Early Risers.

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 A turkey has been ordered.   

To do what exactly?

[Kingzance]

Good something from a still very wet NEHerts,

 

Yesterday's trip to the old place was pleasant even if rather tiring for the chauffeur but we survived so that I can spend today dipping my hand into the stash of modelling tokens as my elder grandchildren purchase gifts for their family. I noted last night how aged are little group is becoming and that a number of the congregation admitted to shouting at the haunted fish tank just as I do. There must be hope for me still .

I know John (Combe Barton) has had a tough year but his photo posted yesterday shows a little light shining over him - how nice given the precipitatings that seem to be the endless accompaniments for the rest of us. 

I have noted with some concern the parallels (not small metal ones) between those avowed followers of the "senior scale" and the present First Lord of The Admiralty, the latter who (according to The Times) is planning to cut six "two star" admirals from the stone frigate known as HMS Whale Island before the SoS for Defence does it for him. That article indicates we have presently 43 Admirals, probably more than the number of bishops (excluding our Bill) and certainly more than the number of ships that could sail!  I trust that the pannier tanks at least will survive any cull. In this season of "something or other as long as it is profitable", I give you a reworked set of lyrics for "Silent Night", other varieties of course being available.

 

Pannier tanks, Prairies too,

Mid Chrome Green, black won’t do,

Flowers and Birds, Castles and Star,

Halls and Saints all journey so far,

Chocolate and cream for ‘ere,

Chocolate and cream for ‘ere.

 

Anyone for another mince pie?

[Happy Hippo]

When the Obergrumpenfuhrer was a small child, she went to an auction at Ball and Boyd's in Llandudno.  There she bid for and won an old doll's cot.

 

After many years of happy play, it was stored and was then used by our daughter for her dolls.

 

It was then stored again.

 

Now the Obergrumpenfuhrer is just finishing the refurbishment of this to give to our granddaughter as a Christmas present. (It was she who started doing the sanding in the conservatory after the Christmas decorations were put up:  I'm glad I was not on the receiving end of the first class rollocking she gave herself.)

 

My contribution was to clean up the round slides. 

 

"How did you get them so shiny so quickly my dearest?"

 

"I have my ways."  (And a lathe)

 

But this cot must have been quite old when it was won at auction, and the fact it's still sturdy enough to be played with says a lot for the longevity of old fashioned wooden toys.

 

I wonder how many of the 2019 version of X Box will still be played with in 50+ years time?

Edited December 22, 2019 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

We may go for a walk later. Preferably not at sea level as all the rain going out gets trapped by the flood gates until low tide. We will probably go to Hyde Hall and look at the winter shrubbery. 
Aditi is busy studying the British Isles this morning. John (CB) sent an Ordnance Survey Quiz for her. She didn’t get all the answers correct so as she believes testing should be formative she is studying. I didn’t know there are some new map symbols. The quiz did rate her as an excellent geographer though.

Our next planned holiday event is probably next Saturday in Enfield, unless of course we need to go shopping but I suspect that would only be for something like milk. 
Tony
 

[petethemole]

Solstice greetings and Yule Blessings to all ERs.

 

Pete

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a lot to do today except to get bread and newspaper. The Christmas crush will be horrendous at Tess Coes if you can find somewhere to park. A couple of days ago some numpty parked their car in the trolly bay, the registration was noted by the trolley collectors. Tea to be drunk, be back later.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun was shining when we got up earlier, but it has gone a bit cloudy now. We’ve had our usual Sunday morning lie-in with breakfast in bed. Now up with muggertea No2 and about to do a few small jobs for Sheila, these are mainly cleaning some of her jewellery and earning brownie points at the same time! After that there’s not a lot planned, but that may well change.

 

Enjoy the day, back later. 

[roundhouse]

Good afternoon from a brighter Surrey than earlier. 

 

Been in the shed laying the first four turnouts in the new fiddleyard. It will soon be ready for wiring to commence. Maybe out this afternoon for beer but waiting to hear from others otherwise its back into the shed.

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,  

5 more drawers constructed, adjusted and installed,  the bottom of the top tray of the toolbox was installed as well..  Tomorrow the side of the top tray needs to be installed, some reinforcement to the tray,  then the central tray divider / handle support. After that, the 3 doors/ lids need making, before starting finishing work, sanding/ painting / varnishing. 

 

SWMBO took Ben for his long walk,  the farmers been cutting the hedge brambles,  hence more tennis balls returned than went. 

Ben is playing with his hedgehog again.. 

 

I think it's time to enter snooze mode.... 

