguish how it got past their systems.

 

Think Brighton bombing where the bomb was buried in the wall months in advance of the event.

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The foot wasn't that sore last night but I didn't get to bed until nearly two this morning. I did have a pretty good nights sleep and didn't wake up until gone nine. The reason I was up late was that Farcebook has finally pulled the plug on the old system. Two features that they have removed I have found useful over the years. That is the post count and an indicator when you have read all the new posts, and the icing on the cake is they insist on putting some groups in sh!t order. User friendly it is not.

[grandadbob]

Our fridge is usually at 3 or 4°C although The Boss keeps moaning it's too cold but I've gently pointed out that it's supposed to be cold.  If not there's no point in having one!

Breakfast was enjoyed and my chest is well and truly greased!  The Boss has said she won't do that every week though as apparently it's not good for me . 

I've been getting on her nerves this morning as I've been playing around with our door bell. It's one of those musical things but we normally just have it set on a plain old ding-thing with a luminous nose.  Guess who's just discovered it plays Christmas tunes?  

I've also just found out from a friend that I've got the time for one of the rugby matches wrong and the Wasps v Bristol game kicks off at 1.00pm.  That's me sorted then.

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by grandadbob
My thing with a luminous nose disappeared!

[grandadbob]

Forgot to mention above that sometimes you wait ages and then two come along.  In this case not buses but lottery wins.  I won £30 Wednesday and did it again last night!   

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon.  Kind of missed yesterday, it was a little fraught.

 

Mrs NHN has had a poorly eye for some weeks, and visited A&E 3 weeks ago in that regard where she was given some drops, informed she had scratched her cornea and a rogue eyelash removed.  They diagnosed a something-or-other on the white (currently red!) of the eye but said it wasn't really an issue at this time.  Go away but we'll write to your GP kind of thing.  GP dismissed it as no further action it'll get better on its own.

 

Well it hasn't, and yesterday morning became much worse, eye like a Terminator, so off to the opticians, who kindly agreed to see her as an emergency.  The something-or-other isn't one, (although she said she understood why the A&E Dr had though it)  but it is of no consequence, the cornea has healed, but the redness is something not right and eyeball pressure high, so ....off to A&E again. 4 hour wait - sport injuries everywhere.....Saturday innit....

 

End story is that something isn't right big time, the GP dropped the ball bigger time in not referring her on to Ophthalmology as they had recommended in their letter, and an emergency appointment with the consultant 4pm tomorrow. A&E Dr was furious with the GP.  NHS A&E 1, GP 0. Grr.  So it was 10pm when we finally got home, a loooong day.  

 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

When I did my Basic Food Hygiene Certificate it was 4C for a fridge and -18C for a freezer. The rider was that the entire fridge must be at or below 4C meaning some spots would be colder but must remain at or above 1C. Due allowance must be made for “high traffic” fridges where it was necessary to open the door frequently. 
 

Likewise with freezers which musy not record a temperature warmer than -18C. Commercial deep-freeze premises could indeed operate at much lower temperatures but we were not required to wear gloves or coats provided that there was a door handle inside any walk-in area for emergency egress....

That’s useful to know. In my original post I was just passing on what I had been told by a butcher in Borough Market in London. I had asked him at what temperature did they keep the meat and he replied at 0.5°C to 1°C. Erroneously, I lept to the conclusion that all professional fridges were kept at that temperature. Of course, when you think about it, different foodstuffs will have different storage temperatures (which is why, from what I understand, restaurants have different fridges for different types of produce). Having said that, when I was looking to install what is now the current fridge (admittedly about 10 years ago), it was incredibly difficult to find a domestic fridge that would go as low as 4°C. Things may have changed on the domestic front.

Interestingly, -18°C is far too warm for many hospital pharmacy requirements: freezers that go down to -40°C are now commonplace and freezers that go down to -80°C are becoming more widely used (but don’t ask me to hazard a guess as to when they started requiring -80°C freezers for pharmacy use). Mind you, a -80°C freezer would certainly keep your frozen fish fingers viable for quite a few years

Edited November 22, 2020 by iL Dottore

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, earlier than expected,

Wiring corrected tested and switched on...

We have light...we also have radio interference.. The little switched mode supplies built into the LED battens are interfering with the weak radio signal.. I will investigate screening on another occasion.

 

During that my back screamed enough of reaching up... So I sat and unpacked the double wrapped rod, nuts and square washers from their separate packages.. That took longer than installing the rod.

 

That meant drilling  two holes in the beams which took seconds with a brand new auger bit. Then feeding it through and bolting it up.  The beams were centred at 3ft apart, the metal rod is 1metre, that left just the right amount of thread sticking outside of each beam.

 

After that various bits of woodwork were installed or reinforced or sealed as in that door way again.

Some tidying was done , the drawers beneath the lathe bench have been filled, temporarily with screw boxes in one drawer, electrics in another, and drill bits in the third. 

 

I then decided to fillet the keel,  but first to clean the 1ltr mixing bucket. On scraping it with a chisel I GDB'd my left first finger or to be precise the knuckle, so now there is a 1/2 inch wide, deep cut..

It's now temporarily plastered up, it'll get something better after the long bath shortly.

 

After repairs to me, I returned got a fresh bucket out , gloves on , mixed a batch of bonding filler up ,  filled and filleted up the other side of the keel.

 

I've now returned to the house, topping up the missing red liquid with other red liquid (shiraz), and...a scotch egg.. shortly I'll inspect built in fenestra coverings, before heading for a warm soak.

 

In supermarkets the walk in freezers out the back are kept at -29C, those in front of store are drawn down to -29C at lowest, but they have short defrost cycles for the cooling fins, and electric cable heaters in the drain pipes  to stop them icing up. So the average temperature inside the freezer is somewhat higher.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by TheQ

[Chris116]

I bought my fridge / freezer about seven years ago and the fridge is set at 2°C and the freezer at -22°C. Seems to work well with those settings. 

Edited November 22, 2020 by Chris116
Spelling

[polybear]