Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

We have a Miele Cat and Dog vacuum cleaner purchased after the previous Dyson couldn’t cope with spaniel hair and dust. No matter how carefully I emptied the Dyson dust container I ended up choking so we chose a replacement with a bag. A couple of years ago Aditi thought we should have upstairs and downstairs vacuum cleaners.She was concerned about falling while carrying a vacuum cleaner.  We had been very pleased with the Miele cylinder so went to try their upright. It worked very well but was so heavy. We bought a SEBO upright which must be the worlds ugliest appliance but it does work well and is rather robust. The old Dyson had lots of repairs to various plastic bits with epoxy resin repair putty. 

[Andrew P]

RIP Sir Cpt Tom. A true inspiration to us all.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Andrew P

[Barry O]

Our shark is a lift away one.. but not a pet one as  I know my hair has grown but it isn't that bad... yet.

 

The easy lift bit works well on the stairs .. we have a lot of stairs(!).

 

Best bit about next door and the electrics.. they had the whole of one wall re-plastered.. then he chased out the cable lines in the room.. so the plasterer was here again today.. and this guy does bathroom and kitchen  improvements for a living....well not for me.

 

Very foggy here now .. the snow is melting a bit faster.  PAH!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just spent most of the afternoon on eyelid inspection. Feeling a lot better and no need to rush to the loo every ten minutes.

3 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Unfortunately PB it would appear that the RSPCA have taken the decision, in light no doubt of the cock ups and wasted funds spent on fools errands prosecutions, to no longer prosecute 'brain dead evil b.....,.ds' other epithets are available, who abuse animals. Whether this is a good thing I leave you to decide.

Like the free TV licences for the over 75's the government has pushed their responsibilities onto other organizations. Only difference is whereas the BBC let the government walk all over it the RSPCA have passed the ball back to the government. Not that I'm a great lover of such monolithic charities I admit that they do have a point.

52 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I dont want to be critical of Captain Sir Tom but according to reports his family were with him. Why was this allowed when most of the other victims wernt allowed their families with them including the 10 year old in my sons class that lost his dad to Covid 2 weeks before Christmas 

Its possible that as part of his support bubble they were allowed in.

 

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

Barbados in December, so he caught it long after he returned..

But he caught pneumonia first, possibly just after his return. Moving from a hot moist climate to a cold and damp English winter was always a risk.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

I dont want to be critical of Captain Sir Tom but according to reports his family were with him. Why was this allowed when most of the other victims wernt allowed their families with them including the 10 year old in my sons class that lost his dad to Covid 2 weeks before Christmas 

It has been allowed in extenuating circumstances.  His family has made mention of the fact that they were present with special permission.  It would not be normal under current circumstances to permit a family to maintain such a vigil - although I believe one or two are now permitted in the final moments - but Capt. Sir Tom was not a normal person.  

 

He was admitted to hospital having breathing difficulties related to pneumonia.  He tested positive and nothing I have seen suggests where nor when he might have become infected.  A gentleman in the truest sense of that word, and a national treasure to many, has tragically become a national statistic as well.  

 

Until we meet again, Sir.  Blessed be.  

[NHY 581]

32 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

It has been allowed in extenuating circumstances.  His family has made mention of the fact that they were present with special permission.  It would not be normal under current circumstances to permit a family to maintain such a vigil - although I believe one or two are now permitted in the final moments - but Capt. Sir Tom was not a normal person.  

 

He was admitted to hospital having breathing difficulties related to pneumonia.  He tested positive and nothing I have seen suggests where nor when he might have become infected.  A gentleman in the truest sense of that word, and a national treasure to many, has tragically become a national statistic as well.  

 

Until we meet again, Sir.  Blessed be.  

 

 

I rarely post on this thread, however, absolutely spot on.  

 

Extremely bad taste to speculate on the circumstances of how  where , why or in fact question how the family are feeling regarding any decisions made. 

 

Poor show. 

 

I would respectfully suggest that  they are experiencing the same emotions that any family would experience having lost a loved one.

 

Our thoughts should be with them. 

 

Rob. 

Edited February 2, 2021 by NHY 581

[leopardml2341]

Well the rain I said wasn't here arrived here shortly after I said it wasn't here.

 

Doggo didn't get his afternoon walk as a direct result, in fact he took one look at the rain and looked at me as though to say "Don't even think about it!"

 

He's now stretched out on my legs dreaming about something, but I'm going to be making a cuppa soon so I'll have to disturb him.

 

Some progress made with painting summershed doors, but I've run out of primer.....

 

Anyway, hope today has been good to all; stay safe and well until tomorrow.

