Early Risers.

[brianusa]

4 minutes ago, pH said:

I’m about to go out and shovel this. I may be some time.
 

 

 

Aye, aye, Capt'n but don't be too long!

     Brian.

[Ian Abel]

Late on parade...

Much more "important" tasks first thing, including reading the newspaper, and then off to get the liquid comestibles as we were VERY LOW. THAT is important

 

OK - in true "Four Yorkshiremen" style in answer to the various blqqdy cold.... PAH, I say 

 

-25 first thing, it's now at the high for the day at -19! Wasn't a LOT of fun getting the various required comestibles, but it HAD to be done!

 

Tonight we're looking at -29 for the low and -21 the high tomorrow...

that's BLQQDY COLD folks, oh, didn't bother to add the wind-chill, at these temps it's irrelevant 

 

Hope your day goes well and tomorrow shines through

Edited February 13, 2021 by Ian Abel

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

 

Good to see Bill Bishop back like others have said I can't remember him posting anything complaint worthy.

Quite. 
 

Welcome back Bill. I hope the esteemed Mr. York has dealt appropriately with the other party. 
 

Who was he?  Vin Dictive or Ven Detta?  

[Ian Abel]

For those curious about what a human looks like without a backbone, i give you the US Senate republicans 

[Coombe Barton]

... and a recommendation for Sam, a colleague ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/02/13/led-by-donkeys-again/

[Mike Bellamy]

22 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 SWMBO is considered vulnerable by her GP and I am somewhat over 60.  No sign of us being offered anything yet though.  It seems to be turning into a lottery with good intention as to when and where you might be dealt with.  

 

Wife and I both went this morning - bl**dy cold at 7.30!  I had an email last week from surgery but for some reason the NHS website didn't like the link they sent so after 3 reminder text messages I rang surgery and they made the booking for me. I was surprised to be called as I thought they were still concentrating on over 70s but was told that this area was ahead of target and so had now moved to 65-70. Couple of days later wife gets a phone call as she was in the next category with a medical condition (not serious) and so she was also surprised to be called so soon - end result was an appointment at same time as me to save double journeys. Had the PfizerBiontec jab and was told that there were fewer side effects and reactions to that. Had to wait 15 mins after and then went around the corner to Greggs for a Bacon Roll and Coffee - I didn't dare tell SWIMBO that I had a bowl of cereals before we went out !

 

11 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Domestic Engineering is apparently required after which I am assured we are also require to walk down to the river.  My response to that was "And back .....  ???"  which was greeted with the contempt it deserved.   

 

We walked to the next village last weekend to visit the butchers but SWMBO was wearing unsuitable shoes and got a blister so we came home on the bus - first time I have used my Bus Pass but she had to pay . . . . . . . 

.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Dinner as mentioned earlier has been consumed. Its the first time I've tried the sweet potato mash (ready mashed from Tess Coes). I will definitely be mashing my own next time. Sweet potato has a very delicate flavour but Tesco's insist on drowning it in pepper. Now time to put the kettle on and tackle Farcebook.

[Dave Hunt]

Well, the day went pretty much as expected. The walk walked, the workshop visited, albeit for a short time, rugby watched (without huge disappointments) and a rather pleasant steak dinner consumed.

 

Without wishing to pour some cold water on things, I have to report that for those who know him, the bad news is that my good friend and well-known modeller Bob  Essery is suffering from fairly advanced Alzheimer's disease and is in a nursing home. What a bl**dy awful thing to happen to anyone, let alone someone who has done so much for our hobby.

 

Goodnight all.

 

Dave

[laurenceb]

That is sad

[polybear]

 

14 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Well, a busy day in the kitchen beckons: I’ll be baking a lemon cake with candied lemon peel and a lemon-mascarpone cream filling, preparing an egg mayonnaise (“egg salad” to our American & Canadian friends) on toasted muffins for lunch.......and making a cauliflower cheese to go with it.

 

Dribble......

You can keep the lamb though

 

14 hours ago, TheQ said:

Some time ago I spent hours and days trying to find  a method of arranging a VANG  or GNAV on the boat.. Eventually I settled an a slight variation on a conventional set up, it wouldn't be entirely satisfactory, but would have to do.

Then yesterday, I saw an unusual boom, it being curved, it had a conventional vang, but with a gnav it solves the problem for Blue Moon.

 

 

Bear lost....

 

10 hours ago, grandadbob said:

It was livened up after my previous post when The Boss needed assistance with the faulty Dyson switch.  I had to whack it 3 times before it worked.  The time to place an order for a new Shark is getting closer.

You may ask why I don't just replace the switch.  It's because I'm looking for an excuse, any excuse, to get rid of the Dyson.

 

Or by-pass the switch entirely and just switch it on & off at the socket.  That's free

 

10 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

The florist has delivered  

 

 

 

 

Bvgger that.....Bear can get a can of kitchen emulsion for what they cost.

 

9 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Bloody cheek!  Anyone would think he was welcome here. 

