Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

I haven't rated most of the posts on heating as the systems don't sound like anything I've used. Our furnace and water heater are separate.

The Canadian Fairmont hotels mentioned used to be Canadian Pacific. The Toronto Royal York was missing most of the conveniences (lunch rooms) last time we went into it; I haven't had to stay in a Toronto hotel in over half a century.

We watched HRH's funeral. I found that the commentators insisted on talking through most of the band numbers (though not the service music) and "informative" banners were on the part of the screen where people were.

Grammar: My observationis that the part of speech disappearing is the participle. As in "fry pan" and "box set".

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by BR60103
carelessness

[chrisf]

How do!

 

I watched the funeral of HRH yesterday afternoon.  If there is one thing that the UK does oh so well it is state occasions.  Earlier I made a beef stew and ate some of it.  There is no way that it will last four days as the instructions on the packet of Colman’s sauce allege, even though I augmented it with mushrooms and dumplings.  I’m not saying that to provoke the emission of steam from Flavio’s ears, though I suspect that there is a risk of it.

 

Flavio’s essay on eating out is, as always, thought provoking.  When I eat out I tend to do so more out of necessity than through choice.  Sometimes, however, I fancy a change.  After my last haircut I repaired to the nearby ‘Spoons and enjoyed a good plateful of breakfast, baked beans and all.  I like them, Flavio doesn’t.  Would it not be utterly boring if we all had the same taste?  I tend to eat breakfast out if I am on my way somewhere, since the alternative is to get the frying pan out at half past stupid before I set out for wherever it is that I am bound.  I find it handy to have a ‘Spoons directory in my jacket pocket but I am often just as happy to have a supermarket breakfast.  Don’t tell everyone, but there are even some decent breakfasts available on the motorway.  By the way, there is no such thing as a cheap anything in Switzerland … 

 

Andrew C, what you say about Toronto is disappointing but not a great surprise.  In fairness, the roast beef that I had in the rotating restaurant at the top of the CN Tower on that New Year’s Eve was the most tender that I have ever eaten, but that was one high spot amid a plethora of low ones.  I managed to not even see a street car, let alone ride on one.  There were occasions during my visit to Canada when I wondered why I had forsworn Christmas and New Year in Switzerland, but at least I’ve been there.  I’d like to return but I doubt that it will happen.

 

Continuing warm thoughts to Dave’s dad and Gordon S and best wishes to all

 

Chris

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

Only 4 hours sleep, it took a very long time to get to sleep, then  solid sleep till a while ago.

Brain had gone into overtime on plans for work on boat trailer etc.

 

The trick to watching "Big Events" is only to turn on when they actually start,  off when they finish and ignore the talking heads... If I were into watching , 22 over paid men kicking a round object on a piece of ground covered by mostly plastic green stuff. I'd not be watching the 2 to 3 hours pre throwing their teddy's out on the pitch, nor the half hour after.

 

Paws stiff this morning, back a little painful, carrying to the boat, then lifting 17kg "light weight" blocks chest high took its toll. I need to get the marquee roof on.

 

One thing that was good, was a rearranged lifting strop has reduced the height needed for the crane, so the lift was achieved without the crane exceeding the height of marquee. I believe the boat could be raised onto the trailer the same way. I still am looking at making an H frame to hook the strops onto for normal use.

 

And so to today, more paint on some shelves needed, then install

Get that marquee roof on.

 

I'm getting the stare from brown eyes,

Time to put the kettle on and go on patrol....

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Long day at "the Office" yesterday.  My app reckons I walked 4 miles while umpiring.. my knees think otherwise!

We stopped for a minutes silence at 3pm. Most people were ok with it ..one "player" set off on one before we started.. so I reminded hime that without the work of the "Twelfth Man" of the Lords Taverners he wouldn't have got his chance of playing cricket.. he shut up!

 

Every 6 overs we have a sanitiser break. The next ball bowled is generally a special bendy one .. the ECB don't think the sanitiser does anything to the ball....they are so out of touch.

 

 

Today is rest day. I need to cut a few blades of grass, clean the inside of Beast and not a lot else really.

 

Enjoy your day!

Stay safe, the light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel.

