I'm on duty a second time today at St Oswalds with a Rogation Sunday outside service followed by a slide show in the school hall and buffet, we are contributing our last Christmas cake. Well only another four weeks and the nights start drawing in again, it soon comes round and nothing that really looks like summer yet in the North West of England. I still hope to get over to Belgium in June but jobs are stacking up before me and the front room still has to be decorated and the garden wall needs recementing. I've had another bash at the back garden and there only remains a small section to complete my first summer weed all round. I'll feed the plants , spray for bugs and scatter snail pellets may be mow the lawns before I go to the airport, it's a teatime flight which doesn't get in until 9.30 pm, there should be a bus connecting with the flight to the city centre. Zagreb is where i picked up a nasty food poisoning bug last time, I hope it's improved since then, our hotel at the time was mostly a refugee camp. Lets see what Balkan shots I have on file. First blog on the road is likely on Tuesday night.
'm all packed up ready for my trip to Zagreb tomorrow, I think the tram fleet there is now very modern albeit with home grown models, the scene in Osijek is I assume still much different and a fresh look at Sarajevo with tram and trolleys should reveal a whole medley of second hand vehicles. So a journey of contrasts shall we say. I've got all the weekend DVD orders waiting to pack and get off in the post Monday morning. Mandy has been refreshing herself on the downloading and will hold the fort until I return a week yesterday. We had a superb concert last night at Clonter Opera near Congleton, the singing was first rate and the food was well up to standard in fact the dessert was quite scrumptious. I'm not sure if we'll have much time for scrumptious food in Croatia or Sarajevo but it will be very interesting to see how things have progressed, the last meals we had in Sarajevo were in the Italian where the US ambassador chain smoked through her meal, Mandy's walking stick with a brass head fell off the table on the tiled floor, the crack sent her bodyguards reaching for their guns and she dived under the table. I did have to admonish the waiter for putting the wrong flag on my sundae he replaced it with a Union Flag and apologised profusely, we all had a really good laugh when we went back the following night, I onder if the river is still well stocked with bats flitting down at night. I'm on duty a second time today at St Oswalds with a Rogation Sunday outside service followed by a slide show in the school hall and buffet, we are contributing our last Christmas cake. Well only another four weeks and the nights start drawing in again, it soon comes round and nothing that really looks like summer yet in the North West of England. I still hope to get over to Belgium in June but jobs are stacking up before me and the front room still has to be decorated and the garden wall needs recementing. I've had another bash at the back garden and there only remains a small section to complete my first summer weed all round. I'll feed the plants , spray for bugs and scatter snail pellets may be mow the lawns before I go to the airport, it's a teatime flight which doesn't get in until 9.30 pm, there should be a bus connecting with the flight to the city centre. Zagreb is where i picked up a nasty food poisoning bug last time, I hope it's improved since then, our hotel at the time was mostly a refugee camp. Lets see what Balkan shots I have on file. First blog on the road is likely on Tuesday night. I just need to make the covers for the Taunton and Birkenhead visits, plenty of time to get this done as I don't fly out to Croatia until the afternoon on Monday. Mandy will look after the business while I'm gone. When I get back at the bank holiday weekend Mandy is helping at the next St Oswald toilet meeting with the builder and architect with her wheel chair to test the access arrangements. After this probably Wednesday she'll be off to our friends in Ireland for a week. I've identified the days I will have free for filming and hope that the weather will be suitable. Mainly the targets are further away after I've got local places covered and already many more distant places. Some visits are tied in to other events, family meet up, rallies etc so with these constraints I'm working my way through the list. Gaydon will soon be upon us, it will be really great to be back at the epicentre of British lorry preservation with Kelsall hot on it's tail. With this much truck stuff in the offing I'll concentrate on bus matters in the week. The news page has the present outstanding locations for filming, there are plenty to go at. I'm hoping to get over to Belgium in June and in July we visit Cyprus. I've loaded clips from Birkenhead which was my last bus film location. Youtube is now doing better than ever but a long way to go to reach the peak it should have done before ad blocking apps were on the scene. Please support us with your DVD purchases on this site which means the revenue comes straight to us, it's all post free worldwide, if you use Amazon they add postage. I know EBay is a popular site but we only have a sample of our films loaded on that more expensive option. Remember you can also access thousands of our photos on our Smugmug site from just 50p each. Thinking of which lets take a dip in the lorry memory pot