It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

Red_Doe

Lavandula wrote: »

Surely you are not serious? You could get into some serious trouble. What if the berries were eaten by innocent passers by and also what about the birds and other wildlife that eat the berries (mice etc)?

I could be wrong but I didn't think Ceridwen was entirely serious! I had visions of the bushes being sprayed by something like laxative and it made me giggle but didn't really believe it would happen!

culpepper

Scottishminnie you needn't actually spray the fruit.
You could make up a sign pointing out that the brambles,trees etc are sprayed and so fruit is not safe for consumption.
That way, you the owners know it is safe but the trespassers wont want to risk it.

scottishminnie

Red_Doe wrote: »

I could be wrong but I didn't think Ceridwen was entirely serious! I had visions of the bushes being sprayed by something like laxative and it made me giggle but didn't really believe it would happen!

culpepper wrote: »

Scottishminnie you needn't actually spray the fruit.
You could make up a sign pointing out that the brambles,trees etc are sprayed and so fruit is not safe for consumption.
That way, you the owners know it is safe but the trespassers wont want to risk it.

Tempting though it is I'm not planning on poisoning anyone.

I may shoot my little white fluffy tailed furry intruders and trap my moles but I haven't moved on to humans yet.

Interesting thought about the sign though - that may be my weekend project:)

ceridwen

Lavandula wrote: »

Surely you are not serious? You could get into some serious trouble. What if the berries were eaten by innocent passers by and also what about the birds and other wildlife that eat the berries (mice etc)?

Actually - if you read the post I was responding to - we arent talking about "innocent passersby" - we are talking about thieves. The people concerned had deliberately trespassed onto a posters private land and were quite knowingly stealing her fruit and responded to attempts to stop them by threatening her.

What a person does to anything on their own private land (ie those bushes) is their business - provided they arent going against something like planning laws.

One would need to check out what could be used that wouldnt harm wildlife in the process.

If there is nothing that would protect the PRIVATE property from thieves on the one hand and without harming wildlife on the other hand - then I guess its back to the drawing board to consider how to best deal with thieves.

I have been thinking about this and realised there may be a "generation gap" in thinking going on here - because I dont ever recall any debate back in the 1970s (apart from a very few "liberals" in the Press) as to whether one could or could not treat thieves appropriately. It seems to me that back then it was taken for granted that there were criminals (through from low level theft upwards) on the one hand and normal people on the other hand. There wasnt any excuse-making for the criminals. It was accepted that the only people with rights were normal people and that the second someone turned criminal they gave up their "rights" in the process. I dont recall any great debates going on about this (though my memory may have dimmed in the intervening years about this) - I think it was more an automatic assumption most people had that this was how things were.

I guess the pendulum will swing back round to that in time - but until then I guess we will have a gulf of incomprehension on whether criminals have given up their rights or no and it may be younger people that think criminals still have rights.

But thats a whole other debate - and subject for another Board if anyone wants to argue it out on behalf of thieves.

***************

and Red Doe - it was something along the laxative type line I was thinking of. Very strong and quick-acting enough that they only just had time to get off the land they were trespassing on - ie so that they made the connection between cause and effect.

HariboJunkie

I think the "gulf of incomprehension" will have to remain with me. I would never take the law into my own hands. There are far too many people of dubious mental health in the world to allow everyone to dole out justice as they see fit. I would rather leave law and justice to the trained and professional. They may not always get it right but no one gets killed in the process.
I just don't think I have to right to physically harm another human being because they have stolen some berries. I could certainly never live with myself if a child was harmed in the process.
I grew up in the 1970s and don't remember people being able to poison trespassers or thieves, I may be wrong as I was a very young child at the time, but I am very glad that we have moved on from those days if that was the case.

We shall have to agree to disagree.

Ellidee

During my time on MSE I have 'met' Ceridwen on a few different threads and always looked up to and admired her. Not any more I am sad to say. I will be un-subscribing from this thread and blocking her

mardatha

Can anybody give me ways - ideas & recipes - to cook leeks and turnips please. If I leave stuff out there much longer it's just going to rot in the wet.

ifonlyitwaseasier

leeks - slice wash, fry in butter, or wash whilst whole, top and tail, wrap in ham and bake covered in cheese sauce

turnips - soup? mash, curried

squeaky

Hmmm... the topic is - It was getting tough in 2006...

The next year or more is going to be tough enough without losing the support group here on Old Style; so please can you all "agree to disagree" nicely?

squeaky

Hiya

A whole bunch of ideas here:-

leek threads here on Old Style MoneySaving

And this may help too:- Turnip/Swede?

And then there's even a "combination" thread that may help:- 4 leeks and a turnip...........