 

 

He's cute.  Send him round.  And is your lawn really that good or have you cheated?

 

7 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

I'd eat it

 

I'll leave you a few crumbs....

 

7 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

You should be safe, provided that there were no cameras and if there were that the local council don't play the recording backwards just to get their conviction rate up

 

Or some jobsworth doesn't accuse you of stealing....

 

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Polybear not been on here today. I wonder if he’s on a mission?
Bears have a good sense of smell so wouldn’t leave the cake on the patio too long.

 

Bear's back........

 

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Eeuw.

 

 

Bear can spot a small "issue" with that track plan.

 

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I suspect this is all part of a plot by Captain Sinister to capture a cake aficionado and hold him to ransom and the cake is the bait.

 

Two problems there:

1.  Bear's wise to such amateur skullduggery.

2. No-one would pay to get Bear back....

 

2 hours ago, pH said:

‘Bubble’ was our oldest son’s first multi syllable word, too. Different reason, though - I had a fermentation going in the airing cupboard.

 

I knew a guy many moons ago who lived and worked in the Middle East - their son was born there.  Their apartment was close to  a building site and also a Mosque with Minaret (the tall tower bit).  His son's first words were:

Digger Digger Digger

Chugga Chugga Chugga

Allaaaah......

 

Well Bear looked in at about 0640 today, with 77 unread posts - which I never managed to read.  Next visit was at about 2000 today - so a lot more than 77 unread posts....

Today's fun has been lots of washing, lots of planning the shopping list for the kitchen electrics (££ HOW MUCH??), Buddy next door helped me shake out some dust sheets - his words to me were "How come I'm downwind?"..... .

I sold a 110v leccy drill & transformer via ebay that I bought off a guy at work maybe 20+ years ago and never used - they've been taking up room in my shed ever since.  A covid - safe collection was carried out very soon after the auction ended and paid on collection - so depriving Paypal of any commission.  An hour later the local Co-op relieved me of 90% of my sale proceeds.  Ho Hum.

 

Much of the kitchen coving has been fitted, with filling of joints till to be carried out.  One section is left to do, and then the party wall coving; this wall needs some thought as that coving (2 parts) requires the fitting of the top section of the cooker hood chimney first - I'll need to be sure I can accurately predict where the centre line of the hob (and hence the cooker hood) will be first.  Could be a bit tricky.

 

Good to hear that BB is back - I too never realised he'd gone - I guess Bear was confused by appearances on The Night Mail.  It would be useful if Mods advised exactly what the charges are (Bear has never been on the receiving end - amazingly so doesn't know what the form is here) before passing sentence.  

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[simontaylor484]

Just seen an advert for the Census 2021, I thought the 2011 one was to be the last and wasn't cancelled because everything was printed up and set up. 

[tetsudofan]

Yes, Alzheimers is sad. Having cared for my Mother for nearly four years I know what it's like. Ghastly.

 

This day last year it was the day of the Tonbridge MRC show. Last show I went to before lockdown and last time I've been on a train to get me there and back.

 

See that today there has been a biggish earthquake close to Fukushima, where the nuclear power station went bonkers about 10 years ago. Seems as though there have been a number of smaller quakes in the area so hope its not followed by another major quake. Tokyo (not far from Fukushima) where I lived for 18 years had it's last major quake in 1923 and is overdue another big one. My biggest quake whilst there was about 4:00am on a Sunday morning when the quake was directly under Tokyo and the apartment was bouncing up and down, quite scary as most quakes were of the gentler side to side shaky version.

 

Time for bed now, pleasant dreams.

 

Keith

[PeterBB]

3 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Just seen an advert for the Census 2021, I thought the 2011 one was to be the last and wasn't cancelled because everything was printed up and set up. 

Yes, stupid idea to think that it should be cancelled so thought I like to be 'part of it' this time but, the process to sort out is long and has many problems on the way to try and fill in all the various forms takes hours.  They have a help-line or/and email to ask about problems but ... keep telling me that I have not 'completed' and before they answered the query said that I was out of time (3-days).  Will I complete?   ... 

[laurenceb]

IICR this will be the last. There was some anouncement  last year along those lines

[The Stationmaster]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I wonder if Mike could lend you some of his Red Kites. They’ll keep gulls at bay whilst being strictly carnivorous. Cake will be safe 

They definitely keep seagulls and magpies at bay but they tend to come off the loser in an airborne  dust up with crows as the latter go in for formation attacks on single kites.  and if they are really hungry I doubt that cake would be save from them as they even take bread at times when they are very hungry.  But the guaranteed favourite for them is chicken bones with bits of meat and skin still - that usually results in about 8 or 9 of them charging down and talking turns to grab a bit.

[Ozexpatriate]

On 12/02/2021 at 14:54, Ozexpatriate said:

No mail delivery today, I'm thinking.

 

On 12/02/2021 at 15:14, brianusa said:

I had this problem.  All it takes is some hot breath or just blow on the lock.  Works for me. (in this instance)

 

11 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

So what is it, then?

