Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

My personal rain cloud has arrived.  Locals are in need of it.

 

Great to hear from you Ashers. .just take it easy please.

 

Baz

 

Just noticed..page 8200..lummy!!!

Edited January 16, 2020 by Barry O

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

This morning’s grey skies turned sunny by mid morning, but turned grey again an hour or so later. Just after Sheila got home it started to rain. This lasted for a couple of hours and by teatime it had stopped. The roads around the Trafford Centre were quite hectic, but that is down to a caravanning type event at an event centre across the road, I’m glad I didn’t get caught up in it!

 

Once home, I made myself a second muggertea then went downstairs and continued painting the drawer fronts, they’re now ready to install properly, once I’ve let the paint harden off for a few days. 

 

In the past I have used the old covering of lead covered cables as ballast for some of my model boats. The size of cable I’m talking about was about 2 - 4” in diameter and the lead was about 1/8” thick. When any was made redundant and/or replaced, I would get a sharp, heavy duty knife and cut the outer lead covering off every 18” or so, slice down one side and peel it off, resulting in a sheet between 6” - 12” x 18”. I did try longer lengths, but it was a bit tricky to handle due to the weight, not to mention the bitumen in the cable as well, however, I’ve still got a few bits left though.

 

I’m now off for a bath and then an early night, I’ve set the alarm for the in-godly hour of 5:50! I’ll try to look in before we set off tomorrow, if I have time. 

 

Goodnight all 

Edited January 16, 2020 by BSW01

[laurenceb]

Good to see Shelly has been sprung

Night awl

[Gwiwer]

Bit of a chat with the currently-antipodean Baz tonight by way of some excited electrons.  All seems adequately well down there.  They have smoke and rain to contend with.  

 

Not such a good day here as I suffered some residual but quite sharp toe pains and felt better sleeping it off after lunch.  Ironically it is well past my bed-time and I am now wide awake and almost pain-free.  Ah well.  

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. My neighbours three doors down, a forty something woman and her two teenage daughters over the past couple of weeks have managed to lock themselves out of their house twice. Each time they have asked to borrow my ladder which I'm quite happy to lend to them. They locked themselves out again this evening and the only window left open was the bathroom fanlight which was only just big enough for one of the daughters to clamber through. She was wearing a pair of very brief hot pants so tight that they could have been painted on. Being a gentleman I held the ladder for her as she climbed up to the window.  

13 hours ago, pH said:

We woke up yesterday to our drive shovelled clear of snow. It hadn't been done by our son who is staying with us, or by another son who lives about 10 minutes away, or by our neighbour on one side (his own drive hadn't been cleared). Found out last night that it had not been done by the neighbour on the other side (the prime suspect - he's a really good guy). So who is the phantom driveway shoveller of Port Moody?

 

(I have had to shovel it three times since then, but I did appreciate being able to skip one time.)

Perhaps someone came home drunk and decided to clear his drive, but it wasn't his drive.

Edited January 17, 2020 by PhilJ W

[Barry O]

Goodnight awl!

 

Upside down Baz

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Good to see that Ashers has escaped from hospital - twice.  Better now to stay out and avoid going for a hat trick I reckon, two visits are quite enough.

 

This afternoon/early evening we sallied forth to Newbury having meat numerous traffic jams enroute plus a surfeit of the sort of drivers who are frightened of driving in the rain (it was pretty heavy at times) or who stand on their brakes when somebody comes in the opposite direction - or, even worse, both.  Considerable non-fun finding a car park in Newbury but we got to 'Bills' with plenty of time for light meal even tho' we were by then running about 40 minutes late.

