Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[petethemole]

We had a few flakes of snow late this morning along with a cold north wind.. The bits for the spa pool had arrived so yesterday I drained most of it and finished the job today.  It takes hours as it drains through a small valve.  Tomorrow Mrs mole will clean it, then I have to put some more air in it as its gone a bit soft and then refill it, then heat it up.  It should be usable by later in the week.

 

'night all, stay elfy.

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, brianusa said:

What?  Home of the brave, land of the free and all that?  Sadly you're right

   Brian.

 Just score a movie contract and come and join the party..

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/world/australia/hollywood-stars-film.html

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[pH]

Shelving books by colour of the cover was apparently quite a common arrangement in early private libraries (or so we were told in library school). It works if you don’t have a lot of books, and you’re the only user. I know I look for certain books on my randomly-arranged shelves by colour of spine - I have one on the table in front of me at the moment that I identify by its yellow spine.

[pH]

For Polybear and other cake aficionados:

 

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all, with warm thoughts to Dave’s dad and Neil’s friend

 

I have a new earworm.  It is a mere 24 years old but I’m a slow learner.  I stumbled across a clip of Katrina and the Waves on You Tube performing “Love Shine A Light”, the UK’s last Eurovision winner from 1997.  At the time I paid little heed to Eurovision and the unending stream of tripe that the UK submits to universal derision.  Katrina’s infectious anthem is something else.  Like all good anthems, it is simple.  Laugh if you like but I am prepared to have a bash at it at a karaoke session, this despite my vow never to do it again after the debacle of my first effort.  I’m not getting my hopes up this time though.  Last time I really wanted to do justice to Freddie Mercury’s version of “The Great Pretender” but the backing track let me down and I was livid.  Yes, I know: bad workman blames tools.

 

Much headway was made on the presentation yesterday.  This is probably tempting providence but I seem to be getting on OK with PowerPoint.  It must be 15 years since I learned how to use it because I was still employed.  The principle of “it will be all right on the night” has much to commend it.

 

On a much lower plane, my stock control system has malfunctioned and I have run out of marmalade.  Oh, the shame of it.  Fortunately a fodder run is due this morning.  In an emergency I have strawberry jam or honey with which to garnish a slice of toast, but it’s not the same.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a chilly (2 degrees) Charente.  However it's sunny and we look as if we will have a good day.

 

The girls gave us two presents yesterday so that's 3 eggs in 3 days of residence.   So far so good.   I did complete various tasks yesterday including mending an under bed drawer which the front had come off.   Whilst working on that in the shed I went to get some small bolts and found this.

It looks as if a small bird, possibly a blue tit has taken advantage of me having removed the drawer marked 'hinges' to finish off Cluckingham Palace.   I did see a blue tit flying round the shed at one point in the afternoon but nothing was in residence when I went up to let the girls out.

 

Talking of the girls,  here they are

Allegedeley 2 Bramah's and a sussex bramah cross.

 

Anyway the new day is here to be seized.   Shopping is on the agenda so I have to try and find the right attestation to fill in as we now have a new design but my phone app has not been updated.  

 

As to Earworms, my current one is "Glad tiding to Zion" from the Messiah. We went to sample some freshly baked cheese scones on Sunday morning and it was playing in the background as we ate.

 

Jamie

1

 

[polybear]

9 hours ago, PupCam said:

I'm still wondering, do I need a Union Flag alongside my bookcases?     They seem to be de rigueur these days in the media ....

 

Alan

 

Tut Tut, Puppers Totally inappropriate - the flying of such flags is frowned upon as being both racist and giving out supremacist overtones   How's about flying the Jolly Roger instead - much more appropriate to ER members I'd say....

 

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

I have considered my departure and it gives me shivers to think of what may happen to my ‘bits’. People know some stuff is valuable whilst some isn’t but they can’t tell/know which they are. Sometime I’ll work something out.
 

 

Ah yes, that word "Sometime".  Can often have a nasty habit of multiplying and turning into "Bvgger - Too Late" before you know it.

 

8 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

 

 This do?

 

Nooooo......

 

7 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I wonder what kind of idiot sorts their bookshelves by the clour of teh spine of the book? 

 

 

Ooops....

(In Bear's defence they also fall into the Wild Swan Modelling category, so that's the excuse )

 

 

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

At the time I paid little heed to Eurovision and the unending stream of tripe that the UK submits to universal derision.

 

Hmm, Eurovision.

