So lets get things back to normal...

Alas the central heatings sorted, got some work on & the spate of bad luck has ran out, well almost I can tell ya it comes in threes but not this time it were four because, after the central heating packing up & i'd ran outta work & lost me phone, the bloody electric kettle decided to give up the ghost on me, now thats some run of bad luck, it were almost as if i'd been cursed by the gypsies or something of that kind.

Now there's a bit cold weather business has picked right up, batteries, bulbs & wipers, not selling much antifreeze or screen wash or de-icer yet but it'll come around.
We've had a bit of a snow shower this morning, hoping to get some more & it settles, then business will boom.

Planning a session on the river bank this weekend, not sure whether to have a go for barbel or dead bait for pike yet it's gonna be down to the weather & or if there is any flood water on the river.
So a bank side reccy is a must, always best to go find out for yourself rather than ask others, at least you know where you stand.

Right off to get straightened up at home now.

Last night...

I watched two films on the box, the 1st one escape to victory, now that was some game of football !

The 2nd, escape from Sobibor, now that was depressing, man I'll never watch another film about concentration camps in the 2nd world war, it weren't as explicit has you can imagine what really happened there, but enough to explain how it happened & how those Jewish people were treated by the Nazis, very disturbing.

Anyway I'll finish here with this post because I've got some moving about to do ready for the central heating contractor in the morning.

& 1 more..

Some more...

Today I'm mainly listening to...

Well things are starting to get better already...

Having not really had a good start this month things are starting to improve, a few weeks ago I'd dropped my mobile phone out of my pocket whilst looking at an oil leak on a customers car outside his shop, the phone was picked up by another customer who phoned half of England with my credit but returned it a few days after, then work dropped to an appalling level to almost non existent I then ended up with the dreaded man flu, they say so I've been told bad luck always comes in threes ! Well it certainly has for me, but things are getting better, I've managed to get my driveway & path at the rear of my house concreted at last, I've started laying slabs in the shed base which is gonna be my workshop when completed & I've finally got round to having the central heating replaced for next week by a local company this time because it's passed it's life of use & I'm sick & tired of having to keep replacing the water pump every year which every time it packs up the damn thing keeps tripping the electricity mains out.
The guy came out from the central heating company this morning to measure up all the radiators in every room & work out what other materials were required including the new combi boiler & gas fire that are going to be replaced has part of the job, gave us the quote & estimated about a days work, so not doing bad here for the last couple of years I've had the roof redone new windows & doors, new kitchen & bathroom completed & I've also got round to redoing my back garden where I was going to turf it but changed my mind & decided this next spring I going to start growing my own vegetables in again like my father did when I were a kid.

I don't think gardening is hard work, it's just time consuming, I've got it dug over last year before the first frosts & raked level, there were plenty of lob worms in it I can tell you, that's a good sign & also I've built a new compost bin out of some old sheets of polycarbonate from an old conservatory roof, that'll last a fair few years.
Next job in the garden is to build a greenhouse, I've decided against a glass one because of neighbours kids with footballs etc, etc. Will probably go down the road of polycarbonate again which is quite strong material & build the frame for this greenhouse out of timber.
Now I'm just deciding whether to use manure or leaf mulch in this prepped patch of garden, so not really a deal left to do & see how it goes.
Most of the veg I'll be growing will be spuds, leeks, onions & radish along with carrots lettuce, cabbages & cauliflower.
The tomatoes in the greenhouse when it's built & go from there.

I was at one time going to have my own pond but unfortunately there isn't going to be enough room for one so I may consider in the future another water feature of some kind & another thing I've also done with the garden is put a border along the back fence to put some plants in where the old privet hedge was to tidy it up a bit.

So now all I need to do is get some fishing done : )

New year & a slow start with work.

First of all its a bit late but happy new year, works been steady but still coming through, not much happening with the fishing at the moment but I'll get there.
I've had a few clutch & head gasket jobs on in between the usual batteries, bulbs & wiper blades, the odd tyre job & wheel balancing work, but not so many services as I normally get so things might change by next month.
speaking of the new year I've never been one to make resolutions, well apart from one not to make any that way i don't break them right ! well this year I've made one but i won't say what because i know I'll break it by doing so.

