Today's Posts

I am having a quote for an air to air heat pump in January, the complete conversion, heat pump , radiators etc., came in at £11k, £4k net of grant, which I considered ridiculous for this little cottage. I simply do not want the disruption and this house will be gutted and extended when we're gone. If it weren't for regulations I would fit A2A myself, many do. Similarly I cannot avail myself of an EV tariff, apart from lying, many do. We have 4 cars to wear out first, one gifted 53 years ago, the others inherited. So I doubt I'll ever get an EV. This year I bought £318 of electricity and that is mostly standing charge, I exported £385 ( but expect that to go down as export rates drop) and paid £134 for gas ( only for domestic hot water) I am loathe to give up gas as it may make a house sale less attractive. Plus I still receive about £2k for FIT which goes on for a few years yet. It seems so strange that less than 10% of domestic properties have solar PV, yet on a day when Solar PV in UK only provides 3% of the total energy demand and Gas 40% I am actually self sufficient, and all for about £10k at current prices, which are still falling. I too have a well but only use it for filling the water butts, it ran dry this last summer.

Two Irish lads are strolling down a street in Liverpool, England, when they spot a shop window that reads: Suits £10, Jackets £7.50, Trousers and Dresses £5.00. One turns to the other and says, "Would ya look at those ******' prices? We could buy a boatload, haul it back to Ireland , and make a fortune — double, maybe even treble the money!" The other lad says, "That’s a grand idea, but d’ya think they’ll sell to us if they know we’re Irish?" The first lad grins and says, "Don’t worry, I’ve got this," and walks in, putting on his finest English accent: "Good afternoon! I'd like twenty suits, thirty jackets, fifty pairs of trousers, and twenty-five dresses, please." The shop assistant squints and says, "You’re Irish, aren’t you?" The lad replies, "Ah feck, how’d ya guess?" The assistant smiles and says, "This is a dry cleaners."

It burns well once dry

Wordle 1,652 2/6 ⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

People on the TV saying that it’s the first test win on Australian soil in however many years etc. They already lost the series, of course the Aussies took their foot off the pedal a bit.

I have got the wakiest David brown 1490 had it since 2020. Farming for 2 years with out a loader tractor relying on contractors to do all jobs. In the winter splitting bales down and moving all by hand. When I drove it home after buying it it nearly set on fire due to some electrical bodgery but got it home. It was clapped out before I got it and it certainly hasn't improved, well it starts and runs, had to get pump and injectors reconditioned. Turbo obviously broke at some point and so has been blanked off. Leaks hydraulic oil, clutch and brake fluid. Only got one brake at the moment and the loader needs re-bushing amongst a million other jobs. Doesn't use any engine oil mind. I think what a piece of crap it is then other times I think back to when I could only dream of owning such a weapon! Lifting things like chipper hopper on and off etc. I am aiming to replace it or certainly get some thing a bit more user friendly as my wife doesn't much like driving it and being 2wd it isn't the best.

Perry Bamonte. Guitarist and keyboardist with The Cure. A band I have only come to appreciate late on especially their acoustic stuff. RIP

I always used Vcoil from Volkel helicoil taps, good value but decent quality. Those Chinese cheap ones are....cheap but not cheerful in my experience. You would need what is referred to as a "tapered tap" as the tapered part screws in to the remains of the tap and leads the main larger tap to ream and tap the hole to the larger size to take the new helicoil. You get one chance to get it right and the taper gives you a decent chance of getting the new thread pretty square with the old one. It is a bit of a skilled job, may be one for the local old fella engineer type that just gets on with it rather than tweeting about how great he is👍

What Paddy says, above ! Let us know what you decide to do? And please make sure you have a very functional tracker/insurance cover on your chipper (and anything else of reasonable value), that you might leave there, overnight... I've noticed that when I am weighing up/anticipate a bad outcome -and still do something anyway, I'm often positively surprised by the result ( reverse psychology+planning = works well ! ). It's actually making me wonder again, about mounting an advertising sign, on our own rural roadside gateway.. We do have the (minor) benefits of a heavy steel vehicle barrier, plus gates adorned with razor wire, in addition to other er, more transient security measures... 🤫

Hi all I’m just seen if anyone is running a ST8p with the Kubota petrol engine and what there views We are running at st6p 40hp at the moment and thinking of adding another petrol to the line up but would consider if running a st8d too Thanks Peter

Little update. The Willow is burning really hot (18 months seasoned) and is just as good as my Ash that im using. Although the Ash logs are smaller and not seasoned as long. So glad I kept it

Little update on the logs that may be Willow. They have been burning beautifully! Seasoned about 18 months and going great. Burning as hot as the ash logs in fact lol, my Ash logs are smaller though

Ferret, stoat, same MO. Often they'll kill then just take a gland or some other offal that contains nutrients they need. Fox more likely to chow down on the muscle meat I reckon.

Trumps Christmas day message to his cult on Twatter, the traditional peace and harmony to all message from all other world leaders? Looking forward to the new year? Perhaps some kind of religious message from a religious man who flogs his own brand of bibles? No, it was this: "Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein, gave him bundles of money, went to his Island, attended his parties, and thought he was the greatest guy on earth, only to ‘drop him like a dog’ when things got too HOT, falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him, didn’t know him, said he was a disgusting person, and then blame, of course, President Donald J. Trump, who was actually the only one who did drop Epstein, and long before it became fashionable to do so" Wonder if something is playing on his mind first thing Christmas morning? Lets break this down a little: Gave him bundles of money: Yup - if you remember the oversized check Trump was pictured giving him Attended his parties: Yup, see the many photos of them together at parties Thought he was the greatest guy on earth: Yup, they were best friends and the messages show they thought a lot of each other Only to ‘drop him like a dog’ when things got too HOT: Trump didn't 'drop him' for poaching staff but remained in contact for many years after and until his first stint at president.. when he was arrested for a second time for raping children Falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him: Yup... see the line above Sleeping well I wonder Mr Trump if this is your first thought on Christmas Morning, the day celebrated to spend with the family, and to celebrate your religious feelings.

Well they didn't get it right with the 150, half the chipper has to come apart to get the flywheel out and then the piddy bearings off!

Love to know the price of that