The thoughts of Chairman Q

[roddy]

Haha Mark. Ive been thinking of you over the weekend. Scaffolders here on Saturday, and the Roofers started today. The 80 year old tiles are too tired now so are all being replaced on my Semi with a half hipped gable.

[Baimor]

Thanks Roddy. Hope all goes well matey. Regards. Mark

[TheQ]

I think we had a crossing of threads there!!, Anyway My roof tiles are 110 years old but were removed and refitted about 30 years ago, when you live this close to the sea even modern "passivated" decking screws go rusty and fail after less than 10 years. So the roofing nails from back then must have been really bad..

[TheQ]

Friday, Drove to Scotland, too hot, too many traffic jams, 9.5 hours to make the journey . (roughly 425 miles).

Saturday, Drove back from Scotland, nice and cool, until somewhere between the Wetherby turn off and the M62 turn then the heat came back on, no traffic jams, 7.0 hours to drive back to Norfolk .

Sunday, digging the garden, well, clearing the ground for a path and dumping the soil into the raised patio area, too hot, did 08:00 to 12:00 had an hour break, did an hour more digging, retired with a pint....

Monday, 04:00 woken by farm machinery doing it's thing (harvesting) in the next door field, the cat joined us and cuddled up, She hates farm machinery.

[TheQ]

opps double send

Edited July 25, 2016 by Guest

[TheQ]

Well we've got several pounds of peas in the freezer now SWMBO went and did a little Gleaning after the farm machinery finished.

this week

Friday, Dug up about 4 cubic yards of soil and filled the last remaining hole in the raised patio section, About half way through got so hot and sweaty, I broke out the cider from the fridge in the railway shed it was only about 09:30!! Then went onto making Soilcrete and covered some of the previously filled areas.

The routine for soilcrete:

Put required amount of water into mixer which then splashed around clearing previous loose concrete mix so it doesn't set round the edges.

Remove two spade widths of turf, dig 1 depths by 2 width of soil put in Wheelbarrow.

Chop up soil in wheel barrow and remove roots.

Put two spade loads of soil into mixer.

Sit and drink cider while waiting for soil to disolve.

Chuck in 3/4 bag of sand

Drink cider while waiting for mix.

Chuck in a full shovelful of cement.

Drink Cider while waiting for mix.

Add more water if required, ( note a runny mix as this is just filler and to soak into the top level of soil as well to help solidify it.) it then prevents the water being drawn from the real concrete mix later.

Drink cider while waiting for mix.

Fill bucket with soilcrete from mixer.

Pour first bucket of soilcrete into patio area and roughly level.

Pour remaing soilcrete into bucket

Pour second bucket of soil crete into patio area and roughly level.

Back to begining.

Saturday

Go on to concreting a previously (several days ago) soilcreted area

Same routine as above but no soil and more sand.

leveling is a bit more accurate..

Later on clear out the back of the landrover, install mattress ready for next Saturdays Start of Regatta week when the Landrover will be my bedrooom for the week.

Sunday

Tidy up inspect the the previous couple of days work, with a very stiff back. move 4 of the temporary blocks that were holding up one end of the raised Patio. This provides another 6ft by 10 ft area for soil removed from the future viaduct area.

dig a trench and fit two new foundation block to the end of the raised patio wall. Place two standard breeze block on top to be cemented in later.

Have a can of John Smiths,

Stack up the last couple of days removed turves against area that temporary blocks were removed from, dig up a couple of barrow loads of soil tip them up against the stacked turves.

Go back to house for a wash and brush up.

Dragged out to Car boot ( "THE LATE ONE") starts at 11:00 only ten minutes from the house..

Amazing .... normally there is no model railway stuff at all, this time there were 5 different stall holders with Model railway stuff.

Got to one, to find a trader buying up all the locos on the layout ( mint boxed) 15 of them for........£5 each.

Wagons £3, coaches £5, Dapol container wagons mint boxed £5, hornby virgin coaches £5.

