A busy day but I wanted to use the last day of warm sunny weather to best advantage so not wanting to go too far I decided on one of my all time favourite spots at Uttoxter roundabout on the A50. It is so busy now, I expect the new facility at East Midlands airport had added to the traffic, anyway the sun was spot on and super friendly drivers as always. I've got a lot of stuff to get through, I've edited the first of the Belfast truck DVDs and there should be a clip on Youtube this evening plus I've loaded another couple of Northern Ireland bus film clips. The Youtube channel is a little down than peak the week before, I think everyone is listening watching waiting to see what more of a total mess Scraggy head can make of the country.

I've never seen the country put in such jeopardy and the economy in ruins and then tell people to take some more time off and stay at home pottering in the garden aka work If we don't get a vaccine we shall have to learn to live with the virus like people have had to do in the past, we are not the super race we thought we were now push comes to shove, we have messed up the environment, screwed up the prospects for nearly every wild animal species and what are we left with. Scraggy head is without doubt the worst thing ever other than leaving the EU, how can people be so small minded that they have brought this upon us.It is a stepping stone to an authoritarian dictatorship and Britain a little feeble has been flung into the corner by a petulant child.

Meanwhile on the home front the cleaners are back Thursday which is great news and I suddenly found that we had a bond for quite a lot of dosh invested only trouble is the crash in property market has sent the company into a spiral, hoping that it and creditors can reform a usable entity and we get back some of our money, this is all in addition to the losses on the stock market which was starting to right itself until the latest scraggy head whammy.

I will remove the bits and pieces that have ended up on the new display cabinet shelves but I was that tired after doing it all I decided that could wait. We have a few ideas for an initial display with some of my Eastbourne commemorative gift ware from 100 or more ago and Mandy mothers teaspoon collection that we added to. These are things well hidden away which would enjoy an airing. I had lots of other stuff to get through today and generally speaking I'm  on top of stuff. I will be carrying on editing the Northern Ireland material lots more to come, tons of trucks as well as buses.

As well as DVD editing I've a few favours asked of us that I need to investigate and if the weather is suitable warm and sunny tomorrow for the last time this year I would like to get out and film lorries. Lots of bus destinations also lined up.

While we were away the PMP Youtube channel reached new heights with well over 90k hits on one day plus subscribers now poring in, it will be nice to get 100k. The general level of performance is good considering that the economy is dragging down the need for advertising. We are well on the way to heaven knows where but with a fair wind behind us and the help of all you wonderful people out there it will be great taking the journey together.

Trucks in Belfast last Friday morning, well I'm having a bit of a relax in front of the soaps tonight with editing in the adverts.

We had very fine weather for the journey back to Scotland and then the night time drive down to Cheshire, we finally got to bed around midnight. Today was so lovely that after church I got some work done in the garden and then had perhaps a last sit in the sun for this year. I've located the perspex doors for the new display case, they ignored all instructions and ended up leaving a 10kilo package with our 90 year old neighbours, that was Tuffnells. I've mown the lawns, swept up, done some dead heading and pruning faded flowers. I've got all the DVDs out for the orders, I need to get the covers ready before we can post our the orders, Mandy tackles that side of things. I tried to get all online business done but as usual it just leaves more problems and worries. The internet and mobile phones are surely the worst inventions there ever were. Lots of photos to show you and I've edited the first bus DVD which has Ballymena and Derry buses from the start of the Northern Ireland bus days, the first two were sightseeing etc. Anyway lots of buses and even more lorries.

I'll start with some shots I took last weekend at North Antrim and our suite/bungalow at the hotel.

I'll get on to the transport shortly, these were also on the weekend before the weather really settled down

On the Sunday we had our first booked online visit to an NT property, Castle Ward was one of only two which had houses open as well as grounds, the weather had done us proud that day.

Ballymena was the start of our bus coverage, delayed though so missed a lot of school buses due to hassles with Amazon on my Ipad.

