Squaredy

Maybe a better response might come from an online support group for people who have this type of stoma. You never know someone on this forum may have knowledge of this, but if so they haven’t seen the post yet. Presumably the answer would be similar to many activities that could create dust.

I suspect what you are up against is what many business owners find over the years - that having all the financial risk, stress, commitment and effort doesn't always mean earning good money. I have known people who employ dozens or even hundreds of people who one day jack it all in and go freelance, or even just get a PAYE job somewhere and say they are much happier. It is horses for courses. Running your business may be the future for you but you will have to make it happen and make the figures stack up. And there could be times when someone working for you just doing his or her job and going home at 4pm earns more than you. And they won't have to deal with the crap that you do. Only you can make it work as you want. Or maybe it never will work as you imagine - plans in business have to keep evolving, and sometimes head in a direction not predicted. However you move forward good luck; and even if it doesn't give you what you want in the long run the experience should prove invaluable.

We've all done it.... Well that is what I tell myself...

Why does anyone need that much vanish? Unless it was on offer of course…

Sounds like you have done a great job of managing your woodland. It is a shame so many woods are simply neglected areas of farms that the farmer sees as an unproductive part of the land. My local authority remove the woods from farms when the lets come up for renewal as the farmers do nothing with them. But guess what? Now the local authority do nothing with them.

Why does someone with no forestry experience purchase 80-90 acres of woodland??? That sounds a bit like me buying a jumbo jet!

If you or your acquaintance hasn't already, it may well be worth speaking to Coed Cymru the timber charity. Unless I am out of date they give free advice on woodland management and marketing in Wales, but also they are an excellent source of contacts. If you can get hold of the officer who covers your area he or she will almost certainly know a number of local contractors.

Hell yes.

Been milling lots of sycamore recently, most of which is nice, but today we had this. Hope these colours and markings remain as it dries.

Very nice indeed. But if you think daffs are monochrome you are buying the wrong daffs! You should try going on holiday to the Isles of Scilly in spring in the nineteen seventies - then you would see how amazing daffs can be!

This is all very harsh on the original poster. I think he should buy the equipment to mill the logs; then he just had to build a good stack with spacers neatly positioned between every board and some roofing sheets on top with a large weight on; then wait for them to dry for a year or two; then advertise on Facebook or similar; then spend many hours showing customers the boards; and he could make maybe a couple of hundred pounds. When he has done this if it goes well I would suggest digging some earth in his garden and sieving it and sterilising it to sell it as top quality topsoil. Not only is there money to be made here as well, but if he digs up any large stones these could be sold as building stone and it is a double whammy. Come to think of it this might be even more lucrative than milling the birch. Actually maybe the best bet is to buy the right equipment and extract oxygen from the air. Buying oxygen in cylinders is really pricey these days, yet I have been breathing it in for over fifty years and it hasn’t cost me a penny. Serious money to be made here I am quite sure.

I seem to remember that when petrol prices were going up a few months ago a customer was actually filmed trying to fill a carrier bag with petrol....

I have for many years been under the impression that the rules on filling cans with diesel are rather more lax than those about petrol. But today I was told at a Tesco petrol station that my diesel containers are not legal. To be honest they may well be right, but I want to get to the bottom of it so I know I am doing the right thing. Since the new rules came in a year or two ago I no longer have red diesel delivered, and the easiest and cheapest way is now to buy it at the forecourt. I only fill two 25 litre containers at a time, and only about once or twice a month. Do they have to be metal? Do they have to be marked as made to a certain standard? Or is this only for petrol?

I remember seeing years ago a google review for Usk prison. Apparently the prisoner wasn't too impressed. Why google allow you to leave a review of a prison (or indeed a mountain) I have no idea. As far as I am aware if you are inside you don't get to choose your favourite prison! Oh no. Someone is going to tell me that a new scheme is being proposed to give inmates more choice....

Aha! Now we have a picture. Looks very odd to me, but I am sure someone will have some good suggestions.

Frustrating. And what is the bet they just ringed it up for firewood? And the final irony will be that they won’t dry it properly and will moan that it isn’t burning very well. I feel your frustration.

This one has to be real. If it were a bot it would surely make some sense.

Clearly there has been a leak, so this needs to be repaired if not already done. Then secondly as has been said check for soft parts in those beams. Remember that dry rot and wet rot both need moisture, so as long as the leak is only historic then no new rot will take place. Just find out if the timber is still strong. I would use a hammer to hit the beams. If they are sound you will leave slight marks. If rotten they will get severely damaged by the hammer.

The first Coyote Ugly bar in the UK had an alder top. I suspect that it has since been replaced with something a bit more hardwearing! I am guessing Steve’s little shop won’t allow dancing on the counter so I am sure it will be fine.

The OP should have come to you in the first instance....

I bet you are chuffed with that? What does the shop sell?

Good point: if the OP can check for the remnants of huge sticky buds that would confirm Horse Chestnut.

Ash isn't it? As soon as those leaves open properly it will be as clear as day.

Don’t worry about putting chemicals on the boards. Just don’t lose track of your stock too much. Ideally have a decent turnover of stock - some timber like beech and elm are a bit more prone to woodworm so have a little check of your stock every couple of years. Active worm will be given away by little piles of dust on the boards below the infected one. Most species of larvae will give up once the timber dries.

Don’t most trees slow their rate of growth as they age? In which case it is likely to be older than your estimate.