Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

lostinrates

I have a sythe and hate it. I don't have the other things. I do have a machete, which I adore. It was a tool I was taught to handle as a quite young child ...t'would never be allowed now, rightly.

TBH, ATM I even find the strimmer unwieldy...did I get shorter I wonder? It all used to be easier.

My petrol mower is back, repairs successfully, and I'm trilled enough with that. And we are considering a screw removing tool.....

SingleSue

Different day today, up early as brother came up to do the garden and then out earlier than normal to go into town as I needed to get anniversary cards and wrapping paper.

Went to my parents first before going up town as the boys had taken their guitar and keyboard with them and I thought it best not to have them sitting in the car while the car was in the car park and somehow got saddled with taking my niece and nephew up town with us! Nephew doesn't particularly like me, he thinks I am no fun and too strict on his limited time with me but he got to see a different side to me today.

Yes, I am strict but I am also fair....they were all given the ground rules as we entered the car, asked to recite the ground rules before we exited the car, asked to recite them again half way round town and their behaviour was absolutely perfect. I involved all of them in my shopping choices, made it fun for them instead of a chore but they still had to adhere to my rules. As a result, they were all given 40p to spend in the sweet shop as a reward for good behaviour.

My mum was amazed, both my brother and his ex wife complain about my nephews' behaviour and say he is impossible to control, yet I had him under my control with not a hint of being naughty for over 2 hours...and not a raised voice or a threat of violence in evidence at all. He knew the behaviour expected of him (as did his sister) and they knew there would be a reward if they met that expectation.

Apparently, I am not an ogre anymore and he actually quite likes me now! Yet, he had the strictest kind of parenting he has ever had today...go figure.

Anyway, tonight I feel awful, no idea what is wrong with me but my temp seems a bit high (tried to do the forehead strip thermometor on myself which failed miserably), everything aches and I am off to bed very shortly.

lostinrates

Aspiring_Writer wrote: »

LIR, I have Open office on mine, due to a system crash and not having original cd to reload MS Office. Openoffice is ok, but there is a facility on MS Office called readability statistics, which I find really useful when editing. It basically gives you an idea how many words, how many paragraphs, so far so so, but then it tells you how many words per sentence, should be around 12/13 but 16 is the max, a bit unwieldy at that length by then. Also, passive sentences, the benchmark is 3% - that means the maximum should be 3% - and finally, Flesch reading ease, the benchmark is 6O, which means plain English, which is defined by sentence length and the number of long words you use.

I dont know whether you want to write or not LIR, but if you do, there are a number of books you can read, which are interesting in any case, but you can learn a lot. In particular, The Elements of Style by Strunk & White is the writer's bible and The Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting by Andy Maslen. The latter is, I appreciate not 100% relevant to all writers, but there are quite a few chapters which will teach you a lot, and on page 33 you will find reference to the hint I gave you earlier about writing a book for Carol.

Go for it though, as regards copyright and MSE, check! ....thats all I will say.

Thanks or all o the above. I've had a play with open office tonight and I quite like it...I'm not terribly techno savvy so I like that its very simple. For various reasons I have The elements of style....just never read it. But I will.

You wanna be careful, you might get roped in to help me.

Davesnave

I have a scythe, but it's rubbish compared with my 35cc Honda, armed with a triple blade or some Nylsaw line. I even stick a circular saw blade on it and do a bit of light tree lopping! Have you a harness lir? I find a good one makes all the difference.

My mower is also back. I eventually worked out how to repair it,but I'm still in a quandary about what to buy for long term grass maintenance, as some of my terrain is a bit rough.

I have a sort-of azada, half moon hoe thing that is drawn towards the user. It is far more efficient than the usual scuffle hoes, and I love it. Wrestled it from the hands of a lady who was about to throw it into the big skip at the dump!

LJ, we cooked the first squashes a few days ago, and I have three cucumbers ready. Unfortunately, the best little cucumber variety I have is almost extinct & no longer available to buy, due to its low seed production. Looks like I will have to harvest my own seed for that.

fc123

Ellie2758 wrote: »

Thanks for your comprehensive precis FC123. I am still a little hazy but that's probably the Pinot. You found the Dubai chap's dvds on top of the kitchen cupboard? Were they related to cookery then? Smirk smirk.