Forum world still the same !!! lol best off out of it from my point of view, is it really worth arguing the toss over a fish ? Now don't get me wrong there is a time & a place to make a stance but on these occasions it ain't right when a few boil over pretence & spit out the dummy over otters, eels & barbel, where exactly are they making their points about said situation or more to the point what exactly is the point ?

Blimey it's almost February already, not long then before the annual closure of the coarse season, that'll cause some mayhem on the forums.
Hope you enjoyed your Christmas mine was well spent with family & friends having a good old catch up with those I'd not saw for awhile had a few drinks too & really enjoyed myself, must keep in touch with people more often than not at all.
My grandmother didn't  feel like going to any parties so the parties came to her lol, bless her she's 82 & widowed but made the most of it at the very least, still trying to get up there for a dance she were lmao.

Merry Christmas....

Yes that time has come around again, almost the end of another year & the beginning of the next, I've been busily grafting my ass off & now the time is coming to put in some hours on the river bank during the festive break, I cannot wait, the weathers turned mild & damp, there are plenty of blewits coming out of the fields, still some leaves left on the trees & wheres that bloody snow ? lol.

It's done nowt but rain today so there should be plenty of water in the river, especially after the other nights down pour, shall find out in the morning, has I'm having a bankside reccy, might be wise to wait on those leaves flushing through 1st before I attempt to get the rods out on the bank again, so we shall soon find out.

Been having a catch up on forum world today, no change there then ! My my you'd have thought by now folks would've buried the hatchet & moved on, but not has it seems, still the same old, same old arguements/debates about stillwater barbel etc, etc Wonders will never cease, what on earth is it with single species anglers that cause such pent up anger to be vented for all to see ? I can tell you I've been there, after all it's only fishing, so whats the need for it all to explode ? Suppose some folks need to get out n about more often than not.

Peace n good will to all...

To the scum that did this......

I hope you realise for the sake of £50.00's worth of scrap platinum you just cost an old guy three hundred quid for a new catalytic converter, luckly they didn't get the one on the otherside, otherwise it would've cost the guy double, there are some right utter cunts about who'll pinch owt these days.

A couple of songs I've mostly been listening to, Today......

Both by Nickelback.....

: )

Weekend almost here...

Works just stepped up a gear, with people getting their motors serviced, before the big expected cold weather that's just threatening to appear around the corner.
I'm looking forward to it actually because, when it's cold headlight bulbs & batteries always seem to fail first, at the moment it's all oil changes, anti freeze & wiper blades, also tyres & exhausts, makes a change from getting all the hard work of engine & gearbox replacements/refurbs, clutches  & suspension jobs I normally get that are a pain in the butt.
OK the trouble with working on the spanners is that u have to take the rough with the smooth but the best thing about it is you can reap the rewards after.
Saying that I've nearly been taken with my pants down a couple of times this year, fortunately on both occasions I were more than clever enough to realise what was coming my way & that's only through experience.

Thought of the day for me has to be.......

Miracles have known to be performed, demands just happen now & then.

Today's song I've mostly been listening to is......

Enjoy your weekend :)

& Then there was Ssweden....

Yessssss, go on then my sson, England beat Sweden 1 nill last night, something that England hadn't managed to do for 43+ years.
Watching last nights game, England should've tranced Sweden by 5+ goals, but settled for the 1 nill win like the Spain game at the weekend, if England carry on this performance they should get a fair way in Euro 2012.


So it's Good night Spain....

Good night Ssweden, n up ya larse sson.

Yes I know it's been a while......

I've been busy with work, it's now at the time of year where work is going to get busier & that means i'm going to be on 24hr call out right through the winter time, so bang goes getting any fishing done, saying that I'm gonna try & find the time to get a few more sessions in before & after christmas.

I had a few sessions on the bank since the last blog post, didn't do very well though as the Trent was still low & clear n lack of flow caused more blanks with the barbel fishing, even the chub have gone off the feed for me so it looks like the coarse gear is gonna get some more use yet as dace & roach in the river have made a comeback for the foreseeable future.

Well done to Lewis Hamilton who came 1st in the Abu Dhabi GP & Jenson Button of Mclaren Mercedes F1 team who came 3rd in a spectacular race that saw Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel spin out with a puncture on the first lap of the race, what a result that was.

Also well done to England for beating Spain 1-0 last night & last but not least....