Absolutely nothing to do with music anymore as it became a political popularity contest years ago.  Bear predicts that the UK will really bomb out big time this year, what with Brexit, Vaccines n' all.  Expect a Tram Smash.

 

Beary plans for today involve a wall, a brush, a roller and some paint.  Deep joy.

 

Finally, special Beary LDC thoughts are with NHN & friend, plus both Sqn. Ldrs. Hunt Snr & Jnr.

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sorry to hear about Dave's dad's mishap and also Neil's friend.

Talk about what happens to railway collections when we go is thought provoking.  A few years ago when I didn't have anywhere near as much son Steve (who is one of my executors)  would've put stuff on eBay but there's far too much now.  Quite frankly the only thing he could do now is either get a dealer or an auction house involved.  Won't get anything like the true value but apart from me starting to sell off stuff now I can't see any other answer.  Trouble is I'm still ordering and buying stuff,  maybe I should stop doing that?......especially as I'm not even doing anything with it all at the moment....it's just sitting there all lonely in The Shed!

 

We have mainly blue sky and sunshine here but according to my phone app the temperature is 0°C.  The forecasters claim there is a chance of snow showers later.  We did have about a dozen flakes yesterday so who knows, they might be right.

Mutterings from Management at the moment about going somewhere or doing something today.  Seems like she wants to pay a visit to a garden centre.  That wouldn't have been my first choice but anything to keep the peace I suppose and it does mean I can take the car for a drive.  I do have to finish cleaning  the BBQ and I'm just waiting for Herself to say " While you're doing that why don't you have a go at the oven(s)"  Yeh right.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by grandadbob

[Andrew P]

Golly gosh and whoopie do, the big ball in the heavens is on fire this morning. In fact so much so, that I can hardly see my flip flop screen to read or type. Not complaining, just really happy.

 

Time to head off and put one foot firmly in front of the other and show the World who is the Boss.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe well and merry.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Andrew P

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, Inner Temple Hare,

6.5 hours sleep interrupted by wake up and turn overs plus hail a hammering on the windows..

 

Ben the reluctant Collie went out this morning to a scene of little white ball bearings everywhere. However he was quite happy, once he'd chased a few pigeons off, he didn't want to go back in..

 

More white ball bearings on the way in , mostly just a few handfuls in corners but in one or two places a field of white..

 

A piece on radio about a young lady (19) in Norfolk, who started a online business during lock down.. It was becoming more and more popular.. So she opened a shop, the first day she sold out after having 2.5 hours of queues outside on the first Saturday of being open..

 

Her product....

 

 

Cake.....

 

As for death duties, hopefully I have a few more years left as Mum and Dad are still alive. However the main property will probably be sold with us as tenants to provide us with an income.

The unmentionable hobby, some items may go to the Preserved part of the real thing on which it is based. 

Others, If the MRC continues as now,  will be charged with disposing of anything  of that interest, they are disposing of another layout as of yesterday, normally they take 25% of income, which keeps the club going and gets a better price than a dealer.

Our  boats will probably be sold once we get too decrepit anyway, if not the SC has sorted that out for people as well..

 

Similarly SWMBO's Art and Weaving groups do disposals sometimes as well.

 

The Books, well as time approaches I suspect valuable ones will be sold off, and worth nothing books will go a to charity shop, where many came from anyway..

 

The rest.. well we won't care.. we'll be gone..

 

Of books, further spaces have been declared suitable for more shelves, also further shelves have been requested for other Items, planning is underway..

 

Back in days gone by, books were very expensive, so only the rich could afford them. They requested what ever colour they wanted for the binding, or had it rebound to suit.. There was of course a much more limited range of colours available anyway..

 

And to work,

This first system of the week is a new one, it's only the second time I've measured it, so it will be an adventure to see how it's taken it's first month of working life.. Just 6 measurements do far all OK..

 

Time to.. do another one..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew P]

Like most on here, I too have far to much Model Railway, BUT now not in Volume but monetary value. Since selling my OO Stock which was nearing 50+ Locos etc and going O Gauge I now only have 14 Locos at the moment, but all are Sound fitted and detailed, at the last check, and including the two Layouts it came out at about £10,000 so a considerable sum to help my next of kin but also a problem trying to find buyers that will pay their worth.

I then also have my 4 Guitars and Amp, again not high value, but an average of £300 each it soon adds up.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Andrew P

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a lot of fuss this morning from Arthur Itis or Si Attica, just the odd reminder that they are still hanging around. Heating and hot water is still in action so I will be running a bath shortly. No earworms have appeared this morning and hopefully none will appear. Weather report is in a word COLD so I will be staying indoors today.

