What you can never forget as a boy...

 This could well of been a scene from my boyhood past, going around a vintage usually steam railway getting all upfront and personal with the working parts of the locomotive, smelling the grease  lubricating it all so it all works smoothly.

You'd find yourself transfixed so much by it you'd be almost in a daydream, with no idea of the time or if your mates were still around or drifted off somewhere else like the little souvenir shop pouring over things to buy, a kit, a picture or postcard perhaps.

That won't be happening this week as it's felt with it being very busy there may be more risks involved than desirable given we even got as far as going away and sharing a property but all being well we'll be be able to do so in the future.

End of Term 2021

This summer so far reminds me a bit of 2018 no least in the last few days where it was almost as hot and apart from dealing with sunburn there were lot of bity insects about and actually one gave me blood poisoning apart from leaving me with a few long term issues from Lyme disease.

Monday when I went out to avoid the noise and general sensory overload that comes with work on the central heating in the house that involved knocking holes in walls and drilling while being out watching the butterflies and that was fun I was permanently trying to keep the gnats, mosquitoes and that off my arms swiping them when not checking them for any living thing no matter how small on them.

The other think is the heat, it's currently 29 degrees and forecast for some parts of the Midlands when I typed this show temperatures peaking up to 33 degrees so that comes with an official warning for heat stroke.

Given I run on the warm side compare to some it doesn't take long for me to get in dripping mode so keeping well hydrated is a must, something when I was officially young sadly wasn't taken as seriously as it should be school authorities.

Schools now are closing down for Summer Hols, the local high schools have while my old infant and junior schools are open until today.

Next week I will be away for a period so something most likely will be set to publish but I won't be around to publish links and that.

When I'm away, I am away not remotely working with a smartphone or Chromebook.

Goodbye Lindsey

Today is the day after one of those sad moments that come and go on a very long running children's tv show I've watched since I was an infant with my older brother more or less continuously over five decades in 405 line black and white to high definition colour.

Every presenter inevitably leaves, some longer than others, some you feel more of a connection with to than others but it's just the same.

Leaving never feels nice however you wrap it up.

I don't know why but actually I feel I really get BP Presenter No. Thirty-six, Lindsey Russell in the way I felt about Lesley Judd, Simon Groom, Yvette Fielding, Konnie Haq, and Anthea Turner who of course was a local as much that for other reasons I still miss the late John Noakes.

Unlike any other BP Presenter she was actually chosen directly by audition by BP viewers at the age of twenty two on Blue Peter - You Decide! and started way back on September 5th 2013, nine months after the permanent switch of the show to the dedicated post analogue to digital tv switch over to CBBC channel with Barney Harwood.

In that time I saw her grow aided by the many challenges she took as that presenter on the show apart from what you learn by just doing it becoming confident, assured and having a natural bond with children to whom this show is aimed for.

In May 2018 she undertook a challenge flying with the RAF on a training exercise with the Red Arrows, taking control for herself and this is the one thing she says was her favourite, learning a lot about herself from it.

She manages to show maturity while keeping a sense of the innocent, fun and caring side of a younger person, sometimes coming over rather like Val Singleton did in my youngest days to the then new presenters.

She was a leading figure in October 2018's special 60th Birthday special that saw as many of previous presenters as possible get together to mark the shows birthday .

Yesterday was a bit sad, I feel tearful writing this as with the ideas of the viewers she left with a Big Bang on July 15ths show, but it and the shows presenters endure in a different age for meeting the needs of viewers six plus to fifteen who have a big say in what is featured who for all the technology of this changed world are still the same as I was back then.

There wasn't just a wall of post that included letters drawings, paintings and crafts connected to here but a great big wall too.

She had some challenges to do such as fastest getting changed into Cricket Whites which she set a new record of just over 38 seconds adjudicated by Guinness the records people and identifying by touch three objects in boxes.

She was presented with a Blue Peter Gold Badge by Richie Driss who was the presenter who joined just after her and to which I think there's an entry on here.

Tributes were paid by Radzi, Katy Hill and Konnie Huq amongst others including some children views from the Blue Peter Fan Club which is online and after a competition she went up as the credits rolled in a hot air balloon over the studio at Salford's Media City to a crowd of school children cheering and waving.

In some ways it feels a bit like it did in 1972 when Valerie Singleton left leaving us with the threesome of Judd, Noakes and Purves except now it's Driss, Beales and Mudenda.

That it continues to meet their needs is the important thing and I still love watching it deriving inspiration and ideas from it.

The week in review

Rough ol' week here in some respects although I had a new book to read when I'm up to holding things and that for long as my wrists have being playing up this week apart from anything else and I'm expecting any day soon a new splint for my right hand which should give it more compression and support.

So far in I've been enjoying the year delayed Euro 2020 football competition getting super excited which kind of reminds me of how it was back then, the friendly rivalry between different team supporters and the sweep we organized as Third Years on the 1978 World Cup which I won!

We beat Denmark by two goals to one in a thrilling semi final on Wednesday with the last goal being scored from a penalty in Extra Time and so have a place at the Final on Sunday!

That feels so amazing.

Indeed you could say the feelings and that that have come over just show to what extent I'm still very much that boy jumping up and down in me footy kit reading me Match of the Day magazine.

Next weeks Blog will be a little different looking at an event in  a certain tv show's history so meanwhile as the skies darken for next bout of showers, have fun and see you next time.

Sunflowers and stuff

 This week was a bit better than last, thanks.

This Sunflower is something I've been nurturing ever the last few weeks, sat in my front room window, being well looked after while I've been out taking pictures for the "Scouting and Me" blog, not always being helped by showers and the like.

It does just how good the all in one Zoom lenses compact cameras such as my Sony are when it comes to sharpness aided by many internal corrective elements compared to the 28-200mm zoom lenses of the late 80's and 90's many a photographic dealer offered to people just wanting the 'one' lens for taking say holiday snaps with back then.

I've also been remaking a few tapes which my dad found of mine on Father's Day but sadly had been stored in his shed which when looking why there was such strong mildewish smell I unscrewed them I saw small patches of dry  dusty mould on the tape packs inside the shell.

Fortunately everything was from sources I still have rather than it being say voices of people from the past which may of meant finding a 'sacrificial lamb' of a tape player to copy it to a new tape and then laboriously cleaning the entire tape path and tray with IPA to kill any mould spoors off before they infected any other tapes played on the equipment.