Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Long day at the office. Standing on my own on a very warm afternoon has convinced me that I should retire from umpiring.. 

 

Today should have included drinks with neighbours but they are working.pah!

 

So .. a bit of painting to finish, followed by some muddling later.

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Baz

Edited May 28, 2023 by Barry O

[Grizz]

Morning All

 

I’ve been up for 2 1/2 hours already because at this time of year there doesn’t seem to be away of resetting the chook alarm clock. 
 

Slightly tired and just a fraction delicate this morning as we were out last night at a friend’s 50th and I had…a few. Tonight we are out watching number 1 cub’s band…where yet again I predict that I shall have…a few. Not sure that I can maintain this pace. God I feel old. 
 

I distinctly remember being in my late teens, regularly going out on the lash until late, then on to a club, rolling in at 5 and then hitting the shower, shoving down a bacon and egg sarnie, before rolling off to work. Albeit slightly knackered. Then doing it again the next night. 
 

But now I find just the thought of that totally and utterly exhausting….😂

 

Have a good one all. 
 

ATB Grizz

 

 

 

 

[DaveF]

A mix of sun and cloud this morning and noticeably fresher as the wind is just beginning to come in off the sea.

 

There isn't much planned for today so I'll see what happens.  At the moment I am replying to e mails and uploading photos.

 

David

[polybear]

5 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

1967 Holden Monaro. The original Monaro body shape, Holdens answer to the Ford Falcon for Bathurst before the Toranas took over.  This ones been 21st centurised with fuel injection. 

 

 

 

 

From that angle it looks decidedly similar to a Dodge Charger to this Bear.

 

27 minutes ago, Grizz said:

Morning All

 

I’ve been up for 2 1/2 hours already because at this time of year there doesn’t seem to be away of resetting the chook alarm clock. 

 

Gaffer Tape.

 

Bear here.....

Mickey needs a wash.  Again.  Is it dirty? Nope.  Is it covered in Bird Sh1t?  Yep. 🤬.  'Sterds.

 

Before - or after that I plan to start (and hopefully finish) fitting the upstairs doorframe achitraves.  Could be a very Big Tick - or very naughty words.

 

In other news....

Rule One:  Never, EVER p1ss off the SAS - it might just come back to bite you (let's face it, half of 'em are probably borderline unstable anyway):

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/australia-prepares-to-strip-its-sas-of-medals-in-controversial-move/ar-AA1bM90j?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=5c9747bb104345f180100559fce9de64&ei=49

 

Look out Boeing & Airbus - here we come......

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-65737081

 

And finally.....

How about picking on some of the scrotes for a change? - let's face it, there's plenty to choose from:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65735658

 

Bear gone.

[Coombe Barton]

Broken night's sleep for some reason.

Breakfasted, and trying to get my ar5e in gear to go to Aylesbury. I've warned the wallet to expect surprises.

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

 

Apparently, it will be sunny this afternoon. <<OK! I'll wait.>>

 

Toot on the flute with twiddly bits coming along at last. I have worked out all the twiddly bits from the video for the first line of the new song (of 8 beats - 4 notes to the beat - an awful lot of twiddly bits in that (14)! So, where I am up to in all this: Playing each twiddly bit (several varieties), more or less in time, in each phrase; and putting the phrases together. On watching the video again last night, I was reminded of how to smooth out the notes (adjustments to blowing as well as to the fingering) - taken on board and to be put into action from henceforth.

 

This morning, I intend to get in a recording session - to get used to the process, again. Why do I always leave things too long? No need to answer that! If I get part of a song down, it will be a start.

 

Mugadecaf and a deep breath, first.

 

Take care. Be good. Now, might be a good time.

Polly

Edited May 28, 2023 by southern42
A "w" got omitted; and an "a".

[Erichill16]

33 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Broken night's sleep for some reason.

Breakfasted, and trying to get my ar5e in gear to go to Aylesbury. I've warned the wallet to expect surprises.

Come on, get it in gear, you’ll regret not going once it’s too late. 
Your wallet may need some exercise, I’ve head he’s putting on weight!

[jjb1970]

Yet more proof that eating meat is fully compatible with a vegetarian diet. I myself am a lifelong vegetarian and eat meat three times a day.