Luckily I got there before many but unluckily I didn't have much money with me. So I started collecting wagons (pre 1940's) (some boxed some not), ran out of hands, so the stall holder gave me a tesco shopping bag which I filled. when it was full I handed it to him for a price and he said £15!!!

By this time all the model railway people were there and the majority of stuff was in peoples hands... so There wasn't anything left for me to have another go..

Got home and laid all the wagons out.... less than £1 a wagon.

Had an Ice cream, went out to the local village fete, which is not as good as it was, as they have built a childrens play area on the grounds, leaving less space for stands. Got laden with plants by SWMBO.

Had coffee, scones cream and Jam, very good...

Bought a large size Don Breckon print (Summer Service) , Mint framed, for £10, checked ebay when I got back £65!!!

As a joke SWMBO said what was the value of a Spitfire painting She bought off a bloke who painted it while they were both in the RAF.. So I googled his name and found he has his own web site http://wallond.com/ , and that he has built himself TWO FULL SIZE SPITFIRE Models!!!

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w184/shackletonmr3/P8210174.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i154/Eurofighter63/Misc/DSCF0058.jpg

Ummm I think we are going to have to get the painting seperately insured if he can now afford to do that!!!!

[TheQ]

Ive been very busy for a few weeks so time for some updates,

First Horning Sailing Club regatta week.

See this link 'cos I'm not typing it all in again. See my posts from 31 July 2016 about what happened

http://forum.norfolkbroadsnetwork.com/topic/10947-horning-regatta-2016/?page=2.

Then I had the 6th of August off,

Sunday 7th of August, Club MRC open day we had to Hire Stalham town hall as our club building was not suitable, it was very successful with 8 prospective new members and we made more than enough to cover our costs. pictures to follow.

8th August back to work, lots to do as there is no one to cover my work....

13th August laid 1 ton of Concrete

14th August, the farmer has cut the corn in his field, time for some heavy duty pruning, I'm slowly demolishing some sycamore trees, this time several branches of up to 1 ft diameter were cut off and chopped up to be able to move them.

Back to work I need the rest.

[TheQ]

If anyone is in the Norfolk area here's the details of our Alysham show in just 5 weeks time.

Broadland Model Railway Club's Aylsham Model Railway Exhibition

at Jubilee Family Centre Aylsham North Norfolk. NR11 6JG

1st October 2016, Opening times Day 1: opening 10:00 closing 16:00

Prices: Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.00 Children £3.00 Disability access: yes , parking At the Jubilee centre

broadlandmodelrailwayclub.co.uk

Car parking: At the Bure Vally Railway, Aylsham, free historic bus to Exhibition and back.

2016 EXHIBITORS confirmed so far are:

Upton Junction OO

Summer Springs OO

Tubular Belles OO

Potterborne OO

Broadsea OO

East Dunnet O 16.5

Margaret's Mill O

Gneiss Cider Gn15

Obertonberg N

Rosebud City N

Bentwater N

Grandads Trains Tinplate

Hornby Dublo 3-rail

DEMONSTRATIONS

Advent Modellers

Norfolk Mardlers

More will be added as confirmation is received, so keep visiting.

SOCIETIES

Friends of the BVR

Norfolk Railway Society

TRADERS

Bure Valley Railway Model Shop

Friends BVR Books

Bob Perman Books

Joe Lock 2nd Hand Items

Train Terrain

Woonough

Railway Memories

Railway Photo Man

BMRC 2nd Hand Stall

In conjunction with the Bure Valley Railway.

Get a return trip from Wroxham and Hoveton Station on the BVR, get free entry to the show.

Refreshments courtesy of the Royal British Legion Aylsham.

[TheQ]

I never thought i'd fancy Queen Victoria, but now Clara Oswald had taken over.......

[TheQ]

The mornings are getting darker, so the season of misaligned headlights is upon us.

Just why do people think it's fine to over take me through a small unlit village in the dark when I'm doing the speed limit, and then when I come out onto an open straight road I find the same car doing 10-15 miles an hour below the limit?