[simontaylor484]

Rain been and gone snow still here 

 

[Simon G]

Evening all,

I haven’t posted here for a while.  In truth, I am so p*ssed off with so many things related to Covid that would have found it difficult to do anything other than rant!  The latest thing annoying me was to hear that two friends of mine who live in Reading have recently had the vaccine.  Nothing unusual in that you would think, but they are in the 65 to 70 bracket and with no health conditions.  Meanwhile, most people in our neck of the woods who are between 70 and 75 are still awaiting it, and to make matters worse, it seems that vaccine supplies to Cumbria are being cut to allow the south east to catch up!  Something not quite right in all this.

 

We are continuing to try to exercise as much as possible, weather and energy permitting.  Today’s 3 mile walk wasn’t really enjoyable as it started to rain half way through so we got rather wet.  There was a lot of snow in Cumbria today, but not on the west coast, where it was just wet.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, Simon G said:

Today’s 3 mile walk wasn’t really enjoyable as it started to rain half way through so we got rather wet.

Bright sunshine this morning tempted me not to bring a rain jacket for my constitutional this morning despite a forecast for showers. Deciding there was no point watching the weather forecast on the late evening news if I ignored it, I grabbed a jacket before leaving. When I was furthest from home the weather turned with squall-looking clouds headed in my direction. The heavens duly opened with rain as hard as any I have seen here about five minutes before reaching home. I made it inside shortly before the hail began.

 

By the time I warmed up in the shower the sun was back.

[Dave Hunt]

I hope that ERs waiting for their covid jabs have a better experience than Jill and I did today. Our appointment was at a pharmacy in Wellington but when we arrived there at the appointed time (well, a little early actually) we were directed to a young lady with a clip board who checked our names but then said that we weren't being treated there after all but had to go to the Telford football stadium. When we arrived there it was to find a mile long (or not far off it) queue that went most of the way round the ground and by the time we got to the door we had spent two hours in the open, and not too warm, air. Once inside we were checked in and asked a lot of questions, the answers to which were solemnly put into a laptop, then sent to one of eight pods where the same questions were asked again before finally we were injected with the AZ vaccine. On the way home Jill looked at the cards we had been given on leaving only to find that the date and place shown for our second jabs were different from those we had been given previously by the central booking agency. A well known saying containing the words brewery and p!ssup come readily to mind.

 

Not only that but the chip shop was closed this evening.

 

Better days obviously lie ahead.... I just hope the AZ stuff works against all the different strains that are rearing their ugly heads.

 

Dave 

 

 

 

[chrisf]

23 minutes ago, Simon G said:

Evening all,

I haven’t posted here for a while.  In truth, I am so p*ssed off with so many things related to Covid that would have found it difficult to do anything other than rant!  

 

As good a reason as any for posting ...

 

Chris

[Coombe Barton]

... and Gove admits that Brexit problems are not 'teething' ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/candlemas-and-imbolc/

[leopardml2341]

Time for bed said Zebedee.

 

Goodnight folks.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[jamie92208]

Polybear, I had a look for that paint I told you about.   It's Johnstons Trade, primer sealer, Pure Brilliant White.  It does appear to be water based as the brush cleaning instructions are to use water, however it covers better than any white I've used and one coat has completely covered our ceiling that was yellow with nicotine and 5 years later it's still white.

 

Jamie

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

He was admitted to hospital having breathing difficulties related to pneumonia.  He tested positive

The BBC has now removed the reference to him dying "from" then later "with" Covid.  Their reporting now states simply that he has passed away aged 100 having suffered pneumonia.  They confirm he did test positive for Covid however a statement from his family advises : 

Quote

He tested positive for Covid-19 last week. His family said due to other medication he was receiving for pneumonia, he was unable to be vaccinated.

It seems that the virus may not in fact have been responsible for his passing at all.  

 

On that note I wish all a good and peaceful night.  

[tigerburnie]

G'night

[Simon G]

48 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I hope that ERs waiting for their covid jabs have a better experience than Jill and I did today. Our appointment was at a pharmacy in Wellington but when we arrived there at the appointed time (well, a little early actually) we were directed to a young lady with a clip board who checked our names but then said that we weren't being treated there after all but had to go to the Telford football stadium. When we arrived there it was to find a mile long (or not far off it) queue that went most of the way round the ground and by the time we got to the door we had spent two hours in the open, and not too warm, air. Once inside we were checked in and asked a lot of questions, the answers to which were solemnly put into a laptop, then sent to one of eight pods where the same questions were asked again before finally we were injected with the AZ vaccine. On the way home Jill looked at the cards we had been given on leaving only to find that the date and place shown for our second jabs were different from those we had been given previously by the central booking agency. A well known saying containing the words brewery and p!ssup come readily to mind.