 

Baz

Edited April 18, 2021 by Barry O

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny but cool Charente.  Yesterday was a rather odd one.  An hour talking and singing to and with young Emily and her mums. She has an engaging and almost permanent  smile that would melt any heart, even my stone one, or so it is  alleged.  Then Beth set off to see our friend  Tina, with 6 fresh eggs.  I got the grass cut and then got a phone call from Beth to say that she was following an ambulance to hospital as Tina was unwell.  

 

I was not needed so watched the funeral in peace. As others have said, very dignified and very well done. I, like many others felt for the Queen and family for having to do all that in the public gaze. I seemed to have something making my eyes water especially during the music.  The naval piping was very emotive and the lone piper playing the lament was also very moving. I would love to know what the lament was. Google failed me last night. 

 

Almost as soon as it was over Beth rang from the hospital to say that Tina was going for a CT scan to look for blood clots. Beth had to nip out to the supermarket  to get some food, fortunately  she had her insulin etc with her. On her way back to A and E (Urgences over here) her car died on her in the middle of a junction. I set straight off to drive the 22 miles to try and help. Apparently 2 nice young men helped get the car to the side of the road and 5 minutes later it started fine. I got there, bearing some sweets, in case of a hypo, and took the car out for a 15 minute run in case the battery was low. By this time Tina was out of the scanner and waiting to get the results. I came home and made some tea.  

By 8pm Beth was home.  Tina was diagnosed with high blood pressure  and no complications or anything sinister. The car got Beth home and we had a quiet evening.  

 

All in all an interesting day.

 

Anyway today should be less eventful.

 

Just an aside about Fairmont hotels, we spent the first week of our honeymoon in Chateau Lake Louise but when it was still managed by CP.  We could only afford to eat in the hotel once, the rest of the time we used a diner in the woods nearby.  The following year was definitely  very different, a B&B in the Lake District with a squalling 6 week old for company. The frightening thing is that he's 41 next week.

 

Jamie

Edited April 18, 2021 by jamie92208

[iL Dottore]

Ah, Canada!

One of my favourite destinations. Although I have visited both Toronto and Montréal, my favourite part of Canada is definitely the west coast: British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

 

I have always thought that Canada seems to be able to marry the best from the US with the best from Europe with very little of the downsides of either. For example, although Canada has a lot of people who go hunting (and therefore plenty of guns) the Canadians seem to have avoided the whole American “gun as ego and pen1s extension“ fetish that seems to infect the US. Food, certainly in British Columbia (and especially in Vancouver Island) is far, far better on average than the average in the US. (amongst the best dim sum outside of Hong Kong that I ever had was in Victoria’s Chinatown – the oldest one in Canada).

 

The only disappointment I’ve had with my various business trips and holidays to British Columbia was that I never managed to ride the rails, even though I did spend a very enjoyable several days in Kamloops - a significant stopping point for West-East railway traffic (Canadian railway enthusiasts amongst us will be able to better describe Kamloops and Canadian Railways)

 

One final thought: with social distancing not likely to go away any time soon (despite a significant vaccine take-up), I wonder if there is a golden future for long distance rail in store? Think about it: with the sort of long train consist possible in North America you could have more than adequately socially distance seating and, looking to Japan for inspiration, I wonder with the lack of international travel (and international tourism) for the foreseeable future, whether or not the Japanese style luxury hotel on wheels could not gain traction in North America (no pun intended). A Canadian version of Train Suite Shiki-shima or Seven Stars in Kyushu together with the fantastic scenery of the Canadian Rockies would, I think, be amazing.

 

Enjoy Sunday

 

iD

Edited April 18, 2021 by iL Dottore
Phrasing

[jamie92208]

45 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

The only disappointment I’ve had with my various business trips and holidays to British Columbia was that I never managed to ride the rails, even though I did spend a very enjoyable several days in Kamloops - a significant stopping point for West-East railway traffic (Canadian railway enthusiasts amongst us will be able to better describe Kamloops and Canadian Railways)

 

 

Kamloops is where the two transcontinental lines, CP and CN, come together before they head down the Thompson and Fraser river gorges to Vancouver, so you see all traffic on both lines.  

 

When I've finished posting my random French railway photos, I'll be following it with my American ones which include a trip on the Canadian Pacific from Vancover to Toronto.

 

Jamie

Edited April 18, 2021 by jamie92208

[southern42]

‘ morning all from red dragon land.

 

Thoughts and best wishes to Dave’s dad and Gordon S. 

