General Chat

Had some white stuff here (West Midlands) earlier today, followed by the wet stuff, so the snow has gone now.
Going to do a bit more of my jigsaw puzzle before I go to bed.

Maybe Frank is in the habit of washing in cold spring water .... rather him than me.

Caz and Sylvia (in Canada) your dinners sound very tasty, and your arrangement re the cooking of the dinner sounds first class. You lucky things.

Good-night everyone, and good afternoon to Sylivia

Aye, we're a hardy bunch up here in Scotland, mind you I work as a motorcycle courier so I'm out in everything all day!
I see our weather in Scotland isn't getting above freezing 0* until at least Thursday so that will be refreshing.

Sylvia and her spa water, when I was a boy in the '50s I can remember being thirsty and drinking out of a puddle in our tenement back court using an old tin can.
I got my ears clipped for that one but it sure builds up your resistance to things, either that or it kills you!

I made dinner tonight as my dear wife is still getting used to walking without her sticks (hip replacement) at least that's what she tells me.
Been doing it for three months so i'm an expert now.........we had trout as well and a couple of mincemeat pies to finish them off.

Frank, Sylvia's favourite stalker!

Only kidding.

Hello everyone,Happy New Year! I was just catching up on all the replies
as I had to work unexpectedly yesterday-this thread is lovely,it feels like a circle of friends talking,and sharing information about themselves.Our weather here in Melbourne has been pretty weird-NYE was stinking hot-
38 degrees C,then we had thunder,lightning,and heavy rain,and a cool change.The fireworks went ahead in spite of the rain,but the rain did dampen the proceedings somewhat,and all the revellers ended up very soaked.New Year's Day was much cooler-20-25 degrees C-
and more spitting rain-very strange weather.It's a nice relief from the heat though,and good for the trees,dams and gardens,so I'm not complaining!

Living on a very dry continent , over Summer especially,as well as all year
round,we all have to try to use as little water as possible,to keep the storage levels in the dams up-you all don't have to worry about that in Britain,where you have a much higher rainfall.

Liz-thanks for your reply-you seem to have had a nice floral Christmas.I hope that the flowers appear in the garden soon,as well,to make you feel happier.

Jean-nice to hear from you.I hope that the snow is finished soon,and your life will get back to normal again.

Best wishes to everyone in 2010-hope you all have a Happy,Healthy,Safe and Prosperous year in 2010.

XXXX Margot.

re spa water


We used to spend most of our summer holidays in Scarborough ..... Mum and Dad, and her parents, had been going there since at least the 1920s.


I can still remember being dragged (well, forced!) down to the beach and along to where "the" spring emerged from a well set in a stone wall.

"You must drink a cup of this every morning!" was dad's favourite phrase.


Yukkkk!



Hi Margot

we spent almost a year in Melbourne in 1975/76, OH was at LaTrobe Uni on a sabbatical.