Edited April 6, 2021 by PhilJ W

[TheQ]

11 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plead guilty to several of the white ones and several of the coloured ones..

 

OK OK most of them..

[PhilJ W]

16 minutes ago, polybear said:

Ooops....

(In Bear's defence they also fall into the Wild Swan Modelling category, so that's the excuse )

 

 

 

Hmm, Eurovision.

Absolutely nothing to do with music anymore as it became a political popularity contest years ago.  Bear predicts that the UK will really bomb out big time this year, what with Brexit, Vaccines n' all.  Expect a Tram Smash.

 

If anything like my library there's not enough shelves and I'm running out of chairs to stack them on.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up! Sun is shining.. but it is still very cold here.

 

A few parcels to prepare then a trip to the post office is on the cards to post the parcels.  I may walk a bit further to see if I can obtain a growler from our butchers for lunch time consumption. 

 

I have a comprehensive catalogue of my collections. Her indors knows where to go to auction it off if required. She is also a dab hand with Ziffit so books should be ok.

 

 

Like @New Haven Neil I have some keepsake momentos from modellers I have known. While they are not the best models it is nice to remember people for their help, advice and excellent workmanship.

 

Now, I need to finish my tea then its ti e to kickstart tuesday.

 

Hope @Dave Hunt has positive news from his dad.

 

Stay safe.. the light is visible at the end of the tunnel!

Baz

 

 

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the boring borough. 

No eggs or chocolate were consumed, unless you count a rather lovely coffee & chocolate stout we shared. 

 

Bright and sunny at the moment but rather chilly. 1c. No snow yesterday but too bl00dy cold to do anything in the garden. A quiet day of "doing b*gger all" was enjoyed. 

 

Thoughts with Dave and Neil. 

 

Chris, a number of years ago we were wandering Soho of a later than usual evening with BiL. We stopped for a pint (or 3) at one of the local watering holes. This was in the days before the smoking ban, so we sat outside. A rather nice American lady asked if she could join us. Katrina Leskanich and her little dog. Such a lovely person. 

 

I've been making plans for the disposition of all my "crap" in the future. Fortunately as a member of the NMRA British Region, there is the option of using their estate disposal. That will look after the bulk of my trains, but other stuff will need rehoming. I've noticed my bank has started up with the "plan for your demise" emails. I'm not even 60 yet. They offer a single point of reference for documents, wills, financial intention, access to pension accounts, etc. The idea is to make probate a little bit quicker. 

 

On that note, when my dad's sister died, her will was simple. It all went to her 2 nephews. Unfortunately her so called friend who was named executor was also a legal assistant and had been more or less harvesting probate clients from the seniors lodge where my Aunt lived. By the time she had finished 2 years later, there was b*gger all left. It had all vanished in fees. This included the $2800 in cash that had been stashed around her apartment. 

 

Back to work today. The 4 day weekend was what I needed but also too short to really start to recharge my batteries. This week could be interesting for a variety of wrong reasons. If the potential new job's paperwork gets sorted, there will be 3 of us handing in notices at the same time. Que management going into mass panic. 

Enjoy the day. 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a sunny but chilly rock, 2c, feels like -3c according to the appy thing.

 

Thanks for the good wishes for my friend, he's a nice bloke and a real grafter, his news has really kicked me in the guts.  He started as a customer, and became a star employee as well as a good friend. Life, eh.

 

My best wishes to Dave's dad too, what an awful thing to happen.

 

Today will be mostly not outside I feel, I don't do cold nowadays.  I need to go to the Bright Lights of Royal Ramsey for a prescription, they send a text to say it is ready, last time it wasn't despite the text!

 

My bookshelves are roughly grouped by subject, although all the White Swan modelling books are also together regardless of subject, and another group are the nice loco profiles by.....the same Dave Hunt...amongst others.  They fascinate me, superbly written and researched, total mines of information for the locoholics amongst us.  That's a tenner, Dave.  As an engineer many similar books are insufficiently technical for me, and I am left wanting more detail or insight into the designs, these fulfil that requirement more than enough!  Shame they're all LMS though. #cough#

 

 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is sunny but cold. I am working but the rest of the house is barely stirring!

 

I  missed 11 pages and no time to catch up although I did go back to understand the references to Dave's Dad and NHN's friend. Thoughts are with both.