 

Not been on here much overthe last few days so hope everyone is doing ok.
I have spent the week trying to keep calm while getting my cakebox challenge entry ready by Friday. As it turned out, I needed yesterday (submission deadline!) to complete. Photographing it was not as easy as it looked. After two days of taking around a 100 photos I ended up with the three required. 
 

There are a few entries on the the cakebox challenge thread and they are quite amazing. So I am looking forward to seeing all the entries which are getting their own web pages soon. 
 

Time for breakfast. Back later.

 

Polly

[JohnDMJ]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

Earlier I made a beef stew and ate some of it.  There is no way that it will last four days as the instructions on the packet of Colman’s sauce allege, even though I augmented it with mushrooms and dumplings.  I’m not saying that to provoke the emission of steam from Flavio’s ears, though I suspect that there is a risk of it.

 

What??!! It's not only Flavio's ears which are emitting steam! A selection of dried herbs and spices with suitable seasoning, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and maybe even a teaspoon full of Marmite (yes, I did say Marmite!) stirred into the contents of canned, peeled tomatoes (they tend to disintegrate into the stew) and as much of a bottle of red wine as you feel necessary and there's your stew! Tastes different every time you make it as you use different herbs in differing proportions, unlike 'just out of the packet'!

 

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

Flavio’s essay on eating out is, as always, thought provoking.  When I eat out I tend to do so more out of necessity than through choice.  Sometimes, however, I fancy a change.  After my last haircut I repaired to the nearby ‘Spoons and enjoyed a good plateful of breakfast, baked beans and all.  I like them, Flavio doesn’t.  Would it not be utterly boring if we all had the same taste?  I tend to eat breakfast out if I am on my way somewhere, since the alternative is to get the frying pan out at half past stupid before I set out for wherever it is that I am bound.  I find it handy to have a ‘Spoons directory in my jacket pocket but I am often just as happy to have a supermarket breakfast.  Don’t tell everyone, but there are even some decent breakfasts available on the motorway.  By the way, there is no such thing as a cheap anything in Switzerland …

 

I'd never considered roadkill for breakfast! Maybe one day...

 

[Dave Hunt]

I agree with iD about Western Canada. I have a cousin in north Vancouver so we can benefit from local knowledge when in that area, which is always helpful for an outsider as it enables us to avoid the traps and find the really good spots. I think that my favourite places, though, are the Banff area and the western side of Vancouver Island. The Lake Louise Fairmont looks grand but we never ventured inside and I can recommend the old railway station there as an eating place - good food at fairly sensible prices and pleasant olde worldly surroundings. We once took The Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Vancouver and although pricey I think that it is worth the expense as a one-off experience. On Vancouver Island we once stayed in a log cabin in the woods, which was far from basic inside, though, that was about two hundred yards from the shore and that was just brilliant.

 

Dad seems to be on something of a plateau at the moment and we are waiting to hear what the doctors say after he has been seen tomorrow. Although the plan seems to be getting him into some sort of recuperative accommodation, the matter of his low oxygen levels has to be sorted out first and he seems to be having some more pain from his leg. As the ancient Greeks used to say, "There's allus bl**dy summat."

 

Stay safe everyoneand enjoy Sunday.

 

Dave

 

 

[Andrew P]

Walk has been done to collect the Paper for the Good Lady, Parsnips for Luncheon and a cake for 11's.

 

The back was still quite bad, but I felt it needed some form of movement.

 

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

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny again here in North Somerset. 

 

I don't know much about the funeral; as I hate the things at the best of times. 'No Fuss' is my preferred way to go into the ground by my allotted silver birch tree. 

 

However, there was a very dignified minutes silence at the Crucible with all the audience, officials and players standing to pay their last respects. 

 

I believe the press/media coverage of whether there would be a punch-up between William and Harry was wholly disrespectful and inappropriate; and illustrates precisely what is so wrong with the MSM in this country, and why I ignore virtually everything they say. 

[Mike Bellamy]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

the lone piper playing the lament was also very moving. I would love to know what the lament was. Google failed me last night. 

 

According to the Wail on Sunday it was 'Flowers of the Forest' said to be more usually heard on Remembrance Day and is a traditional folk song commemorating England's defeat of Scottish King James IV at Flodden in 1513. Played by the Pipe Major of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Colour Sergeant Peter Grant.

 

 

9 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

I believe the press/media coverage of whether there would be a punch-up between William and Harry was wholly disrespectful and inappropriate; and illustrates precisely what is so wrong with the MSM in this country, and why I ignore virtually everything they say. 

