Into each life a drop of rain must fall.....

And we have had more than a dop. Back in The Shed. 

I had an issue yesterday. I got the skier working really well. Then I got the funicular working well. But when I ran them both together the little skier jumped off the snow and stuck to the funicular motor! The magnets in the motor attracted the magnets on his skis! Back to the drawing board and today I solved it. Now I just need to build the carriage. 

http://youtu.be/1Wn69wdj8co

Somebody is having a laugh!

Thursday is Model Railway club day so not a day for gardening. So after so many rainy days when does it decide to stop?

Well. I just ignored it and pretended it was raining and went off to Railway Club. Of course I can't tell you what happens at Railway Club but I can show you a picture.

This was my Christmas present running on the club layout. 

Still here.

An odds and sods day doing some things on the computer, three coats of varnish on the nest boxes and more work on the funicular. 

This is the assembled thing. 

I even managed to get the carriage moving up and down. 

Here are the technical bits. 

Forty days and forty nights... Time for an ark.

Well it certainly seems like forty days. 

A second pond is forming. 

Hey ho. Indoor work then.

The bird boxes have been disintegrating over the past few months so time for new ones. 

A sparrow terrace. 

And more funicularity.

Spring flowers.

But from the Co-op garden, not ours. Ours are just green leaves with just the odd bud. 

Today was wet, but not as wet as tomorrow apparently! It sounds as if we will need to batten down any hatches we have. 

Today was a domestic day, catching up on computer jobs, preparing a sumptuous evening meal and generally playing with the funicular model.

Rediscovering balsa wood.

It is a very long time since I made anything with balsa wood - model planes as a child probably. 

As the rain reappeared I was back in The Shed. Apart from a lot of boring electrics I worked on the station at the top of the mountain. This will be a viewing point and the top station for the funicular. 

The two figures admiring the view will be painted up as our friends Roger and Judith who love standing on mountains admiring the view - if you look closely you can see Roger's beard!

I also worked on the base station for the funicular. 

And yes that is a stag's head above the door. 

Overview of the funicular track. 

Sometimes you can please everybody.

The continues dry but not sunny. 

Today's job was the trim the hedge by the sheep field. 

Who knew that sheep would like the trimmings of the broom bushes?

And I found that some of the woody trimmings will make great bases for layout trees. 

Everyone's a winner!

I also was able to get the cover on the caravan - it has been too wet to get it fitted previously. 

And the dome of the Peake Observatory now scans the heavens looking for the ISS.

http://youtu.be/JXzqQGfbGTM

Another great day.

Now that summer is here I can continue with the outside jobs. 

The tall hedge by the road was today's job. 

(Rookie mistake with the camera!)

When I needed to warm up I managed to get a video of the layout. 

http://youtu.be/3-1SHEnBZOo

Free at last.

Well, dry at last really. But free to go out and start on all the outside jobs that have not been done. 

This hedge should have been cut in November but it was always raining and the hedge was wet. 

A computer day.

Busy on the computer today doing various Quaker and local things. 

But the weekend was busy - creating a veritable forest of trees for the layout. 

Snow on the hills.

There was a dusting of snow today but then it rained!

So I went inside to a warmer snowy landscape. 

Things can only get better....

Mind you the last time we all sang that we got Tony Blair!

Enough of the political banter. 

As the rain continued to fall I headed, once again, to The Shed. Today's task was rebuilding the landscape around the piste. It went well. 

Then I built the hut where the skiers hand in their skis before mounting the funicular to go back to the top for another go. 

Another video....

http://youtu.be/M54JtZtvTMI

And then the drive shaft broke!  More work. 

More rain. Time for some skiing.

http://youtu.be/2qDYKu0FdbU

The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hooray etc etc

But then he took it off again!

In the dry moments today I got out to do some gardening. 

Some flowers never give up! Lupins in January. Judith will be jealous. 

And the Spring bulbs have started. 

When it rained I was back in The Shed working on the ski slope. 

This was his first run........ Looks a bit like me on the ice rink!

http://youtu.be/kAZ2yUi6YLQ

UFO spotted in sky over Cilycwm

We saw this fleetingly this afternoon but luckily I got a photo before it disappeared. 

I was indoors snowing on the mountain!

I wish to lodge a complaint....

The is definitely sun in this forecast.

This is what we got. 

Although the sun did put in a brief appearance this afternoon. 

More progress on the mountain. 

You can see where the ski run will be.

This is one of the lucky skiers taking a test run. 

No molehills to make mountains out of.

As we seem to be mole-free at the moment I have resorted to polystyrene to make the mountain on the layout. 

This should feature skiers racing downhill and returning to the top via a chair lift. 

Possibly. 

First run up the hill!

This is the first train to go up the track round the hill and past the station before it comes back down and round the loop. 

http://youtu.be/bwqVKz9d3KM

So it works! The next task is to complete the mountain. I am hoping to have skiers and a cable car. Watch this space!

Not dead but nearly drowned.

There have been complaints about a lack of news. Well, here is the news - it has been raining. Almost constantly. So because the ground is waterlogged there has been no mowing, weeding or hedge trimming. The puddles appear and drain away fairly quickly but it means no gardening. 

We went to Birmingham for Christmas and had a great time doing Christmassy things. The German Christmas market, ice skating and even a pantomime. 

Ice skating video - http://youtu.be/DOHoBYWn9jU

I was bought a Christmas jumper so that I fitted in with the crowd - I felt very inconspicuous. 

You may be able to tell that the tree lit up!

We had a splendid Christmas lunch cooked by Steve. 

There were various get togthers at Helen and Steve's and also in Gloucester with the whole family - over 60 people attended. 

The ongoing rain situation has meant that no gardening has been done but progress has been made on the layout. This has mainly been with scenic items and has included a barn, a tower, a stone circle, a station and an observatory named Peake Observatory in honour of our intrepid British spaceman.

Today I have even managed to get the electrics working so that I can run trains on it - video tomorrow. 

The rainfall has meant that the River Tywi is very high which means the kingfisher has been a regular visitor to the pond. 

The newt population has taken a hammering - see this video. http://youtu.be/ty1uW8rWvQg

I will endeavour to be more regular in my blogging but I suspect it will mainly be trains because of the rains.