Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[simontaylor484]

Just dropping off to sleep then Mr Fox woke me up making a racket at something in the base of the allotment hedge row.

 

Sadly it's a bit dark to get him on video seen as I am on the tablet the phone is dead awaiting its turn on the charger 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

As I was loading the car to go to the tip it started to rain, turdycurses I thought to my self. By the time I’d finished it had stopped, but started up again as I was at the tip emptying the car. I then set off to Screwfix and got the outdoor socket and plasterboard screws. Then it was off to the big orange DIY shed for the pavers. It once again started to rain as I was driving home, but I needed to empty the car so I could do the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix this evening. It took 3 wheelbarrow loads to empty the car and as each load was taken round the back, the rain steadily got heavier. By the time I was on the last load the rain had turned to hailstones and they were the size of peas, I had to take shelter under a tree! By the time I was finally able to empty the last wheelbarrow load, I was absolutely soaked through. When I mean soaked, I mean really soaked, right to the skin. The rain had gone through my coat, my trousers, even my boots, it was just like I’d just got out of a lake or something! However, by that time it was almost 12 o’clock, so I decided to call it a day and pack up, lock up the shed and head back inside for a shower. Then, after dinner, as if rubbing salt into the wound, the sun came out and shone in the afternoon and continued for the rest of the day, turdycurses again I thought. Anyway, the afternoon want totally wasted, as I managed to finish off the place cards for Mike and Sarah’s wedding. 

 

After tea, I set up a fruit tea loaf, which will be left soaking overnight and will have the flour added tomorrow and then go in the oven for a couple of hours. Then it was off to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, as has been the norm for the last few weeks now, Sainsbury’s was fairly quite, but there were still a few people who just have no idea of how to wear a mask, as well a few cluttering up the whole of an aisle just chatting to each other. 

Edited May 17, 2021 by BSW01

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[monkeysarefun]

7 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Happy birthday Rick

 

 

 

Get one a these into ya, mate!

 

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Kelly]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Someones been turning the rain on and off all day but its off at the moment. 

I take it that the car had stood idle for some time. There must be a few cars  back on the road after standing idle for ages due to Covid. Some of these may well have deteriorated to such an extent that they are dangerous. Fortunately my car has been used a couple of times a week throughout and last week I gave it a run and no problems came to light. If your car has been standing its a good idea to test the brakes gently on a clear road.

 

It had sat idle for some of the Covid lockdown. Though Natalie had been using it for some of that time, so it wasn't totally idle.

 

The brake lines were an advisory on the MOT in December, however, the garage said they should be fine for another 12 months. It had a persistent oil leak, which probably made it harder for Natalie to spot if brake fluid was leaking too as it'd all be the same colour on the ground. Given the cars age, the deterioration of the brake lines was to be expected though. Just didn't expect them to go that quickly!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Some gardening got done yesterday.  I spent about 45 minutes tiring myself out removing unwanted vegetation and consigning it to the green bin.  By the time I stopped the bin was more than half full but the garden looked barely touched.  Then it rained.  I may do some more today once I have done the fodder run.  Before my exertions I went out to buy my lottery tickets and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had won £5 and a free lucky dip.  More good news came with the return of my landline, two days ahead of the date given by BT.  Clearly it was not a serious problem but I do wonder why such trivial failures occur.

 

Tonight the weekly mileage racked up by my car will take a significant leap.  To the weekly total of 8 incurred by two fodder runs will be added approximately 25, that being the distance to St Neots and back.  In a bygone age one just turned up at a folk club, had a few beers and usually enjoyed the music.  For tonight’s Hut People performance I had to e-mail the organisers to secure one of the 25 available places and will have to take my own drink – no alcohol though.  For event organisers the process of recovering from that ruddy virus will be a long one but I rejoice that a start has been made.

 

I rejoice also that Mike Bellamy and John Coombe Barton have heard of Cyril Tawney.  Many of his songs are sung by other people but often badly.  I have been known to do “Five Foot Flirt” and “On a Monday morning” myself, but I never learned “Sammy’s Bar”: maybe I will if I ever visit Malta.  These days my less than dulcet tones are seldom inflicted on an audience, especially if they have paid to come in.  I take the implied point that some of the artists about whom I enthuse are less than familiar.  For me they are happy discoveries which I am happy to share. 

 

Continuing warm thoughts to Dave’s Dad, Gordon S and all missing persons.  Best wishes to all.

 

Chris

Edited May 18, 2021 by chrisf
left something out

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Very early mugatea consumed as her indoors couldn't sleep.

 

Plans for today include a trip to our local butchers for some of their home smoked bacon and a bit of tidying up. I am preparing for a trip on Sunday to see some friends.. we have all been jabbed and will be meeting in the open air.

