the daydream fund challenge thread

alfie_1

RED one, buy the red one for Barney! not the blue...sorry, blue would be ok for the tinies though! (edit: sorry I've been really distracted for a couple of days so was probably unclear about that)

no no no its me going mad not you !!!!! you clearly said RED ....

lostinrates

alfie_1 wrote: »

I had a pet fox...not one i just fed in the garden. i was "doing" a landscaping contract at a sort of indoor nature quest that was being built. i had to put plants needed for various critters to emulate thier habitat. a fox was brought in and she had cubs but rejected them. we fostered out 4 and left her with one and she was ok. i took one home and had to bottle feed him . he grew up with my cats and a ....lurcher ! when he was older he had a big enclosure of his own in the middle of the animal enclosure area at my then house. surrounded by chickens,ducks,geese, a goat [who he played with when out !] he moved house with me and was just like a dog, all the local children came to play with him. i used to walk the riverside with the goat,lurcher and fox. he was put to sleep last year at the grand age of 15 and he is so missed.

i know not everyone will agree with foxes in general but i see every animal in its own right.

I think that sounds wonderful. I love ALL of them in their own right. My neighbour ...a proper farmer....also freeranges ''pet birds'' and I warned him, and he had noted it.

Even more miraculous, I told him, with great embarrassment, my dogs had found a gap in the fence and been over his land today....and he was fine about it...I said I will get it fixed by the time your girls go out...he said he knew I would, that I'm proving good neighbour and that ''dogs do dog stuff', you can't stop them being dogs'...but not to worry too much till the cows go out.

Poosmate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1E2ZAfT63g

Oh! I thought you were out pulling branches or bark or something off willow trees!

choille

Oh! I thought you were out pulling branches or bark or something off willow trees!

:rotfl:

Poosmate

Hi everyone, hope you are all well. I'm learning lots of stuff on this thread, I even now know the (very) basics of stripping the willow. I'm sure if ever I was in a position I'd be able to muddle through twirling up and down a couple of lines of men/women, although I'm guessing it's not always as sedate as the YT link I posted!

Alfie, hope your hens legs are getting better.

LIR, hope you get your (OH's) car sorted and hope OH and dog dog are well and truly over the accident.

Dave, hope you find somewhere to put your solar panels and don't have to get too much electric fencing. I hope you can get them sorted before April 2012 when the FiTs (Feed In Tariff) payments are reduced, lengthening the payback time. It's something I'd love to do. I believe the installation prices are reducing but not by enough for me yet.

I've been studying my finances a lot recently. I thought I was going to be able to retire in 15 years time on my works pension (if my 10 year plan works in being debt and mortgage free), even though I wouldn't be able to draw my state pension for another 6 years. However, I've been informed I can't retire on my works pension after 40 years of contributions without taking a penalty of about 34% knocked off it, I can only retire on full works pension at 66, State Pension age! Bah! Humbug! Given this, I'm looking at rejigging my finance (debt) and going in a bit deeper to get the solar panels fitted. It would mean putting another 5 years on the mortgage but that only means paying it off as it is now rather than 5 years early. It's something I need to think about a lot before I dive in.

Mmm.. 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan. That's a big one! I think the world is falling apart.

Time for bed.

Good night all.

Poo

Davesnave

Fantastic weather here today! We finally got a full day's work in, cutting back the 'hedge' (over 15' high!) that we'll remove and replace in a month or two when the ground is is more 'digger proof.' At present, we just want to get the trees down to a manageable size to transport on a dumper. We also want to dissuade the birds from nesting in them while we wait, not that it looks as if any did before. We've managed to preserve one oak tree, which is a semi decent shape, but I'm not sure yet if there will be anything else to keep intact.

The above job is incomplete, but it's already made a huge difference to the garden, giving it a view right down to the end of the land and half way to the village. Our plan is to underplant a few decent small trees with evergreen shrubs, and then keep them to a height that we can see views in the gaps.

Having started this job, we know now that we could tackle the field hedges, even with a hand saw.The problem is time, and moving all the cut material. I can't see it happening this year.

rhiwfield

Davesnave, it was lovely weather yesterday (and more today), had a meeting down by the coast, its one of my favourite drives to see the sea cliffs jutting out into the Bristol channel.

Poo, I think you're doing the right thing, planning ahead. And at some future point, you'll reap all the benefits

Well, the maran's back has refeathered and there seems to be an outbreak of goodwill in the hen coop. She's still not laying, nor is the moulting blue, so its just the one egg a day from the blacktail. Still, just in case we've got the anti-peck rings from the fowl trust.

All Dave's talk of hedge cutting and other work is making me feel a bit guilty. Dont know whether its the after effects of the crimbo/new year flu but still have little energy for the garden, though there's a fair bit needs doing

On another thread mentioned that the (US) National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia ran a free online course in food preserving. Well, the login arrived today :j.

I said Georgia, ooh Georgia...............

choille

Hi Poosmate - that's a bit of a stinker with the pension. I don't know nothing about pensions as I don't have one - so no worries there then.:eek:

You are right to have a big think about all the solar panel stuff. I'm not taken in with all the hype about it - But I'm too cynical by far. There are so much changeables, unstability etc. And I think I trust institutions like banks & Governments less & less.

Good for you with the hedge Dave - big works - always satisfying though doing stuff like that.

rhiwfield - the food preserving sounds great. Will it be Kilner jars & stuff?

Quite cool but dry again so outdoor stuff. I'm collecting twigs & raking up dead bracken & uprooting brambles down the bottom - a slow picking-at-it type of job but great to be outdoors. I'm slow & out of the swing of things after the long Winter sit. We had a spatter of hail yesterday & it has gone cooler & they are forecasting -8 for over night grrrrrrr. Let's hope they are wrong.

lostinrates

I'd love to do a preseving course. especially for veg. I'm good at jams, jellies and fruit cheeses. other stuff gets frozen....I'd like a dehydrator (could you ''gate sale'' dried apples, or does that need a health and safety something or other??)


THE SUN!

Torn between dig hundreds of washing loads and sweeping my yard.....washing has won!

I'd love to really open every window in the house, but can't because of the feral who'll head for the hills, so I'm airing about half of the house!

rhiwfield

Choille/LIR, I'd guess the course covers the range, headings on website are:

How do I?
Can
Freeze
Dry
Cure & Smoke
Ferment
Pickle
Make Jam & Jelly
Store

Put a wool wash out to drip dry last night, this morning frozen solid, thermometer reading -4C.

Just dug our some swede and carrots, the carrots are still fine despite the big freeze(s), in fact they've lasted better than mild winters when slug attacks are a big problem.