Compo

Sorry RR but hard fried egg and mushy sprouts - yeuch!

Love the hedgehog!

Several weeks ago, 'er indoors bought me a rather expensive birthday present. The seller put it to YODEL for delivery - Two weeks ago Yodel said it was in their depot ready for delivery, today Yodel deny all knowledge of ever having received it from the seller. Yodel have quite simply at best, lost it, at worst stolen it.

Yesterday I bought a new log burner. The price was £990. When it came to paying, the shop owner charged me £950 and I thought nothing of it at the time but when I got home I thought - hang on a minute.........I bought a fire, a length of flue with an offest and the fire, for £950? Something's not right. So I phoned the shop and said I thought they might have undercharged me. They were grateful for me pointing this out and would I mind paying them an extra £40 (to make it up to the £990 for the fire) and I could have the flue pipe for free (should have been £60 on top of the fire price.). When

Locos Scrapped at Rigleys, Bulwell Forest. - Total 26 42792 45535 61126 61334 63925 63926 63927 63928 63932 63935 63936 63937 63938 63939 63941 63945 63956 63962 63964 63972 63973 63974 63977 63980 63985 63987 [Source: Railuk

I found this photo in the book "Blowing off Steam" by Jack Bracken. Jack was a former fireman based on the Midland line at Mansfield loco. I can receommend the book if you can find a copy - it's full of great anecdotal stories of his exploits between 1941-1954, when he left the railway to start his own business. I wonder if there are any more photos of scrappings in action at Rigley's? Class Code O2/1 Designer Gresley Designation 2-8-0 Built 30/06/1921

Multi-fuel burner kaput.

After reading a strtng of terrible railway books, I have found a good, well written, anecdotal railway book written by a retired Masfield locomotive fireman (1941-1954). His accounts of happenings are second to none and so well written that I find it hard to put down.

SWMBO ordered a sonic cleaner (weighing 3Kg) for my birthday on 1st November. It was sent out the same day by the company and fell into the hands of YODEL. Checking the tracker it seems that Yodel delivered it through their own company letterbox over a week ago. A complaint last week promised to sort it out - still no goods......I still can't work out how they could deliver it through ANY letterbox let alone their own?!

Some weeks ago I bought a pack of six cans of Heinz baked beans with "no added sugar" by accident - someone must have put them in the stack of standard Heinz beans and I picked them up without noticing. Last weekend I determined to use them up and have done with them (I don't really like them) and so I opened a can from the pack. I then turned arouond to mash a pot of tea and when I turned back the beans were beginning to climb out of the can and escape! I concluded that they must have been contaminated so I popped off an email to Heinz and lo! Yesterday I received a written apology and £5 in

Rememebr it?! If you want to work for the delivery company "Yodel" it is a compulsory skill!

Whilst out and about in the Falkland Islands in the 1980s I lived on the edge of the capital, Port Stanley. Here are a few images of Stanley taken in 1987: 1. Ross Road - The main street. To the left of the photo you can see the brokene mast taken from the British Cruiser HMS Exter after its departure from the Battle of the River Plate, when it limped back to Stanley for repairs: 2. Stanley cathedral and the whale jawbone arch: 3. The Globe Hotel. The most southerly British pub in the world: 4. And finally f

Cornckrakes are just about kaput here in Scotland. In 2014 there were 1,289 males recorded but by 2017 the numbr was down to only 866 [Source: RSPB]. I have only heard one male calling recently and that was last year.

Here are a few more of my efforts from yesterday. I timed it wrongly and the sun was casting a deep shadow over the Whaligoe Cove but I managed to get a few shots in. If you look closely, you can see two tourists on the steps and a workman in high-vis trousers soing some repairs. A house with a view - the former Whaligoe mill. Whaligoe Cove waterfall (250 ft from top to bottom) The bottom of the falls. For scale and prespective, here is a shot of the steps with three people on them. Can you see them? [Clue:

Today the sun shone so I went out to Whaligoe on the East Coast of Caithness to take a few pictures. Here's a starter for ten - more to follow tomorrow:

Three pics of Loch Watten for PP:

Make sure you know his opening times, PP. He has been talking about retirement for a couple of years now and seems to be opening for shortter hours these days. Don't know about my ability to take videos though :/ I used to be a mamber of the RBL locally. They have a boat on the loch. If I rejoin I could possibly get the RBL boat for free. That's if they still have one, of course.

Some hillwalkers take a collapsible rod into the hills with them and fish as they go along, Phil. Brown Trout are the main fish to be found in the acid lochs of the north. Sea Trout and Salmon in the rivers. Permits available from Hugo Ross, Wick High Street. All the gen is here:; http://www.hugoross.co.uk/index.asp

Thanks PP. These were all taken withiin 25 mins drive of home. I have fished Loch Watten just once - I also caught nowt. It used to be famous for its quantiity of Brown Trout but these days it seems there's not so many about. This year there was a blue algal bloom on the loch which closed it down for a while. There has also been a lot of weed offshore, which may have made fishing less productive for fly fishermen. Anyrode miduck - I look forward to your visit. I have no fly gear though.

Went out for a walk near Dunbeath in Caithness yesterday morning. It was very cold, the roads were covered in "Black Ice" (Can we say that these days?) and it snowed at first light, turning to sleet then rain later. When the clouds cleared it left a sharp, sunny day but still very cold. 1. Tories exploding nuclear weapons in the North Sea in order to show their imagined "British Empire" who's boss. 2. Scaraben 3. L to R: Maiden's Pap; Morven; Small Mount. 4. Loch Rangag on teh Causeway Mire

Properly?!

Reflections at Amble on the Northumbrian coast.

Low Alwinton church, in the Northumbrian National Park.

I wonder if you can see this one, Brew? Warkworth Castle on a fine November afternoon (2-11-2019)

Seems to have been a Google, Flikr and Photobucket problem alright, CT. Let's hope it stays good.