Yes Tom - I’m a Brummie born and bred until about 20 years ago when I moved here. Don’t go moving any closer to ‘them’ though 
(although when I visit the Black Country museum I keep very quiet on the subject 
)
Have you still got a bit of the accent or are you all posh now :-). I was a Walsall lad then moved I bit further north so i’m keeping mine hehe
That’s sad news C/C. The bikes of today are to fast for anyone i think. I tried a friends super sportsbike and it was silly trying to keep on with a bit of style. Saying that i’m getting to old for anything faster than soil erosion
My Dad was always a bike enthusiast and, at one point, had about 5 of them so I grew up used to being on motorbikes then I married a man who also loved motorbikes! They can be fun unless you are behind a huge lorry on the motorway and your helmet doesn’t fit too well so it lifts up and is knocking you senseless as it bangs backwards and forwards on your head
Brummies think I’ve gone all posh but visiting Brummies (here) recognise it but oddly enough, the locals don’t. I hail originally from South Birmingham so I is posh anyways ;-)
Back in a short while , my doggy needs a tree
He didn’t die riding a bike. In fact he didn’t have one.
He was a passenger on the sidecars for about 30 years.
He was so keen though that his last wishes were to be scattered there. 
I love the Isle of Man and would like another holiday there soon. Last time was in 2008 at the TT time so would prefer a quieter time, although my OH would probably not say that. :surprised:
hi and welcome pokertom.
I was born in Birmingham, but been gone from there many moons.
Have 2 grandchildren living in that area though.
Hi Valice. Thanks for the welcome. Brumms ok but they keep changing it lol
I hear that the floozie in the jacuzzi was a very popular change
Good morning Ben-V. Have a nice day and thank you for the chat y/day. felt at home on my first day getting to know people.
I’m pleased to hear you feel at home Tom - new blood is always nice 
just kidding. What’s the weather like in Birmingham (I do remember the hot summers there - don’t get them here to the same extent). Do you have anything planned for the day?
Weathers lovely today its been very windy last few days .Was up at 5.30 walking my dog Sir Hovis along the canal, frosty but I like that. Its warmed up nicely now. Saturdays are my rest days and I may make an apple pie ‘can’t beat home made can you’, then just be a nuisance to all lol .as I have just retired this month I want to know what resting is like so I may be in and out of here all day
I always note the first smile of the day and today, it has come from your dog’s name! What a lovely name - what made you call him that? What breed is he?
You certainly can’t beat home made food of any description and on a sunny day, what better than apple pie (we may ask you to share that with us now you’ve told us about it).
It must be hard to stop working (I missed it to begin with but stopped working by choice) and you do feel at a loose end to start with - then you rediscover what childhood was about and get stuck in to doing things you want to do rather than what you’re expected to do - that makes a heck of a difference Tom.
I’m off out with my dogs in a bit and then back to paint my front door whilst the weather is nice - just have to stop the little rotters running past it and getting dog hairs on the wet paint (I’ve yet to paint without them appearing with paint on them grrrrr 
)
Sounds a whole lot of fun in the Ben-V household .Sir Hovis is a Lakeland terror. When I had him as a pup he was so docile and a face to die for. His name came from the fact he looked like a new bakes loaf from the oven Black on top and brown down his sides . His picture is on my profile. Now about my apple pies, they are eaten in a dark locked room, Its very selfish I know but O/K you can share as long as you only use a teaspoon and your blindfolded.
Good Morning Tom, I bet it’s nice up on Barr Beacon today.
Hi Spitfire. Yes I bet it is. Spent my courtship and fell in love up there. it was our day trip out as kids with the old man. I heard the metal thieves (for want of a better word) ripped the roof off for the copper. There must be a few on here from the Midlands area. Have a good one .
Frank matey, - use lots of cinnamon and a little brown sugar in with the apples itself - the sugar will caramelise in the heat when the pastry is cooking. If you also mix a little caster sugar with the pastry as you make it, when it bakes and rises, the sugar in the pastry will also caramalise too and make the pastry crunchy.
Strange what we use to name our dogs isn’t it - my youngest dog (Cocker Spaniel) not only looked (as a pup) like Dill the Dog out of The Herbs - he also raced everwhere at top speed just like Dill The Dog - hence, he is called Dill.
You saying you eat a pie in a locked room - one of my friends in Birmingham was like that: if I baked cakes and gave some to her for her and her children, she would sit on top of her washing machine, behind a closed door, and eat the lot!
I don’t mind using a teaspoon as I can scoop quite a bit onto such a small, meagre utensil cos I can balance stuff really well 
blindfold no problem as I have a great sense of smell and I’ll just listen to where I can hear the sound of your spoon scraping the dish 
Ben-V, It sounds like I will have to change my ways as my cunning plans are not going to work in here are they mmmmm smaller pies maybe. But as you all have been so kind in here I would share but only once. :-).