whitestone wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 7:28 pm one grave - unoccupied but reserved.

Going to have a problem topping that cracking story Bob. I'll have a damned good try though...

It seems to have become apparent that I have a certain attachment to the mineral CaCO3 (and on some days I'd go as far as CaMg(CO3)2, its somewhat rarer cousin, a menage-a-trois if you will). Bob, I hope (*) will sympathise (please?) given his location. (*) Bob Hope?

One evening, in the pub (obviously) with some mates, I opined that I was indeed attached - I would go so far as to say romantically, yes - to the aforementioned sedimentary rock. The assembled throng challenged me to prove it in some way. Ohhhhh dear. BIG mistake. As it happened, at that time (1999 - Space?), Imperial Chemical Industries, aka Buxton Lime Industries, aka Brunner Mond, etc etc, made it known that they were enamoured of replacing the vacuum-braked railway wagons that had faithfully carted millions of tons of limestone from the Buxton area limestone quarries down to the Cheshire processing plants near Northwich over the previous 64 years, day in day out. They were acknowledged as being the UK's first dedicated bulk-transport railway wagon. </nerd>

I had heard of this on the (very strange) grapevine (limestone you say? Derbyshire limestone??), and realised in the pub that here was a scheme that would prove my undying love. I would buy one of those famous wagons. A long story later (no, don't worry), with many letters to various high-ups in ICI, and the National Railway Museum backing down in my favour for some reason, I suddenly found myself the proud owner of the first-built wagon itself, Number 3200! These things happen to all of us at one time or other yes? "Buyer collect" - OOOOPS! I'd actually/accidentally gone and bought the bloody thing! But this was great news. The only thing sexier than Mrs Perrin (at least when not wearing her limestone earrings) is a 1936 Charles Roberts (Wakefield) Bulk Limestone Wagon. Seriously!

One lorry journey later, and a couple of years of scraping and painting, me and my mistress were united at last.

The funniest(?) part was my pal Mad Mel of Stockport convinced me to buy one for HIM as well. The bugger STILL hasn't paid me for it 22 years later.

And before Stu laughs, he would have seen this railway wagon DAILY when he was a young nipper! Don't tell me you were unsmitten too Stu .

Aww, c'mon guy(esse)s, gimme a break. It's Cheery Friday and my mistress awaits!

Reg 'Dibnah' Perrin

I've just come off the phone with the vet who tells me that the results of Ruby's blood test indicate she doesn't have a heart defect as they first suspected

Cheery Friday indeed! She'll have to cut back on the cheese and bacon butties now though, just to be sure.

It gets better.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-englan ... e-57032174

"Network Rail said they had spoken to a farmer about not letting his cattle loose on the railway again" - how British is that?! Marvellous. Holding up trains on the busiest railway in the UK and you get "spoken to" .

Anyway, guess all was well in the end, and they just mooved the trains to the udder tracks?

Chris, you’re f***ing nuts

Apologies for keeping you on tenterhooks ref. the leylandii... it seems to have caused Reg to have been shunted down an even side-ier track than usual (which is going some).

All went to plan

Before (sort of - this is actually after they took out one of the trees, but I didn't have a shot from the same angle)



After



If you want to see the second one drop, you'll have to watch it on Instagram since I CBA working out how else to post it: https://www.instagram.com/p/COlWM85BW_u/

Thought I’d better share this here, nice after work 40 mile bimble, chips, beer AND I got mobbed by a flock of very cute lambs…..

Ooh, rack of lamb.

whitestone wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 6:29 pm

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 6:33 am Hopefully a very cheery Friday today...

Our small and otherwise mundane suburban garden is dominated by two lovely apple trees at the bottom (south) end. Unfortunately that's not the whole story, as they're dwarfed by two huge leylandii just over the fence in the neighbour's garden. These block out the sun across our whole garden for a large part of the day, and I think are starving the apple trees of light and water.

...

I shall report back post operation.

Dave, Leylandii do tend to strip the ground of nutrients. One side of our garden was Leylandii when we moved here. After a couple of years we got them ripped out (the other "side" is a green lane/BW) and fifteen years later you can still see that the soil is denuded at that side of the garden.

Hopefully the tree surgeons have grubbed out the stumps as well, they didn't with us and it took a lot of work getting the stumps out as I was building a dry stone wall as a new boundary and didn't want things collapsing.

