teepeeat

as for bottle-butt............... seriously, sounds like a good idea for those in the know and a good education for those of us who arnt

sounds like a result - job done & everybody safe You will probably never know what was going on in your head, but there are enough incidents that have occured where someone involved has said something along the lines of having a premonition or bad feeling. You had the luxury of having another climber, you used him, job done. there is a saying in foot launch flying circles that says 'you get old pilots and you get bold pilots, but not many old, bold pilots. This can be very easily translated to climbing I would think.

Ah, misunderstood - havnt been in for a while so best get down there as will be needing some in a couple of months again.

be aware that if you do cut it near the ground, bits will eventually fall off when it is dead. I did this on a holly a few years back and in the recent winds some very large chunks came down and would have caused significant injury if anyone was hit.

they are not far from me so will mention it again next time in and suggest they take some on.

mmmm.... my place is pictured as it was at least pre 2002 before I pulled it apart to renovate. Probably a few years earlier as it still looks overgrown as was pre 1999, but difficult to be sure as it is a bit blurred. I think Google must have sold them a lemon in the form of their older pictures

We do our domestic heating and hot water with wood, although solar provides all the hot water from approx mid March to mid October on average - yesterday, solar took 800 ltrs to 65 deg and almost 70 today . No idea really about a commercial set up, but would have thought it must be possible to scale it up somehow, especially as space heating is not required except for wash blocks perhaps. In this country your highest camping demand will be in the warmer months so dont see why you can't get the bulk of your energy from solar as we do and top up with wood as required. For winter camping requirements, if any, limit the site to a smaller area around your main wash block and have your boiler very near to limit transmission loses etc. I know others who use wood for everything - again domestically, but have become slaves to the woodpile and stoves due to inefficiency of their systems, so consider carefully how best to make any system you put in super efficient. That said, one idiot camper can undo all efficiencies by being ignorant and wasteful. As per many posts on firewood threads, unless you can get high on your own supply - temperature wise - it doesnt really make economic sense. No real concrete answers I'm afraid, but hopefully food for thought? Terry

beautiful day yesterday as well so put the tent up with the children and camped out last night in the woods and woke up to a stunning morning also had a good look at the moon with a telescope

cracking day - 800 ltr thermal store up to 63 degrees on solar alone

seems fairly common these days for people to re-evaluate how we live our lives -either due to a personal event such as yours or something happening to someone they know, but also it is becoming more obvious to many people that we are as you say 'chasing our tails'. Glad to hear you are OK and making positive changes. Decided a few years ago to put a bit of energy into simplifying life and reducing outgoings so that I could jump off the bandwagon. Consequently I have had the freedom to move up and down the ranks at work as it suited me rather than my colleagues who constantly have pressure to move up. All they are doing is earning more so they can spend more and taking on a lot of pressure and stress as a consequence. Interesting reactions from all sorts when you volunteer to take a step down the ladder - seems it is a step too far for some to comprehend, but more people seem to be catching on. :lol:

There is also a familiarity factor - you get used to your regular work and constantly find ways for working smarter, whereas if you bung somebody new into that position they are going to struggle for a while until they in turn get more familiar. An experienced old hand will always trump a fit young gun due to efficiency. Add to that the dangling at height factor in climbing - a lot of people dont cope as well as they think with this while some are completely at home. This is similar to fire fighting where some people will always suck a lot more air out of a BA than others.

yea, its good stuff. Even screw fix now sell the pre-made corners and glues etc. Terry

Hey Eggs, what you planning for the roof? If you want to go flat, then dont bother with felt as it is c**p. Rather use EPDM or butyl roofing membrane. You can source this from roofing suppliers or for half the price buy a pond liner from pond suppliers as it is exactly the same stuff. This gets glued on to a ply deck and edge details to finish - simples and long lasting.

I have heard it said that all people have a touch of these conditions, but it is only those that are judged to be outside of the 'normal range'(???) who get labled. Who decides what is 'normal' ?? The dyslexics I know tend to be intelligent high achievers, but with a tendency toward practical applications. Quite often it seems that their practical experience has lead to an interest in their particular subject which has in turn got them to push beyond the dyslexic difficulties to study further in that subject, although they are frustratingly good at understanding and remembering stuff - perhaps a coping mechanism, but more likely I am just a bit thick It comes as no surprise to me to hear quite a number are involved in the arboricultural industry. As with most things in life, a particular challenge mostly brings out a positive response, although as commented by others above, society can hamper that in many ways.

Pictures - need a fix:thumbup:

Fair comment Ian - I'd go for half of that at point B

seems effective, but would be even better if it cut slightly longer logs

2 ton + friction in the system i'll get my coat

Having cut right down on carbs a few years ago and sugars etc, I think one of the things I would miss the most now is legumes, but these seem to be a no-no on the paleo. So what is the issue here?

nice!! What sort of capacity has she got for ripping? Terry

Absolutely. The immune system is like any other bodily function - it needs exercise to be in good form, but also should not be overworked either. Like everything in life, there is a fine balance.

To a certain degree this is true, but we also need to question the 'establishment' equally rigorously. There is a lot of vested interest in medical matters from big pharma companies and big medical individuals who have build careers on current accepted thinking. However, since nobody understands how everything works, there are bound to be new discoveries which contradict current thinking. Human history is littered with examples - it was only 5/600 years ago that Gallileo Gallilei was persecuted for stating that the earth rotated around the sun. Another medical example is mercury amalgam for tooth fillings, but this one is still running. Or how about new mums in the sixties thru to the ninties being told by the NHS that we no longer do this old fashioned breast feeding lark, but now they are desperate to get mums breast feeding. As for the colestrol link to heart disease, this one has been rumbling in the shadows for decades at least and there will be increasing light shone on this subject, but only once big pharma have made enough money out of the current drugs and need another cash cow. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer - nobody can give any definitive answers as to what is good or bad and we are all subtly different and respond in different ways to the same inputs. However, I am increasingly sceptical about the safety of modern foods, the regulatory oversight of the industry and the motivations of the manufacturers and would tend to favour a diet that has been tried and tested over mellenia, rather than the very recent modern offerings Terry

Tony, didn't mean to come over as preaching - just trying to think it through. Agreed, it is difficult on an individual basis to make these decisions and as stated I think it may be a natural control on us getting too big for our boots. I dont worry too much about it just got a bit philosophical about it and generally try to have variety in my diet on the basis that anything harmful is diluted by only being a small part of my diet. The bit I forgot to go into was the increasingly intensive human fiddling with the food chain, inferred by shoota above that has gone on in the last 1-200 years. I do think this will come back to bite us in a few generations. Crops grown with the priorities being yeild etc etc above nutrition and the changes being made without fully understanding how things work and the implications and knock-ons As Rob says - everything in moderation

true, but that rain water will also come out in days in the correct environment (ie dry and well ventilated) rather than the months green wood takes to season.