Tony Croft aka hamadryad

No dont know the latin nor the common, still an ameteur me!

LOL, nah even i have no idea! Seen similar myself but shrooms aint my speciality, im a bracket man! You should post this on WAB (wild about britain forum) theres a lot of folk on there that specialise in the teeny tiny

Conscience and two Fs in diFFerent!

No worries, and you really dont need to keep apologising, were not that uptight or thin skinned! well maybe some are! lol:001_rolleyes: Right I too must do some cooking and also some sulking as i was the only one left out in the replies! Oh i feel all scummy and neglected!

Firstly, big up the monkey for making sure his nips get the full on woodland experiance, rather than the play station alternative! Second, wicked shot of mr woody woodpecker! Lovin spidey, is that piptoporus betulinus he is sitting on? new common name arachnids saddle! lol and nice shot of M. aurantia! spotted the peniophora quercina!

You an me SWB, we are diffferent fish, you have youre way and I have mine, who am i to say whos right and whos wrong? The only time I have used spikes when i shouldnt has been the ODD, 6 times say in 22 years, occasions when I have been told to climb a nasty tree in nasty conditions that we had no right in hell working under. There was even a time when the Local TO defended me using them against the Guys at Kew on the grounds of H+S. I personaly cant live with it the use of spikes, I truly love trees and spiking them is just disrespect as far as I am concerned. Those rare occasions its been my health or the trees, no brainer. they are never a substitute for good climbing method and technique, full stop

i dont get it SWB?

Dont take any notice of the Hethen, SWB is on the wind up as always!

cut out the flip line and split tail, youll only need a main rope plus positioning lanyard the flip lines an over spend on a basic climbing kit.

been a while since Ive felt the need to "take it out on a punchbag" never meant to suggest you was irrate about the situation, just that its always a big thing to have someone bother to make a cuppa when yuor working for them, some dont, many dont! i think I will add a new caveat-: tea making ensures quality of effort and a lack of liquid refreshments invalidates any quality assurance herein!

tea and cakes soothes even the most irrate arbs! An increase to the price was fair and should have been discussed before job start IMO Caveats are there for our protection and the clients clarification of situations, quotes relavent to current conditions is a good one, but limiting a quote to 28 days is not going to be suitable IMO, six months might be more appropriate? with a stipulation for site as found on quotation

When i look back at my "youthfull antics" in arboriculture i wonder if I am the same person! And nowt wrong with assisted swings! lol

Its great to have an "official" on here to discuss this with, long overdue and very welcomed, long may it continue and definatley no apologies needed for over contributing to threads! I personaly feel that wether we agree or dissagree with what the arb association is doing or not doing for "us" is taking a shallow view of the value gained from any grade of membership to the AA, be that AAAC or just being a registered paying member/associate. The fact is with membership of the AA (any grade) you are contributing to the cause and connecting to a force that represents arboriculture in the U.K The more of us "financialy involved" the greater the force. Is it really a question of wether we can afford to be members, or one of wether we can afford NOT to be? I couldnt pay my subs last year, and havent renewed yet but when i do I will pay two years worth because wether I agree or dissagree with what is or is not being done i know my contribution and membership helps progress and that is all I want from the AA. I would like to see a more unified arboricultural body, one that as Tony Sorensen suggested (a shared view?), incorporates ALL interested parties by joining the woodland trust, the forestry commision and the AA we would see a force to be recconed with, a mighty force capable of great things and representing a very large, tree interested party. Representing ALL tree realated interests, from the public who enjoy walks in the ancient woods to researchers looking to fund a project. It is true that AAAC status does NOT garauntee a quality job, and that does need changing, how i dont know, if you took poor work as a bench mark for removal some of the biggest names/financial inputs would be lost! Random spot checks? been working for AA aproved firms for 10 years, NEVER have I been subjected to a random check by the AA, you need to stop claiming them or activley carry them out, its a threat only if it happens! On the other hand if random checks where a real threat how many would remain AAAC for very long? The AA have a tough job, and I respect what it is they are trying to do, it has to be the toughest role and we should all be supporting that role in anyway we can. pay your subs pay your dues, the AA represent us all for better or worse and its a job you or I couldnt do any better!

Oi i am staying WELL out of this one!

Daedaleopsis confrogosa, common saprophyte of prunus sp

Well you definatley have an eye for the artistic, I did a City and Guilds in photography, I reckon you could make a good little sum putting your images In a library. As for collage and time I know what you mean, could you do it online?

Back in the day, before I knew about or rather before my old mate informed me about H+S I climbed my first monkey puzzle in denim shorts and no shirt! Oh to be a 17 year old, full of youth and bravado again! That as you say, is character building. When i look back on those days it makes me cringe, i was ignorant and young/nieve. i do miss those days though, when treework was an adrenalin junkies pursuit and not a paper chain nightmare! But we only have ourselves to blame, the way we all used to carry on its a wonder any of us are still around to speak of it!

Xerxses works in sweden, these boys know the meaning of hard conditions, imagine digging out the trucks each day from snow fall that is so deep you cant see the roof of the trucks! I have done two trees the last two days that really should not have been climbed in such wet conditions, I hated every slippery poor anchor moment, but Ive had 6 days off due to snow and its time to make up for the losses the firm sustained. sounds to me like your boss cant be asked or has given up, maybe his business is failing and his eyes have glazed over. remind him why he started the firm and tell him to pull his socks up, if its raining and he dont want to work get off your butts and leaflet an area!

I have the climbing kit in the motor most of the time, i do a lot of lone climbing recreationaly, but never professionaly, not these days, too long in the tooth and too aware of my mortality these days! Like the others say, know your limits, take a mate if you can, and definatley dont try to free climb monster ash trees just cos youve sen a behemoth great Hispidus bracket! The only way up that day was to grab a drooping branch hand over hand swing a leg over and a little shinning, photos done and adrenalin gone i realised I had done something rather Sillet-esque! Im getting to old for this crap, where did my twenties go?

They always are! the best books are like treasured nuggets! I was looking for a A Rayner book online, nearly fell of the chair at nearly 400 quid! Most of the myco books I want average 180! education is a slow slow proscess not due to capacity but ability to purchase it!

I am loving the title david! mmm... plagerism! lol dont even go there! You have an absolutely first class eye for a photo David, are you an art student too?

As you have specificaly asked for tips! Composition is superb, no issues there and thats the bit most get wrong! The exposure is high on most though and if you have exposure correction capability within the camera I would suggest toning it down a little and also looking at the daylight settings. On sunny days youll need to adjust to a "sunny daylight mode" and when its cloudy (ideal as it creates a shadowless diffuse light for detailed close ups) you need to adjust again. Great shots For really good colour saturation (vibrant colours) try under exposure by at least 1/3rd of a stop

This looks a pucka vehicle as a small weekend unit, my timing might be out but shall keep my eye on this and if its still here when I can raise the wod I will defo have a proper look at it. Is the roof to the chip box open or closed? and if closed is it lift or removable? as i may need to load chip/mulch via tractor bucket

What does the Kiezer one cost monkey? is this the one you mentioned before with the mycorrhizal associations listed?