The Retirement Thread

[classic33]

They are all the cruise ships laid up due to the virus
allure of the sea
aurora
empress of the sea
arcadia

Can we put a few from the nearby prison on some other vessels there. Help prevent overcrowding.

Or use on of those and empty the prison. Offshore in a Force Ten, they'd be glad to get back on Terra firma.

 

[screenman]

Poole Harbour is extremely shallow. There is a channel dredged out for the ferry but the average depth is less that two feet. It does look strange sometimes to see that great expanse of water with a figure standing in the distance with the water just above their knees.
Very popular with windsurfing / boardsailing schools in the more sheltered areas near Evening Hill.
The tracks in the sand would be from the beach cleaning / raking machines, with about 3 1/2 miles of sand it takes a fair bit of cleaning especially around the areas near the Chines and the Piers where several tonnes of rubbish can be discarded in busier times.

I miss the windsurfing there and The Witterings, used to come down there most weekends in the eighties.

 

[classic33]

I know you have all been waiting to see it so..........here it is.......
View attachment 537829
The very first tomato I have ever grown.
Its only about 5mm but as Mo and Welshie will tell you, size doesn't matter.

Is that some Swallow Capistrano on the lower leaf?

 

[Tenkaykev]

Can we put a few from the nearby prison on some other vessels there. Help prevent overcrowding.

Or use on of those and empty the prison. Offshore in a Force Ten, they'd be glad to get back on Terra firma.

IIRC there used to be a Prison vessel moored off Portland ( Dorset)

My friend in Weymouth informs me that there are several cruise ships moored up in the distance waiting for a resurgence in the Cruise industry. Hurn Airport is also chokker with 'planes parked up all over the shop.

As an aside, a company I worked for used to do a bit of electrical type work on a research vessel permanently moored of Portland. There was a decommissioned navy vessel nearby and occasionally a unmarked van would pull up and a short while later would come the sound of sporadic gunfire 🤔

 

[classic33]

IIRC there used to be a Prison vessel moored off Portland ( Dorset)

My friend in Weymouth informs me that there are several cruise ships moored up in the distance waiting for a resurgence in the Cruise industry. Hurn Airport is also chokker with 'planes parked up all over the shop.

As an aside, a company I worked for used to do a bit of electrical type work on a research vessel permanently moored of Portland. There was a decommissioned navy vessel nearby and occasionally a unmarked van would pull up and a short while later would come the sound of sporadic gunfire 🤔

Royal Marines, SBS on extreme paintballing?

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Just looked it up myself Island Bakery.

Thanks, I’ll look out for them. To be honest though I’d misunderstood your post, I thought you were saying that the bacon was available in supermarkets. My question was about the bacon brand. But I guess that’s only available locally then.

 

[12boy]

I must be a human garbage disposal. I enjoy eating pretty much anything that is unprocessed, although my gluttony is tempered by my need to avoid sugars, carbs and salt. In the later summer I would pause in the garden on the way to my bike sheds to chow down on tomatoes pulled from the vine. I might add a cuke or two and a handful of raspberries. Fresh produce is so much tastier than grocery store stuff. At the moment the tomatoes are just turning red, but there are yellow and green squash, Bush beans and soon pole beans, cuke,s lettuc and Swiss chard. A little later there will be carrots and shallots. Used to have peppers and eggplants but they have never done well enough to be worth the bother. The past couple of springs have seen April snows that prevented getting a lot of apples or wild plums. The plums are small with little meat, but one year I must have made 2 dozen 8oz jars of jam. Like wild strawberries, the wild plums have a much more intensive taste than the larger and fleshier domestic ones. Food is good.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Royal Marines, SBS on extreme paintballing?

😉

 

[pawl]

A lot of the supermarket tomatoes are commercially grown using the hydroponic system. Particularly in the Netherlands. Basically grown in water. The roots never see any soil or the plants sunlight.
All the nutrients are added to the water for the growth.
Home grown are very sweet and juicy. They are like Mediterranean grown varieties.
The science is that because the plants dry out a little in between watering, the sugars in the fruits intensify, then when the plants are watered, more sugars are produced and the cycle continues.

I came across those large tomatoes when I was on holiday in Portugal.Think they ars called beef tomatoes Really like them.

 

[pawl]

When I were nowt burra lad.......on our picnics we would always have whole tomatoes. We would just chomp into them. A bit of salt** on.
Can't imagine doing that with 'modern' tomatoes.
** for some strange reason I recall my Dad having a sprinkle of sugar on his tomato.

My dad used to dip radishes in salt and like your dad tomatoes he would sprinkle with sugar I will have to try that.

 

[BoldonLad]

View attachment 537854

Photo taken with an old iPhone 6s
A quick " grab shot" and nowhere near Mo's standards.
If you zoom in between the vessels you can just make out the Isle of Wight.
The Isle of Wight is a strange one, sometimes it is visible, other times it seems to vanish Brigadoon like into the sea.

You must have caught a rare few minutes of dry weather!

We have just arrived not far from there (near Bransgrove, New Forest), rained all the way here, still pouring down! No bike riding today !

 

[Tenkaykev]

You must have caught a rare slice of


You must have caught a rare few minutes of dry weather!

We have just arrived not far from there (near Bransgrove, New Forest), rained all the way here, still pouring down! No bike riding today !

Yes, I took the photo yesterday, it's peeing down in Poole as well at the moment.
I'd recommend a trip to Ringwood Brewery, the brewery tour is regarded as one of the best in the country. 🍺🍺
Some lovely trails around the New Forest, I have memories of getting lost there while on a navigation / map reading course 😁

 

[Dave7]

Is that some Swallow Capistrano on the lower leaf?

You will have to give me a clue on that

 

[BoldonLad]

Yes, I took the photo yesterday, it's peeing down in Poole as well at the moment.
I'd recommend a trip to Ringwood Brewery, the brewery tour is regarded as one of the best in the country. 🍺🍺
Some lovely trails around the New Forest, I have memories of getting lost there while on a navigation / map reading course 😁

I shan't mention that to Mrs @BoldonLad, she does not trust my navigation skills at the best of times

 

[Deleted member 1258]

They are all the cruise ships laid up due to the virus
allure of the sea
aurora
empress of the sea
arcadia

One of the engineering firms I worked for had several customers that were on the Isle Of Wight and sometimes I would be delivering/ collecting on the island, I remember that sometimes when I was driving through Southampton to the ferry there would be the cruise ships moored up on my right, they reminded me of floating blocks of flats.