Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Strictly speaking, HMS Prince Of Wales the battle ship, HMS Repulse was a battle cruiser. 

[DaveF]

I've just been into the garden, the concussed sparrow has now gone.  I think it has recovered and flown by itself, there are no feathers lying around so presumably the sparrowhawk didn't visit.  I think it must have a very bad headache!

 

I did see a sparrowhawk in the far distance, being mobbed by a large group of starlings. In the end it flew away from them.

 

David

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Sunny and warm, yet again. I am beginning to love this. 😎  The dose may not, though! <sniff sniff>>

 

Interesting investigation, yesterday. My flute is an (small) A flute (Western D). The flute song undergoing the twiddly bits is played on a (small) G flute (Western C) in the video but it is recommended that it should be played on a D# flute if played with other musicians (some instruments preferring different key ranges) - not that I see that happening this side of a lot of learning! So, I scaled up the length of images of these sizes on the laptop.  The G flute I could probably manage but at a stretch. My A flute is 13.5 inches (34 CM) and suits my hand size beautifully. Go to G and it rises to 16 inches (40 CM) with fingering holes more widely spaced but should be possible.  Go to D# and we are now talking 19.2 inches (49 CM), larger diameter, and larger holes that look to be an impossible stretch for the right hand. <<arghhhhhhh!>>  

From A to D# - the difference between a soprano and alto recorder. The former, I dabbled in during my school days, the alto recorder looking a bit on the "big" side!

 

All points to staying with the A flute, at least, until I am more confident. Although if I carry on, it may be useful to invest in the G flute so that I can play-a-long with the tutor. I have got a whole lot of new Exercises to work through first - basically a repeat of the ones I have completed but with two extra notes in the scale (on my flute, the notes of D major but from A to A instead of D to D).

 

Mugadecaftime on the bench out in the sun, now, methinks. Protected from a breezy Nor'easterly, it should be quite nice out there.

 

Take care. Be good. Make the most of it.

Polly

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by southern42

[PeterBB]

16 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... Today moving stuff round in home to make room ... not all that successfully ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/29/down-more-and-was-the-appointment-too-good/

Also suggests that a certain person reallly believed he was not doing anything wrong in looking at the judgres pedigree.

[Erichill16]

Morning All,

Bit sore this morning, sore head, throat and back.

One of my usual daily shirt is blue. Put it on this morning and the thought better of it.  

Edited May 30, 2023 by Erichill16
Spelling

[Coombe Barton]

21 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

Also suggests that a certain person reallly believed he was not doing anything wrong in looking at the judgres pedigree.

Or that he was above the regulations

[Hroth]

@southern42 if you want stretch, I used to play recorders for an early music group, still got my Moeck Rottenburgh alto, though I've not played it properly for years. I played tenor and bass recorders too, now they needed big hands!

 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Strictly speaking, HMS Prince Of Wales the battle ship, HMS Repulse was a battle cruiser. 

 

Bearing in mind the standard of BBC reporting they did pretty well to spot that they were Ships......

 

2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Morning All,

Bit sore this morning, sore head, throat and back.

One of my usual daily shirt is blue. Put it on this morning and the thought getter of it.  

 

Bear has just seen a reply of the SW Goal - it was a good 'un, though Barnsley were bluddy unlucky to get that far thru' the game then lose it right at the very end of E.T.

BG

[southern42]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

@southern42 if you want stretch, I used to play recorders for an early music group, still got my Moeck Rottenburgh alto, though I've not played it properly for years. I played tenor and bass recorders too, now they needed big hands!

 

 

Where's the envious button? 🟢

 

Playing early music was my thing at college - William Byrd's Pavane, The Earle of Salisbury, my favourite at the time. I was fortunate that they had a spinet to play it on, even though it was later than the music itself. It sounded so much better than the piano. I only wished I had carried it through to my finals because the Beethoven variations I played, although I loved them, really needed bigger hands/longer fingers. 

 

Polly

[Hroth]

17 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

Where's the envious button? 🟢

 

Playing early music was my thing at college - William Byrd's Pavane, The Earle of Salisbury, my favourite at the time. I was fortunate that they had a spinet to play it on, even though it was later than the music itself. It sounded so much better than the piano. I only wished I had carried it through to my finals because the Beethoven variations I played, although I loved them, really needed bigger hands/longer fingers. 

 

Polly

 

We played consort/broken consort music with spinet and lute when available.  TBH the earliest we ventured into was Susato, one member of the group had a collection of crumhorns, which were fun to play!  We also played in support for a group of early dance performers which was fun too.

