Potting bench

Posted on May 16, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bench, bench life, Gardening, Life, Moss, potting on, rotted, tables, Trains, Varnish, Wood4 Comments

“We should be sitting on this!”

“But I need a table to pot on”

“Yes, but you have one”

“But it’s got my trains on”

“Well can you move them?”

“No, I’m making a layout, I got some ‘n’ gauge stock” “I want to build it up”.

Sigh, “OK but the plants can go in the garden, the bench needs varnish or something to protect it”.

I didn’t mention to hubby that the last bench was treated in the same way, the wood rotted and the bench collapsed. I bought new wooden slats, but ‘someone’ (hubby), nailed them on to something else….

Watching videos

Posted on February 5, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged addicting, Film, Films, Life, Mobile phone, Phone, programmes, Time, Trains, TV, Videos, war films, WatchingLeave a comment

I’ve fallen into a bad habit, I’ve started to watch a lot of Facebook videos, one after the other. My phone keeps showing me hairdressing videos, five minute crafts, films about Agate, car crashes, American politics, police stopping cars. The trouble is its easier to watch one after the other rather than whole TV shows. Part of it is because hubby likes watching train and war films. I get bored by whether the train is running on narrow or standard gauge or even broad gauge. I don’t want to know the difference between tanks and armoured cars. I don’t want to know which general won what battle. So the phone videos have increased, which I think might be impacting on my arm problems. I don’t think I’m addicted, but it’s keeping my mind off things….

Cheddleton Station sketch

Posted on February 11, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Cheddleton Station, Drawing, History, Life, narrow gauge railway, Sketching, TrainsLeave a comment

Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Station. Very quick sketch of Cheddleton Station from a photo. I used a picture as its probably not open to the public till Easter but we’ve been there and on the train several times.

Model railway?

Posted on October 24, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged dioramas, Fun, Layout, Model trains, Modelling, Port, Quay, quirky, scale, Ship, TrainsLeave a comment

A ship docks alongside the quay as trains move to and from the docks goods yard. I focused on the boat because it was a very impressive model and clearly took pride of place on the model layout.

My hubby is into trains and often visits model railway exhibitions. I don’t go to many. I can appreciate the skills but I get a bit bored unless there is something interesting on the layouts. He can tell me what the scale of the model is, who manufactured it, even how old its likely to be. Me, I’m more interested in the dioramas (landscapes). How the trees are modelled, any buildings, if there is a Scarecrow in a feild, the quirkier the better!

Train models

Posted on August 22, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bachmann, Fun, garden railways, guages, Hornby, Interesting, Models, stations, Toy trains, Trains1 Comment

The wonderful world of model trains. Where anything goes that’s in the modellers minds and ideas. We saw about ten model layouts, plus stalls with all sorts of train sizes and types for sale. Also station buildings, tracks, car models, people, ambulances, lorries, fire engines. Bridges, tunnels, trucks, lights, all sorts of things. If you’ve never been to one its worth a look.

Buttons, marbles and a hair tie.

Posted on September 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Bikes, Blogging, Books, Buttons, Cats, Life, Marbles, Ornaments, Plants, Storage, Stuff, Too much clutter, TrainsLeave a comment

I collect ‘stuff’, I have ‘collections’ or as others would call it ‘clutter’.

Plants, cat ornaments, paintings, marbles, a few buttons, drawings, sketchbooks, cushions, books (lots of). A few cats, other stuff….. Hubby has bikes, trains, other stuff.

Where do I put it all, where do I keep it? Our house is more like a museum than a home. I need storage, I wish I could shrink it all down and put it on my phone. Or give me a shrink Ray and I can put it all in a dolls house!

Train set

Posted on August 1, 2020August 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Diorama, Fun, History, Life, Steam, Steam train models, Toy trains, Trains4 Comments

It might look a bit of a jumble but this is hubbies train set. There is an oval of track with a spur onto a siding. We worked together to add a canal on one side, a very steep curved bridge ove the railway, some colliery buildings and lots of other bits and bobs. The buildings are either made from card or plastic, or little ornaments of buildings. I guess it’s like a little village. I think I built a tiny greenhouse.

Hubby has some bits of train that have been in their boxes for many years! I hope he liberates more of them.

Misheard

Posted on March 16, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Deafness, Hearing, hearse, Hurst, Loud, misunderstanding, Noise, Sound, Talk, Thinking, TrainsLeave a comment

Having a chat with my hubby yesterday. I said we will be in a ‘bring out your dead’ situation soon. After having to repeat this three times I muttered ‘bring out your deaf’!

That’s one of the problems with hearing loss, it affects everyone, not just the person who has the problem. I know now when I have to repeat myself two or three times that I am going to get irritated. I don’t want to upset him, it’s just frustrating.

We were talking about steam engines earlier. He showed me a steam engine and tender. Underneath the caption said the tender was a ‘Hurst’. I asked why that was unusual and he said they must put coffins in it!?

I pointed out that must be the makers name as hearse is spelled HEARSE!

He saw the funny side and laughed.

Yorkshire Poster

Posted on January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Blue lias, Fossils, Interesting, Life, Moors, North Yorkshire moors railway, Pickering, Poster, Steam trains, Trains, Trees, Whitby, YorkshireLeave a comment

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My hubby came home today with this print of North Eastern Railways ‘the Yorkshire Moors’…. Tranquil solitude. What is interesting is its a railway poster, with no railway visible!

Yorkshire is the largest county in England. It is home of the National Railway museum in York and is crossed by the North Yorkshire moors railway which runs through wooded hills and moors from Whitby on the coast to Pickering in the heart of the moors.

All of the East coast of the county is interesting. There are towns like Scarborough there. A lot of the coast is not very stable. There are cliffs where landslides occur and parts made of mud, called blue lias which is crumbling and full of fossils. You can find Whitby jet in it which is fossilised monkey puzzle trees which is jet black.

Whitby Abbey was a setting for the Dracula story and every year they have goth and steam punk festivals there.

Foxfield light railway 2017

Posted on April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blythe Bridge, Foxfield railway, Life, Light railway, Photos, Random photos, Staffordshire, Steam engines, Trains, VisitingLeave a comment

Random photos of trains and train parts (not the propeller), from 2017.

Foxfield Railway is out in the countryside off the A50 between Caverswall and Blythe Bridge. Its an old coal/mineral line which used to haul coal up a steep slope from a mine then down a less steep incline into the outskirts of Blythe Bridge. The main railway line runs nearby.

Foxfield is worth a visit over the summer months when it is open to visitors mainly at weekends. You can take a trip on a train, visit the engine shed where most of these photos were taken. Visit the cafe for a simple menus of hot and cold food, or visit ” the one legged shunter , the bar selling real ales. The bar is named after the dangerous job of shunting. Men would sometimes get trapped between train waggons, losing legs or sometimes worse!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Trains