sylvia


~~~~ to my favourite stalker!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ lots of waves to everyone - we may have been first with the New Year over here in NZ but I was asleep. Usually up late and intended to have a drambuie to toast the New Year but did not have it till the next night.

How are you Glossy Ann

I started naming Ann that way when we were in Panto together, Theresa it seemed apt with all the fairy dust that was being sprinkled around at the time.

Bakerlite - I collect owls - and I have a lovely little Blue bakerlite one he opens at the back and originally had a bottle of Midnight in Paris perfume in it. I purchased him in an antique shop sans perfume. If I remember rightly we even had bakerlite drawer handles when I was young.

You don't want to go drinking water Frank - my father would never drink water - hated hospitals as they were always trying to get him to drink the stuff - he reckoned it would rust his cast iron constitution.

The weather here is fine - and humid and we don't get the horrible heat that they get in Aussie. We make our trips to Oz in September when it is cooler and I love Melbourne and its gothic buildings and the free trams.

This is an excellent thread Glossy Ann - didn't you do well? !!!!!!

Norma/ Persey

Bakelite (pronounced /ˈbеɪkɨlaɪt/), or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde, usually with a wood flour filler. It was developed in 1907–1909 by Belgian chemist Dr. Leo Baekeland.

One of the first plastics made from synthetic components (although phenol can be extracted from biological sources), Bakelite was used for its electrically nonconductive and heat-resistant properties in radio and telephone casings and electrical insulators, and also in such diverse products as kitchenware, jewellery, pipe stems, and children's toys. In 1993 Bakelite was designated an ACS National Historical Chemical Landmark in recognition of its significance as the world's first synthetic plastic.[1]

The "retro" appeal of old Bakelite products and labor intensive manufacturing has made them quite collectible in recent years.

History
Dr. Baekeland had originally set out to find a replacement for shellac (made from the excretion of lac beetles). Chemists had begun to recognize that many natural resins and fibers were polymers, and Baekeland investigated the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde. He first produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called "Novolak" that never became a market success, then turned to developing a binder for asbestos which, at that time, was molded with rubber. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he found he could produce his dreamed-of hard moldable plastic: bakelite.[2]

The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 (after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland) from a merger of three companies: the General Bakelite Company, which Baekeland had founded in 1910, the Condensite Company founded by J.W. Aylesworth, and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company founded by L.V. Redman.[3]


Structure of BakeliteThe American Catalin Corporation acquired the Bakelite formulas in 1927 and currently manufactures Bakelite cast resins.

Bakelite Limited was formed in 1926 from the amalgamation of three suppliers of phenol formaldehyde materials: the Damard Lacquer Company Limited of Birmingham; Mouldensite Limited of Darley Dale and Redmanol Chemical Products Company of London. Around 1928 a new factory opened in Tyseley, Birmingham, England (subsequently demolished in 1998). In 1939 the company was acquired by the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation.

Properties
Phenolics are seldom used in general consumer products today due to the cost and complexity of production and their brittle nature. An exception to this overall decline is their use in small precision-shaped components where their specific properties are required, such as moulded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs and switches and parts for electrical irons. Today, Bakelite is manufactured and produced in sheet, rod and tube form for hundreds of industrial applications in the electronics, power generation and aerospace industries, and under a variety of commercial brand names, including Garolite.


Bakelite distributor rotor.Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. These layers of laminations are usually of cellulose paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic yarn fabrics, glass fabrics or unwoven fabrics. When heat and pressure are applied to the layers, a chemical reaction (polymerization) transforms the layers into a high-pressure thermosetting industrial laminated plastic. When rubbed, original Bakelite has a telltale odor.

Bakelite Phenolic is produced in dozens of commercial grades and with various additives to meet diverse mechanical, electrical and thermal requirements. Some common types include:

PAPER REINFORCED PHENOLIC NEMA XX per MIL-I-24768 PBG Normal electrical applications, moderate mechanical strength, continuous operating temperature of 250°F.
CANVAS REINFORCED PHENOLIC NEMA C per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBM NEMA CE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBG Good mechanical and impact strength with continuous operating temperature of 250°F.
LINEN REINFORCED PHENOLIC NEMA L per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBI NEMA LE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FEI Good mechanical and electrical strength. Recommended for intricate high strength parts. Continuous operating temperature 250°F.
NYLON REINFORCED PHENOLIC NEMA N-1 per MIL-I-24768 TYPE NPG Superior electrical properties under humid conditions, fungus resistant, continuous operating temperature of 160°F.
[

Patents and trademarks
U.S. Patent 1,658,597 Condensation product and method of making same
Bakelite AG (a German company) claims to own the trademark in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Switzerland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
Applications and usage

Bakelite radio at Bakelite museum.Although no longer extensively used as an industrial manufacturing material, Bakelite was used in myriad applications including saxophone mouthpieces, whistles, cameras, solid-body electric guitars, rotary-dial telephones, early machine guns, and appliance casings. The thermosetting plastic was at one point considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional manufacturing material. In 1943, Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage as a penny in the United States before the Mint settled on zinc coated steel

The foremost usage of Bakelite today is as a substitute for porcelain and other opaque ceramics in applications where fine detail is unimportant (other thermoset resins can capture detail more finely when molded) and durability over traditional ceramic compounds is desired. As such, a main continuing use for bakelite is in the area of board and tabletop games. Devices such as billiard balls, dominoes, Mahjongg tiles and other gaming tilesets, and movers/pieces for games like chess, checkers, and backgammon are constructed of Bakelite for the look, durability, fine polish, weight, and sound of the resulting pieces. Dice are sometimes made of Bakelite for weight and sound, but the majority are made of a thermoplastic such as ABS. It is also used to make the presentation boxes of luxury Breitling watches. Bakelite is also sometimes used as a substitute for metal in the construction of firearm magazines.