 

[81C]

Good afternoon 

(I'll type this again) I went to bed early last night and Lady Horsell texted me she let me know what her intentions were it was very late when the light went off

I can't remember the last time I felt this happy we continued this morning amongst doing house work, so I its Milk Tray and a bunch of roses to buy tomorrow,

Enjoy your day I.M. Overde-Moon

 

BTW there's a tax scam just appeared in my email be careful

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Tesco duly visited and navigated fairly well although the checkout queues were long - but moving well in the one I chose.  No suffering in the shop from dithering a r souls but one half baked motor vehicle driver decided to conduct his vehicle along a very obvious footpath for some totally unfathomable reason which might potentially be linked with 'seasonal good cheer' because it defies any other explanation.  Anyway we went from me 'going out for the 'papers' ti o us going out 'for a few things we still need' - the same will probably happen again tomorrow because one of said 'things' had sold out within just over an hour of the shop opening (it is not essential anyway, I think).

 

In the true spirit of Christmas (???) today we had to clean the tops of all the wall units in the kitchen.  Why today I'm far from sure but I presume that's the first sign of spring and its cleaning as we're past the shortest day (more or less).

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all.

[TheQ]

Fancy going to the pub... Wear you wellies.. 

https://www.facebook.com/100015248792878/videos/772344823283804/?t=1

[TheSignalEngineer]

7 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

Anyone else having serious problems with Hermes

They managed to lose a pair of shoes ordered by Mrs SE last month. Got misdirected somewhere and no trace. Only going from Bradford to the Dark Peak, takes about an hour to drive on a good day.

Any road up, visiting rescheduled for later date without need of car. Boys are coming over for Christmad so using the time I would be sitting in a traffic jam to tidy the railway room for an operating session later in the week. Track cleaned and points tested. Only problem one set of points in fiddle yard may be a bit distorted. Not a big problem as they are usually run over trailing  but some things derail if propelled over them. Will put the level on them tomorrow to see if they need tweaking or replacing. Then it will be empty the mini Dyson and see if there is anything to reclaim from the Carpet Fairy.

[leopardml2341]

Wood butchering (see earlier) completed, not as disastrous as expected but a compound mitre saw costing the thick end of £200 should really perform better. OK, so it's 2 or 3 years old but it hasn't had that much use however if I choose a preset cut angle I really would expect it to be somewhere close.

 

Managed to sand a bit of mi thumbnail and thumb away with the belt sander, but no real damage i.e. it doesn't hurt.

 

Hope everyone is well and has survived the slightly longer daylight

[Coombe Barton]

Robins, market, and sound like cool jazz.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/12/22/sounds-of-the-season-22-o-rex-gentium-and-a-robin-singing/

[Coombe Barton]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi is busy studying the British Isles this morning. John (CB) sent an Ordnance Survey Quiz for her. She didn’t get all the answers correct so as she believes testing should be formative she is studying. I didn’t know there are some new map symbols. The quiz did rate her as an excellent geographer though.

I didn't get them all right, either. New map symbols came as a surprise to me as well, but they're mostly intuitive for function.. And who's supposed, without looking it up, to know the most popular OS map? I also got the Scottish loch wrong.

[Joseph_Pestell]

On 20/12/2019 at 18:06, Gwiwer said:

 

 

They would be welcome to some of our surplus water.

 

 

 

Same here. If we get any more rain, we will be cut off. As it is most local roads are closed and the remaining open roads all have long lengths of puddle up to 9" deep. I need another 4x4,

 

Went over the old bridge at the bottom of Ludlow town centre on Friday afternoon. If I had seen the river beforehand, I might not have chanced it.

[JohnDMJ]

14 hours ago, pH said:

High tide this morning:

 

 

11 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

That's a nice image, but I'm guessing the water level is not supposed to be quite that high.

 

Puts a benchmark on the situation.

 

4 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Good afternoon from a brighter Surrey than earlier. 

 

Been in the shed laying the first four turnouts in the new fiddleyard. It will soon be ready for wiring to commence. Maybe out this afternoon for beer but waiting to hear from others otherwise its back into the shed.

If you don't hear from them, it might be a good point to switch to other friends!

[45156]

9 hours ago, Barry O said:

Anyone else having serious problems with Hermes?

Yes Barry - I ordered some 40mm shade rings to replace one that I lost on a new uplighter - it may have fallen off in the car park, or it may be in the car, but I didn't find it there.  Free postage and seller used Hermes, with an estimated delivery of 6th December, never arrived, emailed seller, replacement sent, never arrived, emailed seller, and replacement sent by 1st class post arrived the following day.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Good afternoon from the Hill of Strawberries.  Where we put the Wait in Waitrose.

 

Yesterday's shopping trip to Fortnum & Mason's and Liberty's saw us negotiate for planet space with the rest of our species.  The train was filled, the tube was filled, the streets were filled and Fortnum & Mason was - well we tried to get in the doors but were unsuccessful.  We walked up to Liberty's which was just about accessible at street level though we found much more room inside.  Nothing was liberated however and I was advised by SWMBO that this was "just a looking trip".  We queued for 15 minutes for a table at the in-store café (which all things considered wasn't that long at all) and enjoyed a rather good afternoon tea.  

