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Hello, Elle!
As Malone as pointed out, Chambers gives a meaning which just about covers it!
I agree about work/handle, but.....
You can work/handle a piece of material, for instance?
Or, possibly with dough when making bread etc?
I think that one is OK, so shall we let the setter off...?
and I did like his "barman" and "Billingsgate" clues.
I agree about the "ill" doctor. Chancer!
I hope the MP's pass comment on it!
Just heard in the last few minutes that Jess Varnish wants to resume her racing career.
She thinks she can win medals.
I remember Victoria Pendleton being shocked at Jess' treatment by BC.
She said, "Jess has way more talent than I ever had".
And Vic said she would have raced at Rio if it were not for the "goings-on" at British Cycling.

Hey, Rusty!
Well, the way will be open now for Jess to continue her cycling career, will it not?
I should think she and others who have suffered at the hands of BC corrupt officials in the past will now be handled very carefully with kid gloves?
It should be a good time for her to get back on her bike?
How is Victoria doing in her new career of horse racing?
You haven't mentioned her for quite a while.
I am nearing the end of "Three Men on a Bummel".
It has been good to reread it, but I never liked it as much as I did its predecessor.
"Three Men in a Boat" was a real classic!
Now, what to read next....?
I may make a start on "Alaska" - it is a while since I had any communication with Mr M......
Did you have any pancakes?

Hi elle
"...on the bummel" is possibly not as funny as "...in a boat" (OK, definitely), but it does have some great insights. I loved the Englishman speaking schoolboy French and German so incomprehensibly it encouraged rench and Germans to learn English!

His summing up about Germans was so true too - a pity the Great War started just a few months after it was published.

We had pancakes.

Hello, Chris!
I thought one of the funniest passages in "3 Men in a Tub" was the one about "work"...
Chapter 15
........."I like work: it fascinates me, I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me; the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart"........
There is more in the same vein. Excellent.

We had pancakes, too. With lemon!

Hello, Elle!
What is coming out this evening (it is on The Times website) is that her lawyers are a bit at a loss.
They asked for all Jess' records, emails, everything, and what BC have sent them has been heavily redacted, which tells me as a "man in the street" that they have much to hide.
Also, one of the MP's on the enquiry committee says they will interview the "poorly" doctor when he is feeling better!
What we will get is a pack of lies from British Cycling.
Jess is very fit, but not race cycling fit, obviously.
She made lovely pancakes today with strawberry and banana toppings on.
She posted photos on Twitter!
I am not sure if Victoria is riding at Cheltenham this year.
Certainly, her horse Pacha du Polder is entered in the Foxhunters Chase again, but I do not know if Vic is aboard.
And no Nina this year. Her and young Ted are expecting!
I have pancakes regularly but not today!

Good morning, Rusty!
Dry but cold! with rain forecast later this afternoon.
A good walk this morning!
It was nice to meet up with an elderly gentleman whose dog had died some time ago. He never expected to be "allowed" to adopt another dog because of his age and generally failing health, but Battersea Dogs' Home has matched him up with an equally elderly dog, who needed a good home and a lot of love - with not too much activity!
It was a match made in heaven- and both man and dog appear delighted!
Lovely to see!
Now, the cycling enquiry...at least, the committee members want to interview the "sick" doctor at a later stage....so he is not getting way with his supposed "illness"?
That is a good sign that they will not be fobbed off, is it not?
I hope you succeed in following the formal enquiry this morning.
I look forward to hearing what develops!
I am off out in an hour to meet my daughter... we are going to buy presents for YB for his birthday on Friday!
I shall be back about teatime!

Good morning, Elle.
Lovely frosty morning here!
The enquiry is on BBC Parliament TV at 2.00pm.
The chairman of the enquiry said they will get answers from the "sick" doctor later. The messenger who carried the "mystery parcel" to Wiggins is due to appear today.
I am looking forward to the hearing.
I have no time for the Team Sky or British Cycling organisations.
I have my doubts if the truth will emerge.
So...there is a big race this weekend in Tuscany, the Strade Bianche, and it is usually very exciting!
That is good about the old dog and his new keeper.
Enjoy your shopping trip!

Hi, Rusty!
The threatened rain did come this afternoon, but wasn't long -lasting, and I did make it home "dry"!
Yes, we did have a successful shopping trip....so YB 's birthday will not go unmarked on Friday!
I believe there is a cake on order, too, with one candle!
He will be very excited!
How did the British Cycling corruption enquiry go ?
I take it this will simply be the first day of a long - ongoing investigation?
So you will have a big cycling race to watch at the weekend?
It might well clash with the European Indoor Athletics Championships from Belgrade?
(A bit like buses... you wait a long time...then two come along at once!)
Though I strongly suspect that your primary allegiance will lie with the cycling?
I need a coffee after all my exertions......!

Hello, Elle!
Fine day here.
Just awaiting Miss AOW.
I watched the enquiry.
Simon Cope, the "courier", has been thrown under the bus, I think.
He remembers little, did not ask what was in package, lied when asked about it at airports etc.
Nicole Sapstead of UKAD has been "obstructed" by both BC and Team Sky, she is receiving help from the GMC now regarding patient confidentiality etc.
BC have a big medical cabinet in Manchester but no records of what is in it, or what was ordered, or for whom.
Team Sky are the same.
No records anywhere to show they race clean, or not.
The "poorly" doctor has had his laptop stolen and all his medical records are in it, and should have been uploaded somewhere, but he did not do it.
It stinks!
The enquiry committee are very perceptive, I think.
I'll see the athletics but the Strade Bianche takes priority!
It is over the white gravel roads in Tuscany.
Great racing!

Hi, Rusty!
Did you have a good visit from your granddaughter?
How far away from you does she live, now that she has moved into her new flat?
This cycling corruption enquiry procedure sounds horrendous?
Surely all this apparent shilly-shallying, hiding /obscuring evidence etc cannot be allowed to stand?
I would have thought that whoever is in charge of the proceedings would "put his /her foot down"?
How long will the enquiry last?
I haven't even opened the Times yet today! yet alone done any of the crosswords!
In fact, I have only just eaten dinner!
We had Chicken Kiev - courtesy of Sainsburys!
Very nice it was, too!