Preparedness for when

boultdj

Oh wow! Another place to put on my whish list, New Zealand as a whole is already on it, must crack on with the savings.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well the one plus point I see from the aftermath of the Election is it looks like a pretty good chance we will all have the chance at last of an in/out referendum on the EEC next year (ie that manifesto commitment of the Conservatives - brought forward one year).

Fingers crossed - hard. One-third of Britain down as a cert. to vote against staying in the EU and probably one heck of a lot more as well and we "might" be outa it pretty soon now -:j:beer::j:beer::j. Fingers crossed again that I'm not being unduly optimistic and we land up having the Referendum delayed - yesterday would be a good day for it and day-before-yesterday even better iyswim.

ivyleaf

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well the one plus point I see from the aftermath of the Election is it looks like a pretty good chance we will all have the chance at last of an in/out referendum on the EEC next year (ie that manifesto commitment of the Conservatives - brought forward one year).

Fingers crossed - hard. One-third of Britain down as a cert. to vote against staying in the EU and probably one heck of a lot more as well and we "might" be outa it pretty soon now -:j:beer::j:beer::j. Fingers crossed again that I'm not being unduly optimistic and we land up having the Referendum delayed - yesterday would be a good day for it and day-before-yesterday even better iyswim.

If/when we do get that referendum, you may be taken aback by the result after all moneystooshort - I suspect a lot of people in the generations below ours will vote to stay in, because it's what they're used to.

GreyQueen

TiredTrophy wrote: »

Another way of propagating fruit bushes is by layering. Look for long branches that could touch the ground, make a wound on the underneath where the bark could touch the earth, just enough to show the green under the bark, then use a piece of wire or even a stone to keep that point fixed to the earth. You can do it anytime. You get a neater plant if it branch/twig is long enough that the far end can be tied to a cane to encourage it to grow skywards but not important. Leave for a year or more and in the autumn, after leaf fall, gently lift and cut from the main plant. No watering or drying out and mimics a natural process.

:T I'm going to do this. Was checking out Mama blackcurrant bush today and there is a branch which nearly forms a right angle, almost touching ground, before taking off again vertically. It's just itching to be layered, and I shall. I'll also look for any others which seem suitable; the wind was very strong up there today and everything was moving around, so couldn't make the best assessment. And I remembered that the folks had their flowering currant do this naturally when a low-growing branch touched down onto a patio covered with a layer of fallen leaves etc and rooted.

They discovered this when having a clean up, separated the plantlet from the parent, and transplanted it further down the garden, where it's growing quite happily.

Thank you for reminding me you can do this. I shall look forward to raising a veritable horde of BC bushes - one of the present ones is already promised to a lottie neighbour when it establishes itself nicely.

Been weeding in Gale Force 10. Or that's what it felt like anyway. Hadn't seen the lottie since last Saturday and the weeds were seriously thumbing their noses at me. I shall have to re-liberate the onions. And, where I put the pony manure from the common, I have been blessed with tens of thousands of fat hen seedlings. Possibly hundreds of thousands..............millions of them, even.

I can safely assume that they survive the equine digestive tract, then. I have pulled some out by the handful but have left others around the emerging potatoes as nursery plants to help stop the frost nipping them. We have about 2 more weeks of frost-risk, based on experience gathered on that plot for 8 years, so they need all the nursing they can get.

moneyistooshorttomention

ivyleaf wrote: »

If/when we do get that referendum, you may be taken aback by the result after all moneystooshort - I suspect a lot of people in the generations below ours will vote to stay in, because it's what they're used to.

I see the point...but I presume they watch/read the news and can see for themselves that Britain looks like its being treated as "last stop shop" by half the world - rather than "the first country they come to" (which isn't us as we know)..

Once we are out of the E.U. then its purely down to us who we do (or don't) let in. I would imagine they can see this...

jk0

GQ, I know you have a long term health problem that you take medicine for. How did you get on with travel insurance?