[TheQ]

Over the years I've watched many war films and read many books on the subject, I've just watched "The Railway Man" a book I've read in the past. The biography of Eric Lomax.

It's only as you get older you realise the real meaning of the bravery of these men that fought in the far east and the consequences it brought over many years, some of these men I must have met.

But in the past, I didn't recognise what they did. So many years ago, when my father as a volunteer British legion pensions officer was sorting out what little they were entitled to, and getting them specialist treatment for various tropical diseases for which they never had been treated for in the previous 40 years. I wish I could have helped...

[TheQ]

Heavy duty pruning a hedge to allow access to build a path for the model railway viaduct and around the railway shed this weekend, by heavy duty that means branches up to 5 inches diameter!!

I had bought a couple of weeks ago, an ALDI battery electric hedge pruner that extends out to about 8 ft long. I'm impressed, it does the job very well. the only down side it uses a fair amount of oil in it's chain lubrication system, it uses 3/4 of it's built in oil container per battery charge (100ml?) luckily i have a gallon of the appropriate oil for use with my petrol chainsaw.

The battery charger is a quick 1 hour one, so that if you have to spend time dragging branches down the garden, as I do, it lasts longer cutting than charging!

Disadvantage of pruning bushes, things come out to bite you.

It feels like I have half an egg on the top of my head due to one bite.

My little finger is swollen due to a bite or sting through a pair of those cloth dipped in rubber gloves

The back of my knee has been bitten, trousers tucked into rigger boots, overalls on top of that, over the boots and the rest of me and it still got through!!

and finally my left shoulder got bitten though overalls and a T shirt!!!

[jimbob]

People tend to knock the likes of Lidel but l bought a battery jigsaw and circular saw from them last year for about £25 each and there great. The batteries last for ages and are interchangeable so even if they do go flat you' ve got another. Unlike the battery chain saw l've got from a well known maker that was great last year but now the battery only last 30 seconds before going flat.

I know what its like with bug bites as well they love me! If its warm and damp by about four in the afternoon l have to come in as they start coming out. I dont know if your the same but being a diabetic like you they take ages to go down as well. Sprays and creams dont stop them and they get through any clothing. Got bitten in two embarassing places this year you try applying cream whist bending over and holding a mirror!

[TheQ]

I'd rather not!! try.....

yes since being diabetic and of course I'm getting older. Things take much longer to heal or go down, and the moment I went on metaformin it was like someone cut samsons' hair, i'm definately much weaker and my stamina has gone and left.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Guest

[TheQ]

Dearest creature in creation,

Study English pronunciation.

I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy.

Tear in eye, your dress will tear.

So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,

Dies and diet, lord and word,

Sword and sward, retain and Britain.

(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)

Now I surely will not plague you

With such words as plaque and ague.

But be careful how you speak:

Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;

Cloven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,

Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,

Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,

Exiles, similes, and reviles;

Scholar, vicar, and cigar,

Solar, mica, war and far;

One, anemone, Balmoral,

Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;

Gertrude, German, wind and mind,

Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,

Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.

Blood and flood are not like food,

Nor is mould like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad,

Toward, to forward, to reward.

And your pronunciation’s OK

When you correctly say croquet,

Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,

Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour

And enamour rhyme with hammer.

River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,

Doll and roll and some and home.

Stranger does not rhyme with anger,

Neither does devour with clangour.

Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,

Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,

Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,

And then singer, ginger, linger,

Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,

Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,

Nor does fury sound like bury.

Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.

Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.

Though the differences seem little,

We say actual but victual.

Refer does not rhyme with deafer.

Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

Mint, pint, senate and sedate;

Dull, bull, and George ate late.

Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,

Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,

Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed,

People, leopard, towed, but vowed.

Mark the differences, moreover,

Between mover, cover, clover;

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,

Chalice, but police and lice;

Camel, constable, unstable,

Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,

Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.

Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,

Senator, spectator, mayor.