 

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Recent ID card conversation compels me to share this story I saw recently:

 

CNN: Please wear clothes in your digital driver’s license photo, Georgia officials urge

 

Submitted without comment.

 

Hmmm.

There are a number of possibilities here:

1. the voting officials really are as dense as the proverbial pieces of lumber
2. the system is being run by nitrous oxide boosted “jobsworths” on steroids..
3. it is a deliberate and cynical ploy to keep the “wrong” citizens from voting….

Your guess is as good as mine…

 

(HINT: <The Man In The Check Suit - managing wagers for The Sporting Gent (a wholly owned subsidiary of CCI GmbH)> is no longer accepting bets on number 3….)

[Tony_S]

35 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

There are a number of possibilities here:

What perplexed me was how much of one’s body was supposed to be in the submitted photo. The one here is supposed to be head not torso, or whole body. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

eat meat three times a day.

At least sheep are vegetarian before they become mutton.

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear here....

When I crawled out of my Pit at 6am I was greeted by the sound of an Alarm low battery warning chirping every minute or so.  Turdycurses.

The smoke alarm in the Lounge?  Nope.

The Heat Alarm in the Kitchen?  Nope.

The Conservatory?  Nope.

The Hall or Landing?  Nope.

The Muddlin' Room?  Nope (x2)

The Little Bedroom?  Nope.

It won't be the one in the Bear Cave, cos' that would've driven Bear mad all night....

How about the one in the Airing Cupboard - or maybe the flood alarm in there?  Nope.

Another two flood alarms in the upstairs loo?  Nope....

Of course all this involves various disconnections of batteries/waiting to see if it chirps again etc. etc.

So it must be the flood alarms in the kitchen...I think there's three in there.  Doesn't sound like it's from there though - and two of those are behind kitchen cabinet plinths underneath the base units, so a bitofapig to get to.

RattinPigginTurdycurses.

And the answer?  None of the above.

I eventually discovered it was the Carbon Monoxide Detector in the Lounge (it's on the Mantlepiece, partially hidden by one end of the Telly).  At last.

And were the batteries low?  Nope.

The Alarm was one of those 10 year jobbies - so at the 10 year point the display showed "End" and the chirping commenced.......

So it looks like Bear is now shopping for a new CO Alarm.  Poo.

There may be a Rant there ........

One wonders why Bear Towers needs so many alarms. Surely, PB isn’t that paranoid? Or is it because Bear Towers is so old that it exudes Carbon Monoxide, Argon and other gasses on a regular basis and is prone to burst into flame at the drop of a hat?

I really am curious to know why PB has so many alarms.

Schloss iD was built at the end of the 50s when everyone in Switzerland was paranoid about “The Bomb” so it is built almost as solidly as any military bunker (for example, the walls of the Luftschutzkeller are - as far as I can ascertain from the thickness of the walls framing the entrance door  - about 50cm thick), so unlikely to suffer from structural fires. In case any of the house’s content were to burst into flame (unlikely as it may be) we have three all-purpose detectors placed strategically throughout the house.

 

An additional safety feature is that all buildings (at least in the Kanton I live in) get regular building inspections by the BauPolizei who ensure that all the building’s component meet and continue to meet the necessary standards (and who will order you to remove any unacceptable “add-on” you may have added to the structure - as I found out when the BP saw my Heath Robinson lighting system in the cellar*…). The frequency of inspections depend on a number of factors: age & type of building, major renovations, major house system upgrades (like putting in new heating) etc.

 

* I swear, when the chap from the Baupolizei saw my homemade electrical “arrangement”, he did the Swiss German equivalent of whistling through his teeth and asking “What cowboy put this up squire?

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by iL Dottore
Typo

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

I just didn't find the time to post yesterday, so before I go onto today's work, I'll give a brief recount of yesterday. I picked Ava up as usual then she and I made a lemon drizzle cake, we ate some last night, some went home with her and Sheila and I will finish the remaining bit tonight. 

 

Now to today, I've made a start sanding the walls of the workshop for a second time, I've done about half of the south wall, I'm currently taking a short rest before carrying on. 

 

Back later 

 

Brian 

[Erichill16]

Afternoon All,

Sat at Costa at Fox Valley, definitely De-da land, plenty of blue and white (Sheffield Wednesday)  attire  to be  seen. 
Swmbo at B&M getting me some ‘sports mix’ gums for the big day tomorrow. I have noticed that since taking them to the game results have improved significantly.
As I’ll be going down the smoke swmbo will insist that i wear my best attire, but i dont want to upset the good run by wearing new underpants etc. Whats the chance of getting run over, ending up in hospital and then dying of embarrassment?  

