OneGuyFromBarlick

I generally use 'you lot'. Community sounds a bit pretentious and God knows we aren't that!
What grabbed me today was the date on a report I wrote on Dee Mill Engine. It was 1994 and was sent from East Hill Street so I have been here for longer than I thought. The reason I saw it was because John Burlison has alerted me to the fact that all that material is being archived at Manchester University. A blast from the past!

I was going to make something rhyme with faction...but thought it was a step too far...
A “frictuous faction”?....

Or did you mean a fractious faction?

A fractious frictious faction...

At the moment, the cold east wind!

Mrs Tiz contributed this link today - it particularly appealed to her!
`Surfing duck: Pet becomes local celebrity at Australian beach' LINK

Tizer wrote: ↑30 Jan 2021, 09:59 Mrs Tiz contributed this link today

Well done - that's brightened up my morning.

Good. Your witty posts often brighten our mornings!

By the way, yesterday afternoon I received a vaccine invitation from the NHS. I went through the online process and got an appointment for the first shot tomorrow afternoon at Taunton racecourse - only about 15 minutes drive. The next nearest was about 30 miles away. The earliest appointment for the second shot was mid-April, same location. The only trouble is that tomorrow's weather forecast has changed and now shows snow!

I'd advise anyone who gets the invitation to respond immediately if possible so you have the most choice of date and time, especially if it's to be at a large centre. On my first attempt, by the time I got to the end (you have to make both appointments at the same time) and clicked to Confirm someone else had got there before me for one of the appointments and I had to go through it all again (both appointments).

As I write this the family with 4 kids who've been living opposite us is moving out of their house to go and live with relatives (and their children!) who have a farm on the Quantock Hills so they can be more isolated.

Tizer wrote: ↑24 Jan 2021, 12:03 This was a mystery object for us in our garden this morning. We had sub-zero conditions last night and the pond is frozen over. The first photo shows a ceramic dish which we keep filled with water for the birds to drink and bathe in. It was full of water yesterday and this froze overnight. The first photo shows what we saw from our window this morning - a piece of ice standing up on end! You can see a reflection of the bowl in the ice. I took the close up photo from behind and above the bowl. The lump of ice is not solid and it's shaped like a squashed paper cup, hollow down the centre. The rest of the water in the bowl is still frozen and appears undisturbed. We've no idea how the `mystery object' formed. All ideas are welcome!

Was there something not unlike this on winterwatch BBC2 these past few days?

Whyperion wrote: ↑30 Jan 2021, 14:46 Was there something not unlike this on winterwatch BBC2 these past few days?

No idea - I'm too busy to watch TV! My latest theory is that the strong west wind (from right of photo) during that night triggered the formation of the strange ice object. The bowl leans to the right and when full will overflow on that side. I've seen that wind blow ripples across the surface of the water and it might also lift overflowing water. Somehow this might have resulted in the raised ice but then how it became a squashed tube standing on end will have to wait until I can get access to AI!

The latest BBC winter pics for Cathy and Maz... LINK

I saw those, unfortunately amateur photographers are 'not allowed out" under current lockdown restrictions. I've managed to grab a few pics on my phone while out exercising. I'm looking forward to getting out and about with a DSLR, I bought a new lens before Christmas and have hardly used it.
I took these with my phone while wandering (exercising) around Foulridge.

Thanks Tize, great pics, some quite moody.
Love the red flower one, it almost looks like you could crush it in your hand.

Here’s one that I think is meant to be funny. ??

Well Peter, you have a clue to your ice puzzle. Quite obviously a methane bubble.....
Up to now what grabbed my immediate attention is the fact the Met office have given us a yellow warning for snow and ice today, Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll see...
Cathy, the thing that grabbed me about that Canadian pic is the fact that many of the screenwiper blades are off the screen. Do you think they lift them off overnight when snow or ice is expected?

Don’t know Stanley but it’s from a site called Looney Canadian... they have some weird stuff going on.

Stanley wrote: ↑01 Feb 2021, 02:54 Do you think they lift them off overnight when snow or ice is expected?

It's looks to be a sensible thing to do. The wipers on my car are triggered by a sensor on the screen, I would imagine it could potentially damage the rubber if they were stuck to the screen and the sensor fired them up.

Do you know Kev, that was my train of thought. As you say it makes sense because otherwise as soon as you turned the systems on the wipers would go into auto destruct. Lots to be said for warming the screen before you set off!

I've wrecked wipers on freezing mornings in the past by forgetting to turn them off after a wet trip then starting the engine to defrost the car.....

I'm fortunate in that being away from street parking I'm able to lift my wipers off the screen as a reminder not to start the car. This is something I've been doing for years but must admit on my newish car and with the switch set on Auto I never know what the hell its going to do.

plaques wrote: ↑01 Feb 2021, 08:35 must admit on my newish car and with the switch set on Auto I never know what the hell its going to do.

yup, me too

My god that's reassuring for us pedestrians!

I'm sorry to hear that Captain Tom has had pneumonia and now has covid but at least we had the pleasure of seeing happy photos of him on nearly every front page of our national papers this morning (excepting of course the infamous Daily Star).

This will cheer you up...
`Smithsonian Zoo pandas play in Washington DC snow' LINK
Panda pair Mei Xiang and Tian Tian played in the snow at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC.Their five-month-old cub Xiao Qi Ji briefly braved the snowy climate before quickly heading back inside.

Publicising a man who is 100 years old sets up an automatic second bite at the news cherry when he inevitably dies. Sorry to be cynical but that's what is going on here.
Thanks for the Panda link. Of course if someone had said it was trying to clean itself it would have spoiled the effect. Can you remember the Attenborough film of the Polar Bear coming out of hibernation? (LINK)

How do you save these videos, onto an iPhone?
I can do FB and YouTube easy, but not newspapers etc.

Cathy, I think if you do a search you will find these videos on Youtube.