A song I've mostly been listening too today and haven't heard for a while, in fact I haven't heard this song since i was a teenager.....

Still hard at it....

Plenty of work & no fishing going on yet, but the rain may have put some life back into the river, we shall see.

A new interface for the blogger dashboard, makes it look a little more like wordpress.

Anyway being brief with this post I'll leave it with a song by John Denver....

Recently...

It's been a busy summertime with lots of work on & not much fishing, but I've managed a few sessions so far, I have had no success with the barbel fishing yet mainly because the middle Trent where I fish has got no flow at the moment, almost like a still water it is at the time of writing this blog post, we are in desperate need of rain to flush the river through, even tried the Levas stretch at the weekend which is just below the Colwick sluices & still no flow, it's hardly been fished down there & the weed growth is unbelievable, plenty of streamer weed & silk weed congregating the river bed, now normally near the sluices it's like fishing the run off of a weir pool, but not this one it's like fishing the Victoria Embankment which has always, apart from times of flood water been known to have no flow.
This is not like the Trent at all, not seen this happen with the river before, even during the mid 90's when we had those red hot summers the Trent would be low & clear with some flow on it at the least, the only reason apart from the hot weather has got to be the amount of water abstraction permits issued to various farms, recycling plants, Armitages pet products factory & the Total oil company, but to name a few, OK there is also the National Water sports centre as well & various other still water complexes that have abstraction permits on the river to top up their lakes during the summer months.

Anyway have had some success with perch on the lures spinning & chub on the barbel gear during the dark hours, so i may go back to the drawing board here & fish lighter tackle, such as maggot feeder, or fish the waggler for a change, because the roach are making comeback, now the cormorants have gone elsewhere or so the regulars keep telling me.
This maybe the better option with hardly any flow at moment, suppose a change of tactics could be the answer, or just stick with fishing during the night time & pray for rain, not that that would make much difference at the moment because every time we get some flood water the authorities like to run it off faster, as part of the new flood prevention schemes, seems crazy but that is what they do.
Speaking of flood prevention, there is still a lot of flood bank restoration going on, the Levas stretch has been completed & now they are working further down stream still in Colwick, behind the industrial estate working their way from the Armitages factory through to the waste recycling plant, which looks like they could be busy with through to some time into next year, so we'll have to fish elsewhere in between time, it can be a preverbial pain in the butt, but the work needs doing due to bank side erosion, which made some stretches of river bank unaccessable.
One part of the river bank behind the Armitages factory was getting in a real bad way, that you couldn't walk down there as it all collapsed into the river, leaving just a flood bank & boundary fence as the river bank side, OK it's all being restored now, but that area is on a bend of the river very close to the run off of the sluice gates & the bank side there has always been steep, bit like the stretch of the river Severn at Iron bridge in the lady wood area, always remember having to climb down there lol every time we fished there, so this could be an hard job to keep the bank side in place, saying that though the piling plates & concrete re-enforcing equipment was the first bits of gear to be moved in after the clean up began.

Onto an old subject now, aww it seems the clowns of certain website are still in a bitter way, be best if they dropped the subject now to prevent any further embarrassments on their behalf's, they really do suffer fools gladly, one should'na go around pickin fights they cannot win thou knows, sitting back here watchin what has been posted over there really explains a lot about them doesn't it pmsl.
It is better to have loved & lost, than to have not loved at all ;)

Well now we've even had the rioters & looters up n down the country, how very dare they, but one thing I will say is.......  Enoch Powell was right what he said, when nobody could be rsed to lissen, & now look at it, this wasn't because the police shot that black guy, this is Serious Organised Crime on a nationwide basis, that these fools didn't even begin to realise that only good thing that would come out of it at the end of the day, would be the the police, magistrates & judges would all get a load of overtime, not good for the taxpayers of the country is it?

Mind you we all got penalised with the football matches being postponed, do they now see what they have caused? I'd guess not, but that is what former governments have made this country into, leaving the rest of us to pick up the peaces, & where in this was the BNP & EDL ? when all this was kicking off, I'll tell ya nowhere to be seen!.

Heard a couple of good jokes about the riots, this one being the best'un.....

Tottenham have just signed a new black Italian striker, his name is grabbatelli.

Ok, back to work now, as ever plenty to do n not enough hours in one day.