Early Risers.

[DaveF]

 

Having been posting here for a few weeks I thought I should perhaps say a little about the place in which I live, but without mentioning its name - those who know the area will recognise it.  It makes a somewhat longer post than usual - Sorry.

 

The town has a population of around 40,000 and is in Northumberland.

 

In the car it takes me 5 minutes to drive to the town centre (20 minute walk).  Parking is free and ample.  One of the banks I use still has a branch and there are shops.  The Doctors' surgery is also there, next to it is the small hospital which does X-rays and some clinics, if my GP says I need an X ray then by the time I can walk from the surgery to the X -ray room there wil be someone expecting me when I ring the bell at their door.  The dentist and optician are also within 5 minutes drive, I park on the road outside their buildings.  The specialist A&E hospital is 10 minutes away, the local general hospital is 15 minutes away.

 

I do my grocery shopping online, I have a choice of 6 supermarkets who deliver in the town along with several local shops,  Amazon also do local food deliveries.  If I miss a postal delivery the sorting office is in the town centre so collecting things is easy. Most of the courier companies use local people who know the area and are helpful - some even return later in the day if I am out when they have a parcel for me and are always happy to leave things with neighbours.

 

The Quayside and local park take about 6 minutes to drive to, the beach takes about 3 minutes (or a bit over 10 minutes on foot).

 

At the moment there is no station, but one is being built just over 0.5 miles from home and it will have a train every 30 minutes in both directions.

 

The downside - a minor point - there are only 3 roads in and out of the town, but there is no through traffic as there is no bridge over the estuary from the town itself to the north so all the traffic uses the main road just to the west of the town.

 

Now for yesterday's events.   I had a phone call from the estate agent saying they needed to speak to my solicitor, I told them to ring her, there was no need tor me to speak to her.  The agent seemed surprised that I had arranged for the solicitor to deal with minor things without talking to me first.  It was just to check that I am the executor, as the will has other names - the previous solicitor who died and a retired solicitor, the current solicitor has sorted it out.

 

Then I went to the beach for a walk, the flowers on the Links are lovely at the moment.

 

I spent much of the rest of the day reconfiguring the old shelving in the garage and moving things round to make it tidier.  Not everything is in the right place yet, but it is getting there.

 

After that I did the usual greenhouse watering - the first tomato is nearly ripe - and a bit of garden tidying between the showers.

 

I also did a bit more work on Mum's estate, including filling in forms about her Premium Bonds.

 

Lastly I put the things ready which need to go the tip - this time mainly my junk from the garage.

 

Anoter enjoyable and productive day.

 

David

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by DaveF

[PupCam]

Afternoon Awl!

 

22 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Aaah, there’s nothing like a little bit of black comedy to cheer one up! (And if it is tasteless and offensive, even better).

 

Almost by definition ......

 

15 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Don't see this on YouTube all that often:

 

And still not here .....

 

3 hours ago, BSW01 said:

This is morning I have been to attend an AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurism) screening appointment, later this month, which apparently is given to men in their 65th year!

 

I'm still waiting ...... (and they're late but no surprise round these parts)

 

In Other News

 

Had a busy few days with a relly who was staying with us, this included a "Day Flyer" down to the south coast on Thursday.     Oh how we enjoyed the delights of the M1, M25 and A3 (Not!).    Nevertheless it was worth enduring the journey for the joy that it brought all parties involved.    All has returned to normal.

 

The AJ's clutch had been surgically removed, cleaned, fettled, re-assembled and adjusted.    A brief test run yesterday seem to go well and clutch operation appeared to be significantly better than before so we look forward to the Sunday morning rideout to a suitable location for brekki tomorrow.    I believe gliders may well be visible at the destination subject to the weather.

 

Many thanks to those that PM'd me wrt a certain Bear.   They prompted me to phone Bear Headquarters (located within the Arctic  Circle I should imagine) once again.    You will be pleased to hear that the Great White One is fine even if the CBA bit is still set in his status register (computer talk).       It appears that Accurascale have missed out on at least two Deltic sales.    Both he and I have managed to resist the temptation to check out after clicking on the "Add to Basket" button on the website.     I hope they sell out soon as a Bear and a Pup each have only so much willpower!      Anyway, Bear thanks you all for your concern and he will be back in due course to annoy and amuse 😂

 

I managed to spot and photograph both Mars and Jupiter last night.   As it was at 3:00am and part of a nocturnal comfort break it was only a phone photo but at least I saw them with my own eyes AND have proof that I did.    However the thought of getting back in bed and nodding off was so much more appealing (at the time) than getting dressed and whipping out the old Newtonian Reflector so the bed won!