 

The reason for this lunatic outing in such conditions was to see a performance of  'Annie' on its opening night with a child cast and our friends' grand daughter playing in the leading role - and making an exceedingly good job of complete with a consistent American (of some sort) accent and a pretty good singing voice.  The company which does all this is called 'Rare Productions' and they do a couple of shows in Newbury every year and they have a rather clever business plan - every child who passes an audition and gets a part in a show has to pay a fee of £180  which covers their training for the show.  The next clever bit is that they can just about guarantee a fairly full house because particularly with the younger children on limited hours doing a large ensemble cast - such as 'Annie' - all their parents and friends and relatives will come along to see them so it means that just about every one of the four nights that the show runs for will be almost guaranteed a full house.  Great fun for the youngsters of course and obviously their parents don't seem to mind coughing up to put them on the stage even if it's only for a few nights and it was a pretty good show all round, nice production standards and complete with live music.

 

https://www.rareproductions.co.uk

 

The return journey was fortunately rain free and on much emptier roads however we passed through some quite substantial floodlles in a lot of places, in several cases across the whole width of the road.  On the cross country road from Pangbourne, which I use regularly, there was standing water in quite a few places where it's not usually seen.  the river here was quite high yesterday and was just about over the side in the place in town which is always the first to see the towpath inundated.  With what was coming down as rain plus what could be seen racing down the Kennet in Newbury I think we'l be seeing  this area back to recent levels of flooding within the next 3 -4 days;  it's already back over the 3 metre mark at the lock in the valley bottom below us which means some flooding of fields etc is likely.  There is some more rain forecast for the coming 24 hours but then none for several days but there is now an awful lot lying on the ground (and roads) from the past 24 hours.

[monkeysarefun]

On 15/01/2020 at 17:42, chrisf said:

 

Rick, thank you for clarifying the position regarding eucalyptus leaves and their suitability or otherwise for koala food.  This means, of course, that the situation is even more critical than I had feared.  There are welcome signs that the seriousness of the situation is being realised in the homeland of the koala.  Certainly there is no shortage of reminders on YouTube.  Leave aside the cute stuff and you will find some real tear jerkers.

 

 

 

The focus on losses due to fires has somewhat distorted the actual situation. For instance, South Australia and Kangaroo Island were recently  declared to have  an 'over abundance" of koalas (or did before the fires...)  and as recently as six months ago culling was actually proposed - quickly abandoned in the face of understandable public abhorrence. 

 

Kangaroo  Island was settled with Koalas in the 1920's to provide a back up population in case of disaster or disease wiping out the mainland population. They thrived there up to the point that sterilisation has been carried out. The recent tragic fires that took out half their number will no doubt end that practice, but it's an added tragedy to think that many of the survivors may be unable to reproduce to help build  the numbers  back up .

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/12/koala-kangaroo-culling-considered-as-numbers-become-overabundant

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Ozexpatriate]

We have seen seasonal amounts of rain in the last few weeks but still remain 6.59" behind "normal" for our rain year that begins in October. Good news though is that the recent precipitation has built up mountain snowpacks to around 100% of their "normal" for this time of year. While there are reservoirs, the snow pack is our defacto reservoir for water through the summer months.

 

One of the lower elevation ski resorts on Mount Hood (Ski Bowl) had no snow a couple of weeks ago and now has a 54" base. Higher altitude resorts have twice that.

 

Snow in the Washington Cascades was so heavy that Highway 2 (a road east of Seattle through the Cascade Mountains) is closed around Skykomish. It is highly irregular for this highway to be closed.

 

With high tides and recent onshore storms dangerous surf conditions were present on the coast. Dangerous enough that a father and two small children were swept out to sea by a 'sneaker' wave from an off-beach trail several days ago. The father and a little girl were rescued, but the little girl died. Her little brother is missing.

 

Sneaker waves are a curious phenomenon. I first experienced one in Australia. It wasn't very serious but knocked down bathers and rolled up the beach to wet their towels, far from the surf on dry sand. I encountered one in Oregon when my son was quite young and despite the fact that we were far from the surf, and I anticipated the wave and planted myself, there wasn't time for me to pick up my son and the wave pulled him from my grasp. He had the full tumble cycle in the wet, sandy onrushing wave. Other than a fright, and being very wet and extra sandy, he was unharmed. Like the one I experienced many years earlier, this wave was no more than knee deep on the beach but immensely powerful.

