Looking after number one

Hi all
We all like a nice bit of hot weather but I hope that our members in France, Spain etc are taking great care in this recent heatwave

It may be a pain when you can'tget into the train room because its too hot but it is vital that looking after yourselves comes first!!

Kind regards

Barry

Thank you Barry for your concern.

Where I am in Spain it is currently 39 deg C in the shade at 5.50pm.

My layout room is downstairs where it is cooler. The configuration of our house means we live upstairs.

The beer fridge just happens to be downstairs too.

Cheers buddy.

Thanks for the thoughts Barry.

The higest temperatures in France seem to be slightly to the east of us - we only managed 37C yesterday and today is a rather chilly 34C.

Yesterday, there was also a gentle hot breeze blowing - a bit like living in a fan assisted oven. 

Needless to say, we haven't lit our fire yet this week ………………………………………..

Phew Peter, only 37 deg, I know it's not a competition, but it's not the 39deg at yesterday teatime that's making me steam, but when I ventured out for a natural comfort break at 0200 of the wee hours this morning, it had only moderated to 30deg! Crikey O'Reilly, bring back the old Norm.
   
  Seriously though Barry, thanks for your kind thoughts. Happily it's due to break on Monday, when I'll be making a serious attempt to recommission the pool!
   
  Onwards and upwards,
   
  Bill
  

It's only been 32°out, 22° in. 2 minute walk to the pool for an afternoon swim. SPF 30 of course. Plenty of hydration. We have a micro - brewery 4 doors up from our building. Ahh.
Nigel

So often we heard from our UK visitors who had driven around [especially] SW and S France that 'Everywhere is deserted,the streets are empty and all the houses shuttered up, where is everybody?' They are inside, out of the heat….

Our hot-weather [Canicule] routine was usually as follows….

0545-0600 Get up after a night with windows and French windows open and shutters held partly closed by night locks and make tea, have snack breakfast.

0630-0700 Open wide all doors windows etc on shade side of house. Lay up BBQ. Do any gardening, grass cutting, building work until 1030, have main breakfast, making sure shutters closed over windows as sun moves around. Pick melons, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, grapes and nectarines.

If shopping in the village, walk there and back before 1030.

Close and shutter any windows that will be in the sun during the afternoon.
If a supermarket visit is necessary and your car has air-con and lives in the garage, wait till mid-day to drive to a supermarket that has air-con and stays open at mid-day, park at the rear in shade where the morning staff parked and take advantage of the quiet time in the shop [the French do not usually, in non-urban areas shop over the lunch break] Drive home.

Eat substantial snack, then siesta until 1800-1900, light BBQ. Water veg plot. Check beer/pink wine fridge'.

Immolate pig/chicken/duck/cow. Pick more melons, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, grapes and nectarines.

2100 Walk to local/watch box-sets/retire to railway layout in cellar etc. Recharge beer/pink wine fridge'.

Spray water onto patio and decks, open windows and French windows taking advantage of any breezes to 'vent ship' and at about 2300-2359 go to bed when beer/pink wine fridge' empty leaving all windows and French windows open with shutters on night-locks. Pray for cooler breezes and thunderstorms to replenish garden water barrels.

When UK visitors stayed it was difficult to convince them of the need to do the same if they were only staying for 2-3 days and that all the 'attractions' they wanted to visit would be closed from 1200-1500, that local restos wouldn't normally start serving in the evening until 2000 and yes, those silly looking little, seemingly innocuous 0.25l bottles of fEuro-piss lager were usually at least 5% proof, that two of them virtually made up a pint of Stella Artois strength beer despite the weak taste and a 8 pack could easily floor a strapping great fella especially if he had lain in the 'lovely' sun half the afternoon trying to go home home with a tan….

Good job tiled floors are easily mopped up….

Ah, those were the days!

Douglas

On the nail Doug, on the nail - apart from the potager peaches and nectarines - we decided against a potager when we moved and there's a large stone-fruit farm less than a mile away.  We do however, have cherries, mirabelles, apples and pears.

How you manage to make such hardship sound like pleasure, I do not know.  Good to see the Great British resolve continuing!!!