with a mixed bag We had a splendid time at the Arch Deacons visitation service last night at St Thomas's in Stockport and after getting back home a quick change and we were down at the Golden Pheasant where they have two quite different seasonal ales on although neither would surpass a pint of their standard MPA. It was quiet there but a pleasant sunset after a mixed weather day. Well it's the end of a working week dfor some poeople although for me they are all very similar, busy all the time. After getting Mandy up to speed again downloading the DVD orders we got the post sorted while Mandy went on to a telephone interview with the solictors regarding the case against Leighton Hospital for the damage resulting from a two year wait for a relatively straight forward operation. I went off to St Oswalds for the toilet on site meeting, the build is getting towards its rather delayed end at last and when I get back from Croatia Mandy is coming down on the Tuesday after bank holiday to assist with the placement of access stones to the disasbled toilet.I also took a heap of books for the summer fete and came back with another load later, there was a funeral which delayed me a little. I also did yet another tweak on the bell tower access step with a side trip to Morreys at Holmes Chapel to get some Gorilla tape and then to our treasurers house at Plumley to drop off a builders valuation cert for payment. All this with a bit of editing including the Taunton running day and Birkenmhead trips sees me about ready to load clips to Youtube. We are having our Sunday roast dinner tonight as it's Rogation Sunday and we have food lined up for the evening at the school after the Rogation service. Keith is with his daughter for her birthday Sunday so I'll be officiating on my own as as my first fully sworn in day as Churchwarden. Tomorrow I hope to do some work in the garden and then in the evening we have the spring opera gala at Clonter, also booked the end of term concert at the Bridgewater hall for the RNCM, a drinks reception in the interval with the principle Linda Merrick. We are eating there for the first time, I imagine it costs a bit more than at Brodsky's in the college but will be interesting to see how it pans out. I've checked in for the Zagreb flight Monday and for the return, we'll probably sort the Sarajevo flight check in locally. Here is a couple of shots of St Thomas's church in Stockport Grade 1 listed like ourselves and a whole lot of structure to look after. It should have been a mainly sunny day today but instead we got rain other then some early sunshine and my plans were thus partly thwarted so I ended up going to Birkenhead and filmed the buses in the morning the plan to go on back to film trucks on the temporary road system around Widnes was abandoned as it heaved sown. I ended up catching up with Mandy at Knutsford, we did some banking and came home I was really ready for a brew by then. wasn't anything appealing about Birkendhead, it's been a while since i'd visited, I used to have apprentices at the college there at work but since I retired I've steered clear. It's still at the bottom of the barrel, most of the shops are shuttered up and night clubs and pawn shops together with the inevitable pound shops are all there are. The buses were quite frequent and the sun was ok from the roundabout near the tunnel although you had to keep rnning from one spot to another to get all the buses in all directions, the Avon deckers escaped me somehow. In the afternoon I had a serious session after the rain stopped planting shrubs and tidying the borders, lawns, feeding birds, mowing and all good things. An early tea as we are off to Stockport to St Thomas's for the Arch Deacons visitation service and swearing in as church warden, Keith my fellow CW is picking us up and sidemen Brian and Rodney both previous wardens are coming along. We had a productive PCC meeting last night and just about got where we needed to be at. Must rush photos from Birkenhead this morning. Hopefully I'll get Taunton and Birkenhead edited tomorrow. I used to wish for more hours in the day when I was working at the day job but nothing seems to have changed although unless we are going somewhere filming when the start could be as early as 4am we do only get up after we have woken up sans alarm clock. Today was forecast to be another of heavy rain but the morning was just grey and muggy. I've been trying to get on with the last of the 8mm cine films and have got several of them on our Youtube channel but a lot to go, some of the Thailand films look quite interesting especially the last with navy, aircraft, oil rigs etc, they look to have been taken by the naval attache which i presume is the same chap that took the Myanmar scenes we had a while back. I got the stock car racing DVDs away to John Bishop in Sussex with some other goodies for his amusement. Early on when it was still dry I popped round to the church and managed to get the ramp and step cover in the bell tower more firm and the top less of a tripping hazard, it was also in time to see the main door go on the new build toilet at St Oswalds, without the scaffold and with timber in place and a roof it looked just the job although a swarm of bees has also taken a liking to it. We called again on the way to the shops with a bit of cleaning agent to remove surplus glue and stanley knife to trim some excess rubber then we carried on to Waitrose at Northwich and then called