WEST ORTON

[Mr Bones]

A lot of time an effort, but well worth it. That looks really good.
Hope you feel better soon.

[gwrwill]

Amazing work well worth the time and effort

[Steve M]

I dragged myself from my sickbed this afternoon and painted the large circular rail on the TT. Four different colours and it proved quite awkward to paint.
I then had a little lie down.

I did take a PCR test yesterday just in case.
Results came in this afternoon and I have tested positive .............for man flu! Nothing too bad I’m glad to say.

[bulleidboy]

Have you had your "flu" jab yet?

[Steve M]

Have you had your "flu" jab yet?

I’ve had both Covid jabs (waiting for the booster) and was due to have my annual flu jab last Sunday. Had to cancel it as I a) felt so rough and b) was isolating while waiting for the PCR result.
Re booked my flu jab with the doctor this morning - got lucky as the waiting list is only a couple of weeks.

[Mr Bones]

Never underestimate Man Flu. Women don't know how lucky they are

[Steve M]

My man flu viral load is decreasing daily and I’ve been able to get the basic track weathering done. Lighter touch on the mainlines but some very heavy grime in the shed and where locos stand in the station. The track has been cleaned so I can test that nothing has gone awry while painting.

The layout needs a lot of static grass to create weeds in and around the tracks - I have a small static grass applicator from WWS for small detail areas. Unfortunately it has stopped working (no, it’s not the battery). I’ve checked what wiring I can get to but have come to the conclusion that the static generator has died.
Thinking laterally, I have ordered an electric fly swat but instead of the usual trick of attaching a tea strainer, I’m going to attach the dispenser from the broken unit.
What could go wrong?

20211006_151717 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

20211006_151854 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

In other news.....my shed roof has sprung a leak. Guess what I’m doing on Sunday.

[cheshire lines]

Looking good.
I especially like the small touches like the wooden steps over the dry stone wall and the weathering of the bridge metalwork.

[bulleidboy]

You have done a great job there. Re the roof - at least the weather is supposed to be good for the next few days?

[Steve M]

You have done a great job there. Re the roof - at least the weather is supposed to be good for the next few days?

It was the heavy rain earlier this week that caught me out but as you say, the next few days look quite good.

I’ve been meaning to do it for some time as it was only built with one layer of felt by the supplier. I will be using self adhesive felt - it actually melts and bonds in warm sunlight. I used it to reroof the garage about 15 years ago and it still looks as good as new.

Slight frustration is that it comes in 6m rolls but I only need 4m to go across the shed - 30% wastage on each roll! Found a supplier in Manchester who will sell me 4 x 4m lengths plus underlay - even after shipping it costs a lot less than full rolls from the local builders merchants.

Before then, I must tidy up inside the shed - it’s an absolute tip after the painting.