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is slightly chillier this morning.  The temperature down to -1°C and there is a bit of a frost.

 

There isn't a lot else to report, so have a good day everyone...

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I am relieved to say that I did not need after all to phone NS&I to find out what happened to the proceeds of the bond I had which matured in 2016.  First thing yesterday morning the answer leapt off the page at me and all is well.  I just did not recall that particular event of four years ago.  Let’s just say that I will be scanning the horizon every few minutes until the proceeds of the other bond arrive safely.  There are a few things I need it to help pay for.

 

I acted on an impulse yesterday in Holland and Barrett.  I had gone in to replenish my supply of wheat germ, saw quinoa on sale at 50% off and decided to give it a try.  It’s not so long ago that I had never heard of it and have Harry to thank for making me aware.  The visual resemblance to tapioca is striking.  One of today’s jobs may well be to research how to cook it.  I’m guessing same as rice only different.  I see that ‘Spoons sell quinoa salad.  No thanks.

 

I am looking forward with mixed feelings to my forthcoming battle with Checkpoint Charlene for an audience with the minor illnesses nurse.  Some will recall that when I returned from New Zealand last March I brought with me a chest infection that turned out to be a virus and laid me low for over two months.  All I want to know is what I’ve got this time and how to deal with it.  If that is too much to ask, so be it.

 

Monkeysarefun, thanks for your post about koalas.   As if the poor little things did not have enough to endure!  The world will be lucky if there are any left at all in 30 years’ time.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[BSW01]

7 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

My neighbours three doors down, a forty something woman and her two teenage daughters over the past couple of weeks have managed to lock themselves out of their house. Each time they have asked to borrow my ladder which I'm quite happy to lend to them. They locked themselves out again this evening and the only window left open was the bathroom fanlight which was only just big enough for one of the daughters to clamber through. She was wearing a pair of very brief hot pants so tight that they could have been painted on. Being a gentleman I held the ladder for her as she climbed up to the window.  

And of course, being the consummate gentleman, you averted your eyes !

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Snow in the Washington Cascades was so heavy that Highway 2 (a road east of Seattle through the Cascade Mountains) is closed around Skykomish. It is highly irregular for this highway to be closed.

 

 

That brings back memories. Nearly 41 years ago we were on honeymoon and drove Highway 2 from the coast into Montana stopping at Wennatchi (don't think the spelling's correct) Spokane and West Glacier en route. Some very happy memories.

 

Anywzy good morning to all.  We had a good sunny day yesterday and as well as some shutter painting I got a shelf put up in the new bathroom.  Truth be told I had been delaying this as it is on a dry lined and tiled wall and I just hope that the fasteners that I've used are the correct ones.  Then a pleasant hour or so counting and checking wagons on the layout. More on that in my layout thread, I would not want to risk hypersonic awls.  

 

Brian, I hope that everything goes well with Sheila.  Chris, good luck with checkpoint Charlene and Rick, hope tge foot settles down.  And Ashers, hope that you can stay out of dock this time.

 

This am i'm off back to Niort to get some more bolts for attaching hinges to shutters. Several of the old ones (M6 x 70) are rusting and either stuck in the timber or breaking in the centre where they have wasted.  This afternoon  we are budden to afternoon  tea, very posh, by the Banks' who live in the village.  Our delightful mayor, in her lovely accent, of course refers to them as "monsieur  et madame Bonks" shades of allo allo.  I will try to keep a straight face.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare, 1052/656

4.5 hours solid sleep and an indeterminate amount of dozing afterwards.. still knackered though.

