Preparedness for when

BigMummaF

Hey Guys; at long last I've managed to find my way back to the sanity that is mse


How is everyone! Hope the Eastern coastal contingency have mainly kept the water outside & the Scots warm with winter woollies ready to go at the first sign of a snowflake.


I got a surprise when I began looking for contents ins quotes; for the first time, ever, we apparently now live in a flood zone! OK, last year we had some basements with about a foot of water (deep basements & the road camber was most definitely not in their favour) & a couple of roads were closed--but that was because the idiots were still trying to do 50 in a 30mph when you can only do 15 on a good day!--& at the time the water board were putting in new pipes...ironic eh? There's a new housing development being built on farmland across the road from us, that is notorious for it's boggy bits since time immemorial, so how on earth THEY will get cover, goodness only knows! Do "planners" not understand the concept of F.L.O.O.D P.L.A.I.N. & what it's there for; do they think they know better than Mother Nature?


Squooze me.. just back & I'm off on one already..sorry!


I'm really Full Time Carer with Muvva now Thankfully she is still pretty mobile (takes a bit longer & the trips are getting shorter) & takes hold of my arm for reassurance more than physical requirement, & we share the housework between us--I cook & she eats that kinda thing--but the prepping goes on as best I can between the two households.


So. What have I missed? *pulls up stool & cradles hot cuppa in both hands, in anticipation of a good ole natter*

GreyQueen

:eek: Don't encourage them! Our woodpigeons are Lucifer's own. You can sometimes see them, one per brassica, sitting on top of each plant, ripping away. I could stomach a sacrifice or two but no, they want every bliddy plant.

Some of the retired gents with more time on their hands and a stubborn attitude, persist in trying to perfect the pigeon-proof corral. It's become an obsession, with elabourate "fruit cage" type thingies being bodged up.

The pigeons just sneer at all efforts to thwart their greed. On the few times I've been up at the site at sparrowf.rt o'clock on a summer's morning, I've seen huge flocks of them swaggering around.

They're mahoosive and make the urban pigeons down here in the city centre look like starveling waifs.

I eye them darkly and mutter about pigeon pie under my breath........ come the revolution, they'll be first against the oven dish.:p

ETA ; Nice to "see" you again, BigMummaF.

Know exactly what you mean about the floodplain. My hometown has been a town for 1300 years. And there is an area only 1/4 mile from the centre which has never been built on in all that time. Why, prithee? Perhaps, just perhaps, it's because it's right by the river on water meadows and saner people that we moderns looked at the regular flooding and thought; that's suitable for rough pasture and that's all it's good for.

Only now it's sprouted an estate of "executive homes" - how I detest that term, btw. So you can pay the best part of £300k to live in harm's way and be chewed on by the insects on summer nights. They have put up a flood defense. It's an earth berm all of two feet high................oh dearie dearie me.

Memo to anyone attempting to buy a new build home on a greenfield site; be very wary. Particularly if the old maps of the area show placenames like Water Lane.........

mardatha

We get loads of them here on the fields GQ, I think in days gone by the locals would bag a few for pigeon pie as you say, but now the locals are too busy going to asda and macdonalds

Goldiegirl

Hollyberry wrote: »

I can see the reasons for your lack of love. :rotfl:

The ones here provide way too much entertainment at the bird tables. I am particularly fond of the one that can't quite figure out how to fly in to land on the roofed bird table, and spends a lot of time sliding down its slate roof like Eddie the pigeon-faced Eagle, and spectacularly failing to launch until it realises it's time to fly. Perhaps I should send them over to your local feathered Fagins for reprogramming.

ETA - Siegemode - thanks for the nod on Abel & Cole and black salsify. I use Riverford at the moment and have never seen it there, so it might be time to switch.

We have a collared dove visitor, who is still trying to find the way into the roofed bird table. He tries once a day, and then flies off in disgust. He'll work it out one day.

