Haircut

Today we both went for our flu jabs - more important than ever this year.  We are so lucky to have Townhead surgery in Settle.  Being so far from the nearest big hospital and occasionally cut off in bad winters it is important that they can turn their hands to most things.  The flu jabs were being done in what is normally the waiting room.  It had been most cleverly converted to four or five stand-up numbered nurse stations.  Utmost Covid precautions as you might expect - and in-and-out in no time.

En route back home via the Market Place we passed Settle's one and only proper mens' barbers shop.  Not only was it open and adorned with 'No appointment necessary' notices, there was nobody there apart from barber Ian.  When the last proper haircut was nine or ten months ago you cannot pass up on a chanced like that.  Only trouble was no money between us and proper barbers don't do cards and soft nonsense like that.  "Oh, it'll be right" said Ian.  Nonetheless Pat scurried off home and back with the necessary (£9 in Settle).  I had it cut and confessed that Pat had seen to my 2020 tonsures.  Ian was well accustomed to that scenario and declared that he had had very few disasters to rescue.  Pat had done a good job, for a radiographer.

Drumlins

The pictures below are of Upper Ribblesdale and show drumlins.  Drumlins? I hear you cry.  Yes drumlins, typically low rounded hills in the bottom of a broad valley.  They are formed by glaciers as they melt.

This is from a video clip on Facebook yesterday of part of the Ribble Valley Drumlin Field:

And a wider view.

Those are on the western side of Pen y Ghent.  The drumlins are the near and middle distance hills - looking somewhat like upturned spoons or buried eggs.

Some drumlins can he hundreds of feet high.  Lower ones in this part of the world may be called 'sykes':

The link below is well worth seven minutes of your time.  It explains drumlins perfectly.  

https://timeforgeography.co.uk/videos_list/glaciation/formation-drumlins/

I do so wish such teaching aids had existed at the time I was failing O Level geography (my only O Level failure, before you ask).

Particularly relevant to the land around the water tower, now our 'gardens'.  It all goes a long way to explaining the rounded boulders which now form the dry stone walls of our new  garden area at the southern end of the site.

Facebook Fame, a super Picture of the Tower and a Couple More

 It was a delightful surprise when doing my daily Facebook catch-up-on-the-World to find this stunning and unusual picture of the water tower staring back at me.  It was taken by Ronnie Allen, presumably  from the High Road to Langcliffe with a telephoto lens or a very good iPhone:

The FB post can be seen at

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=944140402739147&set=gm.10164031486530265

It has prompted loads of comments, mostly favourable!

The original Restoration Man programme from 2012 is now on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5HBgmsOY0U

Talking of lovely pictures, how about these of our lovely daughter Lorna, bonding with the family's new dog Darcey:

Finally, it's that time of the year again with the North Atlantic salmon leaping  here at Stainforth Foss on the river Ribble:

Thank You Dalehead Vets

 After the sad demise of our companion Bess at the vets this lovely card arrived in the post:

That is a really nice touch.  Besides being an occasional patient, Bess will have been a familiar sight on her morning perambulation.   Not sure what the trick is but unlike previous canine companions Bess would wag her tail and pull towards the vets surgery, straight across Station Road from the water tower.

Cladding - the Final Batch

 The external cladding of Terminal 2 has been the most tedious and difficult part of the whole job but we re almost there.

Phase 1 was to set in place the perfectly good panels that had been removed from Terminal 1.

That revealed obvious and easily measurable gaps for which new panels were made and fitted - Phase 2.  That left some of the trickier gaps still be be made and filled with new panels.  We decided to do the remainder in two batches - Phase 3, missing parapet panels, including parapet internal and external corners.

Phase 4 would be measuring and making the final batch of panels - the walls below the parapets, which account for 17 separate panels.  Specifying and labelling the panels' locations on such a complicated near-finished jigsaw called for initiative and white paint this morning.  Happily yesterday's Storm Alex had left us in glorious sunshine:

Parapet Panels Delivered

 Perhaps the penultimate milestone reached today - the delivery of the remaining parapet cladding panels:

These panels, at this stage unpainted, will be fixed temporarily in place enabling precise measurements to be taken for the final few panels around the windows and down to ground level.  When they too are manufactured, both final batches will be stove enamelled and then permanently fitted.

All the panels at this stage are covered in protective plastic sheeting on their outer sides and edges.

Grateful thanks to Central Sheet Metals at Burnley who have been incredibly busy with catch-up orders galore ever since lock-down ended.  I do so hope my use of the phrase 'lock-down ended' is not tempting fate...

In other news, the kinbig telly is now properly set up in the kinbig lounge:

The photograph does not do justice to the TV picture (and sound) quality.  Compare the size with that of the luggage trolley below it!