It was very thoughtful of Barry to start this post, and I do echo his concerns, so am pleased that mad dogs and Englishmen are limited to holiday makers…..

At least you don't have the prospect of BoJo as your (un)democratically elected state leader and the prospect of a no deal Brexit……  You would not believe the briefings I have had as a Kent headteacher about what to expect….. 

More importantly, how are you with bees?  I understand  it has been a real problem in some areas and a swarm even managed to halt play in the cricket here today……

Regards to all

Michael

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

At least you don't have the prospect of BoJo as your (un)democratically elected state leader and the prospect of a no deal Brexit……  You would not believe the briefings I have had as a Kent headteacher about what to expect….. 

Michael

Unfortunately, that statement could not be further from the truth Michael. Although we sincerely hope that common sense and logic wins though, some of the potential changes from a no-deal would be life changing and not in a good way.

Sorry you have to sit through boring meetings, but the lunacy of British political ineptitude brings hardship to everyone.

Glass half full though!

Bill

Good to hear that all you guys are managing well and that the weather is set to break.

In the UK, we are still trying to come to terms with

(a) the sun shining during the cricket season
(b) England having a football team that wins more than it loses (Go Lionesses!!)
© the prospect of sun shine and Wimbledon happening together (I was there in the 1976 heatwave watching the wonderful Arthur Ashe)
(d) seemingly destined to elect a buffoon as Premier having just finished laughing at our American cousins for doing the same thing.

Ah well - I take comfort that in and around Yarslow, everything is just fine and dandy……

Barry

On a (sort of) related topic, has anyne got any ideas how we might simulate weather on our layouts?

I have seen layouts set in Settle & Carlisle country with moody backscenes (and they look good) and there was a 7mm SR layout some years ago set in winter (complete with snow) but I am thinking about changing weather - lighting effects perhaps?  Any lighting experts out there with any ideas?

Barry

Hmmm - a layout depicting typical British weather ……………I was always told never to use electricity in the rain Barry ……. :cheers

p.s. Lucky you to have been at Wimbledon to see Arthur Ashe - was that really so long ago ……………Ashe vs Connors - a fabulous final.

One wonderful thing about this remarkably hot weather and the French desire to enjoy life as much as possible, was that our village bar closed their road yesterday, put out dozens of seats out in the shade, set up beer and water cooler pumps on the pavement which was free to all to partake as desired. We lingered and enjoyed the joie de vie, with smiles all round.

Happy Sunday everyone,

Bill

PS, now a cooler 32 deg with normality due to return next week. Hmmm, so no more free beer then!

Oh Bill, I can so see that happening in West London… NOT!!

 

Projectors are the more common way to simulate weather changes on stage.  Thunder and lighting easy enough.
I don't think you would appreciate a snow machine on the layout.     At Strand electric we used to use projectors for ice shows and open stadia . military tattoos and the like . Have to get the thinking cap on to sort out effects on a layout,a pros arch seems the way to go.  a chance to hide stuff then.

Thanks Reg, sounds interesting.  I was really thinking lights and colour - greys and blues to give that range of days.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Barry

In his 'Layout Design - Finescale in small places' book *, Iain Rice talks of cold rainy effects for a colliery layout thus…

….the sheen of wet roofs…low down highlights against a dour background…In order to capture such an effect, I suggest a flourescent tube, of the "daylight balance" variety used by arty types to give the scene the purple-tinged "cold" lighting of an overcast sky. …..I think I'd experiment with a mist of satin varnish through an airbrush for a wet look about roofs and ground…' 

*ISBN 0 906867 851

Douglas

[user=1512]Headmaster[/user] wrote:

At least you don't have the prospect of BoJo as your (un)democratically elected state leader and the prospect of a no deal Brexit……  You would not believe the briefings I have had as a Kent headteacher about what to expect….. 


Regards to all

Michael

And there speaks someone who lives in UK …………………

You may well be right Terry - let's hope so but, without wishing to join the leave/remain argument, Brexit has the potential to spell disaster for those of us who chose to live on mainland Europe.  We sincerely hope not but the potential is certainly there ………………

I couldn't agree more Peter, as mirrored in post 9 above.

 Do you have an arrival date yet?

Bill