Hmmm... I was hoping the positive impact would be noticed rather sooner than that Bob! Still, it can't have done them any harm (assuming the sudden lack of two big brothers doesn't unbalance them. And the few entwined branches that the tree surgeon lopped somewhat unsympathetically off don't cause any issues.) I'll try and find out if there's anything ecologically sound we can put down to return the nutrients to the soil. Got a friend who's an ecologist, and whose family owned a cider orchard in Worcestershire, so will have to pick her brains.

They left the stumps, but they're not in my garden, so can't see a problem for me (and I don't think the neighbours will be bothered either).

Reg, I had a close encounter with many of those wagons when I were a lad.
One of our favourite places to hang out was around Betteshanger Colliery slag heaps, sounds grim but it was a haven for wildlife on the old parts, trees rare lichens and fungi ect. And it was surrounded by lots of little streams one of which was crossed by a small timber railway bridge which served the pit. One day we’d climbed down through the sleepers and were sat just below the tracks dangling our feet in the stream, we heard the rumbling just a little too late. My brother and I sat there as worlds longest coal train clattered past a foot above our heads. Hours I seemed to take, the noise, the coal dust, the thick ear when we got home absolutely black Happy days

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 9:16 pm Ooh, rack of lamb.

BigdummySteve wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 9:04 pm Chris, you’re f***ing nuts

I'm bonkers? (correct) But how insane is this: https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics ... lockade-vn?? We send gun boats to the Channel Islands, and then, then, somebody lets off at the pesky Frenchies with a musket?! ! I'm having serious difficulty staying on the rails here (whether there's limestone wagons on those rails or not).

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 9:06 pm All went to plan

Thank goodness for that! Some semblance of order has been restored. Even keel resumed.

RIP wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 10:18 pm

BigdummySteve wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 9:04 pm Chris, you’re f***ing nuts

I'm bonkers? (correct) But how insane is this: https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics ... lockade-vn?? We send gun boats to the Channel Islands, and then, then, somebody lets off at the pesky Frenchies with a musket?! ! I'm having serious difficulty staying on the rails here (whether there's limestone wagons on those rails or not).

Makes you proud, the shared history we have with french is a special thing. V

Landslide wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 7:43 pm it's not our wedding anniversary, that's tomorrow. 11 years, so steel.

Just struck me - steel anniversary in Steel City! What a party!

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 9:16 pm Ooh, rack of lamb.

Oh ho ho! VERY good that! Rack of lamb, bike rack, rack... you're on fire tonight .




Fook. Now that poignantly HAS finally shifted me, and it takes a lot, from cheery to depressed. I've had to stop and take a silent minute out . Wrong thread, apologies .

RIP wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 10:36 pm Just struck me - steel anniversary in Steel City! What a party!

I have been extremely restrained in my staying off the puns.

Landslide wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 10:51 pm

RIP wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 10:36 pm Just struck me - steel anniversary in Steel City! What a party!

I have been extremely restrained in my staying off the puns.

Don't hold back Chris old mate, you're amongst friends, it's a free for all here. PS> mine's a Bearlee if you're getting them in.

The team were all given the afternoon off work. I went out and rode my bike. Drank beer when I got home.

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 6:33 am Hopefully a very cheery Friday today...

Our small and otherwise mundane suburban garden is dominated by two we're chipping (no pun intended) in will probably be the best we'll ever spend on the house. A

Do you get the chips for free mulch?

ledburner wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 11:51 pm

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 6:33 am Hopefully a very cheery Friday today...

Our small and otherwise mundane suburban garden is dominated by two we're chipping (no pun intended) in will probably be the best we'll ever spend on the house. A

Do you get the chips for free mulch?

No, didn't think about that. Got some timber for firewood, though obviously that will need a good while to dry out.

Blimey it was cheery, I went to the pub! Two pints sat out on a very chilly evening then a wander round the Fife Riviera (Kirkcaldy) more beers at my mates then crashed out (extended household an all that). Large fry up this morning followed by a very wet walk.

Just been down to the river to check that my oak saplings haven't been eaten. They haven't so that's a good start. Sat there in the drizzle for a bit and watched a few of the ten nest boxes that I made and put up a while ago. Over 15 minutes two coal tits went in and out of two boxes. Got babies I reckon so that was cheery. Some coal tits come to our garden feeders so I'd like to think they're 'our' ones. Simple pleasures but felt cheery afterwards. Guess you can make a difference with even small things.

Just done some calculations.
3 years today is my early retirement date