 

During one of the awake periods I solved another problem with the keel design so it's not all bad, though while waiting for things to settle today I have to do more maths arithmetic and start generating a table of offsets to draw up the keel shape from.. Excell will be doing most of the work once the master figures and formula are typed in.. Construction of the keel should start next weekend once I have obtained the necessary wood and keel bolts (aka seven galvanised 1M long threaded rods and a pile of nuts)

 

BP down a bit on last night but still higher than it should be..

 

We appear to have some rain overnight but not as much as forecast, puddles are way below maximum size. Misty high cloud this morning but the moon still visible for me, but not enough for Ben the I don't like outside in the Dark Collie..

 

Time to.. check the company spam..

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Well it’s been quite a while since we were up this early. Breakfast has been consumed and once Sheila is ready we’ll be setting off. To keep me from getting bored, I have a sudoku book and the recent edition of BRM to occupy myself. Hopefully, like last time we’ll be back home well before dinner, hopefully in time for a late, mid morning cuppa. After dinner, we’ll probably do a little eyelid inspection. 

 

Enjoy the day, back later. 

[polybear]

28 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

And of course, being the consummate gentleman, you averted your eyes !

 

Did he 'eck as like.  He video'd it.

In HD.

[AndyID]

39 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Our delightful mayor, in her lovely accent, of course refers to them as "monsieur  et madame Bonks" shades of allo allo.  I will try to keep a straight face.

 

 

I don't envy you. I'm pretty sure I'd be under the table.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

 

Monkeysarefun, thanks for your post about koalas.   As if the poor little things did not have enough to endure! 

 

 

 

You're not wrong. This time last week fires were threatening the animals of the Reptile Park at Gosford, Nth of Sydney. This morning  they got flash floods...

[grandadbob]

Good morning all, 

Lots of rain yesterday and last night but it's stopped for now. More showers to come later with the chance of hail and thunder.

Off to Steve's flat shortly to do a small job for him.

Have a good one, 

Bob.

[Sir TophamHatt]

Mooooorrrrnnnniinnnggg.

 

Well yesterday was a bit of a washout :/

 

Went to London in the hope of getting on one of the new Stadler units but nothing until 3pm.

Walked around, bought some doughnuts, came home again.

 

Bought some Bachamann HTAs but one had a bit snapped off, the other looks like it has been snapped, then glued back on the chassis (with glue fairly evident round the wagon), 3 derail at various points round my layout, the kadees don't seem to be at the right height and the seller took about 2 weeks to post.

Need to take some more photos later and see what they have to say as, while I wasn't expecting brand new, I wasn't expecting quite the condition they are either.

 

However, rain due today and I have few jobs round the house to do so that's all great - can chill out this afternoon.  Unsure what's for tea / dinner though.

[Kingzance]

Good morning friends (who remembers Hughie Green, and I say that most sincerely folks),

 

It absolutely p!ssed it down yesterday evening and through the night. Driving into Hitchin for the Camera Club meeting, there were multiple lakes along the roadsides and by my return, they had joined across the carriageway. Much was learned from the meeting on how to take better photos (The topic being People and Portraits), now to put that into practice. I am sure that, if Brian could give me enough warning, I could assist in footing the ladder and simultaneously get a picture that would sweep the board at the next completion. And I do hope Sheila’s second cataract op goes well!

 

Further packing / unpacking / repacking is scheduled for today, as is starting to marinade the venison and making the colcannon to accompany it for tomorrow’s evening meal for the non-musical Snow Patrol-ers descending on us. A wadge of €s is to be delivered by our Postie so I must be present for that. Have a good day all. All in awl, I hope to.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Kingzance
Hughes to Hughie - damned autocorrection!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Quite bright this morning but the odd shower predicted for later.

2 hours ago, BSW01 said:

And of course, being the consummate gentleman, you averted your eyes !

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Did he 'eck as like.  He video'd it.

In HD.

Actually I did avert my eyes. A case of having to as it was raining and I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses. Their next door neighbour who was also helping had a big grin on his face.