Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Last I saw your lot weren't doing too well in the Gymnastics medals compared to our 18 

Your High bars competitor Tyson Bull lost out to a Cypriot although he did manage to actually hang on 

 

Swimming  and running fast, jumping  really  high  and really long and throwing things accurately are necessary skills acquired here from an early age in order  to deal with dangerous  wildlife situations. 

 

Hence we are good at them.

 

Hopping and skipping   around happily  backwards and forwards , spinning around on your back like a fly-sprayed bluebottle etc would not be helpful in the case of say a crocodile attack , in fact that would probably make the situation worse - hence our  unfamiliarity  with those skills.

 

 

Announcing the premature but safe arrival of little Saturn 2.

 

Expected in September but arrived via slow boat from China 8 days after being a mere glint in my eye.

 

Joins its siblings Mars 1, Mars 3, Saturn 1 and Photon (deceased).

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

😮  Bluddy Hell.  Chimpy's single-handedly responsible for Global Warming.  

 

 

But this is healthy Aussie electricity!  made with organic Aussie coal and  Aussie natural gas, not that artificial gas..  Its so good we can even have it in our bathrooms.

Edited August 3, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[southern42]

' evening all from red dragon land.

 

WARNING : some prohibitive content ahead!

 

First day back (for a year or so) at West Shore for a boiler test on our Polly O&K (passed) which Ray put together and painted. Lovely to drive, though I only felt I knew what I was doing after 4 laps of keeping fire going, steam up, water level and pressure, etc. No two cabs are the same, it seems!

 

 

Other NEWS

I came home to another little bit of excitement. After following last year's Icelandic eruptions, I carried on receiving the Reykjavik Grapevine Newsletter in which an unexpected issue arrived in my inbox yesterday commenting on more tremors and a possible eruption soon. This afternoon, another newsletter came with the following live broadcast.

 

 

I had time to replay and backtrack to7.30am to see the early smoke. It is looking quite spectacular now it is dark, even at the camera's distance.  I shall sit and have another session of watching over a mugacocoa.

I shall have to start wearing my Reykjavik Grapevine Eruption sweatshirt again. The Grapevine G logo is fused with a photo of the first eruption in March 2021, beautifully done.

 

 

Guess it is time to bid you all good night and nos da; and in Icelandic: góða nótt.

Polly

[brianusa]

By way of change our hot spell has returned to normal with a nice cool breeze cooling us all off, which saves on the Air Con.  Trouble is, its supposed to get hot again later in the week.  But its nice to have the windows open for fresh air for a while!

Spent the afternoon catching up on the EMs and listening to Classic FM - ideal summer day  - Busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find things not to do!   Uncle Remus😉

                                            Brian.  

Edited August 3, 2022 by brianusa

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, southern42 said:

It is looking quite spectacular now it is dark, even at the camera's distance.

Some nice fountaining there. 

 

The lava lake in the Halema‘uma‘u crater in Kīlauea continues to fume and smoke with some open sloppy patches in the crusted over lake. It's not very dramatic, but it is amazing just how much the crater has filled since 2018. The current eruption began on September 29, 2021.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, brianusa said:

By way of change our hot spell has returned to normal with a nice cool breeze cooling us all off, which saves on the Air Con.  Trouble is, its supposed to get hot again later in the week.

It's warm here (86°F / 30°C). Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler - in time for another 'heat wave' (96°F / 36°C) over the weekend which is less hot than last weekend.

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

@PupCam At least you aren't looking at Uranus

 

I'm told it's a good trick if you can do it .....

 

Night Awl!

[iL Dottore]

Good morning all,

 

Just a quick “drive-by“ posting this morning. I was up early (04:00 UK time) for a 06:00 (05:00 UK time) departure to walk the dogs, as yesterday already at 07:00 hours it was getting a bit too hot for Schotty’s comfort.

 

After the morning walk, it’s off to shop and acquire the ingredients for two dessert items I will be making it this weekend for Mrs ID’s cousin’s birthday: a tiramisu (the best in Nordwest Schweiz - though I say it myself 😃) and a coffee and walnut cake.

 

Talk later

 

iD

[TheQ]

At the moorings Awl,

A personal message from a member, cor don't get many of them, anyway I hope my reply this morning helped, and got there in time, as I might see them later.

 

A improvement in sleep again not so many wake up and turn overs.

Yesterday was a surprise, 

After routine rescue boat duties, BM took me out for three races, it was quite windy to start,

First race, did quite well, finishing half way up the fleet, beat some boats over the water.

 

Second race.

Did extremely well over took 2 of the fastest boats in the fleet. Ok the passed us just before the finish, but on handcap was first!!!!! BMs first first place...

 

Third Race 

Wind started dropping, held on the the leaders for the first lap, but the second their larger sail area really paid off.

