BoD

Morning all If Durham City is anything like the coast I'm afraid Ian is going to get very wet getting to the station this morning. Don: I'm of to RailexNE this weekend. It's more likely to be tomorrow rather than today though. Always an excellent show with some cracking layouts. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/70603-railex-ne-2013-the-north-east-model-railway-exhibition-24th-25th-august/?p=1014058

Guess which of these I have made up. A local knit and natter group meet in a library. They have been told that they can't meet there any longer unless they meet in smaller, quieter groups. Their needles are a health and safety concern. They mainly knit boobs and wombs to help train midwives.

That didn't just make me groan ..... ..... I blubbered.

It's amazing what you can do with a shoebox with a pinhole in one end.

Hooray. I have power back to the study and desktop and so can have a look at the holiday snaps. Here is a flavour of the week....

Just lean on a lampost and catch people as they go by.

Morning all-a-oh-a-dee-a-ho

If it were cross-eyed then it would be called Gladly. As in the hymn ........ ....... Gladly the cross-eyed bear.

Shouldn't she have done that before declaring you alive?

Yes, it would be a folly to miss it.

So, they took the spare tyre out to make room....... ...... and had to find space for it on top.

Stop making an ar$e of yourself.

Cape Dunfermline Town

Evening all Started to read and try to catch up from when I was last here. Gave up, hope I haven't missed anything important. Holiday was great, very relaxing. House is a mess. It's not the builders fault, in fact he has done a great job keeping the mess to a minimum, it's just a very messy job that affects absolutely everywhere. The plan is to switch over to the new wiring tomorrow so I may disappear again. Hopefully I won't. After that he rips the kitchen and bathroom out. Don Bradley will be peased to hear that on Saturday night I was enjoying a braai that included very nice boerewors

Not only de rigueur but also, I believe, a legal requirement. I'm not sure when you are required to use them though.

My brother-in-law was always checking his tyres for damage and to see that they were correctly inflated. His argument was, and you can see his point, you are bombing along at seventy* and it's only the few square inches of rubber touching the ground that is keeping you out of the fields. *other speeds are available.

With the number of speed bumps we have in this country Pete, one always needs to tread carefully. Seriously though, they can do a fair bit damage to the inside walls of tyres. Suspension springs need replacement more often than before too. Of course, the councils/government deny that it is the speed bumps to blame.

...and Roy Hodgson has said that "Rooney's mind is fine". That's it ...... ....there's no punch line.

The builders are a local family firm, well known to us. ......................... I know where they live too. First fire and dated stone surround gone. Thankfully not too much soot or too many dead things behind it. They don't hang about.

Morning all Wall to wall sunshine today. Possible showers later. The showers may be welcomed be either England or Australia so finely poised is the test. Today starts a period of upheaval for me. Nothing as serious as some of the trials and tribulations here though. The builders finally start in earnest and are no longer just pottering. There are lots of things to be done all over the house, some minor some quite major We are getting them done in one job lot. It will be manic for the next five or six weeks but when it is done and finished that will be that. We thought better this than less manic but over a longer period of time. I am sure that there will be times over he coming weeks that we will regret this approach. Tasks include a whole house rewire, complete gutting of existing kitchen and bathroom then new replacements, removing and replacing fires, replastering various areas and several other minor cosmetic tasks. We have recently had the windows and doors replaced. It's a good job I've got an 'O' Level in manic. Tomorrow we are getting out of the way of things by going up to Scotland for a week or so - Kenmore on Loch Tay, moving on to Ullapool then staying at relatives for a couple of days. I will try to look in occasionally over the coming weeks. I think this must be the longest post I have ever made on ERs. Sorry.

I bet you look quite fetching in a dress. Good grief. Are you telling us that Don is pregnant? Welcome back anyway Don and take care of yourself.

I must admit there doesn't seem to have been as many grumpy posts while PhilH has been away ..... .... Oh - Hi there Phil.

I may have said this before but ... I do wish someone would tell people with mobile phones that they don't have to shout - that is what the ruddy phone is for. I think we need a new thread for GERs. Grumpy Early Risers.

For those of you who like this sort of thing here is a photo of this sort of thing. Not the sharpest but the bu$$er wouldn't sit still. I think his name was Spot.