in at the plantation garden centre on the way back and had coffee and cake and bought some large plants to fill in gaps on the border in the back garden opened up with the new fence panels after the storm damage in the early spring. I've got a lot more photos filed away and many of our recent visits are now loaded to our Smugmug still photo sales site, link via this site, photos from just 50p each. Pcc meeting this evening then a pint at The Bells, I'm hoping the weather will let me get some film work done tomorrow. DVD orders have picked up today and Youtube is reaching record figures but still a long way to go to match our expectations, Vietnam continues to be our second largest viewing nation after the UK. The Youtube link on Weebly still doesn't work so here are some shots I've filed for Scotland It turned into a busy day despite the torrential rain for most of the day, there is another load on it's way for tomorrow. We didn't rush to get up too early as Mandy had an appointment at the consultant at Macclesfield hospital and we got there early and were seen early, he said that despite bruised bone and cartilage damage to Mandys better leg that leaving it to heal is the best option, most of the bones in her foot are mending ok'ish. Then coming back we had a brew and went to Lowe's farm shop and got the remainder of the bedding plants we needed to finish at home and at Southern Cemetery, we loaded the car and then went off to complete the task and thankfully the rain held off but no watering was required. It wasn't looking too bad, still a bit of work I can do when it's dry but they had just cut the grass and the Hardy family bench is fine with the lost screw replaced as promised. Mandy's face is getting worse each day, we took pictures ready for legal action against Leighton hospital, Mandy does have a pre op confirmed next week but the damage has been suffered. She put a pin and has had a steady discharge where the infection has come to a head and has been bathing her eye in salt water as much as possible to help the healing process or she'll get to hospital and they'll use the infection they have caused as a delay yet again. I got a few photos filed away and got the stock car films finished and on DVD and packages on their way to friends with promised DVDs etc. I'll put the remaining bedding plants in our garden tomorrow, yet another deluge due though. Its the church pcc torrow evening and the church warden swearing in on Thursday evening, one big social whirl. I'm bathing my foot in salt water as much as I can to ensure a swift recovery from the in growing toe nail surgery. A batch of cine films are gradually loading on the Youtube site tonight. I'm trying to get the rest of the films edited to load and then put the cine on EBay. Lots more photos to file if the monsoon goes on. Hoping to get out with the camera Thursday, next week I'm in Croatia and Bosnia. I finished off the detailed planning on latest revision of our August Ukraine trip, looks a lot more comfortable and not too expensive. It's feeling cold with the damp so we have the heating back on. I've topped up the bird feeders and we had several flocks attacking it very quickly. Here are our latest DVDs, it's been a very quiet two days after the successful weekend in Somerset and hectic Monday but i guess it will save itself for Mandy to struggle with while I'm away next week. Youtube revenue is now on a steepish upwards curve now their new advertising software adjustments are working through. After a run of fine weather it has certainly changed with vengeance and jobs inside seem to be the order of the day. There was a very full table of DVD orders to prepare this morning plus I printed up some more discs on the new Epson disc printer which goes like a dream and even on the fastest speed the quality outshines the old one and amazes me as it almost goes as fast as a paper printer although it's probably fair to say and why not! We were both quite tired after a busy weekend , we had come up with a battle plan for Mandys operation but first we needed an appointment to get the infection in her face sorted where the tear duct flushing has created a cyst and is very painful. We also talked through the numbers I'd got off the net for the NHS complaints procedures. It must have had some effect as we now have a new pre op for Mandy the week I go to Croatia and they promise the operation won't be far behind. We also talked to the Labour candidate for Tatton who was well aware of the NHS failings and also of the very rough treatment people with disabilities are getting under that bitch of a woman Dear Leader May Blossom, a two faced hag who almost makes Thatcher seem human.How anyone could vote for the Tories beats me, they must all be on huge salaries and afraid of 90% tax on their money, about time some of it got redistributed I had a few emails to get off to do with the church warden job, it's starting to get me down and I'm seriously thinking of throwing in the towel even before I'm sworn in. There seem to be so many people dipping into things and stirring up trouble I don't know why they don't get involved in politics instead. I've so many things to do that i just don't need hassle, I don't mind sorting/ doing but there is a limit of the hassle you want in supposed retirement. Today I managed to catch up with the DVD covers and have listed the latest releases in our shop on this site. Here are some shots from Taunton on Saturday. Hi