 

I noted the people who were desparate to get some sun so flew off out of the uk yesterday. I may wait a fair while before I fly anywhere. Big problem I can see is who you meet up with when you get to your destination. ....and what happens when the country you fly too sees a spike in cases?

 

Time to..have another mugatea!

Stay safe!

Positive thoughts to all!

Baz

 

 

[leopardml2341]

Mornin'

 

No prizes for guessing the weather hereabouts....

Predicted early start not necessary after all, but still awake at 05:30.

 

Just another keybored day in prospect, stay safe, sane and well folks.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning, it's not raining here at the moment.   

 

I had a good afternoon watching full size trains yesterday. As usual Andy and I put our part of the world to rights. We both want to get on a train and do some travelling, but both of us want to wait a while till things really calm down. France is however gradually getting folk vaccinated.   After tea I went to the shed and, for the first time in about 6 months, had great fun moving items on parallel strips of metal.  

 

Belated congratulations  to Rick on getting to the magic age of 4 x 16.  Yes I can still remember my 16 times table that we had to learn along with the 14 times and of course 1 to 12. That betrays my age.

 

Today I'm off down to the house we look after to let the pool man in as it's time to get that sorted for the summer, then off to the Drs for my 3 monthly prescription.  Not a lot else to report.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Andrew P]

When my Car had its MOT last Thursday it had recorded 2051 miles since the previous years visit, that had included two un scheduled visits to the Oxford area, and 4 to a little Shop I know in Alton, and one in Ford near Arundel.

I should get a good Mileage rebate from Direct Line this year, I HOPE.

[Andrew P]

Its fine dry and bright here in the sunny souf, and that is GOOD, because my Grandson is due this morning to start work on our base for the new Summerhouse that will be delivered on Thursday, and to lay a new Patio area. 

He's given us a Family discount, haha.

 

Must get on,

things to do,

places to go,

people to see.

 

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

[southern42]

‘ morning all from red dragon land. 
 

Sun streaming through window. Checked pine cone predictors page - rain after lunch! Won’t need to water the pot plants, then. Must order some houseplant compost though. My Mother’s Day plant is growing rapidly (one of those succulents that flower for a few weeks around said time) and is fast growing out of its pot - aka pink wellies.

 

Plans for today pretty much the same as usual. 
 

Thoughts with Dave’s Dad, Gordon and those who are ailing.

 

Take care all and play safe.

————-

Best wishes

Polly

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, dry once more on the rock, 9c feels like 8, despite a stiff breeze.  According to this body it feels more like 5, but that is just old-gitness I think.  Maybe we should have emigrated to New Zealand and not Fraggle Rock, we had the opportunity at the time!

 

Lots of errands to do today, I see an additional list has been left for my attention too, on top of orders of the day discussed at the management meeting last night.  AKA dinner.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Wall to wall sunshine at the moment but its not predicted to last. The bees on the California lilac are making the most of it while they can. Now off to run a bath, be back later. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining and the sky is blue, but there are a few white fluffy things up there too. According to the weather app on my phone, we are due some rain this afternoon though. Hopefully I’ll get a good run at laying the wheelbarrow run down the centre of the path this morning. With a bit of luck and a fair wind behind me I should have got to about the halfway point by dinner time. 

 

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

 

Brian

Edited May 18, 2021 by BSW01

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the boring borough. 

A night of sleepus interruptus. Drugged up due to my knee playing silly b*ggers. Awoken at 3:30 by SWMBO due to a bright light in the hallway. Turns out the bloody Virgin stupid hub had rebooted for some reason. No doubt a firmware upgrade or reconnecting after an outage. While it is rebooting there is a very bright red to green to white light strip. I keep it switched off in the settings but that is ignored during the reboot. Half an hour later we've finally managed to get to sleep again when one of the cats decided it was breakfast. He kept waking us up every half hour until 6:30. <meh>

 

SWMBO attempting to book an appt with the GP. A comedy of errors. They've changed their online booking service again. Attempts to register were met with, can't do that without you visiting the GP to fill out the identification forms. Can't visit the GP without an online booking as their phone line isn't seemingly manned. Argh. Attempted through the NHS site instead. Keeps timing out but not updating the page so it appears to freeze until you refresh, then it says timed out. More Argh. 

 

I received a text from the pharmacy where I'm due to get my second jab on June 1. They "offered" an earlier date of, you guessed it, June 1. 

 

Work continues to be a giant bag of yak excrement. If I could get anywhere near my GP I'd seriously consider looking at some stress leave. I do have next week off but hearing rumblings that it may be cancelled last minute. 

 

More coffee needed. Enjoy the day. 

