Compo

....and my non-PC stuff.

Ooooh, a norker urricane!

It seems like Tornado is now back together. They have announced five runs between Edinburgh and Aberdeen for next year - this may be my chance to see it in action.

It's going to need a patch, Rog. I keep meaning to get a round tuit but the local shop no longer stocks them. I also need a soldering iron - mine gave up the ghost the other week. It was a gas operated one and the tank sprung a leak.

I have one of the black bullseye loco lamps as seen in the above photo. The paraffin container leaks and is in need of repair but otherwise it is all in good condition.

Ease the strain.....today's railway is a bigger strain than travelling by car. There is always a crowd of people shouting down their phones for the entire journey and seats are often unavailable due to overcrowding. That's modernisation for you though - you can't add an extra coach to a modern set to relieve the overcrowding.

I visited the station with my brother and his wife back in September 2016. His wife was not interested in trains but when we got there she was taken aback and enthralled by the variety of stuff and the memories it triggered for her- which was nice.

When I see workshops like this I get a burst of nostalgia. I was an apprentice at the NCB starting in 1967 and the workshops were all something like this. These days workshops seem to have more safety markings and spaces than machines:

.....and a few more. Who can forget the stairs leading down to Great Central island platforms?! The Signalbox Who are you calling "Big nose?"

Curiously, Jonab, I have visited two separate tea plantations and both gave the same advice "Never use tea bags, the tea is little more than leftover dust." I watched the sorting machines grade the tea: leaves for best then next best etc.. eventually you end up with the rubbish. ".....and that," said the man "Is your tea bag tea."

I used to have one made from aluminium with holes in it, hinged near the tea containing end. Here are two that I still use occasionally. The larger one is spring loaded, opening and closing by squeezing the handles. The other is a tea ball. fill bottom half with tea leaves and pop the holed lid on. Place in cup and make tea.

I use one daily, Ben. Never have tea bags, only loose leaf tea. Price is going through the roof now though.

I had 1/6d in my mind but wasn't sure, so thanks for that, Ben.

I didn't get the chance to listen to the morning show, had to work in a place that didn't allow music. Only caught odd moments.

Awoke this morning with tea on my mind. so who can tell me: What was the price of a quarter pound pack of tea (Brooke Bond, Typhoo, or similar will do) in 1960, please?

Old Man's Beard; a native British clematis. Grew this from seed taken from a cliff face near Brixham about four years ago:

Are they Sungold tomatoes in the photo, NBL?

Following the oil delivery lorry scraping the corner off my little museum roof on Wednesday (Photos in "How's Your Day"), the company asked me to get an estimate for repairs. As luck would have it the damage was superficial. I reported to their ops manager that the damage was superficial and that the roof repair man could fix it for £60; did they want a written estimate before work could be done? They thanked me for not putting in a huge claim as some would have done and said not to bother with a written estimate but to have the work done and would I mind if they put the money into my oil acco

Well done, Brew!

Margie: Had a bike ride this morning and this afternoon plan to go into Wick on the bus and have too much to drink at Wetherspoons.

Sounds like a great walk, Rog. I remember some of the paths around the Newark area from my days of exploring them back in the early 1980s. There used to be a floating pub moored in Newarkk - is it still there?

I had planned a circular walk in the back of beyond behind the coastal town of Golspie in Sutherland, for yesterday. The weather was reasonable so I left home early and set off on my trek at 0830hrs. The walk took me up Ben Bhraggie to the 153ft tall statue of the Duke of Sutherland at its summit and then on across the trackless moors to Ben Lunndaih. From Ben Lunndaih the route went down a corrie, following a steep burn and out at the end of a loch. There I was to pick up an old stalker's path and follow it back to a forest track that led me into the forest beneath Ben Bhraggie and back to

Oops! Damage assessor coming round this evening:

I know it's not a man thing but try looking in the instruction booklet, it tells you how to do it in simple stages.