 

[Coombe Barton]

@Hroth @southern42 My only claim to fame, except for singing in choirs, is that I actually heard David Munrow in concert in 1968/9

[TheQ]

Music.. me.. certainly the playing and singing of is definitely ear plug time.

 

Afternoon Awl,

Slow drive to the old place of employment, due to a very wide load, the deck and cabin moulding of a very big yacht. Two motorcycle out riders, police car, long lorry  big overhang, another police car..

 

Had a nice visit, collected key which has changed from a keycard to a fob. There are instructions with it I haven't read yet..

My old lab equipment has been moved around so two people can use the equipment.

Left lots of radar museum flyers 😁

 

Drove back.. long queues.. bin lorry collecting in the road works again, two lots of red before I got through.

Tes and Coes very busy, chocka even, took some time to shop and escape. Bought more than I intended, though a case of doom bar was partly responsible.

 

Ben taken for his long walk, the first section I tripped on brick rubble filling a hole.. it sent shockwave through my back, he was most attentive for the next ten minutes , he kept coming back to see if I was OK.  Anyway so when we finished that section I was in no state to take the full long route, however much he tried to persuade me. So it was just the medium route today.

 

An hours eyelid inspection was had, back much better now.

The evening meal has been prepared, just awaiting SWMBO, who is due in 20 minutes, Ben keeps getting up every time a car approaches.

 

 

[DaveF]

During the morning I got all the plants I bought yesterday into their tubs, having first topped up the tubs with some new compost.  I had just the right number with none left over. After a break for coffee I threw out some very old clothes and also went through the bed linen I'd brought back from Mum's flat last year.  It has taken me until now to feel able to do it.  As you might expect some has been kept, some has gone in the bin as it was very worn, at the time I hadn't realised how ancient some of it was.  There were some new sheets and pillow cases and an almost new duvet cover, I am keeping those as spares.

 

After the usual Tuesday salad lunch the sun put in an appearance so I drove to Cramlington's Azure garden centre to buy some plant pot bases as I couldn't get them yesterday - ones for standing big pots on are not always easy to find.  I also got a packet of seeds (Schizanthus) I'd wanted for some time.  I notice that nowhere seems to have scented geraniums, I may have to order a few for the greenhouse.

 

That bit of shopping didn't take long so I dove the half mile or so to Northumberlandia, the big female human landform sculpture.  A few photos are below, you can get an idea of its size when you see the humans in the first photo.  I called at their cafe for a mug of tea and a cheese scone - for once very light and delicious.

 

While I was gardening I noticed a very unsteady young sparrow moving about in the shrubs, it semed to be having problems balancing.  I wonder if was the same one that knocked itself out this morning.

 

Head of Northumberlandia

 

 

 

View east to the sea from head of Northumberlandia

 

Looking north west from Northumberlandia

 

 

Simonside hills from Northumberlandia.  It was very hazy.

 

 

Ferns in woodland by Northumberlandia - they are probably bracken in fact.  I must look properly next time I am there.

 

David

Edited May 30, 2023 by DaveF

[Coombe Barton]

First working day 0of the week - thought that enthusiasm may be on offer.

 

Wrong.

 

Crewe at the weekend? Scalefour Crewe? 

[AndyID]

Spam phone call this morning that showed as coming from Choctaw, Oklahoma. We don't know anyone In Oklahoma so we ignored it but Choctaw did ring a bell about a song.

 

After a little searching it was, of course, Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe".

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by AndyID

[PupCam]

Afternoon All

 

6 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

@Hroth @southern42 My only claim to fame, except for singing in choirs, is that I actually heard David Munrow in concert in 1968/9

 

.... and mine that I sat on the next table to Roger Whittaker on the roof top bar of the Hotel Forum in Rome.   He didn't know it was me and luckily he was not exercising his musical talents at the time 😂

 

In Other News

 

We enjoyed a pleasant trip to St Ives (not the "next the sea" one!) yesterday.   We stumbled around an antiques fair although there was precious little to get excited about on display.    Then we wobbled down an attractive footpath by the river in order to visit the town.   A nice prawn salad in a bar close to the river served as lunch followed by a wander around the Bank Holiday market and then a further wobble back up the path to retrieve Monty.      We stopped off and circumnavigated the Holt Island nature reserve during the return wobble which was rather nice and rather more peaceful than the Tempsford Millennium Garden Sanctuary which is all very nice with the one exception that it is located literally within feet of the northbound carriageway of the A1 dual carriageway.   Peaceful sanctuary it is not!

 

 

Anyway,  St Ives was rather pleasant on a sunny afternoon.