 

. . . . . at least they were together and talking as they walked back from the Chapel to the Castle - I expect the press will have had lip readers on standby to try and work out what they were saying - difficult when wearing masks but I think William had removed his by then.

.

[Coombe Barton]

Off to see Sandy's aunt today - it's her 91st birthday.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, was missing most of yesterday due to domestic duties and a meal out at friend Jayne's.  Oh and that bl**dy bike engine - finished it, starts fine, smokes like a Russian steam loco on a bad day. Pah. Suspect a piston ring is on upside down.  I'm piston off with it...apart again.

 

A rough night afterwards, not sure why, so a bit cream crackered.

 

Deb is shooting again today, so I will go along again to find arrows - the other's arrows not Debs' hopefully. 

 

Then we burst out of the tunnel at midnight to an unrestricted world.  CV19 infections down to 9, no new ones unexplained for 21 days.  Our great leader says this will have been the last lockdown unless things really, really badly, from here on we just have to cope with what comes.  Borders still 99% closed though, that's our next hurdle to overcome.  My pal that has just retired from running one of the Welsh railways has just been allowed back on-island, and has finished his isolation period with clear tests so has been released without parole today!  

[Simon G]

Morning all, I am finally allowed to say that Mrs G and I are now proud grandparents!  Eloise was born last Monday morning, but her parents asked that nothing was put on social media until they had posted, which they have now done.  Mother and daughter both seem to be doing well, and no 1 son now seems to have a permanent smile on his face!  So far we have only seen her in photos and on FaceTime.  Hopefully, we can get to travel south sometime soon to stay with them and meet Eloise properly.

 

I can’t resist posting a photo:

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis and Si Attica were going at it hammer and tongs this morning so the lie in and soak in took a bit longer. The soak in and a brace of Nurofen has calmed them down. Congratulations Simon, thats going to take a lot of modelling tokens. Best wishes to Daves dad and to Gordon.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another sunny start to the day, currently sat with a muggertea on the bench under the workshop window. One barrow of rubble put in the trench so far, a few more to go yet. Tea finished so time to get back to the hammer. 

 

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

 

Brian 

[BSW01]

Oops, I forgot to say congratulations to Simon and to welcome him to the grandparents club. 

[BoD]

Update on Gordon over on E.T.

 

 

[Barry O]

@Simon G.. many congratulations!

 

Yesterday was not particularly a bad game.. it was just a long time to remember the art of concentrating for 7+ hours. A bad day at the office can result in more than one bottle of red being opened.. the bottle of  Wine Society  Cotes du Rhone hit the spot last night!

 

some strange scores though.  Varied from 54 all out in one game to 300+ for not many wickets in another.. weird!

 

Herself is out watering plants and hanging baskets. I have been told not to do any  grass cutting as she wants to do some "edging".

 

Hopefully Gordon will see some more progress over coming days.

 

Time for another mugadecaf and lunch.

Baz

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Good to hear some positive news about Gordon - thanks Bod - and i hope he will be on a steady path of recovery from now on.  Sorry to hear that Dave's dad is now at a bit of a plateau so hoping to hear of some more positive news in future.  Congratulations to Simon and family, especially those who did the hard work part of the job.

 

Thanks Mike for confirmation that it was "Flowers Of The forest' - I'd assumed that it was but wasn't at all sure.  i also wondered how many of those watching recognised and knew the names of the various pieces played by the bands prior to the cortege departing for the chapel - an excellent choice of music by the Duke which said so much about his attitude  and sense of duty.  Overall a very well conducted day and I thought the Dean of Windsor did an excellent job.  I think that we will be seeing the award of a number of RVOs in the not too distant future as HM expresses her appreciation of the part many people played in the organisation and conduct of the day.

 

Back to the mundane and his ladship - who is back on the GCR  (as in Great Cockcrow Railway) volunteering as from last weekend - today breakfasted in 'spoons but didn't say anything about baked beans or otherwise.  Judging. by my very limited experience of them locally I don't rate their breakfasts but speaking as I've found the quality of food and service at The Imperial in Exeter is pretty good but it is their main training base and the top man makes regular unannounced visits.  However the OF's group I belong to has shifted our 'Christmas Dinner' venue from there to Portsmouth for various reasons including accessibility.