Since my gallstone trouble I daren't go abroad. I'm imagining either they won't cover it, or charge meggabucks for cover.

pachycephalosaurus

Random tardy thoughts ( as usual)
Honey bees 'dance' to communicate the whereabouts of nectar sources to their fellows, and I'm sure I read that a researcher had discovered that the little guys use the angle of the sun to specify the bearing to travel along for the nectar . If so it may partly explain a lack of bees if the nearest hive is some way off and the sky is very overcast.

New Zealand - fantastic ! The closest I've got is Middle Earth on DVD, but when my single premium bond eventually comes good in several hundred years time :rotfl:it's on the to do list .

Pedestrians and cars : unqualified legal opinion is a dodgy thing , but a police constable once reassured me that pedestrians always had priority , but as to what the opinion of insurance companies trying to wriggle out of paying as much as possible would be to that situation I'd hate to speculate !

I walk a lot in the countryside, and sometimes have to use pavement and verge free roads: I've discovered a really good way of getting drivers to not waft my elbow with their ruddy wing mirrors is to carry an item I generally wouldn't consider , a walking pole ( I bought one which doubles as a camera monopod, otherwise they seem too ... I dunno , rambler-y. Like goretex gaiters worn on dry days . And red boot laces ). The walking pole is admittedly useful for waving at bullocks as you cross their fields and they rush up to play grandmothers footsteps :eek: When I walk a narrow road (in the approved fashion , right hand side of the tarmac, facing the oncoming traffic) I tuck the pole under my left arm ( a bit like a downhill skier ) and have it ostentatiously sticking out at a jaunty angle ... those drivers passing at great speed are far more considerate of my nasty metal pointy stick scratching their shiny paintwork than any concern for a puny walkers body, and give me plenty of space.

And finally : a sense of wonder at the world .
Anyone who has lost that has simply stopped living .
It grieves me that everywhere small wonders go unnoticed, the awesome depth of time and space lie around us unappreciated ( degree in geology and astronomy, I'm severely biased !) and folk use the 'net to twitface pointless drivel when they have a vast fund of collected human knowledge literally at their fingertips.

In the words of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz (sp?) "Apathetic bloomin * planet, I've no sympathy."

* not the actual word , which seems to be too strong for here ...

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

GQ, I know you have a long term health problem that you take medicine for. How did you get on with travel insurance?

Since my gallstone trouble I daren't go abroad. I'm imagining either they won't cover it, or charge meggabucks for cover.

I've never been refused cover, but my condition so one most insurers won't have heard of, so they won't give me a Y/N right away, they have one of their medical people ring me back and give me the 4th degree. I do pay more, but not that much more.

Mum is a breast cancer survivor (5 years since diagnosis come Sept) and it has to be declared on travel insurance, even when just nipping to the Channel Islands for a week. The beggars ususally stick an extra £50 on her premium, over and above what they charge my Dad.

Gallstone trouble is very common so they'll be able decide how risky they feel it is. They do ask people with chronic illnesses questions about meds, surgeries, hospital admissions etc.

I think I recall that you are waiting for an operation on the gall bladder? And having to be careful of what you eat in the meantime? It might pay to be a bit cagey about where you go until the issue is resolved, in case it flares up. Women who've experienced giving birth and having gallstones tell me the latter is more excruciating by half. HTH.

jk0

Thanks GQ.

Yeah, still waiting for the op, although I am in two minds about having it at all.

The low fat diet isn't too bad, and I have read that 1% of people having the op are in pain the rest of their lives.

I think I posted here months ago about having belly ache every day. That was obviously the gallstone problem before it got serious. Now, touch wood, I know what to avoid and have no problem, so would hate to go and have an op that made me worse.

I would have to be very careful where I went and what I ate. Problem is of course, that hotel food is not renowned for being low fat.

The ladies are correct about the pain. I was praying for death at some points.

GreyQueen

You could always go self-catering on your holibobs, thus keeping control of your dietary choices. And it's probably that a low-fat diet would have other beneficial effects beyond not flaring the gallstone trouble.

Are they going to take your gallbladder (if you decide to proceed) or remove the stones? I vaguely recall that you can sometimes have gallstones broken up with ultrasound into chunks small enough to pass the bile duct without causing pain...........