WellCWell ourhour last fulltfull dayeday of our stay cation in Northern Ireland and yet again we were blessed with fine weather yet again. Mandy visited the Ulster museum and found much of interest which filled the morning and then in the early afternoon I was walking back from the motorway and docks after a great morning of filming lorries and spotted Mandy so we had a catch up and then I continued to the Europa bus station and got area schools and mixed longer distance buses and coaches,  we spotted loads more school services on the way back out to the hotel. I guess you really have to be in the know to find  them all. With the Corona virus heading back to lock down we will be able to produce more archives to keep people amused and can load much more material to YouTube. Meanwhile week have our to do list of locations which we will follow as much as possible. When will the government realise that containing the virus is a hopeless task and it is not at all fair that infection not spots should have more restrictions what happened  to we are all in it together. I think that small tweaks would do the job such as pubs and clubs closing at say 10pm,  if sender down the second lock down route I think many people will run out of good will, thank goodness we have had this short break. We will  get Amazon shop live again, you can use eBay if you wish and our own PMP shop has always remained available and of course we have lots of digital downloads available

It started outCout cloudyhcloudy whichtwhich wasewas fine for filming buses and then with clear blue sky and warm sunshine it was just the job for filming lorries in our usual spot. Belfast like other capitals such Cardiff and London was a bit of a ghost town although there was plenty of traffic in the outskirts. I'm hoping it will be similar tomorrow but we need to find something formsndy to do, the shopping delights of Belfast are quite limited. There are rough sleeps all over the city and people seem to flout the parking regulations with immunity and the traffic wardens  don't seem to care. Once again the frontage to the city hall on Donegal square was just a taxi drop of point and then four lads in a car pulled in, the driver threwup and ditched his mask and zoomed off.
​there were some very colouful and we'll presented lorries all of which looked especially good in the bright sunshine. I was hoping to get some of the school bus traffic at laganside bus station but along came the dreaded taxis and blocked the view. I think I will try the junctions sussed out towards the depot on shore road, there was a good trickle of busds coming from that direction while I was filming lorries. It is cloudy first thing I'll try at europabus station but itis quiet in the day and cross border buses much diminished..

Time to move againCagain after our two day stayhstay at Bishopsgate hotel  in Derry. We stopped briefly in limavady then on to Coleraine and finally to Bangor. Really other than the morning and evening bus operations there is little activity outside of  Belfast although Derry keeps you busy too, nothing much to do with the pandemic it has been going downhill for years but still provided an interesting contrast with other parts of the UK and unique I. Having a government bus service. We are now at the storming hotel just east of Belfast served by frequent glider services. Tomorrow depending on the weather which should be pleasant  enough I'll be filming trucks and buses or perhaps I'll alternate. The hotel room is suitably plush but nowhere to put sash bags in bathroom and no towel rails, I think such luxuries went making it a disabled accessible room. They aren't servicing rooms every day etching up to standard of Bishopsgate or oranmoore in Ballymena. I expect Mandy will concentrate on shops on the city tomorrow. The net has-been quiet so it looks as if people have read that we are away. Orders will next go out on Monday..

We stillCstill havehhave severaltseveral days left in ourineedour one week oversea holiday fun filming trip in Northern Ireland. We seemed to dodge any localised showers and enjoyed a great deal of sun shine. We headed south from Derry and did a little filming in Strabane then to Omagh , a bit more thereolus a coffee stop. Then we headed through the lakes to Belleek  although it was a shadow of itself in the pottery and we bought nothing, their cafe was shut as we're factory tours. A few yards in the Republic and then on the road down to Enniskillen where we arrived in good time to capture the whole afternoon school services event, we sawsimilsr in Omagh on. Previous trip so knew what to expect and there was certainly a lot of action and a depleted depot after the second round of departures plus of course the education dept buses in yellow which don't use the bus station all this and a few coaches. Then with satnav leading us to ever more narrow roads we had to divert because of a herd of houses. Well Mandy insists that's what the farmer said! We are now back at our hotel Bishopsgate in Derry, not long for dinner, we've tried to show some restraint on food consumption dito drinks. Tomorrow we leave heading east  through limavady then Coleraine and possible Antrim for the afternoon school event then on to the stormont hotel opposite the infamous government building, they are all shielding from Corona so I doubt if we shall bump into many famous people. I have all day Thursday and Friday to cover both buses and lorries and the weather outlook is still good.