 

   

 

In other other news

 

The Beeza's cush drive, clutch and chaincase  has been stripped down yet again.  The source of the problem appears to be a shoddy repair to the rear case at some point in the dim distant past.  There is an area around the gearbox drive shaft hole that should be depressed to accommodate a big felt sealing washer whilst leaving the slidey plate I mentioned previously to slide on the main surface of the case.   It looks like new material has been (badly) welded in place in this area probably following a "secondary chain chewing its way through the side" event.   In doing so the area seems to have lost most of the depression and so the plate stands proud and thus reducing the clearance between its slimline mounting bolts and the edge of the primary chain.

 

 

 

Such neat welding .......

 

A quick look on Ebay revealed a potential replacement in good shape albeit slightly rusty.  Unfortunately checks revealed that it is the wrong size so that won't work!   Cogitation on options for remedial action is ongoing.

 

It looks like I will be preparing pasta in a white sauce with bacon and gammon lardons for dinner this evening.   I would not of course call it Carbonara!

 

TTFNQ!

 

 

 

 

[Hroth]

57 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

@Hroth @southern42 My only claim to fame, except for singing in choirs, is that I actually heard David Munrow in concert in 1968/9

 

The group I was in took part in the Chester Music Festival one year, one of the members of the judging panel was rhe lutenist James Tyler.

 

We didn't cover ourselves in glory....

 

My interest in early music started to take off in the mid-70s so I missed hearing David Munrow live.

 

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

.... and mine that I sat on the next table to Roger Whittaker on the roof top bar of the Hotel Forum in Rome.   He didn't know it was me and luckily he was not exercising his musical talents at the time 😂
 

I did once share an elevator with Kate Bush at the Royal Angus in Brum when she was at the height of her fame.

 

[Coombe Barton]

8 minutes ago, Hroth said:

My interest in early music started to take off in the mid-70s so I missed hearing David Munrow live.

 

It was a free (to students) lunchtime concert at Leicester University. 

[iL Dottore]

53 minutes ago, TheQ said:

…Ben taken for his long walk, the first section I tripped on brick rubble filling a hole.. it sent shockwave through my back, he was most attentive for the next ten minutes , he kept coming back to see if I was OK….

I had a similar experience with Schotty - although I went flying off a bicycle….

 

We had started to train him to do Bikejoring and we were going for a moderately paced run through the woods. Schotty was attached to the bike by a WalkyDog (a sprung, shock absorbing, side attachment that allows the dog to run alongside the bike), when all of a sudden he spotted something (rabbit? squirrel?) and decided to hare off after it - I went flying. After a minute or so after he reached the end of his tether, he came back to me, still sprawled - winded - on the ground and looked down at me with an expression of “whatcha doing down there guv? You OK or wot?”. He stayed with me until I clambered back on my bike and then proceeded to trot alongside the bike with an attitude of  “nothing really happened, right? I won’t tell Mrs iD if you won’t”

 

Our Bikejoring days were over…

 

Anyway I hope that the back is sorting itself out (remember the pink pills 🙂) and you’ll be up and sailing soon…

[woodenhead]

So today I arose from slumber knowing it would be my last day with a full set of teeth.

 

I've not mentioned it so far as losing a tooth has been the thing that has worried me all my adult life, I wasnt taught to clean my teeth as a child I learn't it was wrong on the bus home from school as a teenager - how the hell was that allowed to happen and why did no-one take action after I had a tooth removed when I was a wee nipper under gas.

 

My teeth at the back are battered and a spate of grinding in my forties did most of the molars in and have one tooth that is three fillings above the gumline.

 

I had one tooth that was broken and infected, it needed to come out but I figured maybe I would die before I really needed to take it out so I left it despite it regularly knifing my tongue, then another tooth went rogue at the beginning of the first Covid lockdown and for months I was in silent agony as I would not tell Mrs W lest she frogmarch me to the dentist.

 

Then in April this year the rogue tooth decided to snap off a corner and I knew it was doomed, now I needed two teeth out.  My anxiety went off the scale and by the middle of May I was convinced I needed at least 5 molars out and my gums were all wrong, I'd taken to using Corsodol mouthwash to try and calm things down but all that did was turn my teeth brown.

 

I tried to tell Mrs W but couldn't get the words out, I tried to ring the dentist but kept putting it off, I knew if I vocalised it then it became real and I could not avoid it.  Eventually whilst down the gym one day the logical side of my brain managed to get a hold of me and I drove straight to the dentist where amazingly I got an immediate appointment - a big check up and four x-rays later I was told, it was just the original two teeth that need pulling everything else is fine but I'll need a good clean up in a couple of months. 