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

Newtonian Reflector has the sound of an euphemism 

 

[simontaylor484]

Good to see Jones the Steam is well I will never forget the episode where Idris the Dragon sings Land of My Fathers then fires the range at the chippy for the choirs supper.

 

[southern42]

28 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Good to see Jones the Steam is well I will never forget the episode where Idris the Dragon sings Land of My Fathers then fires the range at the chippy for the choirs supper.

 

 

Just do not put him in a wooden box!

 

And, yes. he says, he must post on his own thread, again. He is just waiting for his companions to go for a train ride with him...somewhere...sometime to report back on. I take that as a hint that he wants to come along with us to Betty Co-ed next time he has a day off. He had better bring his overalls and oily rag in that case.

[southern42]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Good to see Jones the Steam is well I will never forget the episode where Idris the Dragon sings Land of My Fathers then fires the range at the chippy for the choirs supper.

 

 

Cracking episode: Episode 2 The Egg. 

Currently available on britbox. I saw it on some other media fairly recently but I do not remember which.

Lovely set of early black and white videos here featuring Ivor and how he got to sing with the choir.

Edited July 2, 2022 by southern42

[simontaylor484]

Managed to get some reed screening stapled to the back fence. My apprentice wasnt particularly helpful today I don't think he was feeling very well. As part of his autism he finds it difficult to tell us what the problem is so begins a guessing game. 

In the end Swmbo have him some paracetamol and got him inside.

 

I managed to get some more buxus planted some of the last lot didn't take and I needed some more anyway. I bought the new lot from B&Q £8 for 10 plants 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Evening, the rain was a touch heavy last night, but seems to have exhausted itself thankfully. Nice day in Llandudno riding the tram up the Orme. 

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, PupCam said:

Many thanks to those that PM'd me wrt a certain Bear.   They prompted me to phone Bear Headquarters (located within the Arctic  Circle I should imagine) once again.    You will be pleased to hear that the Great White One is fine even if the CBA bit is still set in his status register (computer talk).       It appears that Accurascale have missed out on at least two Deltic sales.    Both he and I have managed to resist the temptation to check out after clicking on the "Add to Basket" button on the website.     I hope they sell out soon as a Bear and a Pup each have only so much willpower!      Anyway, Bear thanks you all for your concern and he will be back in due course to annoy and amuse 😂

It’s good to hear, Alan, that The Bear is still around - albeit not offering me any “sitting duck targets“ at the moment. I kinda miss sparring with that tight pawed, grumpy, LDC addicted, oven chip promoting, one tastbud equipped old Ursine.

 

Now, onto matters aviation: those who deign to remember will know that I am building three corporate aircraft: a 1/48 Dassault Falcon 10 (with a little help from Puppers on the lighting), a 1/72 BAe 125/Dominie Hawker 1000 and a 1/48 Bell Huey (UH-1 Iroquois). Captain Cynical has “acquired” (ahem) the Bell chopper from me as a personal transport for the CCI GmbH security service heads: Lucy “The Throat Ripper” and Schotty “The Emasculator”. Accordingly, I spent most of the day in my workshop ensuring that the Huey is delivered according to Captain Cynical’s demanding specifications. Obviously, client confidentiality prevents me from sharing any of the technical details. But I can inform you how it will be finished:

• The chopper will be in gloss black with white lettering.
• Insignia will include the CCI GmbH logo, the emblem of the CCI GmbH security service and aircraft number.
• The helicopter will be devoid of any national registration numbering.
• and as a big favour to Lucy and to Schotty the pilot’s and co-pilot’ doors will feature them in their guise as The Throat Ripper and The Emasculator

All flights of fancy aside, this is actually a great exercise and refreshing my modelling skills: I will be making my own 1/48 transfers from my own designs – using a font that I thought was exactly right for the “corporate image” which I found on the Internet; I also found a place site on the Internet that allows you to create your own imaginary logos for business, clubs or for fun – one of their logos was adapted for the CCI GmbH logo. I will also be getting my airbrush out of retirement and – given that I have never airbrushed using gloss paints – it should be an interesting and steep learning curve. I may even post some pictures of both of the designs and the finished helicopter.

 

Finally, I am looking forward to a long weekend as all my clients are based in the US and they have Monday off – it’s July the 4th (one could say that the “rebel alliance“ has successfully made it through another year!)