Edited May 28, 2023 by Erichill16
Spelling

[iL Dottore]

First, an important safety announcement:

Secondly…

Today Mrs iD visits her cousin - which invariably sees me in “Bake Off” mode before her visit. So, today’s bake is….

A Limoncello Cake (like LDC but for grownups)

Essentially a variation of the basic French Apple Cake batter with Limoncello replacing the rum and using Sicilian Lemon extract instead of vanilla extract. The batter was “artisanal” 😇 and just made with eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, the limoncello and the lemon extract. Nary an emulsifier, stabiliser or “modified” anything in sight….
 

The cake, once cooled, was “fed” with a few spoonfuls of Limoncello and then glazed with a simple icing sugar and lemon juice glaze. I did want to add either lemon zest or candied lemon peel (or both) to the batter, but didn’t have any in stock.

 

I don’t expect that there will be any leftovers (and that’ll be way before @polybear even twigs there’s cake about…)

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by iL Dottore
Word change.

[jjb1970]

I had one of those moments today where you'd love to laugh but know that to do so would result in dire consequences. 

 

My wife answered the door and it was some woman doing a survey for something or other, when my wife said something she clocked the Indonesian accent and immediately demanded to know if her master or mistress was available, oh dear.....not a good thing to say....... 

 

Actually, it does illustrate a real issue in Singapore. Attitudes towards maids can be terrible, there can be a very arrogant disdain for them. Some Singaporeans seem to assume anyone from the rest of SE Asia is either a maid (female) or manual labourer (male), it's not the best side of the country.

[45156]

Afternoon All,

 

Skipping has taken place due to (........insert a good reason here).

 

Generic greetings are of course, on offer and also of course, if anything urgent needs to be mentioned that I have missed, could some kindly soul please PM me.

 

Car boot fever over the last couple of days, Far Forest yesterday, and Leominster today - neither brilliant, though we did manage to spend a few quid on odds and ends - and I picked up six railway books for 50p each - I had some of them, but the ones I got are in better condition - all of them are certainly worth more - Power of the BR Standard Pacifics normally sells for between £5 and £10.  However, it has to be said that about half the sellers from Saturday were also the same sellers with the same stuff on Sunday.  We are taking a rain check on Tenbury Wells, tomorrow  as we expect it to be mainly the usual suspects again.

 

After we got back from the car boot, it was second coat time with the front door - now done, and looking good - change is very subtle, but has made the door much more "ours".

 

Dinner soon, and I think a large Scottish tipple will be partaken as soon as the sun is over the yard arm - AKA 2pm.*

* edit - now done - Laphroaig today still tasting in my mouth.

 

Guitar lovers, here's a version of Blackwaterside which is actually better than the version by my old acquaintance, the  late Bert Jansch with whom I shared a drink at the Half Moon in Putney on quite a few occasions.

 

 

 

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited May 28, 2023 by 45156

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Late on parade today, what with having  a long lay in and a soak in the bath. I overdid things yesterday what with the exhibition and a visit to Tess Coes later I was completely knackered. Also this morning Arthur Itis and Si Attica were in full voice.

[PupCam]

19 hours ago, polybear said:

A Guy I knew at work invited new G.F home for Tea with Mummy n' Daddy - best China, wearing their Sunday Best etc. etc.

The Cat strolls in, does an about turn in front of the Aspidistra in the corner, lifts his tails and then shat in the flowerpot whilst all looked on in total silence.  Mummy was mortified, by all accounts.

 

We've got a very old Aspidistra (family heirloom, used to be paternal grand mother's which she got circa 1910) lucky we haven't got a cat!

[polybear]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

One wonders why Bear Towers needs so many alarms. Surely, PB isn’t that paranoid? Or is it because Bear Towers is so old that it exudes Carbon Monoxide, Argon and other gasses on a regular basis and is prone to burst into flame at the drop of a hat?

I really am curious to know why PB has so many alarms.

 

 

Paranoid Bear?  Hmmm, possibly.......