folks we are back and a lot of things happening so I'll keep it brief and let pictures do the talking. We had a good run down to Taunton early Saturday morning and I filmed the current regular bus services in the morning albeit much depleted since our last trip with competition virtually gone and the local First identity also being phased out - indeed almost white out. We than went on to my pal Martin's home where in addition to the regular hospitality I was updated on his extensive miniature railways 7.25" gauge which has around mile of running track. I was given the privilege of making several circuits around the system which is being constantly upgraded in particular the signalling and controls which allow multi train operation on open days and at major fund raising events. Sunday was the running day at Taunton and although rain threatened we made it to just after lunch before the first deluge, we packed up before the next rain storm in the late afternoon and arrived home around 7.15pm. It was an amazing running day with frequent services run be a generally vintage selection of buses plus a few more classic than vintage so something for all tastes although of course there were many with local connections but many from further afield. There seemed a good turn out of enthusiasts and public and the event had drawn visitors, stall holders and bus owners from far and wide as the event gains prestige. We were fortunate in meeting many of our friends from times past in the South west and this was the trend for a day which exceeded our expectations plus when we returned home there was a good shower of orders from the net. We are also pleased to advise we passed the 13K Youtube subs barrier and are also making rapid progress through the next million of views with 30M not far off. Advert target adjustments seem to be settling in with the hit rate on a sharp upward line now but please keep clicking on them and no ad blocking apps which help nobody in the long run. So lets have a look at scenes taken today. The new printer arrived while we were out yesterday and today I managed to get it in the house, the box was both heavy and large and they'd left it in the greenhouse which wasn't a problem but if we had known it was coming could have tried to make arrangements to get it straight in. I unpacked it and the instructions were very brief, being Epson it has most of the info on the set up disc. Actually it wasn't that difficult and I'd soon got it set up although i did have to shoot out to Northwich to get a longer lead to connect to my desk top. That done it linked up no trouble and I'd soon remade the master and it came out a whole lot better on this machine and it will facilitate other covers if required although I've made it roughly the same although with all contact details. Keith fellow church warden gave me a ring to confirm the church toilet site meeting was off, which was correct as the builder had gone on leave, the progress this week didn't feature any of the promised scaffold strip out, windows, doors etc, Knutsford Building I'd avoid if I had work to be done. I got the three DVds from the Woodhead pass truck film day finished and I'm about to upload the Youtube trailer clips. Monday the weather looks pretty grotty for Devon so we have not progressed the planned trip for Monday and will return home after the Taunton running day Sunday. Tomorrow we'll set off about 6am and get there before 9am and get some present day film done although I realise it has gone downhill as a bus location over the past year. We will get the Devon/Cornwall trip done this summer. It was a busy day, we had a lot of DVd and cine orders to get posted and lots of stock for the rally to put together with covers, sleeves, DVDs etc then Mandy went to do some shopping around lunch time and when she got back we went to Four Oaks where I used to get all my wholesale seedlings, they now have a retail outlet at their premises near Jodrell Bank and we filled the car, the prices were as good as Lowes farm shop at £2.20 a tray for bedding. We got ourselves sorted with everything packed in the van for the weekend and I had about 2.5 hours left before dinner so got all the bedding plants in the front garden and along the side of the house then fed the birds. I'll try and blog tomorrow but my pal Martin and Barbara may be overwhelming us with hospitality so bear with and we'll probably catch up Sunday. Some more shots from the Woodhead Pass on Wednesday. Inglewood Manor on the Wirral, the 10th anniversary lunch of the Cheshire, Wirral and North Wales branch of the British Polio Fellowship which Mandy chairs and started 10 years ago, a really great sight to see our friend Janet back in circulation after a long illness and our friend Jean after her recent bereavement. Members going back to the early days of the branch or group as it started, a slap up meal and before hand we had a site in the attractive gardens enjoying the sunshine. The roof has gone on the toilet building at St Oswalds. I should have been at the fund raising meeting but after a rough week with the cold and foot I really hit the wall last night and in the end we were later back from the dinner today than we envisaged. Shots on the Woodhead Pass yesterday afternoon, I'm working o the DVDs, the new DVD printer arrived while we were out so we should not have any interruption to supplies, just nearly £2K in funds gone. |
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