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Went down to the old shed this afternoon. Found a bag of potting compost went to pick it up and the (plastic) bag disintegrated. The compost was still OK so I put it in a bucket and stashed it away in the new shed. I will have to get the bits of plastic bag out of though. By the time I'd done that the pollen was taking effect and I retreated indoors. I did pop out to do a bit of shopping and I spotted a neighbour sawing up an old fence and putting it in a trailer. The top rail of some of my fencing needs replacing so I asked if there was any from his old fence. Unfortunately it was as rotten as a pear, even worse than that I need to replace.

Edited July 2, 2022 by PhilJ W

[Coombe Barton]

... I went to the camping shop to get a barbecue for the caravan. The one that Sandy and I had was just too big for one, and it was showing its age in the difficulty of cleaning. Bought it all, came out and it was p155ing down. So blame me ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/07/02/according-to-zoe-now-it-is-1-in-19/

[Tony_S]

We are in Devon. Journey was ok. We stopped for a couple of drink and snack breaks. We would have been too early to check in so had a small diversion to Knighthayes Court where we consumed some National Trust cake and tea and then wandered round their kitchen garden. We will return for a proper visit later in the week.  The cottage is pleasant, very old but modern inside, even had WiFi. The “authorised access only” track/road was interesting, single track with no passing places and vegetation hitting the car on both sides.  Aditi did ask if I were sure we were on the correct route. I knew we were but said even if it was wrong there was nowhere to turn yet. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Tony_S

[Ian Abel]

Ahhh Shatterday.

 

POETS taken yesterday, good thing too, as I was required to "handle" the requirements of a soaker hose for the shrubberies we'd had put in along with the new patio.

As is a tending situation here, and especially for ME, I've hardly carried any cash for several years now. So much easier to pay with a credit/debit card especially with the phone when I'm travelling.

Dutifully at the register in the hardware store, everything rung up and payment requested...whoops... credit card system t1ts up!! Had to go the the grocery store next door to the cash machine (HORRORS) and get actual MONEY! 🤯

 

That excitement over, on with a relaxing evening and dinner.

THEN, approaching bed time we had a visitor/unexpected guest...

 

 

 

NO WONDER the bl00dy bird feeder is empty many mornings when I check 🤪

 

Today - few errands, obtain squashed grape liquid (several bottles required for happy hour <hic>), sorting the garden hoses/soaker for the shrubs and later the neighborhood happy hour, the fun never ends!

 

Raining first thing, no paper AGAIN, 7th weekend in a row it arrives after 10am! 

16 at NO PAPER TIME <grr>, cloudy rain, expected to clear by happy hour, and a high of 26.

 

Tally ho.

[Barry O]

Early finish..one team was missing a number of players. Home team captain saw sense and put them in. 136 all out.. excellent cricket tea enjoyed then...16 oversnof bish,bash, bosh.. all done. 

 

@BSW01.. I await the call but won't hold my breath! Having had a good few MRIs of my heart as part of my clinical trials I think they may have dehave I don't need one.

 

Waiting for her indoors to return from the game she was scoring.. late finish for her..

 

Got back and the eeediot next door has his whole tribe round. At least they aren't drilling holes in the walls. They have had several excursions into our back garden as they are playing ball games... looks like one or two of our plants have been stood on in the process. They really are an inconsiderate bunch of twonks.

 

Baz

[simontaylor484]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

We are in Devon. Journey was ok. We stopped for a couple of drunk and snack breaks. We would have been too early to check in so had a small diversion to Knighthayes Court where we consumed some National Trust cake and tea and then wandered round their kitchen garden. We will return for a proper visit later in the week.  The cottage is pleasant, very old but modern inside, even had WiFi. The “authorised access only” track/road was interesting, single track with no passing places and vegetation hitting the car on both sides.  Aditi did ask if I were sure we were on the correct route. I knew we were but said even if it was wrong there was nowhere to turn yet. 

As I was reading that I thought I was going to read the words a small diversion to Pecorama.

 

 

It must be 15 years since we went to Devon 

 

Have a good holiday 

 

 

 

 

[Barry O]

Oh yes..and the forecast rain didn't appear. 

 

Seeing that deer has reminded me.. I nearly winged one today in Horsforth.  An unexpected meeting!

 

Baz

Edited July 3, 2022 by Barry O

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

... one could say that the “rebel alliance“ has successfully made it through another year!

Hmmm. Perhaps, but it doesn't much feel like it in the last couple of weeks and portents for the future feel grim.

 

On the subject of Independence Day celebrations, the preliminary barrage began (sporadically) on both Thursday and Friday nights. Some of the aerial bombardment was visible from my open windows, so they weren't far away. Fireworks are becoming progressively less permitted and are now illegal in both the City of Portland and the City of Vancouver* (proper) though the tents selling them are present in the suburbs. (They are not illegal in the suburb where I live.)

 

* The one in Washington.

