Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

lostinrates

misskool wrote: »

It's mostly willow and random trees, will these be ok? And they've just been dug from the ground.

3 more today, these are small, 15cm max

willow isn't ''hot'' but its better than nothing to burn. Also, cut into logs and left in the garden they are good for creepy crawlies. You could even try injecting them with mushroom spores. Wre're desperatly trying to get some twisted willow given from a fellow MSEers garden to strike roots.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

So.......? What's special about it?

You get a unique number on a Saturday and a Sunday ... and type each of them online before Wednesday .... and every month or so you get to choose a 'reward' which would typically be a £5 Tesco/Morrisons voucher (lots of other stuff too, but a £5 voucher). And I will be in trouble with the ill old for not having/input this weekend's numbers

Doozergirl

Hello Peeps. I have tried to dip in and out, missed a big chunk which I couldn't really read properly but some people have certainly been having a time of it and I'm very sorry:( Glad to see the nice people pulling together as usual and that Generali clearly takes no prisoners on a night out!

I hope PN, silvercar and SingleSue are having nice, incredibly well deserved breaks. Facebook has some lovely pictures of Daisy and the Inspector in wetsuits on the beach - amazing!

I've been reading a magazine and I saw some artisan tiles adorning a chimney breast which reminded me of NDG, and a bird light which costs £8,995 and reminded me of LIR I have purchased two books on lemonjelly's list which have been delivered and I plan to read when we eventually get on our proper hols.

Last time we did some tree chopping, we had to get a proper man with a proper chipping machine out to do it. He was lovely to look at! Unfortunately I have no more trees to fell.

We've been away with friends for a few days and then came back to complete on our house sale. The move was horrible, vastly underestimating exactly how much was still in that house, but we have some money in the bank again and this house (the sale which is also still going through so we will be moving on again at some point) is amazing in this lovely weather and I don't miss our old house at all. This house is too big for us, but the bits we use are perfect. I'm sat on my bed, in the dark, patio doors wide open, munching my way through a bag of broken biscuits and a family pack of salt and vinegar chipsticks. We're in the city but all I can see from here is trees and gardens. Bliss!

Davesnave

misskool wrote: »

It's mostly willow and random trees, will these be ok? And they've just been dug from the ground.

3 more today, these are small, 15cm max

If you put them on Freegle, or whatever, they'll probably go, but wood really needs to be seasoned for a couple of years before it's burned.

As lir says, willow is not a good burning wood, like oak, apple or ash, but I have some, and it's OK for those times when maximum heat isn't required.

A friend of mine fells trees professionally, but he's nothing to look at. He recently got into some hot water when he spent a day felling a row of mature beech trees, only to discover that the person who hired him didn't actually own them and only had an agreement for some modest pruning.:rotfl:

A feral chicken? Sounds scary. If ours wanted to, they could fly out and go native, but they know when they're well-off!

MFW_10YRS_4

vivatifosi wrote: »

If anyone does have kids taking their driving test, many libraries have Theory Test Pro online free of charge. It's certainly available in the home county of many of the nice people. You may need to log to your local library online services to access, but you should be able to do this from home in many counties.

There is a linky to a free theory test on the Freebie moneysaving board. I dunno if it's any good but the price is certainly right.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37

StevieJ

I just got a funny feeling that DD is back amongst our number.

lostinrates

Just been looking at our weekend's work. Looks like davesnave's pace of work visited us. I can't believe we...well, mainly dh, cleared.

Not sure I like it so open though:D . Plan is that we'll let the bramble on the fencelines grow back into a hedge unless we decide to replace it with somehting else. Problem with bramble is its a night mare to cut back, all those prickly twigs annually become a pest.

We're going to leave the stuff on the south side for the time being we think, because it makes a northwind break in winter for the ponies.

Now we have to think about dealing with roots. Ancient brambles, I've never in my life seen brambes with thicker stems...or trunks!

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

Just been looking at our weekend's work. Looks like davesnave's pace of work visited us. I can't believe we...well, mainly dh, cleared.

Problem with bramble is its a night mare to cut back, all those prickly twigs annually become a pest.

Eh? Whassat? Pace of work slowed to a crawl here as I battled in vain to get the ridge pole of my polytunnel central this weekend......only to realise after hours of b*ggering about on ladders that it's designed offset by 8cm!:(:(

I will be 'having a word' with the manufacturers who couldda put this info in their manual.:mad:

Brambles are a nightmare for coming up yards away in the field too.:(

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

Eh? Whassat? Pace of work slowed to a crawl here as I battled in vain to get the ridge pole of my polytunnel central this weekend......only to realise after hours of b*ggering about on ladders that it's designed offset by 8cm!:(:(

I will be 'having a word' with the manufacturers who couldda put this info in their manual.:mad:

Brambles are a nightmare for coming up yards away in the field too.:(

lol, tell you what, as its your gumption, you have it back from today till friday evening, and we'll borrow it at weekends. How would that be?

I'm aching this morning....very steep slopes covered in brambles and above a stinking mass of filthy water are not the natural habitat of portly women with mobility problems. I was using a pitchfork as a walking stick so I had something to hang on to.:D.

DH's chain saw is blunt after just having been sharpened. I wonder if that means it needs a new chain? If so not very impressed. My pruning saw was keeping up with him. We have a dead tree over hanging the water to remove that does need the chainsaw though....its willow too, and yes, we'll be burning it in the house! There are a few live willows, and one of those will be cut for the burner for another year too.

pout of nowhere we had a ripe pepper, which we ate yesterday raew, yum, yum. And we had stuffed marrow (with another two marrows off the courgettes!) and courgette pasta this weekend too. Also we have an aubergine growing hurrah!

But I forgot to water dh's melons so, they are no more. Shame, they were growing brilliantly.

edit: oh and micro business news....quite chuffed to realise what I'm bringing in with no advertising. Now I have to decide what direction to go in now. I'd like to steam ahead now, and employ immeadiately, take more work (I could double work then, but costs to double work would be significant!), but than the business would have to borrow, and I like being in credit somewhere in my life! Building costs are the thing that's holding me back, I need some work done that's not cheap. As its a side issue, its not that pressing, I just like it bringing in some money.

lemonjelly

vivatifosi wrote: »

How about this one jelly:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stand-Deliver-History-Highway-Robbery/dp/0750935286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312062378&sr=8-1

We have copies at our library and I've seen it go out a few times though never borrowed myself.

Thanks viva - looks interesting!

I also like the look of this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/!!!!!!-Turpin-Myth-English-Highwayman/dp/1861972989/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312191993&sr=1-1#_