 

So today I went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled, awake and only with the usual local anesthetics, apart from the pushing to break the cartilage I didn't feel a thing, though it is customary for me to go a little faint after any high anxiety moments.

 

Mrs W went with me as my carer but I came out smiling and after having walked home I am now back in my office.  I've taken a couple of Paracetamol for the pain to come but the worst is over and I know what to expect in two weeks when the other one comes out.

 

A lifetime of fear and anxiety has left my body - useful for ensuring both my children grew up with good teeth and they have, so no need for it any longer.  I mean to have a level of anxiety so great that death seemed the better option looks ridiculous to me now, but I actually felt that way and I cannot believe it.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

 

 

 

Such neat welding .......

 

 

Just nip over here with it. With all the kit available I'm sure we can sort it out PDQ.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, AndyID said:

the in thing is to have a four-seater buggy thingy

Quad-ATV/UTV* or 'golf cart'? Or something else?

 

* Utility task vehicle

 

This one is probably bigger than the Mini Moke. There are even 6-seater versions.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

I did once share an elevator with Kate Bush at the Royal Angus in Brum when she was at the height of her fame.

 

 

Bear sat behind Jimmy Nail on a BA flight to Edinburgh.....

 

52 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

So today I arose from slumber knowing it would be my last day with a full set of teeth.

 

I've not mentioned it so far as losing a tooth has been the thing that has worried me all my adult life, I wasnt taught to clean my teeth as a child I learn't it was wrong on the bus home from school as a teenager - how the hell was that allowed to happen and why did no-one take action after I had a tooth removed when I was a wee nipper under gas.

 

My teeth at the back are battered and a spate of grinding in my forties did most of the molars in and have one tooth that is three fillings above the gumline.

 

I had one tooth that was broken and infected, it needed to come out but I figured maybe I would die before I really needed to take it out so I left it despite it regularly knifing my tongue, then another tooth went rogue at the beginning of the first Covid lockdown and for months I was in silent agony as I would not tell Mrs W lest she frogmarch me to the dentist.

 

Then in April this year the rogue tooth decided to snap off a corner and I knew it was doomed, now I needed two teeth out.  My anxiety went off the scale and by the middle of May I was convinced I needed at least 5 molars out and my gums were all wrong, I'd taken to using Corsodol mouthwash to try and calm things down but all that did was turn my teeth brown.

 

I tried to tell Mrs W but couldn't get the words out, I tried to ring the dentist but kept putting it off, I knew if I vocalised it then it became real and I could not avoid it.  Eventually whilst down the gym one day the logical side of my brain managed to get a hold of me and I drove straight to the dentist where amazingly I got an immediate appointment - a big check up and four x-rays later I was told, it was just the original two teeth that need pulling everything else is fine but I'll need a good clean up in a couple of months. 

 

So today I went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled, awake and only with the usual local anesthetics, apart from the pushing to break the cartilage I didn't feel a thing, though it is customary for me to go a little faint after any high anxiety moments.

 

Mrs W went with me as my carer but I came out smiling and after having walked home I am now back in my office.  I've taken a couple of Paracetamol for the pain to come but the worst is over and I know what to expect in two weeks when the other one comes out.

 

A lifetime of fear and anxiety has left my body - useful for ensuring both my children grew up with good teeth and they have, so no need for it any longer.  I mean to have a level of anxiety so great that death seemed the better option looks ridiculous to me now, but I actually felt that way and I cannot believe it.

 

You could always get an implant - apparently several teeth (presumably they'd need to be next to each other) can be hung from one Rawlplug.....

Expect pain when you get the bill though**

(**At a guess you'll be looking at the wrong side of at least 12 Deltics now).

 

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

In other other news

 

The Beeza's cush drive, clutch and chaincase  has been stripped down yet again.  The source of the problem appears to be a shoddy repair to the rear case at some point in the dim distant past.  There is an area around the gearbox drive shaft hole that should be depressed to accommodate a big felt sealing washer whilst leaving the slidey plate I mentioned previously to slide on the main surface of the case.   It looks like new material has been (badly) welded in place in this area probably following a "secondary chain chewing its way through the side" event.   In doing so the area seems to have lost most of the depression and so the plate stands proud and thus reducing the clearance between its slimline mounting bolts and the edge of the primary chain.

 

 

 

Such neat welding .......

 

Can it be it be easily removed and milled flat?

[AndyID]

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Quad-ATV/UTV* or 'golf cart'? Or something else?

 

* Utility task vehicle

 

This one is probably bigger than the Mini Moke. There are even 6-seater versions.

 

Quad utilities I think. Some seem to be bigger than my Fiat Spider 😀. They seem to be street-legal here.