 

With our wet Spring, they present less of a hazard than they did last year. Arguably one of the safest places to use them is on the beach at the ocean. Despite this looking like a war zone on the 4th, it is not legal to use them there, being the equivalent of a state park.

 

The weather is living up to 'normal' for the 4th. It is chilly (17°C at noon) and cloudy, with a threat of rain without it actually raining. Lately, the afternoons have been sunny, but the overcast looks more persistent today.

 

[simontaylor484]

@iL Dottore what site did you use for designing the logos for the 'copter 

My youngest wants to design DDSF logos

[brianusa]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

We are in Devon. Journey was ok. We stopped for a couple of drunk and snack breaks. We would have been too early to check in so had a small diversion to Knighthayes Court where we consumed some National Trust cake and tea and then wandered round their kitchen garden. We will return for a proper visit later in the week.  The cottage is pleasant, very old but modern inside, even had WiFi. The “authorised access only” track/road was interesting, single track with no passing places and vegetation hitting the car on both sides.  Aditi did ask if I were sure we were on the correct route. I knew we were but said even if it was wrong there was nowhere to turn yet. 

Devon lanes are notorious, especially those stone ones that are camouflaged by bushes and grass.  They can do damage for the unwary even in small cars and I often wonder how we would get on in a car like ours, typical American size.  They did considerable damage to a small car we owned back home! 😟  As for backing up, you'd better be good at it!

      Brian.

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Devon lanes are notorious, especially those stone ones that are camouflaged by bushes and grass.  They can do damage for the unwary even in small cars and I often wonder how we would get on in a car like ours, typical American size.  They did considerable damage to a small car we owned back home! 😟  As for backing up, you'd better be good at it!

      Brian.

The hedges on the main road to Combe Martin seem to have been flailed and trimmed recently. The track up the cottage did remind of other roads in Devon and Cornwall we have used in the past. . As well as rocks I recall ditches that are waiting for the unwary. The cottage instructions mention “mind the ditch after parking your car”. All worth it though, the cottage is comfortable and there are fantastic views. 

[Ozexpatriate]

At the movies the other day there was (inevitably) a trailer for "Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One" which included, along with quite evidently retouched close ups of the star, this:

 

While I imagine the 'crash' scene is CGI, earlier in the trailer this locomotive is seen hauling a train in CIWL blue.

 

It has a nameplate (which I can't make out):

This looked like a British design (and loading gauge) to me, but it doesn't look like a rebuilt West Country/BoB, Britannia or Peppercorn A1. Any ideas?

 

Before I froze the trailer my guess was a Britannia, but the details don't match.

 

EDIT, I should have just 'googled it'. Wikipedia has answers (below, highlight to see).

Ultimately, filming of the train wreck scene was expected to take place between April and June 2021, in the Peak District National Park in Stoney Middleton, on a constructed set in a disused quarry, with a railway line and part of a bridge over the cliff edge. After two weeks of suspended filming, the scene was filmed on August 20, when a mockup Britannia Class locomotive was propelled off the cliff into the quarry.

 

The internet delivers what was filmed.

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[zarniwhoop]

Still catching up with today's Tour de France - I expect most of you aren't particularly interested, but all theDanish flags (it starts in Danmark this year) made me thing of @Grizz- hope he's recovering from the lurgy.

[Coombe Barton]

5 hours ago, southern42 said:

Cracking episode: Episode 2 The Egg. 

Intentional or not?

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers all.

 

Wet day yesterday followed by a return to upper 20s today. Nothing much else to mention really, so instead, may I leave some additional forbidden footage...

 

 

These being E 18 17 in pre-1968 Deutsche Bundesbahn guise, and E 18 31 in Deutsche Reichsbahn appearance post-1970 as 218 031. With 53 original examples built in 1935-39 and two additional locos assembled in West Germany in 1954/55, DB had 41 locomotives at their disposal, the last of which were retired in 1984. Five of the DB locomotives had actually been acquired from East Germany around 1952 as Deutsche Reichsbahn could not make use of their capabilities at the time.

 

In the DDR, six examples had been kept with various degrees of war damage, and three locomotives were eventually restored utilising parts from the others. They were uprated for 180 kph as opposed to the standard 150 kph but could only exploit this capability in departmental roles, such as trials for new coaching stock. With E 18 40 having been withdrawn following an accident in 1969, the erstwhile 218 019 and 031 were the only DR examples to finish their service lives in East Germany.

 

Both the above models are Piko's extremely well done newly tooled rendition of this iconic type.

[Coombe Barton]

55 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

road to Combe Martin

That's posh if the price of the parking's anything to go by!