Big J

Fair enough! The kettlebells he has are flat bottomed (so do stand upright) - I remember how irritating the rounded ones can be. Have fun with them anyway!

It's a brutal workout, kettlebells. I used to have quite a few, but was always too much of a wuss to do anything serious with them. I didn't like getting that out of breath! My friends shop (Strength Shop) would have saved you a few quid on the kettlebells. Jonathan

I think what is comes down to is that whilst it is the aim of many retailers and indeed manufacturers (note: Husqvarna and Stihl's sales policy until recently precluding the possibility of online sales) to keep things local, they are fighting a losing battle against the reality of a global market place. Whilst I appreciate that servicing needs to be done on a local level, dealers are going to have to wake up to the fact that if they don't wish to compete in the sale of machinery, they aren't going to get many people wanting to pay the rather large premium they command. Jonathan

I've looked through them quite a number of times, and it's that they could have been taken yesterday that haunts me. I think up until now, much of my perception of age of photos has been their quality, and whether they were black and white or colour, rather than the subject matter. I only found them as a friend of my wife's had posted them on facebook.

Russia in color, a century ago - The Big Picture - Boston.com Surreal photos of Russia, one hundred years ago. Before the two world wars, before the Russian Revolution and well before I thought there were colour photos!

Hehehe! Very amusing indeed!

I had exactly the same experience yesterday. Wanted a 346xp, called my local dealer who was £80 plus vat more expensive than Jonesie, and wouldn't budge on price. You can guess where I ordered my saw from.

Thanks for all the comments guys! She is sat next to us in her bed looking pretty tired to be honest. Notes from her first day: * Guinea pigs are the most entertaining thing in the entire world * Chickens are comparatively boring * Lawn mowers are to be barked at at first, but to be later accepted * Raspberries are damned tasty * Not spent much time on hard surfaces so has a small cut on front right paw * Seems to get on with every single dog she's met I would also love to know her lineage. The Australian cattle dog idea could be a possibility, but given her provenance, perhaps not so likely. I'd certainly go with Alsation - lots of people have said that, but she is very small (13.5kg). Anyway, tomorrow we'll see how she likes a day at work, chainsaws and all!

We've finally found the right dog to give a home to, and are the proud owners/servants of Katie! She is a 14 month old Collie cross. She came from a pretty rough part of West Lothian, having never left the flat and garden of her owners. Bringing her onto the estate was a huge eye opener for her. She could run (and is in great condition considering) but had never run a distance, and couldn't quite figure out corners or stopping. She had never seen the see, let alone swum in it (brilliant swimmer, and quite bizarrely dives too). The only time she's barked so far is when she saw the horses - try explaining horses to a city dog! She's had a good look around the garden, fallen into the pond, met the chickens, met the guinea pigs and is now flaked on her bed in the house. She hasn't had any real training, but is picking it up very quickly. She herds like a collie, but doesn't seem in any way neurotic. We reckon she's 50% collie - no idea what the rest is! Some pictures: Photos and additional dogs kindly supplied by our friend Kate.

It's more or less 1 tonne to 1 cubic metre, or a bit less in quick grown stands. 30 tonnes of hardwood would be in the region of 1000 cubic foot.

Friend of ours used to have a Cinquicento. Loved it but it was utterly crap. Broke down repeatedly, useless in the snow as track too narrow to fit in tyre tracks (resulting in spin on motorway). Now replaced with a Yaris.

I had an MS250 for a month - it broke very quickly. The MS260 that replaced it I still have a year on with a grand total mechanical repair list of chainbrake springs. Jonathan

Why not? What you get with the pro saws is better performance, lower vibration, lower weight and they don't cost a great deal more. My recommendation would be the MS261. If you compare it to the MS291, it's the same power, 400g lighter, lower vibration and only £25 more from FR Jones. No brainer, in my opinion!

I think that it is the disparity of coverage that people find distasteful. The apparent decision of one troubled young lady to take her own life (I word it in that way as the circumstances surrounding her death aren't clear and I don't want to speculate) and the murder of almost 100 people are not tragedies on the same scale. The media coverage would seem to suggest otherwise. From a personal point of view, I do get quite angry with people who seem to have it all (talent, money, family and fame) and then piss it all away. As has been said already, the kids on the island didn't have a choice at all.

Wanted to express my condolences to anyone involved in the shootings/bombings in Norway this week. Staggering and terrifying that this could be the work of a single person. I can't imagine the terror that this guy must have inflicted, knowing that there was no real hope of escape for his victims. Very sad indeed. Jonathan

True true - been away from the internet until today though. I'll do it now.....

Whilst the passing of Amy Winehouse is tragic for her family and friends, I think it was inevitable and not a tremendous professional waste. However, I might just have missed it, but there isn't a single thread of condolence for the nearly 100 people who lost their lives to the religious fundamentalist gunman in Norway.

I've used wykabor for some time now: http://www.wykamol.com/services/timber-treatment/wykabor-range/wykabor-powder.html]Wykabor Powder / Wykabor Range / Timber Treatments / Services / Wykamol Group / Specialist products for the building and preservation industries. ....and it's excellent. I'm sure that any borate would be fine though as it's all just Sodium tetraborate Decahydrate.

Fair enough! I guess it's the same for most leaf sprung vehicles, but it just seemed that the NKR was especially bad.

I had a 30 mile ride in a 7.5 tonne NKR and I couldn't believe the ride. It felt as if it had no suspension at all, bouncing like an excited puppy. I do really like the look of them, but that alone would put me off as I ended up pretty travel sick. And I don't get travel sick!

Phew! I thought that I was going to be shot! I would completely agree that you have to be an idiot (ie, male) to be a hand cutter, so it's of no surprise to see few women doing the thinning! I believe that what it boils down with gender equality is that nobody should be at a disadvantage based on their gender. However, if a job requires a basic level of strength, that is the job requirement whether you are male or female. Jonathan

What wonderful pictures, especially the last one - thankyou for sharing!

I was thinking about this thread again whilst at work yesterday.... Now whilst I don't think that there is any reasonable reason for women to be disadvantaged in arboriculture, I do wonder if the same is true of forestry. I'm a big and quite strong chap, and a day in the woods leaves me knackered and aching without fail. It's the wrestling of hung trees, dragging brash, dragging and stacking logs and the sheer amount of time on the saw that does it I think. The same would of course apply if comparing to a weak and skinny chap. My point is that women start off with a base level of strength so much lower than guys, it's difficult to make up the difference. For example, a good friend of mine is (soon to be) married to a former Britain's strongest woman and competitive power lifter. She is at the top of her game in the UK and whilst she out squats me (apparently of all the muscle groups, there is the least disparity in leg strength between the genders), I can deadlift and bench about the same despite not having trained for a good year (and being decidedly wiry myself!). How can you get around that biomechanical disadvantage as a woman in a manual job?

It's depressing really isn't it?! You often get some of the straightest, cleanest stems in beech and it's a good timber to machine and work with. I had some issues drying it when I started, but later lots have been better with application of borate. It's jobs like kitchens, libraries, bookcases etc that beech is perfect for. We need to try to push it as it's easier to dry than bloody oak and certainly easier to find better quality sticks. Eggsrascal - you have a cheap supply of cord!