Sewers firstCfirst down forhfor breakfasttbreakfast this morningemorning, Mandy then went back to our delightful little cottage suite while I settled the biil. It turned into a bit of a nightmare as the card was declined three times. The lovely hotel owner wasn't bothered at all and said we could phone it through the next day but obviously we wanted it sorted especially in the aftermath of Mandy's card being compromised last month. It turned out that it was the Weebly subscription for our shop site etc from which the blog comes. Anyway it  was eventually sorted  but I lost time which would have been devoted to the bus station at Ballymena. In the event I got a few mixed services including a couple of trains as well. Then we drive across to Derry, there is anew road being built alongside the A6  which slowed us down. The weather was quite warm and Adair bit of sun around the outlook for the remainder of our week seems mostly dry and bright. Absent in Derry are bus eireane buses, saw just one as we had packed up, cross border is north west coachways and mcdonagles might have spent that wrong but got three on service to buncrana. Anyway a good count of buses achieved so tomorrow we may venture to other west of province locations down the border to spread our Ulster coverage. Lorry coverage will start when we are in Belfast for three nights. Again hoping for a busy bus scene , it looked good when we came through on Friday afternoon but I doubt if there will be much cross border traffic judging by today's results. Looks like a comfortable couple of nights coming up, we are in the heart of the city right next to one of the gates in the walks, we are actually booked in on a gormet break! Wel bring you more tomorrow.

WeCWe werehwere reallytreally luckyelucky with the weather today which was perhaps even better than the forecast and especially useful as we had done our first online booking for a national trust visit. This was the last of the large properties that we have visited in Northern Ireland cover the years. It was a bit hard going for Mandy with shingle oaths, a mix of wheelchair and walking, thankfully the present show rooms are all on the ground floor, the gardens still looked great and temp was about 21c. It's our last night in Ballymena tomorrow I intend getting shots at the bus station before we head west to Derry. The weather will be warm still but more cloudy and a chance of rain after lunchtime. I'll have most of the next day so no panic but I do have my cheap Chinese brolly ready. I think we have exhausted the dinner menu at our present hotel but I'm sure we'll manage, they had all the hens running around the grounds when we got back from Downpatrick, we came back via the busy strangford ferry and recalled lots of earlier trips when we had stayed on the ards peninsular. I had an awfultime this morning battling with Amazon, they treat people like something they have tried in on the pavement, if people were to use the PMP shop we could drop the Amazon shop which is nerve wracking and takes a huge chunk out of sales which comes used to further our film coverage.

WellCWell wehwe had ata superbesuperb meal in our lovely hotel just up the road from Ballymena bus statio , I'll get some shots on Monday morning before we leave for the drive across to Derry. Today we refreshed our memories of the North Antrim coastal route, this starts at  Larne and we enjoyed slightly blustery conditions but quite sunny, that lasted until mid afternoon and then the rain came down. By the time we got back to the hotel it was nearly tea time so have chilled out with a brew and old films, dinner at seven thirty. The breakfasts could be daunting but we have tried to limit our intake, perhaps just two courses for dinner tonight. I think I spotted just four buses today,certainly no open toppers to giants causeway. We managed to get a booking for national trust castle ward, that's tomorrow's trip out. Monday I get stuck into transport again. Very relaxing so far, couldn't have picked a better hotel, red squirrels as well in grounds, service topnotch and we have a little suite in a sort of cottage next to their courtyard. The central heating is now getting us toastie warm. Remember any dvd orders go out a week Monday but there are digital downloads and nearly half a million stills also available as downloads.