Steam Trains & The Isle of Man

What does the title mean you think, well the obvious, last week it was time for another expedition, unfortunatly Andy the third musketeer could not come out to play, so it was down to Brian & I to go out & find these exciting photos of steam trains.

So off to the station we went prepared for all these opportunities to use our cameras, but there they were, the anoraks & geeks they had got there first, I felt quite intimidated with my small compact camera, when they had sophisticated SLR ones, which they were using.

The next shock was no steam engine, just some old diesel to pull the train, but undeterred we boarded the train, reminicing about previous adventures we had had in the past when on train journeys.

We talked about the carriages, the different types we had sat in in our youth, the windows with their leather straps, which sadly ours did not have, then off we set to our destination.

Some 30 minutes later we finally reached the end of the line & off we went to seek out more adventures, in the village of Rawtenstall, we had a full hour to explore before we had to reurn for the train back.

Guess what the place had closed up, nowhere was open apart from the local Tesco & Asda, I dont know where the people came from to keep them in business, we walked up the main street, then back down, that was it apart from the ducks on the river.

Back to the staion to find we had just missed the train so, in to Tesco for supplies & a drink, before returning to the station & guess what, our train had a steam engine, so into photo mode we went, at last we had rejoined the anoraks & geeks.

Onto the train still no straps on the windows, but Brian happily explained how much he used to enjoy smell of the smoke, I felt it was a little smelly & dirty. We noticed that all the staff had brew cans which took me back to the 1960s, we discussed whether these were new reproductions or old ones unearthed from the past, I went on to say I could not understand why they bothered when there were thermos flasks & mircowave cookers, but if it made them happy so what.

We travelled back to Bury then took more photos in case the others did not work, then spotted a fdriend of ours who was a volunteer, we asked him about the leather straps only to be told that they had no stock with them, also that these had never been in the north of England. Quickly we as old Toggs informed him that he was qite wrong that we as youngsters vividly remembered these on the carriages from our youth in the late 50s & 60s so there, so much for technical knowledge.

That sadly was the end of the trip, I will report back on any other adventures as and when they occur, have you noticed that familiar stalker on my photos again, where does he come from.

Just to say after this weekend that I will be in the Isle of Man for a week with my DIY friend visting other, they will be doing tasks on the house there whilst I will take on role of foreman for the week, plus I have been promised that they will show me the sights which I have been waiting to see since my brief trip of 2 hours back in th 1980s, so will tell you of these adventures on my return

Divorce Absolute

Good evening readers, today I recieved the decree absolute, thats the end of my marriage, stating the obvious I am now divorced.




Friends had said I would have all sorts of different emotions but I felt nothing, not sure what that says about me or the marriage, or maybe its yet to hit me.


In the same post this morning I got another letter from the solicitor about the former home, sadly it looks like it is going to run & run, so I am going to have to stay in my flat for the forseeable future,







The short term good news is that the school holidays started today so there will be peace and quiet for the next six weeks, sorry for those that dont know I live opposite a local primary school, and between all the MPVs & 4 wheel drives it gets hectic & noisy outside from 7.30am to 6.30pm monday to friday, thank goodness for weekends, sorry then the pub lot park outside.



Anyway less of this moaning, I am now getting daily e mail from my Grand children courtesy of Bebo, also I have aquired new friends from that site and am learning rapidly about using the chat facility with Skype & Yahoo, the biggest problem is all this typing.

I am not using my brilliant new voice recognition because at present I am still full of my throat infection & am worried in case it thinks my present voice is the norm.

Sadly this week I went to a funeral there were only 2 of us there, what a sad time it was, having said that the undertaker said it was better than the ones where there are stand up fights between warring factions of families.

My friend is still very ill in hospital and we are unsure about what is going to happen to him, we were saying today about how people percieve others & would people think how kind he is & how many people he has helped over the years.

If all goes well Brian Andy & I are going taking photos at the local steam staions of the locomotives, if we get any good ones I will post a few on the blog.

Soon it will be time for the scooter event, lets hope the weather improves, also I seem to now be aquiring acts for the concert, the lovely AMO is going to sing for us and if her voice is as nice as her personality we have a winner, plus she has given me a contact for some dancers, who hopefully will work for free. Another kind person has sort of offerred to do a piano recital for the event & will see if he can find some more acts, so now all I need to do is set the date, which I will hopefully sort out soon


This Photo is of one of the beautiful churches now been demolished for a new super shopping complex, what a shame






Well going back to try some more chat on the net now, please keep reading

What Do they Mean Man Flu

14 July 2007

You may be wondering what on earth I mean by the title, well its like this, I came down with a terrible virus, which gave me a truly terrible chesty cough, then my throat started off & it was painful to speak, so rang GP to be told by practice nurse waste of time seeing GP take lots of water & painkillers & eventually it would abate. She did not know I already drink lots of water then spend a fair bit of the day getting rid of it at the toilet.

