sime42

Nice. They look good. Ours should be ready in a week or so, just starting to flower now. It's a good time of year, with stuff starting to be ready to harvest after weeks of work. We're picking strawberries and mangetout peas every day now. The courgettes will be coming on-stream soon as well, if we get a few more warm but not scorching days. Tomatoes and cucumbers are a long way off still but got lots of other salad stuff like lettuce, radishes and Pak Choi to be getting on with.

Not heard that before, quite a vivid phrase. Rather apt for the group of people in question here. Hancock resigning is obviously months and months overdue, but it's pertinent that he didn't actually get the sack by Boris. I heard someone speculating today that he refuses to sack any one of the number of failures around him because they are useful scapegoats for him. Probably a grain or more of truth in that. I can't help thinking that we'd be in a much better position now if Hancock had gone last year instead of Prof Neil Ferguson. The number of fckups with his name on is shameful, (Hancock). The guy is a liability. Just the rest of the fish to go now.

Probably the best thing to do with big old machines like that, keep them gently working so they don't seize up. Same as us humans! There's an old Scammell sat in a field on the side of the M5, near Bridgewater. It's been there for at least 20 years, ever since I've been driving up and down past there. Each year it's more and more overgrown with vegetation and rusted away. A real shame.

I've got a pair of wooden clogs. Swedish. They're excellent. Ideal for going outside for quick errands like locking up, getting logs or getting the washing in. Not soft and cosy obviously so no good as slippers inside, but if you got some as well you could avoid wrecking the slippers.

I guess pulling a combine was a piece of cake compared to pulling a tank back in its day.

A venerable old lady indeed. Lovely.

I'd be very happy to have such a quality meat as Ibex in the kebabs from.my local joints!

Yeah, I sometimes have to resort to a dust mask if it's really bad..

Wow. Gravity defying for certain. All the more so when you consider that their legs aren't even arranged very well for traveling vertically.

I don't know much about barrier creams but O'Keeffe's Working Hands Cream is damned good stuff.

Never had much problem with itching but it really gets me in the lungs. Makes me cough a lot and sometimes a worrying pain in the chest.. Must be some kind of allergic reaction. I've never managed to work out exactly what causes it though. Maybe dust or fine hairs, or maybe the pollen when when it's flowering. It's rank stuff from all points of view IMHO.

Very interesting. What's the recipe exactly, what proportions of each ingredient? I'm always concerned about it when I use glyphosate, but it's damn good at killing weeds. Does this really compete with it?

Depends on the area you need to deal.with. If it's not too large then a sturdy garden fork and a pair of gloves is all you need! Nettle roots are relatively easy to remove compared to some of the real nasties such as Mares Tail, Bindweed or Knotweed for example.

Very nice. Good effort. Not surprised to read that he comes from Stroud.

I suspected as much.

Here's some food for thought;- " Like “politically correct” before it, the word “woke” has come to connote the opposite of what it means. Technically, going by the Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition, woke means “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”, but today we are more likely to see it being used as a stick with which to beat people who aspire to such values, often wielded by those who don’t recognise how un-woke they are, or are proud of the fact." I was intrigued by this term WOKE that people keep using so I looked it up.

It looks to me like you wouldn't be able tip the back easily because of the step up into the shed.

HS2 really makes me despair of our politicians, (and maybe even the average Joe public as well). When challenged about the destruction of ancient woodlands they always respond with : "oh it's ok, we're planting thousands/millions of new trees as compensation". Obviously we on here all know that's complete nonsense, it doesn't work like that. The fact that our country is run by characters with such little practical understanding of how the real world actually works is deeply depressing. The Woodsure Scheme is yet another example of this malaise. As is the biomass nonsense; shipping woodchip all over the country, and even from beyond, to feed "Environmentally Friendly" power stations.

I grew a Loquat tree from seed a few years ago. When I moved house 14 years later it was about 8 foot tall and in spread maybe more. It was on the edge of the vegetable plot so I'd cut it back a few times as well, branches and roots. They're nice trees. Don't think they fruit in this climate unfortunately, although I've seen some very large specimens in central London in flower, maybe they went on to fruit as well.

[emoji23]

Bugger, I thought I'd vetted the photos for any incriminating or shaming evidence! I'm in the Midlands so by rights mine should be further on than yours. I think probably I was a little late in sowing them and secondly I didn't really harden them off before planting out. They were looking good in the pots week before last. Since they've been in though they haven't done much. Weather doesn't help either; this hot sun is hammering them. I've never quite got my head around the process of hardening off to be honest.

Slugs. Not so bad now that it's hot and dry again but a couple of weeks ago they were a right menace. What's everyone's favourite way of protecting against the filthy slimy scumbags? I hate the idea of Slug Pellets so my preferred option is to use copper rings. I started out years ago by buying various types of Cu tape and mesh and other purpose made products. They were a bit crap really; didn't work that well and didn't last very long. I realised that I could do far better myself starting from standard copper plumbing pipe and some basic metal working. I cut 22mm pipe to a length of about 12", slit it along its length, bend and beat it out flat to a ribbon and then roll that around the other way to end up with a ring of 4" diameter and about 2.5" high. I put these around individual plants in the ground, or I use them to stand pots on if I'm protecting plants in pots. (This should make a bit more sense with the photos). I've been using them for a number of years now and really happy with them. They're not 100% effective but getting there. Nothing is against slugs to my knowledge. I'm not sure of the exact chemistry but for some reason but slugs hate copper. I've tested it and watched them visibly recoil from it! It takes a fair bit of effort and time to initially make the rings but I figure they'll last forever now. Being copper they won't rust away obviously. Also pipe is quite a thick guage they are strong enough to sit really heavy pots on. If I was a salesman I'd have been on Dragon's Den with the idea before now! Never seen anything as good available to buy.

So that's two activities that require a good wrist action. Just make sure you don't combine the two!

Jock strap? For all that swinging around.

Were you wearing a gauntlet of some kind? I'd have thought your forearm would have been scratched to hell if not! I'd want to have a Slasher, long handled Bill Hook, available for this and the job specified in the OP. Wouldn't be able to clear the whole lot with it but they're good to have in the armoury for some tricky situations.