 

Today is spoons day, big spoon for winning. Middle spoon for second , teaspoon for third . At one time they were silver, now just a shiny metal.. there is a range of trophies and silver cups to hold for a year too. We get a lot of competitors from other clubs today along with some club members who can't manage the whole week.

 

It's the traditional village regatta day. Old members turn up, we get a lot of visitors. The racing programme is different too I'd forgotten that when I committed to rescue boat duty every morning as there is an extra race BM could have entered this morning I'll hopefully remember next year.

 

Forecast 8 to 13 mph with a change from north westerly to north easterly mid afternoon. But at the moment there's not a drop of wind and the sun is shining.

Low tide 11:34.

 

Time too get muggacoffee number 2 and get the rescue boats ready...

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunny start with just a few cloudy things.  Plenty of sunshine today with the chance of an isolated shower.  Don't believe that will happen.  Currently 17°C and may reach 26°C.

Only one bin lorry due today and that's running late.  One of our neighbours had a Waitrose delivery at 6.00 (for the second time this week!) and boy was that noisy (again) with lots of banging and crashing of crates and van doors together with loud voices.  It woke The Boss up so she's not happy.  I was already on the move so not affected apart from thinking it somewhat thoughtless. 

We've got Sainsbury's due at 8.00 and apparently they've got everything we've ordered.

I've "won"  £30 and a Lucky Dip on the Lottery.  I say "won" because all that will do is replace some of my losses over the past few weeks.

We (I) will probably go for another hobble around the rec after breakfast.  The Hip has been groaning so I might take some pills before I go.

Still plenty of sport to watch today so that will probably grab my attention later.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by grandadbob

[polybear]

11 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Thanks. Still here but suffering from lack of mojo etc.

I stupidly thought things might improve now I’ve finished work and the new premises is up and running.

 

Anyway y’all keep well,

Goodnight.

 

Does this mean that EH has finally joined the retirement club?

 

9 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

If it's not the weather or the wildlife trying to kill you in Australia its space debris

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-62414438

 

"Exciting?"  Not sure I'd call it that if it landed on the Beary Bonce:

Experts described the discovery as "rare" and "exciting" - but said such events may become more common.

 

9 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Me thinks the Chinese government protest too much 

 

Perhaps China should remember that they are the largest goods trading partner of the USA.

 

7 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

I'm told it's a good trick if you can do it .....

 

Night Awl!

 

Bear finds that a strategically placed mirror helps, though that may be TMI....

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

........and a coffee and walnut cake.

 

 

🤮

 

46 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

One of our neighbours had a Waitrose delivery at 6.00 (for the second time this week!) and boy was that noisy (again) with lots of banging and crashing of crates and van doors together with loud voices.  It woke The Boss up so she's not happy.  I was already on the move so not affected apart from thinking it somewhat thoughtless. 

 

 

Sounds like a serious Bobbosnottogram to Waitrose may be in order.  Will it help?  Dunno, but it might result in a voucher as a minimum.

 

Bear here....

B&H Disposals Inc. are en-route as we speak........

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-62414609

 

If this video doesn't make a certain Supervillian blub.....

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/entertainment/stray-german-shepherd-was-crying-nonstop-until-she-was-rescued--the-dodo/vi-XXXXXXX?cvid=23aca87fbaba4e47bc63c3bdbe1e0fb9&category=foryou#ey8cV96Tz_Y_yt

 

Today sees Bear cutting & shaping the shelves to fit the alcove - new words (plus a few very naughty ones archived for special occasions) are on standby......

The gas man is due late this afternoon to give the Gas Fire & Back Boiler a very overdue** service - I figure that after all the dust of the last two years' refurb works it's probably a very good idea indeed.  LDC Vouchers will disappear shortly afterwards 😭

(**The last guy to do it was named Noah, who was saving for some wood apparently....)

Bear gone....

 

edit:  Where's @Grizz?  Hope all is ok.....

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by polybear

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a rather warm Charente. Due to get to 34 this afternoon. Yesterday it was 36 so most of the afternoon was spent in the lounge keeping cool near the fan.  We had managed to find the leak in the hot tub yesterday morning with a joint endeavour of me spraying soapy liquid and Beth watching for bubbles.  The offending tiny hole was marked with an X and the pool left to deflate. It got a patch applied in the afternoon and will be test inflated today.

 

In the evening we went to a concert by a youth orchestra from Jerez in Spain.  Part of a 2 week long music festival. After some interminable speeches from one of the organisers and the mayor, it got going about 9.30pm.  Beth and I were stunned by the quality. We'd seen many of the players wandering around in in their street clothes whilst we queued. Average age 14 to 17 I guess. Normal looking stroppy teens. Then on stage in proper attires, black dresses fir the girls, black trousers and white shirt for the boys.  Their enthusiasm and the quality of their playing was a joy to watch and listen to.  A brother and sister ( 15 and 8 yrs old I would guess) were the cello and violin soloists in pieces by Haydn and Mendelssohn.  They were just brilliant and the young violinist moved us both to tears. Yet after her encore she just laughed and skipped off the stage.  All in all a great evening.