Perhaps a lack of perseverance on my part. I brought a thermos of hot water and some paper towels and removed the ice today from all the locks. I suspect there was a Friday delivery, but not, so far, a Saturday delivery. I did see the van this morning and the mail carrier chipped the ice off the outgoing mail slot. He was not making any deliveries.

 

We had a considerable amount of ice overnight. There's about 4-5cm of accumulated frozen precipitation* on the horizontal surfaces in my patio. All manner of flora is struggling under the weight of ice on branches and leaves and none of it is as sprightly as a couple of days ago.

 

* Mostly freezing rain with a dusting of snow at first light.

 

Before going to bed I heard a noise (it is very quiet inside). Opening the front window, the sounds of ice and branches falling from a tall stand of Douglas Fir across the road were quite scary, even though they did not present any immediate threat to my property. (This morning it was evident that a fallen branch had broken a fence and there are downed tree branches in abundance.

 

Even though we have underground power the voltage was not stable. The cable TV 'slave' set top box in my bedroom was very sensitive to this (I should put it on a surge protector) and reset itself several times over a half hour.

 

Icicles from my patio created a frozen cascade on the arborvitae and the amount of ice accumulating on even the smallest branch is impressive with accumulations of that are easily a couple of cm in diameter, like the buds on the right.

 

 

The tree in yesterday's missive had so much more ice on it today, that the branch I focused on yesterday was drooping out of frame today.

 

Despite sub-freezing temperatures, there's been much in the way of melting noises throughout the day, but little change to the ice on branches. Tomorrow is expected to bring rain. It will be welcome. (I would have loved to see some bright sunlight on all the ice, but alas it was not to be.)

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[pH]

Done!

 

And it’s snowing again!

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, pH said:

it’s snowing again!

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Took Sydney for a walk this morning and he was sniffing around in the snow. I think he could smell the spherical objects that had fall off the metallic  monkeys.

Regarding bbishop, I’ve never been offended but it I made me think. I wonder if I’ve ever offended anyone, particularly when in rant mode and engaging fingers before brain. I know I upset some people last year, not on ERs though and didn’t get any warning but it did make me think before posting again. 
I managed to get enthusiasm up and ordered two items off eBay and managed half an hour of shed time.

As for tomorrow, I’m not sure what’s on the agenda but my teams match kicks off at 1.00pm  which is a bit of a pia if I’m going to watch it. SWMBO has been informed of the ko time so hopefully the day can be manipulated accordingly. It may need a relatively early start so I’ll bid you all Goodnight.

Robert

 

[pH]

9 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Even though we have underground power the voltage was not stable. The cable TV 'slave' set top box in my bedroom was very sensitive to this (I should put it on a surge protector) and reset itself several times over a half hour.

 

Michael, even if the final part of your distribution network is underground, it’s likely that at some point  ‘upstream’ it’s overhead. Even if the whole distribution network is underground, transmission lines will be overhead.

 

That ice accumulation does not look nice, for trees or power lines. I hope you’re right about it melting soon.

[Ozexpatriate]

17 minutes ago, pH said:

... even if the final part of your distribution network is underground, it’s likely that at some point  ‘upstream’ it’s overhead. Even if the whole distribution network is underground, transmission lines will be overhead.

Yes, certainly. The most vulnerable part of a pole-mounted system is the local distribution so being underground in the neighbourhood adds a lot of stability.

 

17 minutes ago, pH said:

That ice accumulation does not look nice, for trees or power lines.

It's not. Power crews worked throughout the night all over the region. Local TV reported 220k without power.

 

I'm watching a young tree in the back garden that for some time I have been thinking "I really should prop that up".  (It had cast off the bamboo stakes with which it was planted.) I don't want to risk disturbing it right now with the wet soil.

 

There's a nice little trail along a creek that I like to use every day. This morning here was a lot of this:

 

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

It will shortly be February 14 (GMT). 

 

I am not obliged to celebrate the gruesome martyrdom of a obscure Roman saint with tokens of romantic affection but for anyone looking for suitable images of a "fiery heart", might I suggest this one in Halema‘uma‘u at Kīlauea, courtesy of Pele, and no, not the footballer.

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The snow that’s been hanging around since last Tuesday has finally gone, but the ground is frozen solid! We had a little sunshine today, but not much and the highest the temperature got today was 0C. 

 

The turntable control panel panel is now officially finished, I gave it 2 coats of varnish today, it’s oil based and is supposed to used on oil painting, it dries very quickly and leaves a lovely finish and is ideal to protect the decals as it’s UV safe. 

 

The name Norgate Hill, is derived from 3 different SR engine sheds, as the layout plan has elements of all 3 in it. They are;

Norwood Junction

Ramsgate

Strawberry Hill

 

For tonight’s tea I made a large batch of chill, what wasn’t eaten has been frozen and will give us another 2 meals. We then settled down and opened a bottle of red and continued watching the French crime series, we’ll watch the last 2 episodes tomorrow.