Early Risers.

[brianusa]

9 hours ago, Simon G said:

I had hoped that today might actually be slightly warmer than  usual and with a bit of sun - not so as yet!  The wind has dropped to just a mild cool breeze, and it is about 10 degrees here.  The sun is forecast to make an appearance, at which point I will hopefully head up the garden to do a little digging.

 

Before doing any digging, I dont want to miss the postie, as he should be bringing me a Google Chromecast, which I recently purchased online.  My so-called Smart Sony TV does not appear to be very smart at all.  One by one all the apps that came on it have ceased to function, and the TV is unable to update them.  The final straw came when BBC iPlayer didnt work, with a google search showing that it now doesnt work on a whole raft of Sony TVs from around 2014-15.  I used to get Channels 4 and 5 on the TV, but dont now.  The only useful apps on the TV now are Youtube and Netflix and the way things are going, those wont work soon!  Hence the Chromecast, so that I can also use the iPad and mirror the screen onto the TV.  

 

Why is TV so complicated these days?  Used to be switch on, change channels, sit down and relax.  Now theres gadgets to add on, even on Smart TVs!

        Brian

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Most of us find the whole thought of antipasti, primi, secondi, dolce all a bit overwhelming

I find "Insalata" sounds like something vaguely insulting or unpleasantly medical.  "Tiramisu" on the other hand sounds like something which has to be served in a large oval glass dish approximately half a metre from first radius end to first radius end and at least as deep as a thumb is long.  That's not for sharing, Italian-style, that's each.  

 

Evening all.  A most heartwarming day in some respects.  Despite a nippy start the sun soon required divesting of outer layers and I thus chalked up the first shift of the year sans anorak and jumper.  And a day which reminded any of us who might have needed reminding that younger persons of the preferred sex do still have legs, midriffs and shoulders.  One even sported a top emblazoned with the logo "Speak to the face - my b00bs are deaf".  Full marks, madam.  I note your eyes appear green and you wear contacts which might be of the coloured variety   .  

 

Lunch was enjoyed on the terrace followed by an afternoon lazing in the aforesaid warm sun out on the lawns.  Afternoon tea was followed later by afternoon beer whilst variously reading, chatting to neighbours or simply listening to the birds.  Dr. SWMBO was late finishing the day's work-from-home so dinner was not the planned vegetable curry which she would have cooked but instead was a hastily-unfrozen rat-a-two-ee.  There followed an extended watering of the gardens, again for the first time this year, and a application of de-mothing spray as the ****** little critters have hatched in the warm weather and are probably enjoying some of our tweed or wool somewhere in the wardrobe on their way out.  Blighters.  

 

Dr. SWMBO has received the offer of a visit from friends on Thursday - outside - for a birthday afternoon tea.  With due respect to her caution and care to avoid the ruddivirus she has accepted.  Her last birthday fell just within Lockdown 1; she has been lucky that this year it falls just outside Lockdown 3 though we still can't do a lot.  

 

Time, as the springed one from The Magic Roundabout once said, for bed.  Boing.  Sleep well.  

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

There's a plane that needs finishing somewhere in Castle Puppers..... 

  What, this one?

 

Am I correct in thinking that there's a layout that needs starting finishing somewhere in Bear Towers?

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by PupCam

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

have a rumpybumpy cam for it to hand, to teach it a lesson....one of the journalists (insert comment....) in a well known errr mechanical bike magazine also has one of these too and we have been liaising.  We got the cams together and he's beaten me to it, and got good increases in power - but changed the carb too which I can't afford at the moment. 

 

Sounds interesting!

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

The kickstarting leg is in training - it has a lot of advance.

 

As in the engine?  You want to back some of that off then to spare your leg!

[Andrew P]

19 minutes ago, PupCam said:

  What, this one?

 

Am I correct in thinking that there's a layout that needs starting finishing somewhere in Bear Towers?

 

 

You need to stick that in here = 

 

[New Haven Neil]

23 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

Sounds interesting!

