sime42

That sounds good. Apart from the antisocial hours. There is a lot of water used in snow making. Even in the Alpine resorts they normally have a sizable reservoir tucked away somewhere to supply the snow canon, that always surprises me.

What does the ski slope snow production entail? Guessing you won't have one of those Piste Bully machines to play with if it's a communal ski slope.

They look like a good company. Hopefully they are still forged here, it wasn't stated on the website. Shame they're trade only. Think I'd still go for a vintage billhook though, just for the quality.

This explains the situation pretty well, the problem with the govt. cosying up with big development companies. How big UK housebuilders have remained profitable without meeting housing supply targets THECONVERSATION.COM A handful of large companies dominate the UK housing market, which may affect new-build supply.

That's because the developers are not building houses for people, or community. They're building for profit and cars. (And sanitary ware companies!) Mark Twain used to joke that "golf is a good walk spoiled." Apparently.

A life well lived. Legendary laugh as well.

True, though I think it reflects a general detachment from the natural world, rather than the participation trophy thing. Yeah, let's not get into that cluster pump of a discussion again. At least, not on an empty stomach, I've not yet had my lunch.

They are green spaces, and do currently limit the spread of Barrett rabbit hutches and their paved over surroundings, but they're not generally public access spaces. Unless you happen to be a member. Plus they're pretty much a grass monoculture, albeit neatly mown.

You jest but I bet a lot of the youth these days think that food is made in shops.

Wowsers!. It was neither an April fools nor bear baiting. Why's it such a bad idea, why are golf courses so great? Or are there just more golfers than I realised? If we've got to build more houses I'd rather they were built on golf courses or brownfield sites rather than farmland.

Admittedly I'm biased, not being a golfer, but to me they just seem to be a completely unproductive blot on the landscape. Ever spreading, like a rash. They've got next to no wildlife/biodiversity or ecological value and only a very limited amenity value. Why not therefore convert some of them to housing estates? Architect defends ‘provocative’ housing plans for Enfield Golf Club ENFIELDDISPATCH.CO.UK Founding director of Shoreditch architectural firm RCKa says that building homes on golf courses could be a way to... Building houses on Britain’s vast, exclusive golf courses makes sense for everyone – even golfers | Phineas Harper | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Such radical plans wouldn’t just help tackle our chronic lack of housing, but also let the sport shed its elitist tag, says Phineas... I was looking at Manchester on Google maps the other day, for something unrelated, and was astounded to see how many golf courses there were, just on the south side. All that wasted land.

Glad someone has mentioned Lapsang Soushong - the Grand Daddy. Proper big boy's tea!

Sounds like a nice commute to me. I love the peace and quiet that comes with snowfall. Not heard of heated socks. How do they work then, battery powered?

UK spends more financing inequality in favour of rich than rest of Europe, report finds | Inequality | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Inequalities of income, wealth and power cost UK £106.2bn a year compared with average developed OECD country https://equalitytrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/ReportCostofInequality-1.pdf

Beevers?

France warns people off Black Friday clothes deals WWW.BBC.CO.UK The French government has launched a campaign encouraging people not to buy new clothes during festive sales.

Yep, it's a load of tosh. More imported yank BS. The likes of Amazon must be laughing their way all the way to the bank at this time every year. I bet they can't believe that so many consumers are still falling for it.

Good on them. Opt Out of Black Friday | Gränsfors Bruk Sweden WWW.GRANSFORSBRUK.COM We are distancing ourselves from Black Friday, along with our sister companies Woolpower and Svedbro Smide, and will...

Shouldn't that be M rather than H?

Yep, they look like the most likely contenders. Thanks. I've seen bumblebees looking like that buzzing around the place before. I think they nested in an air vent in one of the house walls one year. Those 'orrible multiculturalists coming over here in their little boats with they're foreign food and there foreign bees. Their even taking over our nest boxes now, it's outrageous! 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Cheers but it doesn't look like the normal wasp nests that I know. They're made of regurgitated wood, paper like stuff. There was non of that in there. I found the same thing once before, but that was between two scaffold planks stacked on the ground. Different type of wasps maybe?

Found inside two bird nesting boxes this afternoon. It looked looks like some kind of cocoon structure, all glued together with silky stuff. Incredibly strong, it was a real struggle to prise the lids of both boxes open. Any ideas?

Who's Albert Pike?

My idea of fun; Facebook M.FACEBOOK.COM Almost as good as putting bangers and crow scarers in cow pats! Or pumpkins. Or water.

Not great this year, on the small side, but good nonetheless. Anyone else?