Bakelite is also used in the mounting of metal samples in metallography

Phenolic resins have been commonly used in ablative heat shields. Soviet heatshields for ICBM warheads and spacecraft reentry consisted of asbestos textolite impregnated with bakelite

LOL Liz

We don't need to use google - we can use you.
You could be our new search engine.

You are a love both day & night.

Persey xx

Good morning, the sun is shining and the sky is clear - as it was yesterday so a great start to the New Year.

We had a great New Years Eve with my youngest daughter and her family, the journey up there was pretty good, even the M25 was quite smooth running. It was very cold but fortunately no snow, we arrived about 6pm (that is my eldest son, my sister and myself. About an hour later my middle son and his wife and my eldest daughter arrived. My other sons were not able to get there so it was not quite as noisy an evening as it had been in previous years. Loads of food, good company and someone, somewhere even put on a firework display which we watched for a while but it was too cold outside to stay for too long.
At around 3.30 my daughter in law drove their car home and my sister and I with eldest son stayed until Friday afternoon. We got home at about 5pm. It was a wonderful start to the New Year - but I am having trouble trying to remember what day it is !!!
Does anyone remember the lady from long ago who lived at Hundred Mile House? I cannot remember her name but I have often wondered if she is still a member - with all the name changes I have lost track of people. I still have my list, three pages of names of regular posters on Chat - but I stopped adding after a while as more and more people joined.
Ann, this is not the right thread for this question but please could you tell me - I have three birds in my garden bright green with orange beaks, about the size of a small pigeon - what are they? There is also a marauding dark, large tabby cat who keeps spooking them but I think I have chased him off now. They are attacking the peanuts and the fat balls. I am not very good at identifying birds apart from pigeons, magpies and robins.
Off now to make a cup of tea, hope you all have a lovely day.

Kathleen

Kathleen, could they be parraqueets? Do they look similar to small parrots? I know theya re around in some parts of the country around the London area I think. Doesn't matter what thread it is on Kathleen.

It sounds as if you had a great New Year, can't beat being with family can you? we enjoyed ours too although it was very quiet with just 4 of us.

Thanks for that Liz.

Persy, thank you, yes this thread has proved to be a success hasn't it, good to see people feeling comfortable with posting and chatting to each other.

They do sound like parakeets, Kathleen. I know they are currently being considered as pests but there is no more beautiful sight than to see a flock of them fly over your head! I see more and more of them in Hyde Park. BC XX

Thank you Ann and BC, I did wonder if they were parakeets as we have an abundance of them around here - but usually heard rather than seen. At the far end of my road (it has a different name down that end) there is a row of tall trees which is full of very, very noisy parakeets but they are not usually down at this end.

I've just seen a young fox wandering across the road, he stared at me watching him through the window but then trotted off and disappeared into the garden of a bungalow across the road.

I think I have finally got the better of the squirrels by hanging my bird feeders on the ends of my whirly washing line. They knocked them off of the tree branches and stole all the contents. Cheeky things even stole the home made fat balls (I'd put them in my little "greenhouse" as I needed the room in my fridge) and to add insult to injury they smeared them all over my kitchen window. They do seem to have left the feeders alone now - perhaps they haven't realised where they are.

Kathleen

I loved reading about the birds. We have a lot of different ones out here but as for names !!! cant help.
I would be interested to know how to make the fat balls for them though. We dont see many squirrels so not a problem and my puppy doesn't bother them, she sits on the path and watches them.

great friendly thread Ann. X

I have taken this from the bird thread, a recipe from Glemys (the menace)

Hi, Jill and Julia - and anyone else who might be interested. Here it is, a la Glenys:-

Bird Fat Cakes – home-made.

We have a saucer on our kitchen windowsill for breadcrumbs, before the plates go into the dishwasher.

Also, we save any fat from, say, spag bol when draining the mincemeat, and stock it up in the fridge until we have enough to make the "cakes". However, Tesco Value lard is good – and cheap!

We buy birdseed at the cheapest store - currently "Pets At Home"; this includes canary seed and calcium-enriched bird grit, songbird food and sunflower seeds.

Stale biscuits, and oats, can be mixed in, too. Remember that old cereal packet you forgot to use up? Now’s your chance!

You need at least 3 medium, heatproof containers; have 5 ready, in case. I usually use the containers that held shop-bought fat cakes, but you can also use Pot Noodle tubs and the like. Place them on wipeable placemats on your kitchen worktop.

When you have 2 or 3 dishes-full of fat in the fridge, usually collected over a few weeks, melt it in a saucepan. While the fat is melting, put the same, plus half as much again, amount of breadcrumbs, seeds etc. into a mixing bowl.

When the fat has melted, mix the food in with it, stir thoroughly and simmer for a couple of minutes. Then pour carefully into the tubs and leave to cool down. After about an hour, put them in the fridge, to solidify.

I hope I haven't made it sound complicated; it really is very easy. It takes literally a few minutes to do, and the pleasure it gives me to see those poor birds out in the cold, eating it, is great.

Thanks Ann, will give them a try. X

Hello all ,
Only added once but have still been reading what you have all been up to .

It is a lovely thread for a change , no snide remarks etc.
Always a bit dubious about joining in an ongoing thread as i always feel like i am intruding in some way .
Well i have not bothered getting dressed since Fri but will have to sort myself out as little un is back at school tomorrow , thank god .

No point is me putting out anything for the birds where i live , the little ones don,t stand a chance. 90% of the birds that come around here are crows or seagulls .

I bet they make a racket Cath. Everyone is welcome to add to this thread, the more the merrier.

Hello All
I'm a newbie too! I've been doing my family tree for 18 months now and been a member of GR for probably as long. I recently started reading the threads on Community but felt very much like an outsider. I don't understand 'nudging' or 'A-Z's' (would welcome an explanation of common terminology!) I have been blissfully unaware of the trouble mentioned in various bit of the threads - perhaps I haven't read the right snippets.....franky I'm baffled that people would use this site to vent and glad that I haven't come across it. I've noticed a lot of requests for help and am pleasantly surprised how quickly people respond to them. I am lucky that I have managed on my own up to now, but it is reassuring to know there are so many helpful members out there should the need arise. Happy New Year to all who read this.
Julie W

Anne , Yes they do and big dollups of poo on the washing
The price you pay for living near farmers fields and the coast..