Spoke to kind caring people about my illness including work, even they sympathised then I got this comment well its only "Man Flu" do these women not realise us men are delicate creatures who struggle to cope with illness because normally we just plod on & put up with what life throws us.

Well on a more serious note my friend Dave has been poorly now for some time & was readmitted to hospital very ill, strangly enough his friend who he looks after was in same hospital, well Dave could not answer questions which posed a problem when his fried suddenly died, we found the friends will, but there were strange complications because Dave was the executer of the will, but eventually we sorted eveything out for the funeral, sadly we felt it best not to tell Dave any of this, even if he could understand.

We tried to find the code for his safe & the keys, its suprising what we did find but still no keys so next week will get locksmith to open safe, see whats inside, hope its worth the bother.

Due to sorting all this stuff out just when I wanted to print out letters my printer went silly, despite all efforts it seems to of had it so today went & bought new photo printer, it is very clever, one day will understand what all the bits do.

Sadly because been ill no chance to obtain MP3 player so will be another new toy next week, I forgot to say my DVD recorder started playing up the other day as well so that has gone to hospital for repair, already missing it & freeview, plus video has problem but supplier has no replacements to offer me at present, it appears nobody is buying videos any more, so I have to hang on until they get more stock in.

I dont know what has happened but someone from Sweden has been looking at my blog, sadly they have not posted a comment on it, also since the party more of you appear to be having a look at it, thank you it encourages me to continue, was going to put new post re Black Puddings but photos not good so will have to go back & get some more, if you readers would supply more it would make my task easier & better for others to look at.

If there are any ME people out there or clever people, please tell me why I keep misspelling words when I know how to, have been trying to use voice recognition which was better than my spelling but at present is to painful due to throat infection.

Life Now I Am 60

Well folks slowly I am coming to terms with my new status, last week went to get my bus pass, sadly even got that wrong, remembered everything but proof of where I live, so another trip this week.

Tried to help friend out with shifting furniture, was okay till back set off, was fit for nothing for 2 days, so had to abandon all activity.

On the positive side, have been invited out twice this week, went to see Kath & Harry who I have known for for ever the other day, when we caught up with the last 40 years in an afternoon.

On sunday going to see Pauline & Billy for dinner, to show photos & have a chat about the party, Michelle who I have not seen for over 20 years will also be there, not sure if I will recognise her, again a sign of getting old.

Went for a meal out with Zorro today, tried to remember musical based on Shanglia took nearly 2 hours to remember it was Lost Horizon, neither of us could remember the hit song from Chorus Line that wasent "what I did for love" still cannot now, could go & look at LP( thats a big round vinyl thing for you young ones) but will get distracted & start other tasks.

Finally I have gone mad & ordered a brand new MP3 player so will see what exciting things I can do with it, when it arrives, so long as I do not loose it, or mislay it.

My computer will soon be upgraded with more memory so will then work quicker, shame the same does not work for me.

By the way all you readers what has happenned to the photos for my fast food blog, it seems to of gone very quiet.

Regarding the ME group, slowly getting to know the people there, have found some really nice people on the message board, the thing I have been most impressed at is how some people find the strenth to put up with the all that life seems to keep throwing at them, whilst still supporting others.

My loyalalties are being split at present my grand daughter signed me up to BEBO & the family keep sending me e mail which is lovely but for the fact often it is in text speak that I do not understand, also it means I have to go into this daily to read & reply, plus what an alien world they all live in, another sign of old age I suppose

What Happens Next

Hello readers, I am really pleased that some more people have finally had a look at my blog & I hope that they will continue coming back, so will have to work hard to keep this up.

Please provide suggestions that will encourage this to happen, if you have not seen the photos of the party please go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyb3/

Well on another site somebody said well what will he be doing for his 61st, well the answer is long before that the next event is a sponsored scooter event in August, followed by another concert to raise money for Shopmobility some time later in the year or early next year.

Before that I am off to look at the Isle of Man at long last for a weeks holiday, I am hoping the weather is going to be good & that I will get some good photos to show you all.

As far as I can make out we managed to raise £320 to help pay for education of children in Zambia, thanks to you all.

Apart from the big event, work did a special suprise event for me first thing Monday morning, then we went out for a meal out last night.

The Partys Over

At long last the secrets out I came as Merlin from the musical Camelot, who also featured in Shrek 2 & 3, I have to say nobody guessed it, you can now see whether the costume really was worth the effort, I think it shows me in another light.

Good morning all you readers, my 60th party finally took place last night, most of the friends I was expecting came, but sadly there were a number of people who could not come.

These included Laura who was so excited that she started with contractions, and was told to rest, Kath and Harry where health was a problem, as it was for Andy and Sue, you were all sadly missed.

