Awful weather here today, strong winds together with heavy sleet. I got the presents from everyone at St Oswalds over to the Salvation Army at Northwich, thankfully there was one of the younger helpers to assist with the unloading. Yet another day and more lined up with weather unsuited to filming, outside chance it may be OK around Cheshire, the doable outlook for Newcastle upon Tyne quickly changed. I've still had no joy with the scanner unit from China, if they don't come up with something soon I'll have to go for an Amazon return. I do need a replacement quickly as I've so much film to get through, the machine isn't really man enough for the job though. We had another large batch of DVDs to get posted and we've now done the greater part of our cards which will go out in the morning.. The day has flown by with little to show for it, I did get a sketch together for a possible Caucasus trip next year, just at the feasibility stage. I've also identified some transport events we may attend but need to get the concerts booked for the spring.

The hospital rang today and they offered me an earlier date so I'm have the colonoscopy a week today which means it will all be out of the way before Christmas. If the weather stays as rough and I can't get out and I can't scan the cine I'll start on another Bus Spot Ultra production. I received my two model buses by Roy down in Birmingham, two super looking Midland Reds to join my Midland collection. Here are shots of them. That lovely post war era when operators could still turn them out with a bit of lining.

I collected the Christmas gifts for children from St Oswalds this lunchtime , they are now in the van awaiting a call back on what time to drop them off, it won't be today now as we are at the RNCM opera this evening with reception for Principle's circle in the interval but we need to be mindful; of the pre Christmas drink driving clamp down.  We I got back I gave the PMP van and IQ a thorough clean inside and out, I also did a little gardening and at last planted the remaining daff bulbs.

I'm waiting to hear back again from China ref the failed scanner, they are communicating and trying to resolve the problem, I've sent pictures to them. I've got the last outstanding DVD covers ready and they are all on the shop pages.

We had a bumper record number of DVD orders topping forty which is an all time highest. I think it will dry up a bit now the weekend is gone and election non fever fails to take hold although shares could do with some impetus. The weather looks poor for filming this week but I will take an opportunity.

Really annoying that my cine scanning  has come to a full stop at present but the supplier in China may well be the maker and waiting the engineers suggestions. There is a rest to factory settings option on menu but when pressed nothing happens and you can't even switch off the machine. I've just finished the 4th attempts at doing the bathroom grouting, I've now put refresher on the white tile grout and then with masking tape and not using the shower for 36 hours have carefully regrouted the errant sections. All looks well with minimum clean up required, we still aren't sure long term what we should do but it can now wait at least until after Christmas. It was the childrens gift service at St Oswalds, I'm taking the presents down to the Salvation Army tomorrow, the numbers are well down so I doubt if I'll need the trolley to carry them just the big sack. Northwich SA support about 40 families and around 20 or so for meals but not 7 days, I think the food banks have partially filled the gap.

We've got 42 DVD orders to send out but leaving them to the morning, it all got a bit fraught today with the scanner and grouting. We'll certainly have a bag full . Well dinner is well under way we are both sipping aperitifs at the moment and thankfully been able to put bathrooms and cine film scanning aside courtesy alcohol! I'll get the covers out for the DVDs to be sent out in the morning, I thi9nk it is going to be a wet and windy night. Not looking that promising for filming this week so I may try for a Bus Spot Ultra, somehow I've Llandudno on my mind, a bit off the wall compared with some huge bus locations but there were trams bus and cable cars, well the latter still exist. I do hope I can resume cine scanning soon meanwhile with North Wales on my mind lets head in that direction for this evenings slide show.

Yet more work associated with the wretched grouting, I think there may not have been enough glue when originally fitted causing tiles to come ever so slightly loose and thus ingress of water when wet from underneath which explains why the original grouting had got pitted. Now this is becoming like 'theres a hole in my bucket' as that has now gone full circle but it is all very clean and we've taken the opportunity of cleaning the drains in the bathroom. A lot less cold now and it was rain free. We dropped off the post and then headed to Boyle St museum where I was besieged by customers asking where the PMP stand was and had I got the latest etc, well with three online shops and postal / phone sales what more can we provide, the prices at Boyle street as so high that it would just detract from our work and funding the old film preservation but we are thinking of covering 10 events in 2010. While at Boyle Street I picked up the models Peter Turland had for me from the last few months releases, here is a shot in our display room before they go into long term storage pending completion of phase two of the cases probably late 2020.

We are open to rally suggestions for next year, we have quite a few in mind for taking the stand to others we just go to film and enjoy. There will be Detling and Cobham, Birmingham Bus Bash and possibly Kidderminster if we aren't still banned. Lathalmond is a regular feature, I'd like to attend one in Wales, one in the South West and possibly Worthing to make up for not being around at Alton in 2020 due to the Brazil trip. For the North West Town & District , maybe  Potteries and that leaves gaps for Yorkshire and the North East which allowing for at least two not to materialise  or we might squeeze some else in, nothing there for the East Midlands, anything happen there these days. We welcome invites preferably with sensible or low fees for not for profit PMP archive.