:rotfl:I just read it back...very garbled so apologies.....another reason to go on a writing course for fun.

The DVD's....MIL found them when she visited to help us with the moving out clean down. We were in the B+Q Showroom kitchen together and she was stood on a high stool wiping the tops of the units ....then said 'oooh, what's this?' Had a handful of DVD's (Pirate stylee with slip covers)...then didn't know what to say.

She thought they were OH's. As if (!)...he has better hiding places.

They were all by Ben Dover ...and I knew him and his 'staff' quite well as he would bring them in shopping sometimes.

I am now back in Lundun F/T...and am a bit high from Mr Muscle fumes and Barkeepers dust.

We took a blind down in the Brighton rental to find a 3'' gap above a 10' high (5' wide) curved window...the side I always had the blind on half mast to stop neighbour peeking in. The whole window has slipped down 3''....no idea when. Huge curved gap.

I stuck a note on it saying 'Danger''.

Mopped the floors for the final time and OH drove back down to pick me up.

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

I have a sythe and hate it. I don't have the other things. I do have a machete, which I adore. It was a tool I was taught to handle as a quite young child ...t'would never be allowed now, rightly.

TBH, ATM I even find the strimmer unwieldy...did I get shorter I wonder? It all used to be easier.

My petrol mower is back, repairs successfully, and I'm trilled enough with that. And we are considering a screw removing tool.....

:rotfl::rotfl:Adore a machete? LIR.....a column beckons.

OH has a mini axe that he loves....little and lethal. Now we no longer have a real fire, he won't use it too much any more.

Ellie2758

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, now you will have to explain the bit about BD's "staff" coming into the shop sometimes............cos I am partial to taking things rather literally

Scary window slippage :eek::eek:

fc123 wrote: »

:rotfl:I just read it back...very garbled so apologies.....another reason to go on a writing course for fun.

The DVD's....MIL found them when she visited to help us with the moving out clean down. We were in the B+Q Showroom kitchen together and she was stood on a high stool wiping the tops of the units ....then said 'oooh, what's this?' Had a handful of DVD's (Pirate stylee with slip covers)...then didn't know what to say.

She thought they were OH's. As if (!)...he has better hiding places.

They were all by Ben Dover ...and I knew him and his 'staff' quite well as he would bring them in shopping sometimes.

I am now back in Lundun F/T...and am a bit high from Mr Muscle fumes and Barkeepers dust.

We took a blind down in the Brighton rental to find a 3'' gap above a 10' high (5' wide) curved window...the side I always had the blind on half mast to stop neighbour peeking in. The whole window has slipped down 3''....no idea when. Huge curved gap.

I stuck a note on it saying 'Danger''.

Mopped the floors for the final time and OH drove back down to pick me up.

lostinrates

fc123 wrote: »

OH has a mini axe that he loves....little and lethal. Now we no longer have a real fire, he won't use it too much any more.

First act of gardening at the new place will be to attack some conifers. We're starting with 8. If he wants to chop, we have wood to chop at.

misskool

lostinrates wrote: »

First act of gardening at the new place will be to attack some conifers. We're starting with 8. If he wants to chop, we have wood to chop at.

I'll come and play if you have a chainsaw I can use

Aspiring_Writer

lostinrates wrote: »

Thanks or all o the above. I've had a play with open office tonight and I quite like it...I'm not terribly techno savvy so I like that its very simple. For various reasons I have The elements of style....just never read it. But I will.

You wanna be careful, you might get roped in to help me.

Morning, I could do with a writing partner LIR, apart from my usual bread and butter, I am thinking about writing comedy, was going to ask Vic Reeves when he was standing next to me in the queue at M&S a few weeks ago,but I didnt want to upset Bob!

In fact, I could try my hand at writing anything except poetry, that has never appealed, probably because I hardly ever read it, let alone want to write it. Strange....

LIR, what do you do for a living? excuse my ignorance, I'm sure the answer is evident in a post somewhere, possibly. But I can't be arsed to look. Just idle curiosity really