The newish electric deckers for National Express were the most obvious interest and we saw quite a few arriving mid morning rush hour although I got video twice I never managed to get a still of Johnsons new decker which caused quite a stir as a one off purchase. Coventry came alive towards lunch time, I guess they had be then had their daily fix of whatever, the place has gone so far down hill as to be en par with Loughborough and that is really rough. A shame really as for a while it managed to function on the back of its cathedral, perhaps it was better to have left the town to waste away. It was actually going to be a city of culture this year which I suppose must have been abandoned as they couldn't think of anything cultural in Coventry.

We stopped off and visited one of Mandy's cousins on the way back, thankfully the rain had held off and fallen on Cheshire , our garden has now had a good watering several times, plus hail, sleet and whatever else could be thrown at it. The rat man had been, now declared no bait taken which could be good news that there are no surviving local rats or they are full up eating it or they have migrated to annoy another village. It did reach the front page of our local paper this week. Anyway next a slide show from Coventry this morning.

Last night the computer threw a wobbler and I struggled to make any advance until bed time, two hours wasted time. Why is there never a simple straight forward answer to questions, using my ipad I sought a solution. It turned out that I just had a stuck key on the keyboard but it was the one with a microsoft logo so kept getting a microsoft box come up whatever I tried to type. When I found it was the same on the old XP machine I realised the only thing it could be was the keyboard. Anyway at le4ast that was out of the way. I got the two new truck DVDs edited today here are the covers, not even on the shop as yet.

We are heading to Coventry for bus film tomorrow then hopefully visiting family au jardin. I had forgotten it is a bank holiday weekend which takes Monday out of the running for filming. I'm hoping for suitable weather to go up and record Edinburgh and Glasgow in the near future. Mean time lets look at some more of the lorries we saw at Stoke yesterday morning.

Welcome every one, we are getting lots of plaudits this week, I've posted them on the front shop page, one of our viewers in Bulgaria was delighted with his film, I'm trying to put places like former USSR and Eastern Europe as digital downloads as the post isn't always reliable. Mid you China is always spot on but I fear that is similar to saying that Mussolini made the Italian trains run on time.

I decided to keep near home filming as the weather wasn't at all settled, more like being back in winter. I just did a short run down the M6 to the bottom of the D road where it comes off the M6, the motorway was shut further south, perhaps it had knocked the traffic as it wasn't quite as busy as I expected but I needed my winter coat and gloves. The slide show tonight covers the first film starting around 9am.

Yes the DVD is already on the PMP Shop

A review of progress on the dioramas, at present this consists of getting unpainted figures painted up, a time consuming task and hard on my eyes which no longer focus close up.

Photos all ready to files away, must be getting efficient in my old age. Anyway I've painted quite a few of the 1/86 figures, a race of midgets this time round although if you have ever tried to populate a 1/76 bus or coach with equivalent scale people it is almost impossible. Hoping to get some trucks filmed romorrow and Friday possibly Coventry buses.

New releases today, they are all on the PMP shop. All being well we shall be filming in Oxford and Didcot tomorrow. On Tuesday Mandy gets her second jab and I get mine on Wednesday. We did manage a couple of hours sit in the garden this afternoon. We had a bit of Sahara dust so needed to clean the vehicles off. We are all tanked up now. Just about to have Sunday dinner, lawns mowed, flowers fed and bug killer sprayed. No signs of rats at the moment. I feel a little less depressed than yesterday but we really do need a proper break.

I have completed the task of putting all the 1999 Caucasus trip on to digital download and update the archive listing accordingly and also too the opportunity of getting the archive listing updated with recent material. These scenes will need to go on to the OTA copy of the archives. Our digital stock grows weekly although it is still hard to keep up. I'm feeling my age a bit and we need to consider the future as the punishing schedule can't go on forever. People should take heed that we shall be doing some more distant UK travels in the coming month or two when Scotland has opened up and avoid the holiday crowds in the South West and East Anglia. So during those times best follow the blog and our plans. Generally if there is anything old on the list you can get it now on DVD or see if I can get it digitised before I pop my clogs! The Caucasus trip features slightly edited for format on the PMP Youtube channel. Scenes then tonight from the A500 West taken yesterday and another sunny day at home. Repainted the shed/greenhouse and washed down the garden bench cover, nicely nibbled by the rates.

