AHPP

I know a guy in Suffolk who restores them, on the off chance anyone is in need.

FUXCKER. Beat me.

What do you farm? Do you not wince at geting grease, hydraulic oil etc on pricey stuff like Swazi/Kaiwaka/Betacraft?

Proper farmers wear Screwfix high vis and a Frosty Jack's loyalty scheme peaked cap.

Ridgeline smocks are popular because they're cheap, long on the thigh (when a lof of other jackets aren't) and good enough for what most people who wear them do. Plus they've become the uniform (fashion I suppose) for a lot of rural types (largely shooting and peripheral), which is an advantage in itself. Say you're out at a bonfire night and are wondering where to stand. You might see a bloke in a Ridgeline smock and stand near him because there's a good chance you can strike up a conversation about a shared interest. They might be a pain with dust sticking etc but that's fine. They're not designed for full-on hard work. That's what stuff probably more like Kaiwaka is for. P.S. For the rare occasions I work in the rain, I wear some Regatta piece of crap that I don't like and therefore don't cry about when I catch a dog on it. Aware little help to anyone needing something good for every day but why not write it anyway for only the cost of a few more ounces of Steve's bandwidth.

It was a ferret. Was.

That’s Charlie isn’t it? I left the headless one out for 36 hours and it moved a few times so it’s something strong enough to drag a chicken but not strong enough to carry one. And only a bit of it eaten. Littler nibbles than a fox would take I’d have thought.

Aye. Very vexing. What’s Toby? I’m too posh to know rural slang.

Ferret (probably) back. Two killed last night and one beheaded a couple of nights before. As with most conflicts, my well bred roosters roosted high and safe and let the lower orders get slaughtered.

Crank up the big diesel server, Steve. This bandwidth’s about to get busy.

We (the syndicate that I beat for, 2-5 birds per gun, per day usually) don't have a keeper per se. They have work parties and a feeding rota and one of them is the farmer. I'm starting to help out a bit. Gleaning what I can. I should broaden my horizons to some other shoots really. Was asking one of the busier beaters last weekend about the local scene. He suggested Sailor might remain restrained on some of them, depending on my appetite for admonishment.

Anything more like a keepering manual? How to arrange vegetation to hold birds, when to feed, wtf does dogging-in mean anyway, where to put your guns and beaters etc.

I called Sailor off a deer chase this morning. At distance, at speed, well committed. IN FRONT OF A WITNESS! What a result. The scene on a different, more atmospheric day. It’s remarkably nice now.

Trying to learn a bit more about how a pheasant shoot works beyond just turning up on a Saturday and shouting. A mate lent me this. Any other book recommendations? Instructional and short preferably. No need for lovely long stories of country life. More a manual.

Goodness is subjective.

Indeed. Hasn’t he shown me.

Or they just don't leave it in the kiln long enough.

x

Kiln drying for firewood is a con. It dries the ends so aggressively that the xylem collapse. The water in the middle can't escape. Or so I see the world anyway.

Come Dine With Me, Arbtalk Special.

I’d sooner eat the food I cook in a uranium pan over a dung brazier than the chemical shit catering products in jars that you warm up.

Opposite here. A little encouragement goes a long way.