[jonny777]

We had an early morning shower here in North Somerset.

 

Now the sun is shining, but more black clouds appear on the horizon. Apparently, there were funnel clouds in Somerset yesterday. They showed a couple of photos on last night's news. I can do without any of those types of weather phenomena, thanks. 

 

I had a call from the 10am to 11am Ocado delivery man saying that he was running a bit early and could he come in a few minutes (this was at ten to nine). I have no problem with that, but cannot understand how deliveries can be 80 minutes earlier than the earliest time? Have Ocado discovered the secret of light speed travel? 

 

Anyway, all was safely packed away in the cupboards/fridge by the time SWMBO got up. If I had known, I could have added a litre of malt whisky to the order. 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where the earlier blue skies are starting to cloud up. We are due rain this afternoon. Pity because it is quite pleasant at the moment.

 

We occasionally get calls from Ocado running early but very rarely, which is just as well as our usual slot is 6.30 - 7.30 on a Friday morning. They have turned up early, unannounced, on one occasion at about 10 past 6. Mrs Lurker had to get out of bed to answer the door; I was still in the shower!

 

I appear to be taking my turn with the sore throat that both Lurker boys have had, although it is nothing serious at all.

 

Mrs Lurker seems to have resolved her plans to visit her Mum; even better she seems to have managed it in such a way that I can go out for a beer and a curry on the date that has been planned! That's now three outings in the diary over the next month. I suppose at some time I ought to arrange to see my parents!

 Right, I had better get on with my work - see you later!

[jonny777]

10 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

Get one a these into ya, mate!

 

 

 

Sorry to appear ignorant, but what is a chicken parma? 

 

 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare.

A Little later than normal, I bin busy.

 

1 hours sleep 3 hours unable to sleep, 1 hours sleep 1 hours sleep 1hours sleep.. Not good , I be knackered..

 

Stainless steel strips mentioned yesterday, not needed , Brain remembered some stainless sheets of metal ( catering equipment doors) recovered from going in a scrap bin at Tesco, a suitable one has been  moved to the workshop..

 

Brain during the long awake went into overdrive working on how many cuts and sizes for the steel pieces , I need 5, all about 100mm long 10mm wide and the metal is 1.5 mm thick. 3 of the pieces need then to be formed into an oval with a 32mm radius  at the meeting of the two ends.. The other two become an Omega shape with that radius in the middle..

 

SWMBO has seen a small young Mr Fox a wandering the garden, hence this morning Ben the nose to the ground Collie was snuffling around for a considerable time, I had to call him back..

 

It's confirmed we are getting a loan of a boat for guardship from Martham developments again, Very good they are too.. https://www.marthamboats.com/  . For the duration  yours truly and the others on board will be Honorary members of Hickling sailing club. That means we are covered for insurance purposes, for the use of their rescue boat and club premises.

 

The Boss has indicated his final working date, so that means I'll be working for 6 month under whoever the new boss is at most, before I retire.... 

 

Meanwhile two pieces of programme for the running of these majors systems are nearing completion and under trial.. One will make my life a lot easier, the other won't make my life harder but will add Half an hours servicing time to each calibration time..

 

Time to get on with measuring

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

A chicken parma looks like what it is - one of those peculiar (to foreigners) strange Australian proprietary 'foodstuffs' which combines several different good ideas to produce something that looks revolting and might well either taste as bad as it looks or has sufficient taste bud tickling additives to make you crave more.

 

A good day was had yesterday - firstly the Head Gardener and assistant planted out the runner beans duly protecting them from frost and muntjac with various contrivances - I hope the muntjac are suitably impressed.  Then a locksmith arrived to deal with the recalcitrant backdoor lock - excellent bloke, excellent job and the back door can now be unlocked without lots of curses and chanting of spells to get the lock to respond to the movement of the key.

 

On a completely different tack I received an email from a friend inviting us out to dinner at a rather nice hotel 'somewhere in the west Country' later in the year.  I had in any case been wondering about possibly going to spend a few days in said somewhere later in the year so have duly booked us into that hotel  in some months after the peak season.  i can probably now be able to give you the starting date of the next lockdown but you never know - we might actually be able to go suitably unlocked down.  I've booked B&B hence he can s treat us to dinner plus that allows us the freedom of visiting a top notch chippy situate in a nearby town without worrying about over-eating and we might even take a trip on a tram although distancing might be a problem thereon.  There is also another nearby-ish location involving even closer spaced parallel strips of metal which should still be open at that time of year. 

 

Back to food and surelythe way to cook steak is on a griddle or grill (or a hot stone - that gets good results in my experience?  Does that make me a foody?

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe, especially those of you in certain areas seemingly partly populated by some of those on whom that message has been totally lost.