However, the thought of either Fire or Flood at Bear Towers does fill me with dread, as either can do an awful lot of damage very, very quickly (of course the former can result in total loss very, very quickly).

So spending not very much to gain as much notice of impending doom is money well spent in This Bear's Book - at least it'll give me a chance to do something about it (yes, I would have a bash at putting out a fire if it was practical to do so).

Of course if either were to happen whilst Bear was out or away on Hols etc. then I would be up sh1t street without a paddle; I do always switch off as much as possible/turn the water off etc. when going away.

Some (many?) might say "they're only things and you're insured" etc. - but they're MY things and many are literally irreplaceable

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

First, an important safety announcement:

 

Those signs were conjured up by some Scurrilous Hippo intent on getting more than their fair share.

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

 

Nice, but you've been a bit light on the stickiness if you ask this Bear.

[Barry O]

Painting. Done , muddling sort of done, beast refuelled, bread buns bought, but.. where are the PP9 batteries? None available...pah!

 

Bas

[polybear]

Bear here....

Three door frames now architraved.  Big Tick.  I do need some beading to finish them off though, so that'll involve a trip to a Big Shed sometime.

As for washing Mickey...well it was 2pm by the time the architrave was done, then there was cooking din dins, then scoffin' it, then researching beading.....

OK, so Mickey didn't get a wash today after all.  That'll be tomorrow.  Hopefully.....

BG

[DaveF]

Today has turned out to be pleasant overall.

 

I had a moment of panic while writing my usual Sunday letters to e mail to friends and got a bit involved in what I was doing.  I happened to look up at the clock and found the church service started in just under 15 minutes.  Fortunately now the road works have gone the journey takes 4 minutes by car on Sundays, so I got there with time to spare - or more exactly time to check which passage I was reading, make sure that it had been printed out correctly and ascertain that the choir wasn't going to sing something between the viacr's bit and my reading.  It all went well, the microphone was working which always helps as the acoustics in the church are not all that good.  I was pleased as I didn't make any mistakes.  The sermon was once again thought provoking.

 

After the service I came home for coffee and finished writing the letters and e mailed them.  Then I got an easy lunch of ready made pulled pork which just needed heating, along with veg and a pudding.  I sat down in my comfy chair and dropped off for about 15 minutes, then I read for a while.  After that I listened to an old episode of the Navy Lark I found on BBC sounds, so it was a very old fashioned Sunday afternoon.

 

Once this is written I'll be going into the garden to move a pot of mint close to the back door and to put the spare tubs along the outside of the kitcehn wall, some to have herbs in, others something else, which I will have to go and buy.  After that I have some gladioli to plant.

 

Then it wil be time for tea followed by the usual relaxing evening with TV - probably Midsomer Murders, some music and a good book till bedtime.

 

David

Edited May 28, 2023 by DaveF

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all. Today was all-paws-on-deck from soon after breakfast as we had lunch guests. A former member of Dr. SWMBO’s team and now a good friend, with her partner and young son. 
 

Partner is in the unusual position of having a son younger than his grandson. You may guess that this couple are many years apart in age. 
 

Yours Truly is reasonably adept at producing a Sunday roast but to do so at 13 o’clock rather than mid-evening and for four-plus-child not for two was a tad different.

 

Himalayan black lava salt and crushed pink peppercorns were only the start. Steamed peas and broad beans were served with our own freshly-picked mint. Fart-balls of course. Julienne carrots were served with sage butter (our own sage, too). Roast potatoes and parsnips were voted “the best” and I was asked for my secret*. And the chicken with pork stuffing wasn’t bad either. 
 

* There isn’t one. I was using cheap supermarket white potatoes, par-boiled, drained and left to dry then roasted in sunflower oil at 175C until crisp and fluffy. 
 

 

 

 

 

[pH]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

My wife answered the door and it was some woman doing a survey for something or other, when my wife said something she clocked the Indonesian accent and immediately demanded to know if her master or mistress was available, oh dear.....not a good thing to say....... 

Lee Trevino tells a story of working in his front yard in the very classy neighbourhood in Texas in which he lived. A woman driving past stopped, got out of the car and approached him. She said she was looking to hire a gardener, was impressed with the work he was doing, but would need to get references before she would hire him. Trevino said “You could ask the lady of this house. She’s obviously happy with the work I do - she lets me sleep with her!”

Edited May 28, 2023 by pH