We both put a lot of hard graft into our to do lists today, the drives and paths look much better after a mop over, a little bit of dust that rain when is does come will wash away. The van looks very shiny as do the cars. We had lamb for dinner, the potatoes were probably the best we have ever had, Mandy is such a good cook, I think I would challenge anyone to make roast pots any better.

The PMP shop and eBay are bang up to date other than digital downloads which remain a high priority to catch up with. I'm still not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, I'll be filming that is for sure, just trying to gauge the likely amount of sun v cloud , I'll watch the tv forecast  in the news bulletin late this evening, I missed it on country file and had no chance of wali9mng off mid roast!

I'll have a clip on Youtube of the Worcestershire trip this week, it was difficult to edit with wind noise and bright and dark scenes etc but got there in the end. Much easier will be the three films from my trip to Crick on Friday which gives us the slide show this evening.

I've also made some more headway with the diorama with the blocks of flats complete other than weathering. It is starting to come together roughly as I envisaged it although it never seems possible to squeeze in as much as I'd like.

I cleaned all three vehicles today plus a first attempt at cleaning the paths which had got builders dust and mud from the floods, building next door and our renewed fascia , annoyed that they scratched the path surface with their ladders when the grass was only a few inches away, also found yet more discarded screws this time on the drive, wouldn't recommend them to anyone although it looks good.

At least we now have all our electrics working, Garry and Teresa next door are still having plumbing problems some stemming from things being built in so they can't easily be accessed for repairs. Nice to be able to pause and have a natter between jobs, although freezing first thing it was a very pleasant spring day. One of the roof glass panes had slipped down, thankfully by clearing the runners that hold it and with heavy duty gloves in case, it went straight up in one push and was easily secured with a couple of screws at the bottom.

he steam railway DVD is now on the PMP shop and thats probably my last archive feature for a little while as we ramp up our current coverage of buses and lorries. We are already considering the events which we can attend, one certainty is that we'll be at Gaydon lorry bash , we'll just have old clearance copies of lorry films. Now that both Detling and Brooklands are off for April our first rally may be a way off still. I'm keeping close to things though, Wythall was very enjoyable and they have events scheduled.

The big news here today is that after two electricians spent the best part of the day getting us back on fully Mandy was up to her eyes in moving china from cabinets as the sparkies wanting floor boards up hither and dither.  The chap who came the day after the flood was now off with Covid but they couldn't get any ting to go back on at the main box, it turns out after ringing him at home that he had made safe so we couldn't just throw a switch and blitz everything. It was nearly dry everywhere and the sand bags are now stashed behind the green house. All the many leads are now back where they belong, just two to go back into the shed and tonight we can be fully illuminated at last five weeks and a day since the floods.

I was down at Crick in Northamptonshire today where the DIRFT is ever expanding with the new phase looking to be well under way to finishing and is massive. This is a good spot for Stobarts and Malcolms as well as the Post Office lorries. The weather was clear blue sky, no wind at all and about 12 degC. I'm now editing the Worcester bus trip and then there will be 3 programmes based on todays trip. It looks set fair for next week and I would like a similar day at Immingham. I managed to get another shot of MALBART L001 see below.

The blocks of flats are coming along for the left hand sector of phase 2 dioramas representing the 1970-80s ish, centre is now and right side anything that comes out 'green' electrics, new liveries etc.
There will be one more block of flats, not much back scene required. The next photo shows roughly how it links to the middle section but it will be an office block providing the actual join. One more block of Kingsway flats to go.

I've now got all the detailing kits ready to finish off the bus station, the road will come forward from the backdrop photo. The area outside the doors on the bus station will get exact copies of seats, rubbish bins and cycle racks. I'll try and merge the back scenes, I think for the higher shelves a 'sky' may be required as it becomes very evident. The card kits can be very wasteful in card and it needs a halt and clean up every so often lest anything is buried as you can see from picture below.

I've finished editing the next archive DVD which features steam era railways in Britain and takes us from 1958 to 1973 and industrial steam coming to an end as well. I've managed to get a few more films on the PMP shop as digital downloads, remember these are just £8 each. I really see this as the way forward. I really will give archives a bit of a break now and fingers crossed bounce back with some more ih the autumn ready for Christmas build up. Fingers crossed we can access all UK and ROI soon and may even get abroad later in the year. I'll get the cover for the railway film done tomorrow together with stills. I'm filming lorries at Crick, Northamptonshire tomorrow, should be sunshine all the way and although a little cooler it will be wind free and no clouds.

Now for something different in Worcester this morning, judging by its appearance every few minutes a lightly trafficked and frequent service, First were operating a skeleton service unlike most regions who are keeping the flag flying and keeping a regular service which will be easy to upgrade to include all school and college children who it seems may have longer hours or less holidays so more for the bus company. Firsts decision to operate old bangers and a rag tag and bob tail mix reflects on a decision to burn them at some stage to get rid of any infection, Warrington had a similar strange mix ex Ensigns on their previous lock down, this time a much fuller service.

The weather today was the thing, far too much sunshine at Worcester it was supped to be cloud all day per BBC forecast , it was very warm 16degC just 15 at Kidderminster. The wind was much more evident than indicated in the outlook, I battled through it but it wasn't easy. Met some fellow enthusiast drivers at Kidderminster. A short stop at Stourbridge to top up on footage, the presence of Nat Express West Midlands ensures a more full service scheduler is being followed.