Tour, but our and succour, four.

Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Sea, idea, Korea, area,

Psalm, Maria, but malaria.

Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.

Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,

Dandelion and battalion.

Sally with ally, yea, ye,

Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.

Say aver, but ever, fever,

Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.

Heron, granary, canary.

Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.

Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

Large, but target, gin, give, verging,

Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.

Ear, but earn and wear and tear

Do not rhyme with here but ere.

Seven is right, but so is even,

Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,

Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,

Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)

Is a paling stout and spikey?

Won’t it make you lose your wits,

Writing groats and saying grits?

It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:

Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,

Islington and Isle of Wight,

Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough,

Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?

Hiccough has the sound of cup.

My advice is to give up!!!

English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité

[Rossi]

Love it!!!

And there's me still having bits of a struggle with the Spanish lingo.

[TheQ]

The Poem is called Chaos

Dr G. Nolst Trenité wrote it in 1922

As he was Dutchman it shows he had remarkable comprehension of English...

[TheQ]

A repeat of this post to remind everyone of this show on Saturday, somewhere to go out of the forecast wind and rain.

I couldn't post this tomorrow, as I'll be humping and dumping layouts for the show!!

Broadland Model Railway Club's Aylsham Model Railway Exhibition

at Jubilee Family Centre Aylsham North Norfolk. NR11 6JG

1st October 2016, Opening times Day 1: opening 10:00 closing 16:00

Prices: Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.00 Children £3.00

Disability access: yes , parking At the Jubilee centre

Or park at the Bure Valley Railway at Wroxham and Hoveton Station, pay I think £16 and get a return trip on the BVR, the free bus to the show and free entry to the Show.

broadlandmodelrailwayclub.co.uk

Car parking: At the Bure Vally Railway, Aylsham, free historic bus to Exhibition and back.

2016 EXHIBITORS confirmed

Upton Junction OO

Summer Springs OO

Tubular Belles OO

Potterborne OO

Broadsea OO

There another layout in this spot But I haven't got the details....

East Dunnet O 16.5

Margaret's Mill O

Gneiss Cider Gn15

Obertonberg N

Rosebud City N

Bentwater N

Grandads Trains Tinplate

Hornby Dublo 3-rail

DEMONSTRATIONS

Advent Modellers

Norfolk Mardlers

SOCIETIES

Friends of the BVR

Norfolk Railway Society

TRADERS

Bure Valley Railway Model Shop

Friends BVR Books

Bob Perman Books

Joe Lock 2nd Hand Items

Train Terrain

Woonough

Railway Memories

Railway Photo Man

BMRC 2nd Hand Stall

In conjunction with the Bure Valley Railway.

Refreshments courtesy of the Royal British Legion Aylsham.

[TheQ]

Our Model railway show went well, with about 500 visitors.

Friday, we met at the Club at 11:00, loaded up the club layout, banners, stuff for the second-hand stall, electricity extension cables, a pile of trestle tables, into 3 estate cars, a trailer, a discovery and my long wheel base landrover.

By 13:00 we were at the hall, we unloaded everything and dumped it in the hall, and then spent a couple of hours moving all the chairs, the stage, various bits and pieces out of the hall packing them into their cresh room and part of the entrance way.

We then had to go the the churches portacabin and move a load of sofas and coffee tables, as we use the Portacabin as a dining hall for the exhibitors.

Then the floor was marked out with masking tape for the various stands, I laid out the extension cables and haz taped them down.

Meanwhile other club members were assembling the club layout and stalls. I with others went on to laying out the trestle tables for those who requested them. Due to more requests for them this year, we had to scrounge some more from the Bure valley railway.

During this, the first three exhibitors and one of the traders turned up and were shown to their positions.

18:00 I and those who had brought stuff from the club house left, leaving a couple of members local to the show, to see to the exhibitors and lock up when finished.

Saturday

06:00 leave for the hall, 06:45 park the landrover (with the other club members) in a Surgery car park (By arrangement) 300 yards from the hall, walk up to the hall in the drizzle.