I'm running off more cine through the scanner and getting the 31 DVD orders ready plus doing this blog and burning the Manfield bus DVD which I edited a few minutes back, thats four things at the same time who says men cant multi task.

Mandy arrived home last night a little late as the was storm force winds on the Irish sea, we quickly got settled back into routines and I had the best nights sleep for a while. We had domestic chores like washing and shopping which involved a trip to Handforth Dean near Manchester airport. It was pretty hectic in the shops, we picked up a couple of toys for gift Sunday service this weekend at St Oswalds. At least we now have dinner through to Sunday and then Monday its the opera at the RNCM. Between jobs I've been downloading the DVD orders, we sent out the early ones on our way to the shops but there are already a few more collecting.

I did some more cine scanning, eventually achieved a 100% immaculate copy of a reel with not the slightest hint of a speck of dust. It is hard to know what really needs cleaning, obviously it doesn't hurt for it all to be clean but the instructions are Chinese machine translated and pretty thin anyway, a little more in the way of clues would have helped but it looks as if I've now fully cracked the process and the results are stupendous. The downside is the slow speed of scanning, when I start on the 400' reels it will be an all nighter but no damage ensues it just turns off if it breaks or comes to the end.

The grouting in the bathroom reached phase three, I decided not to have any more silicon on joints but grout around the edge of the tiles, this should avoid any chance of mould growth. Getting the shower section to look complete has been a three attempts so far, the slope for drainage and deterioration of the original grout has made it complex. A last clean up tomorrow should see the job finished, quite shattered after that and shopping, the damp seems to have gotten to my knees which are weak and wobbly at present, mind you they are ok when I'm filming all day! I'll resume getting the digital downloads on the PMP shop pages and also get the Mansfield and Chesterfilms edited. I did get the A500 west trucks film trailers on Youtube earlier today. A few covers to get done as ever. Shots from Chesterfield today.

Its all a bit of a dash around this evening as Mandy arrives home about 8 this evening from Ireland and I've a few more jobs I want to get finished before she arrives like the finishing touches to the grey grouting in the bathroom which was a monster of a job last night and I sweated blood getting it all cleaned up ready for the cleaners coming today, it looks good so far and just a few last touches in the shower section which has got the most wear. I had to do the whole room as they didn't seem to make the light grey I used before. Just checking through my current account and I have ample to take care of the big box or two of models I'll collect from Yardley Wood at Boyle Street on Saturday.  We'll be at Manchester again on Monday for the RNCM winter opera, I noticed from their website listings for next year that the spring opera is a Phillip Glass opera, now that will be well modern, this one though is Poulenc's Carmellites.

It was really good today at Mansfield, I got 70 minutes of film in one shot, as ever super friendly drivers, its a good month really other than the Alpha coach driver at Lancaster, Stagecoach overall seem with Blackpool and Trent to be firing on all cylinders on the friendly stakes! The trip to Chesterfield was as equally friendly, it took a little more effort but easily accomplished. The trip to Mansfield this morning was grueling and equally the short distance to Chesterfield, worst was the Satnav troute it chose back home from Chesterfield, a bit too cross country as even the supposed major routes have lower speed limits than the smaller routes. Super day though, a backlog of editing DVDs and getting covers done thats normal though. I wonder what sort of weather we'll get next week? Shots from Mansfield -

A few decorating and domestic jobs to get on with and had a rough night so didn't rush to get up this morning, it was full sunshine, blue sky so stuick close to home and in the morning went to the A500 west near Crewe a spot I've used a lot of times over the years but I don't think I've done much there for a while. There was an amazing amount of lorries buzzing back and fro and I think it was the best session I'd ever had there albeit the wintry watery sun doesn't help.I got back and caught up with weekly chores like getting ready for the bin men tomorrow and cleaners come on Thursday. I got the new shelf unit erected in the small bedroom. Picked up a huge tub of expensive grey grout, its all B&Q had, was geing to Morreys at Holmes Chapel but there are severe traffic delays from roadworks so came back via Middlewich and then to Northwich. I'm already editing the film from today lets see what the photos came out like, it wasn't perfect positioning for stills and the sun but video was first class. Hoping still to cover Mansfield and Chesterfield although yet again it could err towards a bit of sun first thing.

Busy day looking ahead at tomorrows weather, may be last minute decision on any location. I got all the DVD orders ready and stamped and dropped them off this afternoon using the gpo mail sack Lawrence gave me, I didn't get there until schools out rush hour so just dropped it off as instructed. I've put the undercoat and later top coat on the shelf unit I made for the small bedroom, its taking quite a while for the top gloss coat to dry but hoping to get it fixed in place by Thursday. I put the grout refresher on the bathroom floor tiles, might have made some difference, need to get some more actual grey grout and some white refresher. There were a couple of marks from the building work on the ceiling in the new showroom, they have now had six coats of paint and still they keep showing.