We have some wood pigeon regulars. They must be relations of Hollyberry's visitors as they are very dopey.

jk0

nuatha wrote: »

JKO I would talk to your insurers and see whether they wish to pursue things with the builders insurers. I would also ask the builders for details of their insurers - they should be paying public liability insurance - and inform their insurers that you will be pursuing a claim against their clients and how do they advise you proceed.
Anything that is not covered by insurance should be a separate claim against the builders.
Landlord's insurance usually does cover emergency accommodation, I've provided emergency accommodation several times with the invoice going directly to an insurance company.

Thanks Nuatha,

Until Thursday, I indeed thought that my landlord's insurance covered alternative accommodation. It would if I had buildings insurance or 'loss of rent' cover. The buildings are covered on a block policy, so I just have contents and landlord's liability cover from Directline.

I do wonder what the managing agents were planning to do with 60 families, if the whole block burnt down.

GreyQueen

The woodpeigeons and collared doves in my parents' surburban back garden don't even attempt the roofed birdtable. They have a symbiotic relationship with the smaller birds which are using the various feeders; pigeons and doves wander around on the ground picking up what the others have dropped.

Parents' have two cats, Wild Thing and The Queen of Sheba, both of whom are extremely good at cat things like hunting, despite The Queen's preference for lolling indoors on cushions. Either cat will occasionally make a half-hearted run at a pigeon on the ground, but I feel that it's more because the presence of these rats-with-wings is offending their sense of order than a serious intent to kill.

Years ago, we had one very small and not particularly bright moggie. I once saw her doing that hunkered-down stalking walk up the lawn heading for the biggest woodpigeon I ever saw. And she was a very small cat. Luckily it flew off before she could pounce because it looked big enough to take off with her attached...........:rotfl:

We do have cats who frequent the lottie site, they come over from the housing estate. You normally see them trotting by out of the corner of your eye with a rat or mouse in their mouths. I don't think they bother with airborne vermin when there's so much at ground level.

Righty, time for another cuppa as I make the flask and my pack-up then it's back to the lottie to chisel up more couch grass. I disturbed several frogs yesterday. I hope they'll take the hint that the Feral Strawberry Bed is being reclaimed and they need to slope off into the derelict plot next door.

short_bird

GreyQueen wrote: »

The ones on my lottie site are fat, cunning and positively evil.
I've made pigeon pie in the wild wet woods with the Mad Bushcrafters. Starting point one pigeon, shot and be-feathered. If we get into a famine situation, those beggars will be my go-to source of protein.

I had a foray into high rise gardening a few years ago on our 9th floor balcony. I can testify that town pigeons share those traits. What they didn't eat, they tried to nest on :mad:

charlies-aunt

We have lost a lot of crops due to the dratted destructive pigeons too! Our allotment is on the edge of the village so its rich pickings for the little swines!

We have gone hard core and now use rubble netting (from builders merchants) for our allotment to keep the pigeons off growing plants and the ripening soft fruits. Its closer gauge and a lot more robust than garden netting but still lets the air, sun and rain in.

Its a good investment as its tough stuff ..... ours is still going strong without any holes, rips or tears after three years

bluebag

Pigeons also carry lots of pests and diseases. Really should be discouraged.

In the words of my local pest controller they are 'flying rats'

I once visited a museum where they had a glass case with all the pests and vermin taken from one dead pigeon pinned out. Disgusting doesn't cover it.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Hmm GQ, archery, pigeons, is this you?
http://swns.com/news/police-hunting-thug-shot-pigeon-bow-arrow-36557/
It's illegal apparently so mum's the word
:rotfl:
thank you for your post about the choosing the best veg to grow, btw, very useful for a even more complete newbie like me. We grow stuff at the moment to save cash more than to sustain us, so we mostly grow stuff that is easy to grow and pricey in the shops. I find it entertaining to see bunches of mint in T3scos for over a quid, the stuff grows like a weed given half a chance, it's also been several years since we bought any rosemary, thyme, or oregano. Can't grow enough garlic for the amount we use though, and basil is a tricky blighter.