Start assisting layouts and traders into the hall at 07:00 their entry time.

08:00 hammer posts into the ground outside put up the banners and then go across the road to put up the A board.

08:30 Bacon butties all round as the Royal British Legion Ladies open up the kitchens, we supply a bacon butty to each exhibitor / trader as part of the show, plus unlimited free tea and coffee all day, plus lunch (this year baked potato, beans, sausages followed by custard and a choice of cake .

I was last to be served this year other than the ladies themselves, we have 4 strictly timed sittings for dinner to allow rotation of staff on the stands. Being last I got an extra sausage!!

09:00 one group of four layouts report no electricity, others in the area confirm this, I walk back to the landrover in the heavy drizzle, to pick up my tool kit and box of fuses, then back to the hall in the heavy drizzle, to find out that they had plugged into the wrong socket and there was nothing wrong.....

09:15 I console my soggy self with spending £140 on second hand boxed mint wagons.. checking the web Sunday, I got some good bargains there.

10:00 the doors open, the show goes on, I'm wandering around checking everyone is happy on the electrickery side

11:00 my term on the DCC main club layout begins, by this time we had lost three of the fiddle yard roads and one track of the 3 on the scenic side of the layout. So the line I was controlling was reduced to running two trains following each other, so one was trundelling through the scenic side at a time. I just kept them from catching up with each other, although they did meet a couple of times while I was talking to visitors, we got a couple of prospective members just while I was on.

13:30 I go for dinner with sore feet....

14:00 Sat having a coffee in the main hall, happy moment of the day, a young girl who appeared to have downs syndrome, grabbed my hand held it to her face, kissed my hand and then walked off...

14:15 time to go and actually look at all the other layouts and traders, bought a couple of books...

15:00 return for a final run of the layout

16:00 the door close, we had visitors right up to the end.

Immediately go and remove the extension cables so all the exhibitors trollies have several less bumps to go over. Then go back to the club layout and dissassemble. After that go out into the main hall and with others start collecting our trestles by the door, get the trailer and push it to a vacant space by the door as an exhibitor has left, start loading the trestles.

16:30 wander back to the landrover collect it and park outside the hall load up the club layout and other remaining stuff in the the members cars.

17:00 by this time most of the club including me, are laying out the chairs and the stage for Sundays church service.

Shortly after, those of us who had brought stuff over from the club, left back for the club, leaving the local members to finish up.

17:45 arrive at the club, unload, just dumping stuff on the clubhouse floor.

18:30 home, time for a bath, a pint and something to eat..

[TheQ]

Well I found enough dry weather on Saturday morning to replace an electricity cabinet that is bolted to a telegraph pole and supplies the mobile home and model railway shed. The old one must have dated from the days of the installation and 36 years of a wooden cabinet, outside in the rain, snow and sun meant it was severley rotting. So I bought a new fibreglass one and replaced it ( I used to change 3 phase contactors live as part of my job, so I do know what I'm doing!!) I found that the output lead, from the after meter fuse was burnt at the lead and loose in its socket it wouldn't have lasted much longer, an RCD was fitted after the fuse as part of the rewiring.

After that it was time to go for a long walk to look for the site supervisor, our cat had been missing since I let her out last week one morning, A 2 mile walk between where we live and where she used to live, plus a few branch lines (roads) nothing. Got very wet in the rain.

Sunday pottered around clearing up the railway shed ready for baseboard construction, sat down for a break , when I stood my back went click so that put paid to another supervisor hunt, as I painfully walked back down to the house.

Monday a neighbour found the cat dumped, wrapped up in a childs cot duvet, it was on their back driveway, which has a caravan parked on it so they don't use that driveway. She must have been hit by a car. So she has been buried in our pet graveyard with 3 of our dogs.

Today ( in 45minutes after work) off to B+Q to get some materials to build the first 6 baseboards and some cement to make some more paths for access to the railway shed / viaduct