It was great to see all the people that came, some I have known for over 40 years whereas others I have only known for a few short months, I feel that most of the people enjoyed the event, and it was great to see how much effort some had gone to in regard to their costume, although after all I had said I was disappointed that Tony did not come as the policeman from Allo Allo.

I have to say a special thank you to my son and his family, Brian and Tony, the staff at Smithills, and Wally, Amo and Tanya for providing the music and encouraging the entertainment of those that were brave enough to go on the dancefloor.

When I originally thought of this party I decided I was only going to invite nice people who are special to me, from the way the party went and the kindness of all the people I feel I achieved the objective, so thank you all again.

For those who read this but do not know, I had asked that people donate money to provide education for children in Zambia rather than give me presents, I do not know the final total, but with the cheques I have at present, it should pay for education of three children for at least a year.

I will try to give you all an update on how the money is spent when I am informed as well as how much was actually raised.

I have already transferred the video to my DVD recorder so if anybody wants a copy I will happily send one, I am trying to sort out the photographs and any of you who've taken photos at the event who are happy to send me theirs, I will happily put a selection on Flickr for the rest to see.

I am absolutely shattered but my son and family, will be arriving shortly so I will now sign off.

Sixty at Last

Hello everybody

Well I have finally got to 60, it doesent seem to of made any difference yet, in fact on the day I only recieved one card in the post, but got a text from my son & grand daughters who will soon arrive for the party.
Later went to shopmobility & was presented with a cake & cards, so felt a little better. When I got home there were birthday wishes from some of my new friends from the message board.

As an anti climax I spent the afternoon at the hospital trying to sort out progress re his discharge.

This morning no cards before I left, but good friend rang about other matters, I thought eventually he would say why he had not been in touch, he did he had been walking in Derbyshire, I felt the need to ask him if he knew what day it was yesterday, Tuesday he said, my birthday said I, he was mortified.

Well went to work & entered our office I had decide that there would be a suprise party at lunch time for me because after all I was 60, I entered our office to the sound of party poppers & "happy birthday" my collegues had come through, the office had been decorated with balloons etc & I was presented with a posh new watch.

Sadly later I was then presented with a huge chocolate fudge cake, how did they know I cant resist this, we took some photos & I e mailed them but they have got lost so will have to post them later.

Came home, another card but where are the rest, hopefully they are going to arrive at my birthday party, if not I have judged the number of my friends very poorly & will not have another party for at least another 10 years when I have got my act together.

Having said that I going out next week for a joint celebration of my birthday & a friends pregnancy, just hope she does not get to excited & have the baby there, I wonder if I could insist that baby be in fancy dress.

Only 5 More Days To Go

Hi Everybody

Well only the music to sort out now, for the event, plus the the boredom when everyone finally sees the costume, there was me thinking it was a famous musical & when I checked it wasent even in the top 100.

I have just discovered Flickr so when its all over I will upload some of the photos so you can see whether it was all worth while.

As you will all be aware today was fathers day, sadly through circumstance apart from a conversation over the net I was unable to spend the day with any family, maybe next year it will get better, having said that there are other friends who have much greater problems than I

Nearly time for My 60th

Well everybody, I am nearly ready for my birthday, most people have now confirmed whether they are coming, sadly some will be unable to attend, so we will have to make some other arrangements.

My costume is sorted out & I have been cleverer than I thought & found it is quite topical at present.

Not satisfied with one party I am now exploring one at work for all those that can not go to the main event.

Besides this last week I was the official photographer for the local carnival, we had the famous Fred Flintstone & his beautiful wife Wilma as special guests , the only problem was his car being so old it stopped working quite quickly and needed people power to keep it going.

I have just arranged a trip to the Isle of Man with a friend in July, last time I was there it took 8 hours each way and we had 2 hours to see all the sights, so this time it will be for a week and hopefully I will see all the beautiful scenary.

When all this is over I then have to sort out a scooter rally & the next concert fund raisers, just reading through all this I am now feeling quite exausted.

June is busting out all over

6 June 2007

Good evening all you readers, sorry I have been quiet again but it seems to have been very busy in life at the moment.

At present the local Metro is not working very far & there is a link bus service in operation, to do 10 miles it took nearly two hours this morning.

I have just started to use speech recognition at work, hopefully soon I will be dictating at some great rate rather than making my hands worse than they are.

Well we are now very close to my birthday, but unforunatly some have still not replied so we will wait & see who turns up & how they will be dressed.

The forum I have joined in relation to my ME is proving to be very interesting & helpful, it has helped inspire me in relation to costumes for the party, for myself & others, but also has given me a greater insight into how difficult it is for others with ME just to get through the day.

Sadly yet again despite all my promises I have become hooked by Big Brother, the worst bit is to find out the twins are social work students, I just hope eventually they practice some of their training on the other housemates.