 

 

As in the engine?  You want to back some of that off then to spare your leg!

 

That'll take some holding on the control lines......  NHN revealing youthful alternate hobby there.

 

As for the advance, yes, spark advance, really it needs a greater range of advance/retard than they come out of the box with, to give easy starting but still top end power where it likes a bit more than standard (its a 4-valve single) - I have modified the advancer as much as I can but it has a temper! One advantage of your choice of velocipede is olde worlde manual advance magnetos.  But they're mighty expensive when they go no sparky, which they do....

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The boiler has behaved itself today but I'll give the system a top up before I go to bed tonight. There is definitely a leak and I have found it. It was the damp patch in the utility room after all. There is an old disconnected radiator in there and one of the valves has sprung a leak. The damp patch was about two feet away from the leak but water must have percolated along the line of a stud wall that had been removed many years ago when the porch was extended. The water then settled where a doorpost had been hence the rectangular damp patch. The intention was to replace the radiator with a smaller one to make space for a washing machine.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

What gets me angry is when reporters don’t listen to the answers to their  question. Often they ask a question whose answer was included in the answer to the previous question. I suppose they are just reading the questions from a pre-prepared list. lazy journalism and unrespectful .

 

 

The two things that bug me, e.g.:

1. Journo asks a question, such as "How much did it cost?"  MP replies "It's not what it costs but the benefits it will bring...."

Beary thought:  ANSWER THE F. QUESTION....

(Journo comes out clean on that score).

 

2. When journo's word their articles carefully to avoid any legal kickback, yet really screw up someone's life on very shaky info.  A good example is the treatment Cliff Richard received - Bear is of the view that such matters should not be reported until charges have been brought.  Even when no charges are brought there is a culture amongst some that thinks "no smoke without fire".

 

34 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 Am I correct in thinking that there's a layout that needs starting finishing somewhere in Bear Towers?

 

 

Bitch.

 

In other news:

Bear heard his....very first Ice Cream Van of the year today - but they ain't gettin none o' my brass, nosirree.  Have you seen the price of a double 99 from one of those bandits?  Bear can get a big tub and a pack of Flakes for what they charge.....

 

[PeterBB]

35 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

You need to stick that in here = 

 

Crumbs, was it that long ago!

[Coombe Barton]

... and the spaghetti of the twenty-first century ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/data-and-bame-vaccination-uptake/

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Dave Hunt]

Good to see GDB back in the fold. Not much in the way of posts from me in the last few days as: a. my dad has had more health issues, which have taken up a lot of my time; b. our garden help has decided with no notice to quit so I've been acting as Jill's outdoor assistant; c. in the course of the gardening it has been decided that our patio is past its best by date and needs rebuilding - not that I'm going to do the work but have been dragged in to the planning phase; d. the electrics in the cooker hood packed up so no lights or fans, which have been classified as essential, therefore dismantling, fault analysis and rewiring has been carried out. At the time of writing, though, once some more grass cutting has been carried out I should be able to get back to normal-ish except for ferrying dad to and from various medical appointments.

 

Stay safe and well everyone.

 

Dave

 

PS, breaking news is that the patio rebuilding is also to feature the making of a pond.

 

 

[simontaylor484]

48 minutes ago, polybear said:

In other news:

Bear heard his....very first Ice Cream Van of the year today - but they ain't gettin none o' my brass, nosirree.  Have you seen the price of a double 99 from one of those bandits?  Bear can get a big tub and a pack of Flakes for what they charge.....

Highway Robbery 

 

at least Dick  Turpin had the decency to wear a mask

 

[Barry O]

Noticeable that in Leeds, where the large high schools are the positive test numbers are going up.. we have 3vhigh schools in our area. One has a clump of positive test results.. including our next door neighbours daughter. Like most things though they know better so have had visitors every day since she was sent home last week....

 

Baz

[Barry O]

My German knife adverts are now in English with Oz dollar prices...how bizarre 

 

Goodnight all!