 

We then took the bus back towards Waterloo in order to enjoy the illuminations and experienced some of TfL's (Transport Failing Londoners) Christmas Cheer.  The bus displayed Waterloo as its destination and the announcements said the same.  It was full with a good number standing so possibly 80 on board many of whom were struggling with children, buggies, bags and packages.  Halfway along the Strand the bus pulled up and the announcements changed to "This bus terminates here".  As few made any move the driver confirmed that by turning off all the lights and we were left to make out way downstairs in the dark.  I asked the driver why this was happening as the destination still showed Waterloo - he ignored me and rudely turned his back.  So 80 or so people were summarily dumped in the street only to watch the driver pull away, turn on the lights and pick up a load of passengers at the next stop.  Quite why the driver acted as he did will need to be looked at because a complaint went straight in to TfL via their "tell us" app.  Merry Flipping Christmas from the Red Bus People.  Grrrrr.

 

Today has been one of three halves.  A quiet breakfast gave way to a lovely sunny stroll into town in order to top up supplies.  The Wait in Waitrose began with the queue for trolleys.  It was then a case of everyone for themselves inside with aisles choked with shopping humanity.  I joined a till queue with eleven people in front - all seemed to be the same sort of length - which moved incredibly slowly.  As I got closer it became apparent that the operator was checking closely that every single item had scanned.  Nothing wrong with that in theory but it did slow the process down somewhat.  Three trolleys ahead of me a woman with two teenage daughters was attempting to purchase many bottles of gin and a small amount of food.  Her card was declined.  She insisted on holding everyone up while she transferred funds from another account.  There was still not enough.  She promptly grabbed both daughter's phones and demanded their access details in order to drain their accounts too.  All very frustrating and rather sad.  After an additional ten minutes wait she was finally able to pay but left us feeling rather sorry for her family.  What sort of person does that?  Let alone does it in a very public place?  

 

Domestic engineering has occupied the afternoon and now it is time to sacrifice a cluckbird.  The House of Fun awaits in the morning.  I have a three-day week which is at least a short break from the usual proceedings although trains will be exchanged for car and a 75 mile drive each way.  

 

 

[petethemole]

Re the gin buyer, if either of the daughters was under 18 she should not have been served.

[45156]

Evening All

 

It has taken two days to get fully caught up with the goings on hereabouts, and some threads haven't been visited at all this week - all down to jobs domestic, and to painting the kitchen.  We finally finished the job this afternoon - though 30747 has some idea that the walls and ceiling need two coats to get a good depth of colour, so there may be some revisiting tomorrow.  Anyway, I proffer the usual generic greetings, birthday wishes, and commiserations as required.

 

Apart from the painting, we visited the local antique centre, and were pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of new dealers have taken over some of the stands, and as a result, the place has improved almost out of all recognition - I picked up mint copy of "Last Years Of The Big Four" which has been professionally covered with librafilm for a fiver. 

 

No LASAR now as the shop's shut for the holidays until 2nd January - no doubt as 30747 is also on holiday, something will "need to be done" - She has bought an old sewing box off eBay, which is very nice, but has been restored a little too much, so I suspect that the paint stripper, steel wool, rubber gloves and goggles will be getting an outing.

 

Oh, and Lily's ears have now been treated by the specialist, and we await results - cost to our insurer £977.51 - I was in the wrong profession.

 

Back tomorrow (hopefully)

Regards to All

Stewart

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

I didn't get them all right, either. New map symbols came as a surprise to me as well, but they're mostly intuitive for function.. And who's supposed, without looking it up, to know the most popular OS map? I also got the Scottish loch wrong.

Aditi got the green blobs on the shoreline wrong, was surprised that North Yorks  wasn’t the most popular map  and the Loch wrong too. She did guess the solar-panel installation symbol correctly though. 

[Coombe Barton]

40 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi got the green blobs on the shoreline wrong, was surprised that North Yorks  wasn’t the most popular map  and the Loch wrong too. She did guess the solar-panel installation symbol correctly though. 

I know the green blobs but I'm with Aditi on the other two

And for those of a curious disposition this what we're talking about

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/ordnance-survey-quiz-2019/?fbclid=IwAR1C-nBwbCLAYct3JkSZRMnfFykUdgT20ZPaRy5Qogc3hufbEyrZbcK1-Dk

Edited December 22, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon from Estuary-Land. Ventured out to Tess Coes at lunchtime. As I approached from the Vange end I noted the queue of traffic snaking around the filling station so I took the road around the back of the store to the other entrance only to find an even longer queue trailing back to the A13! So I decided to try my luck in Pitsea itself and I found a parking bay on the short piece of road leading from Pitsea to the store. I only had to walk a few yards more than I would have if I'd parked opposite the store as usual and probably less than if I had to park at the back of Tess Coes car park. In fact where I parked was the stub of Station Road Pitsea that was severed by the Pitsea flyover. Time to put the dinner on, be back later.