 

Not only that but the chip shop was closed this evening.

 

Better days obviously lie ahead.... I just hope the AZ stuff works against all the different strains that are rearing their ugly heads.

 

Dave 

 

 

 

What a shambles!  I was told yesterday of some neighbours in their late 70s (I think) who went to a local GP surgery for their jabs, queued outside in the cold for about 40 minutes, only to be told that the vaccine supply had run out so they had to go back and do it all again a couple of days later.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Like a lot of ERs we had plenty of snow this morning but did manage to get Sydney so he’s here for a sleepover. Youngest nephew came round for some home schooling as his school was closed due to the weather. After the torment of subordinate clauses and calculating fractions we finally got to take Syd for a walk. After tea and taking nephew home it was time for a zoom meeting of the MRC. As usual much chewing of the fat but no firm decisions    on anything. Too many variables at the moment. 
Don’t know the plans for tomorrow but will depend on the weather but it’s gonna be muddy out there regardless.

Goodnight,

Robert.

 

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Blowing a hooley outside but no rain fortunately. Still no news of the covid vaccinations but at least there is no journey involved as it will be in my GP's surgery which is not far away. 

[brianusa]

23 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

he BBC has now removed the reference to him dying "from" then later "with" Covid.  Their reporting now states simply that he has passed away aged 100 having suffered pneumonia

 

Members of his family have enough to contend with without PC at his death.  There seems to be reluctance to dead or dying when describing obituaries.  We all die and how it is described doesn't make it any better!

       Brian.

[Mike Bellamy]

16 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

My neighbour Mrs Electric-Chair has one of those personal alarms which she wears on her wrist.  It is an occupational hazard that once in a while it is pressed by accident.  The alarm company then phones someone on their list and asks him or her to go round and see if Mrs E-C is OK.  Yesterday it was my turn to get the call.  As it turned out, she was OK. 

 

 

Chris - Father-in-law (88) has one of those - he only wanted to pay £3 a week so that we were called out if he fell - but we live 50 miles away and so it would be over an hour before we got there. As SWMBO had Power of Attorney with control of his bank account she made sure he got the £5 week option for a local responder from the alarm company to be called with a commitment they would be there in 30 mins. He fell backwards in the middle of the night getting off the loo and banged his back on the toilet bowl. Responder then called ambulance as he had broken his shoulder blade. Now at the end of his third week in hospital whilst we wait for physio and assessment about where he can go next.

 

Original proposal was to put his arm in a sling and send him home - we protested as it was obvious that he had been assessed on a trolley and A&E had no idea that he wouldn't be able to stand up without putting weight on his damaged arm as he uses a walking frame to shuffle across the lounge to his stair lift and another walker upstairs to get to the bedroom and loo. Carers already visit 3 times a day but he just isn't safe to be on his own any more as the company had already logged 16 calls in six months and they were just the times when he couldn't pull himself up on the furniture.

 

 

On 01/02/2021 at 17:21, New Haven Neil said:

 

A forum member (not an ER) has very kindly sent copies of some drawings of IOM Locomotives and boilers etc 

 

 

Hi Neil - actually I'm here every day but don't often post unless it is in response to something else from another ER as I can't think of anything original to say that others might be interested in . . . . . . . . 

 

.

[Erichill16]

Thought I’d just bore a few of you and perhaps send the others into the land of nod.

The orange cake  I showed yesterday was made by SWMBO and it’s made like pineapple upside down pudding. That is, the fruit is placed in the bottom of the tin and the mixture poured on top. The recipe included polenta and almond flour but as I’m allergic to almonds, peanut flour was substituted. I’m not sure if this actually made a difference to the end product. What I have noticed and remember I’m no good in the kitchen, is that in most recipes wheat flour is substituted by at least two other types of flour and often the recipe contains xanthan  gum. Pea flour, potato flour and rice flour are also popular alternatives to wheat flour but they all leave tell tale taste.

Buckwheat like Oates are naturally gluten free but are often contaminated with wheat so I have to look out for certified gluten free packs. For example Quaker do a gluten packet of Oates.

SWMBO is a good baker but like me gets disappointed when something does not come out as the picture in the recipe book. 
Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Polybear SWMBO does make a very nice coffee cake with not too much icing or buttercream. Also her pastry is very good so good lemon/jam/coconut tarts and mince pies.

SWMBO has always wanted to have her own ‘bun shop’. I have a friend in Whitby who owns a few ‘bun shops’ and a bakery and assures me it hard work, not that SWMBO doesn’t like hard work. 
Enough rambling, I hope I’ve managed to push a few over the edge and into a deep, restful sleep.

Robert