 

As for 'inexpensive' food in Switzerland there used to be an excellent little burger stall outside Interlaken Ost station which sold very reasonably priced and very palatable burgers.  However when I last visited - in 2003 - the Swiss woman who used to run it had been replaced by someone seemingly of Vietnamese origin and while the quality had not deteriorated very much the prices had risen noticeably.  Having just looked on Google it is obviously no longer there and there is a shiny great building, appearing in parts to be pandering to tourists, blocking the spot where it stood - presumably that is called 'progress'?   Best meal I ever had in Switzerland was in a restaurant in Gruyere although the prices were eye watering but fortunately the treat was on someone else and their expense account.

 

Now to think about something for lunch - no mushrooms in stock, hmm.   Havea good day one and all and stay safe. 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by The Stationmaster

[PhilJ W]

I found this interesting, J M W Turners father. https://london-overlooked.com/turner/ 

[iL Dottore]

On 16/04/2021 at 18:31, Northroader said:

.... Very comfortable place with good meals. Then I got married.

I just love those two last sentences. Bliss juxtaposed with doom. Very much along the lines of “the 42nd Fusiliers were preparing for a quiet night. Then the Tigers appeared!”

On 16/04/2021 at 23:33, polybear said:

 

The dishwasher that Bear will most likely end up with also has wifi capability.  Bear thinks that a stack of LDC would be far more useful........

As far as I am concerned, every time a kitchen appliance salesman tried to push a domestic item at me with all kinds of bills and whistles, I view these egregious bells and whistles with deep scepticism and ask myself: “is these to be found on professional equipment?” 99.9% of the time the answer is a resounding “NO“.

I have yet to find a domestic oven that just turns on and off, has no hot spots or cold spots in the oven itself and which warms up quickly.

With domestic ovens things can get pretty stupid pretty fast; a friend of mine has an all-singing, all-dancing, Wi-Fi-controlled high-tech domestic oven. Trouble is  The on-board software will not let him use the oven for more than 90 minutes at a time, nor can this software be overriden (as we found out when we tried to do a four hour slow roast pork belly at his house)

On 17/04/2021 at 09:10, polybear said:

- though soft drink prices are often a p.take...

I don’t mind paying a little bit more than at the supermarket for a soft drink at the hotel bar (especially if they have a deep and wide bowl of peanuts or other sorts of nibbles), but what I do draw the line at is paying obscene prices for items in the minibar. I remember once, staying in a hotel off Orchard Road in Singapore,  drinks in the hotel minibar was so extortionate that I went down to the lobby, exited the hotel, crossed the road to the petrol station nearby and bought a six-pack of soft drinks for half the price of a single minibar Coke.

And as for those fully automated, computerised, linked to the billing system minibars that charge you every time you move something to get the cold drink at the back, the less said the better.

Unfortunately, thanks to the joys of jetlag, sometimes a minibar raid is absolutely necessary at 3 o’clock in the morning when your internal clock tells you it’s time to get up.

On 17/04/2021 at 13:55, The Stationmaster said:

... having four establishments  there, including a private dining room. (Brains Trust perchance??)...

 

An excellent suggestion Mike. Please do look into it (and prices, menu choices, trains to Marlow and so forth). I suspect private dining will not be inexpensive, but will be incredibly good value for money and provide a meal that will be remembered with pleasure long after the ache in the wallet has subsided.

I’ve not met Rick Stein, but I have met Tom Kerridge and he is a really nice bloke, down-to-earth and very engaging.

On 17/04/2021 at 14:23, JohnDMJ said:

...To this day, I am unable to understand how they managed to serve soggy carrots and broccoli!...

Four words John, four simple words: “Reheated-In The Microwave” (I wonder how many restaurants would survive if it was a requirement for them to indicate which dishes on the menu were reheated in the microwave. As for banning the microwave in restaurant kitchens, do that and that is pretty much the entire budget dining sector wiped out. Or maybe I’m just being a little bit too cynical about budget dining in the UK).

 

Whilst I generally agree with the thrust of your argument, John, I think only five minutes near the heat may be a tad too little for some of the vegetables on your list. Vegetables al-dente are most enjoyable, vegetables Rompidenti are not.

 

Profiteroles turned out passably adequate, so next weekend I will have to give my choux pastry another go and see if I can improve on things.

 

enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Edited April 18, 2021 by iL Dottore
Spellin