Baz

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, Barry O said:

My German knife adverts are now in English with Oz dollar prices

I'll trade you the "ladies" shoes that keep appearing at the top of the page. Platform stilettos that I can't imagine anyone over 22 wearing - excepting of course, by apparent reputation, Geordie females in winter. That and the Finnish "military surplus" equipment which is at least marginally more relevant. I did click on one of those at one point so that's self inflicted.

[monkeysarefun]

14 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

I follow a bunch of young Americans on You Toob ('Cleetus McFarland' - no it's not his real name, just the market he appeals to and therefore pay for his toys - see iD comment about marketing!) who are becoming successful drag racers and race track owners, they have much the same thing going on with US made cars vs 'imports'- doesn't matter where from, just 'imports'.

 

 

Except for the  mighty Holden V8 ute!

 

- he wanted  to buy one when down here  a couple of years ago..

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Winslow Boy]

26 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Noticeable that in Leeds, where the large high schools are the positive test numbers are going up.. we have 3vhigh schools in our area. One has a clump of positive test results.. including our next door neighbours daughter. Like most things though they know better so have had visitors every day since she was sent home last week....

 

Baz

Now now young O maybe said daughter has been banished to her bedroom - err not. I'm afraid your neighbours are the reason the rest of us have been going through the rollercoaster of this b........... Pandemic.

 

As the little old lady stopped by the police said - no officer I've never been in an accident but I've seen thousands.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Nice to see GDB popping back in, don’t stay away so long next time please. 

 

Well the sun has shone all day, it got quite warm in the garden this afternoon. 

 

I’ve had quite a productive day, the 2 dining chairs have had there first coat of undercoat applied, it looking like they’ll require 3 coats to cover over the orangey coloured lacquer that was originally applied. But then I’d rather do 2 or 3 thin coats than 1 overly thick coat, I’ll give it a second coat tomorrow and see how that goes. 

 

Once I’d finished the painting, I headed out to the garden and did a little tidying up. I also split a large Japanese Anemone plant. We never actually planted this, it just suddenly appeared,  dry close to where are bird feeder used to be! So we’ve assumed, rightly or wrongly, that it has either come from a seed spilled from the feeder itself, or bird droppings whilst the birds were feeding. Either way it’s quite a nice plant and it’s now grown big enough to be divided. Some trimming of the ivy and evergreen clematis was also done. The clematis is now in full flower and has quite a strong ‘sweet almond’ fragrance, but it does send out a lots of long shoots, that occasionally get to the apple tree. 

 

By the time all this was done, I didn’t have time to power wash the patio, so I started making an obelisk for the potted ivy on the front door step. This is about halfway towards completion, hopefully that too will get finished tomorrow. 

 

Once I’d knocked off for the day, I completed making the fruit tea loaf and stuck it in the oven to bake, before heading for the sofa with the latest copy of BRM for a bit reading. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Decent enough day here. A bit a gardening in  the morning then a supermarket run that included a call of at friends house to discuss new building extension. He was a buildings manager before he retired.

He also shares a certain hobby with me and was able to fix me up with a gear wheel that I needed due to mine having split. Quite a common problem and apparently not available as a spare. Unfortunately when I got it home I think I realised  the reason for the original one splitting, a tight spot. Further investigation will be needed as I don’t want to destroy the replacement. Enough of that kind of talk, I don’t what to get into trouble. First bit of shed time for months but hopefully more will follow as I’ve been naughty with the credit card.

Spag boll for tea washed down with Italian beer and then a couple of films.

 Rotavator  isn’t going to be any use in the garden, there’s too many plants to work round. 
Goodnight All,

Robert

[pH]

We had a windstorm go through on Sunday. A walk on the woods behind the house this afternoon saw a lot of downed branches, some of which I was able to drag off paths. However, the bigger ones and a few complete trees were beyond me. The trails are not officially maintained - I presume there would be liability issues if the municipality started doing that - but there are obviously individuals who try to keep some sort of order. I expect to see some maintenance work being done gradually over the next few weeks.