 

Not a lot on the agenda today due to the heat. However this evening some friends are taking us to an organic produce market where we will have a picnic by the river.  Sounds good.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by jamie92208

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Here in the northwest corner of England, there are some clouds about but the sun is desperately trying to breakthrough them. Sheila is busy in the kitchen getting herself ready for her Zumba class, so as usual, I’m sat at the dining room table keeping out of the way. Once I’ve dropped her off at the church hall, I shall call and pick up her prescription and drop mine off. Then it’s home to give the washing machines dispenser tray a clean, where does all that black stuff come from? Once that’s done, I shall head off to the workshop and clear a space for Charlie, as I’ve taken up quite a bit of the table where he sits building my delay circuit boards. If I get enough time, I’ll try and build the last 2 before dinner and leave the testing until this afternoon. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[simontaylor484]

Morning all

 

Just having a late breakfast before going for my eye appointment 

Hope to be able to see to read later

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. According to the forecasters no rain for the next week plus. The lawn is parched, even the weeds are going brown. The bin wagons have been and gone headed by the lesser spotted glass and bottle wagon so everybody's awake. Now to get ready for this afternoons watching the (model) trains go by on a garden layout.

 

[PhilJ W]

8 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Morning all

 

Just having a late breakfast before going for my eye appointment 

Hope to be able to see to read later

Wishing you the best.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Her indoors has been poorly so I went to moreasons to do the shopping. I rewarded myself with a fat boys breakfast. Yummy!

 

Got some muddling to do then off to get my ears lowered.. busy, busy, busy!

 

Baz

Edited August 4, 2022 by Barry O

[Coombe Barton]

Rain at 5, clear at 6:30, heavy rain at 7, heavy Rain at 8, now warm sunshine.

 

Cornish summer

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

Well a most enjoyable hour or two was spent last night gawping skyward.      A few photographs of the star Deneb were taken, well 214, to be precise.     Deneb is a bright star that forms part of the "Summer Triangle" and the "Northern Cross", it is apparently the most distant bright star in our sky so I'll only be visiting it with the aid of the telescope!  😆

 

Those 214 images have been stacked and processed to reveal rather more stars than I could actually see which was probably around 7 or 8.   The smaller image shows the apparent size of the moon with this set up to provide an idea of the actual field of view (which isn't huge).     

 

 

 

Unfortunately the moon remained parked behind a tree in the back garden whilst I was outside and Jupiter had barely got out of bed and was masked by the mass that is Pupper Towers so I'll have to be patient to study those again!

 

Meanwhile, while I was enjoying the night sky it would seem that the Mossies were enjoying me!      I had approximately 25 bites on my back and arms when I woke up this morning - Pah!

 

Anyway, have have a good day.

 

TTFNQ

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by PupCam

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

…and a coffee and walnut cake.

 

3 hours ago, polybear said:

🤮

Oh dear me, just when The Bear was doing so well….

 

With that sort of provocation Captain Cynical is likely go ahead with his planned majority shareholder acquisition of Nestle S.A., PepsiCo, Inc, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, Diageo plc and Danone SA and - as majority shareholder in these large food and beverage companies - then change their “strategic focus”

 

Already, CC has been heard muttering about closing down the “unnecessarily expensive” oven chip factories and converting LDC production lines to the more upmarket (and profitable) coffee, nut and cream cake combinations.

p.s.Apparently, baked beans are “safe“ for now – although likely in line for 150% cost increase as production lines are switched to higher quality ingredients and recipes.

[DaveF]

 

Another year has gone by, it's my 73rd birthday today.  Am I supposed to start feeling and behaving old yet?

 

Yesterday started with a quick clean of the kitchen including the cutlery (I use the old silver which came from my grandmother).  Then I drove to the beach and had a very nice walk for about 2 miles along the sand picking up the usual shells as I went.  This time I found 10 cowries and a "painted topshell" which is mainly pale but has splashes of bright red on it.  It's quite a long time since I've seen one.  After that I drove to the flat to check that all was well before returning home for a coffee followed by a bit more gardening.

 

Just after lunch (another salad) the solicitor rang to ask if I could let them have a copy of Dad's death certificate as he was still mentioned in some of the flat's paperwork.  I knew where the copies were as I have already needed them several times so within ten minutes I was there, much to her surprise.  She has now been able to send everything to the buyer's solicitor.

 

Later on I spoke to my aunt again and heard all about the effects of the lack of rain on her garden and what her gardener has been doing.  Her garden is big so she has someone for a few hours a week as she is now 90.  Then the evening was spent listening to the Prom concert on Radio 3 and reading a book.

 

David

[petethemole]

Happy Birthday Dave.

[iL Dottore]

Happy Birthday, Dave.