I finally reviewed all the recent cine films I'd scanned, a huge problem, dust! I'm now doing them again one by one and examining each when complete as there is a lot of dust in the air. I'll have to keep giving the machine a blast with the air canister. I managed to get these DVD covers done, it didn't take that long other than for printer inks and the like running out. I've researched the Cyprus potato harvest for the trucks illustrated in CVC, I guess the optimum time is May its down near Larnaca, might be worth a punt. I'm also gathering film for possible use in next years VE day celebrations for the 75th. I'm also trying to get my head around a possible visit to some hard to get to or 'difficult ' countries for next year. Mandy is back home Thursday night. I edited the Blackpool and Lancaster DVDs hence the rush to get all the covers up to date.

Last night before bed I decided as there wasnt much on tv and I'm avoiding the news at present that I'd put together the film for the show I'm doing at the beginning for Feb for the local Jaguar club, got it all done before 11pm then to bed which for once I'd remembered to put the electric blanket on beforehand so it was ultra cosy. Woke up just before th3e alarm this morning so had a leisurely breakfast and gentle drive up the M6 to Lancaster arriving just in time for all the school, university and college services plus the rush hour such as it may be in those parts. I couldn't believe the light, it was as near perfect as you could expect at this time of year, just still not even a breeze and around 0 or so, it was -3 at home, I don't bother with gloves which was fine for filming but not my fingers. I was amazed at the quantity and frequency of the buses and rattled off the film work in double quick time and was soon back at the car getting ready to drive back down to Blackpool.

It was a clear run although it is still a bit of a hike, Blackpool is very much a building site still and the amazing sight is the tram tracks leading into Wilkos store! The sun was trying to get out at first but this soon settled down and yet again In was soon in the thick of it and able to get the required footage in a short time and then have coffee and a muffin before heading home. Both Stagecoach as both locations plus Blackpool transport were all just so very friendly with thumbs up, smiles and waves all the way and the only minus an Alfa coach driver at Lancaster who did the usual trick of pulling up on a corner, opening his window and then start demanding that I delete the shot. I gave him a warm and friendly seasonal greeting and noted he seemed to be on a tinsel and turkey trip, bet its a whole bundle of laughs with that chap but he was just a lone misery among such friendly folk all the way, Lancashire certainly had its good side on today and I was soon heading home.

Dropped the post off at the local post office and then had a go at cleaning the car with all the kit I'd picked up at Halfords on Saturday, I gave it a really good dose of looking at , it will be a shame to go out and get it dirty again. Busy getting more jobs done, disc printer ink ordered, emails checked, more cine scanning, filled in the little bits that needed it on the bookshelf I'd made for the small bedroom, cooked dinner, about to eat and then edit todays films and make sure I look at the weather to see if there is anything I can film tomorrow in such good light. Phoned the Irish tax people who had now sent Mandy a final demand, threatening everything under the sun, bottom line thay had a backlog of cheques they hadn't been able to sort, apologised put a block on any more letters and said they were thinking next year of not sending letters out until they had put the cheques through, only in Ireland ! Photos from Lancaster.

It wasn't too late last night when I'd finished the structure of Bus Spot Ultra Edinburgh but too late to get the DVD made which I left to this morning. Not that many DVDs to get ready to post but there may well be a few more orders Sunday evening as there often is. I've also been getting together the bones of a film show I'm doing in February for the local Jaguar club, lots of pieces I've found may come in handy for other presentations, all I need to do is to finish the second and third parts of the Carlisle truck film for lat Friday, the second of the three DVDs is burning at the moment, as ever a back log of DVD covers quickly appears my least favourite part of the process.

I've been a generally busy boy today, after I got back from St Oswalds where we had a visiting non stipendiary vicar ( not paid!) from Knutsford who is in his day job a film producer - I got back and made a start on the shelf unit for the small third bedroom which used to be the editing suite. I got all the structure done, just some filling and painting to complete, its a bit cold working outside but it gave me some fresh air and after early clear sky it has clouded over. Not so cold this morning just -2.

I've also been running more cine through the scanner up to about 20 reels, while I was doing the shelf a dry joint went through and the pieces separated and it had just run off onto the floor but was still recording, self feeding and thus the good news is that I'll be able to use an old projector as a passive feed for 400' reels and let them run onto a clean surface and then rewind with the projector which will speed it up a lot as the scanner is great at scanning but the motor is weak and the reels rewind loose. This is all good news as I won't need to split the 400 footers ijn two so no splicing needed but I've bought a splicer and cement in case of any joints which need fixing.

So all good news and I can at last get on with some material I'm examining and digitising for the OTA. So all in all just another sort of PMP day, I sleep well at night! I've been thinking about the next Bus Spot Ultra presentation, unsure but requests welcome. Anyone got any transport cine that we can copy, buses, lorries, trolleys, trams etc, the results now are really fantastic. The last batch of shots from Carlisle, fingers crossed the weather this week is light cloud and I get a minimum of four days filming done.