the daydream fund challenge thread

lostinrates

alfie_1 wrote: »

i love bats. they like all the insects that my verandah lights atract at night. !

yep, and, they are beautiful, I find watching their flight pattern both thrilling and relaxing.

Davesnave

rhiwfield wrote: »

Probably room to grow a few hundred to seedling stage, then I'll keep a dozen or so. But I'd expect maybe 3 years life for the stored seeds so wont grow them all at once.

My experience is that if they're priced reasonably, people will take a punt on unusual varieties of toms.

Finally got the ride-on operational last night, but at £50 for a drive belt, I will be treating it carefully. Just need a battery for it now....oh and a way of securing the seat, which has rusted through at the mountings......

Having seen accumulated bat droppings in the attic of a house I was thinking of buying, I must say I love the little darlings, so long as they're in someone else's loft! We have something living upstairs in our barn which eats moths. There's a huge pile of wings.....I wonder?

Lotus-eater

Davesnave wrote: »

We have something living upstairs in our barn which eats moths. There's a huge pile of wings.....I wonder?

Bats eat moths, but I'm would have guessed they eat the wings. But the only things I can think of that would eat moths othewise is rats, or maybe mice, or spiders.
If I was to have a guess, it would be bats as the wings are all in a pile. That's if it's a pile in the open, under somewhere they can hang, if it's near the edge of something, then I'd guess rats or mice.

Davesnave

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Bats eat moths, but I'm would have guessed they eat the wings. But the only things I can think of that would eat moths othewise is rats, or maybe mice, or spiders.
If I was to have a guess, it would be bats as the wings are all in a pile. That's if it's a pile in the open, under somewhere they can hang, if it's near the edge of something, then I'd guess rats or mice.

Definitely somewhere they could hang, in the middle, and upstairs where there isn't much incentive for a rat or mouse to be, food-wise.

I'll have a proper look.

Lotus-eater

Just had a quick google and it looks like it is bats, they don't eat the wings and leave them in piles near regular feeding and roosting areas.

Looks like you have bats too.

Davesnave

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Just had a quick google and it looks like it is bats, they don't eat the wings and leave them in piles near regular feeding and roosting areas.

Looks like you have bats too.

Well, I've had a look and it might well be a feeding spot, (easy to pitch up) but our barn isn't dark enough for a daytime roost. There also isn't much poo about, except a bit of bird poo on the beams. Reckon there's at least 100 wings there all in one place though.

I don't mind itinerant bats!

rozeepozee

rozeepozee wrote: »

Can we go back to talking about geese poo please? All this talk about property issues is making me a little nervy!

The reason is, we've agreed in principle on a place to buy. It's rather different from what we'd initially thought we would buy as it has no land to speak of, certainly no more than about 1/3 of an acre, if that. But it does have a greenhouse, a good raised veggie patch and some productive fruit trees. When we considered all the options, what we needed and what we could forego, acreage was the lowest of our priorities. It was more important for us to be near the beach, near the village, near a school and near a market town. We aren't planning to grow to live off or make a living from, we'll just be happy with regular fresh veggies and fruit in the summer. We probably won't want any livestock (well, certainly no more than a few hens and perhaps a goat or two - dare I dream of geese? The local farmer says the fox takes all the fowl...) and we decided that an attached holiday property would give us far more of a reliable income than we would ever get from growing our own and letting our excess land. Plus with young children who take up a great deal of our time, we decided that we couldn't commit to managing a huge acreage.

As I've mentioned before, it feels like a very uncertain time to be buying. We are starting to see some fairly significant price drops in the asking prices of things around here. But we want this as a family home so as long as we pay a fair market price and not over the odds, we appreciate that property prices may have a way to fall yet. Our intention is to be here for the next 15+ years to see the kids through school and if The Olds become infirm, they can come and live with us in the letting cottage. We are getting a full structural survey, so we have our fingers crossed that there are no humdingers arising out of that (all walls intact, please!) and then it'll be all systems go.

Ho hum... sad RozeePozee The survey was a bit of a disaster.. There is sooo much work needs doing and the valuation looks liketly to come in at least £50K under the price we had agreed "subject to survey".

We'll be deciding how to proceed in the next few days. May be back to the drawing board. Boo.

alfie_1

evening all......
talking of sit on mowers, my son has been working extra clearing an acre overgrown garden for the last few months [for a friends son whos just bought an amazing old house with 3 acres] well he was asked to mow the grass [not exactly a lawn yet !] with an OLD mower. he was doing well till he went over a big bump, seat detached ,pitching him backwards and landing with a thump only to realise the mower was still gaily trotting on...heading towards the house !! he said hes never shifted so fast.... jumped on it and stopped it just short of its intended target !!

alfie_1

rozeepozee wrote: »

Ho hum... sad RozeePozee The survey was a bit of a disaster.. There is sooo much work needs doing and the valuation looks liketly to come in at least £50K under the price we had agreed "subject to survey".

We'll be deciding how to proceed in the next few days. May be back to the drawing board. Boo.

oh dear ...not good news but if you really like the property and anyone else who has a survey done is going to get the same report,surely you can try and get the 50k OFF the asking price ????

lostinrates

Urgh, its starting toi feel cold isn't it? Warmest its been in the kitchen today is 13 degrees! I really want some hot milk bu the fridge is empty and the milk van came to collect from the dairy before I was finished on the yard this evening.....grrr.