A bright sunny mild day with a gentle breeze, I decided that the A500 West was the best bet and I did really well. It must be all the sunny weather, it was like Corona was forgotten for a while, lots of waves, toots and lights flashing. In the few quiet moments the insects including a good selection of butterflies appeared as the heat built to a giddy 17deg. Anyway it was good to get the balance right for the week and from Monday we can start to build Scotland back in the mix.

We've been on the rodent chase, picked off a field mouse under the sink and the council chap has been and set yet more bait. The generally dismissive attitude of Cheshire West and Chester council was on top form as they were quite negative in the response sent to our councilor. Anyway its a lot of hassle and we miss all the birds in the garden but needs must to clear the remaining rats in the village. We did our weekly food shop in M&S and got some quality wine at good prices in Tesco next door.

I've managed to get another of the Caucasus trip masters on to digital on the shop and clips on Youtube.
Really it is the best way for people overseas to get our films as downloads which I must encourage. It is also going to be a stage in life where we consider how we should carry on our work while recognising our advancing years. It has at last been quiet for two days which we don't mind at all but each time I say that it picks up again. The Bristol bus shots tonight which means trucks for the weekend posts.

 It was Mandy's first outing this year, we were up at 5am and in Bristol around 8.30, it was impossible to get to the roads we usually park on and have plenty of pavement cafes so we ended back in the main shopping area amidst the closed forever places like Debenhams. There was a Starbucks so coffee, a croissant and thank goodness the loo was open. I went off to get my film while Mandy had a potter around the shops and did her best to boost the Avon economy. I had hassles within minutes at the turning circle near the wharf, typical shambolic rambling creature but frightening but he overdid it a bit and probably ran out of swear words and threats and thankfully passed on to annoy someone else. The only minus in a generally plus sort of day. I got my footage in Bristol without much effort or walking, then we met up and headed off to Cribbs Causeway recommended by one of our viewers. I got some good shots and the light was right, some of the buses I got a couple of goes. A good mix and plenty that you don't see in central Bristol. We had a coffee in M&S at the Mall and moaned that they had no cake, can you imagine a M&S cafe with no cake, hopefully in three weeks it will be normal service once more.

I got my second jab booked this evening, Mandy gets hers Tuesday and mine is Wednesday evening at Congleton. I'm going to do some truck film tomorrow, not 100% sure where as yet, must check but it could be another sunny day so best to make the most of it. I'll be looking out for suitable days to get to Glasgow and Edinburgh after Monday when the border reopens. meanwhile the shots from Cribbs Causeway shopping centre outside Bristol.

As well as getting the Teesside and Co Durham films completed and put on the PMP shop I also managed to get the first of the unedited archives from the 1999 trip to the Caucasus on digital format and available on the PMP shop as a download. This has plenty of trams and trolleys but also lots of animated street scenes and even our evening entertainment. Anyway sticking with the North East these are the new DVDs

Tomorrow we are going down to Bristol, Mandy's first trip out with me filming this year, hopefully we shall not freeze have our coffee and cakes al fresco. When we were at Booths getting some essentials this afternoon they said they were swapping around the entrance / exit flow getting their cafe ready for reopening in a couple of weeks, somehow I thought it was longer until we could eat inside. I checked rail fares to London, far too expensive so we'll wait until hotels open and then can have a couple of days catching up.

I also did some work on the dioramas, I decided to through Johns Models kits in the waste, really they have been a disappointment it was just the modern image they covered appealed for the last part of the diorama I'm on now, the likes of a Premier Inn and shopping centres. I'll stick with Kingsway, SMS and Metcalfe. If I haven't got the right buildings I'll make them from scratch like my bus station.
I got some of the Woodland Scenery figures today, they are American but if you get the right ones they are quite nice but very much HO not OO but then people come from 4 ft to 6 ft in real life and at least they tend to include all ethnicities which like it or not is the reality.  I'll try and get some pictures on soon.