 

The Easter weekend passed fairly unremarkably. We enjoyed the breakfast box, including the hogs pudding. It fed three adults quite easily with plenty of bread and coffee left over.

 

We partook in that peculiar British custom of watching the boat race, between two universities neither of us went to (although I did apply unsuccessfully to one of them). It had more personal interest than usual because it ended in Littleport where SiL lives - in fact the road that leads to the bridge where the race finished is the road they used to live on. She took up rowing while at college and rows for a club in Ely whose boathouse was commandeered and she volunteered for car park duty. I think she only saw the race on telly though!

 

Right, must get on!

[Winslow Boy]

So having watched the weather forecast last night, where the entire country, apart from a small area of Hampshire- I'm saying nothing apart from the Devil looks after its own, was a lovely shade of blue I retired for the night expecting to find a frozen desolate scene in the morning.

 

What happens when I arise this morning. Nothing, not sign of any frost.  No ice covered car windows. No white covered grass. I feel cheated. I want my frosty morning. 

 

I know what it is, no not Global Warming it's that lot on the eastern side of the county hogging it all. Selfish lot.

 

So small request please if anyone comes across a frosty morning looking looking a bit lost please send it over here. Otherwise I'm asking for a refund.

 

Disappointed of Manucopia

[Mike Bellamy]

At the local Club, we have been involved in a number of house clearances - some were simple donations to the Club and others were on a 10% basis. Stock was offered to members first and the remainder went on the second hand stall at swapmeets and exhibitions.

 

Our one time chairman was a second hand dealer for many years and just happened to notice the name of a former customer in the death notices in the local paper so he went to the funeral. Apart from three family members from the south coast, he was the only other person there so although this guy had lived in Derby for some time, nobody else from the local area was there. Obviously he had to explain to the family members how he had known the deceased which resulted in sales of over £30,000 and £3,000 for the Club. Some sent to auction as there were a number of complete Hornby Dublo sets - in fact too many for the auctioneer to cope with as flooding the market would depress their value and so it took over a year to clear them. I didn't get to see in the house but I'm told he was a heavy smoker and never cleaned up so everything stank and was covered in dust. There was a Bachmann Blue Pullman set still in the brown paper packaging from Hattons and it was obvious nothing had been used as he had no layout. A car and trailer load of books went to the local preserved line as a donation but they had great difficulty selling them due to the smell.

 

A close friend passed away a couple of years ago and left instructions for our local area group of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Assn to deal with his models. Everything that was suitable for our group layout was retained by the group, members then took other things that suited their particular interests, anything left was sold at a members' day resulting in £3000 for MacMillan Cancer Care. Out of 15 boxes of books, I still have 5 left waiting for lockdown to end so we can donate the remainder again to the local preserved line.

 

On a more personal note, father-in-law has just moved to a care home - aged 88, he has lived on his own for 40 years and he kept anything and everything. Last week saw a trip to the tip with a large estate car full of surplus electrical equipment - all damaged or unwanted - such as five irons, three TVs, four large portable radios, several CD and/or record players, three VHS players found under a bed, and lots of other assorted electrical items. The shed appears to be so full of 'stuff' that I'm rather reluctant to even open the door. His hobbies were clocks/watches and photography so there must be 50 clocks in the house - only one showing the correct time, and 20 cameras of assorted vintage. He was the last member of the local Photographic Society to buy a digital camera but never had a computer. I need to get a couple of local auctioneers in to assess the value but first we have to find out what we've actually got. Another example of his hoarding - several drawers in a sideboard are stuffed with scraps of paper with either a name or a phone number on - but hardly any of them have both a name and number ! My wife and his lady friend from across the road spent an hour last week searching for his sister's contact details . . . . . . !!

 

Mike

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another sun but cold start to the day, we both had a short lie in this morning but once I’ve finished this post, I’ll make a muggertea to take to the workshop and head off outside to remove some more of the old path. Hopefully I’ll get another few feet removed, the problem I’m having at the moment is the storage of all the unwanted bits of rubble. Small bits are being put in old pots, the bigger pieces stacked up in a pile. Still it’s only for a few days or so. 

 

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

 

Brian

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny again in North Somerset, but a cold wind, and a frost overnight. Most inhabitants of the greenhouse were covered in bubble wrap and the sub-zero temperatures outside were accompanied by no wind, so maybe things will survive. 

 

In my experience, it is the combination of a slight breeze and temperatures below freezing which tender plants cannot cope with. Presumably that causes the plant cells to freeze rapidly thus destroying their structure?