I' staying put tomorrow we have shopping to do and I've been blown about enough today, Friday does had potential for truck filming, I'm hoping next week brings better weather less wind and some calm after the storms, the electricians are supposed to be coming to fix the electrics post flood damage.

It is always nice to see at least one new bus in the day and here it is! Diamond still has a bit of a dolly mixture of liveries but it brings a bit of interest to a non double deck location.

Ahh, decker territory and better schedules but still that blasted wind!

Super busy as ever, awful weather so no filming but hoping to get to Worcester for buses tomorrow. Friday looks like a possibility for truck film. Another new archive film which will be out this week is on BR era steam railways in the 1960's. That should satisfy those with a penchant for golden oldies days. I've also made a bit more progress on the modern era diorama with the left hand section 70-80's and have to half relief blocks of flats complete. I'm hoping to squeeze in another and a block of offices and somewhere along the line get the back drop fitted.  The Nottingham plus of course the IOW IOM film are on the PMP shop now.

This new archive feature will go on the PMP shop tomorrow evening when I've completed the cover. It features a visit to the Isle of Man in 1962, Isle of Wight 1965 and Hythe pier and harbour 1958. Lots of delicious nostalgia and it is in the Down Your Way series and a Ticket boo production which means all scenes are from HD scanned cine images. A few more bus shots would have been nice there are some on the IOM, including the 1934 Regent which was withdrawn in 1963 but went on to give ancillaery use and eventually a playbus, they got their moneys worth! So trams, trains and a few buses, a paddle steamer ferry, it goes on.This could be the next block buster and just in time to fill the gap before the pubs open in mid May. When we get Welsh and Scottish opening dates we shall arrange trips, with Wales opening shop for St Davids day that might be a good time to cross the border for our second Corona visit. I will NOT be going to Newport which is now firmly on my black list for the time being.

I've also started work on the next 1/3 of my modern era diorama which involves a whole backdrop of half relief multi storey flats. I'm only on the first one. Received today were several of the items to help finish off my Derby based bus station with litter bins, seating, cycle stands etc all of which match the real thing. I've also got to fit a back drop but it could be with all the tall building little of a back scene would be visible. I was hoping for a film trp locally today but weather was mixed with heavy rain until late morning. Now I'm looking at Tuesday morning, the little IQ car has its MOT 4pm at Northwich, on Frifay we have the electricians coming to get us back to normal and rid of the extension leads which I keep tripping over.

.Terrible weather, bins all over the garden but tomorrow will be better so some gardening and outside jobs on the list for Sunday.I managed to get the Wolverhampton bus spot ultra completed, no more huge tasks like that until next autumn. Once that was out of the way I got the Nottingham trip edited, some really good images, the lighting was just right for one. We got all the DVD orders received up to yesterday afternoon away  but already the orders are starting to pile up again. I've put a lot of Wolves trailers on Youtube, the net is really slow but when I can I'll pop a Nottingham clip on. The weather for the next week should allow some film work, I'll come up with a rough schedule tomorrow.

I've also continued work on the further reaches of my family tree which is back in the 400's at present, thats an awful lot of grand dads back!

A good shoot in Nottingham today and plenty of material and bus numbers not too far short of normal, so much better than the skeleton lock down services of the first lock down or was it the second - do you find it all blurs into one by now. Anyway I'm also making rapid progress on the Bus Spot Ulra Wolverhampton which should be finished tomorrow. Meanwhile a short slide show from Nottingham today

I might be having a tidy up in the garden over the weekend, when I've finished the Wolverhampton Bus Spot Ultra I'll probably leave that format until next autumn although anything with resources on digital  is so much easier. I was musing about something on the later days of steam around Britain, I think I have material from Scotland and Wales at least and plenty on the English regions although I must admit I'm well out of my comfort zone on that subject.

Just detail to add to the Derby bus station model  4mm 1/76 scale. As the sharp eyed will notice it is mainly to set off a lot of the latest model releases mainly Stagecoach although nothing in the new livery yet. A couple of Arriva and a lone First Group. These were either the models which Peter Turland at Yardley Wood Model club puts aside or the rake of boxes I discovered in the attic.

Scale Railway Scenery thankfully do the correct type of railing but I just got a couple to start but need more as I didn't know how long they would be. They are crisp laser cut, easy enough to remove from the retaining sprue and so accurate that any one length actually stands on its own square on the surface. Mine just need painting before I can place them, also orders a few more 'modern' image accessories now the the earlier era diorama is mostly complete. The bus station Derby model has no people as yet but it hardly matters as they are inside warm and smug or if it was very recent, out in the cold as they closed the bus station to stop getting covid, same as Middlesbrough, bus station being renowned as the breeding ground for infection or not as may be. It turned out that all the hot air over folk going to beaches last summer led to not one case of Corona, mind you the might have drunk a case of the other Corona, I'd prefer EPA myself if you are offering.

I'm now well into editing the bus spot ultra Wolverhampton film, fingers crossed thought that the wind isn't too sharp on Nottingham tomorrow.