pgkevet

I bought 10 MP seeds from ebay last September... my reading suggests fresh seeds important.. nothing special i did.. just small pots of B&Q multipurpose and stuck them on the conservatory windowsill...7 germinated. I did notice an ebay ad last week for bulk seedlings of MP 100 (One hundred) 11-12cm high Monkey Puzzle Trees Environmental Christmas gift | eBay I do quite fancy planting a hundred or so on a spare patch here..but since statistically I won't be around when they get to any decent production - and they really wouldn't get to being planted out until a few years old and able to compete with their environment - so I'd need to start cheap with seeds (if anyone knows of a fertile tree (pair/group)) at pennies per seed....?

It strikes me as reasonable from the general pet insurance company standpoint to be limiting their cover to their target demographic. For working dogs their third party liability ought to be covered by the business insurance. A point you may not have considered is that if he is taken to work as a 'guard dog' and you are self employed then you should be entitled to claim his food as a business expense..and indeed his uninsured vets bills (vaccines and the like and the insurance excess).

This is not a simple situation amd there may be many conflicting factors. At the simple end of the scale a patient that has been stable on an anticonvulsent medication may be developing liver or kidney probelms that affect the way that drug is metabolised..and higher serum levels could easily be responsible for sedation or confusion. Or it may be more complicated in the sense of developing other unrelated conditions that are responsible for the changes you are seeing. One of the dangers of being the vet that sees the same patient for many years is that one assumes/accepts the problems as they arise whereas a fresh pair of eyes might take a more dispassionate look. Certainly this dog needs a complete review and if funds allow then referral to a neurologist for a second opinion.

..visit was only in October...first letters and calls from me were around August and then we had a communication problem with my move. Planning officer couldn't have been nicer although locals tell me he has a rep for being a B. He even made the point that if folk ask 'for guidance/advice' then there's no reason for them to get stung or pay professionals. Perhaps Karma was making up for the troubles I had before <s>

I'd wonder if it's worth giving the planning office a ring and asking to chat to someone about what they are concerned about and the how's and why's of this? In my past life I went bull-headed at the local planners over expansion and ended up with strings of rejections, made the ultimate faux pas of storming into the planning offices and shouting out "Just tell me who the eff to bribe' - none of which got me anywhere until a close friend in the planning game went in and had a long chat with the department and soothed and smoothed things over. This time around with my new hobby farm I rang the local planners and had several chats about what I wanted to achieve and why - all advisory as to whether I'd need to make an application and what they might/might not approve etc. It cost me nothing, they were helpful to the point of making a site visit and longer chat - found me solutions to my problem within permitted development rules and backed it up with a letter to that effect.

I've had a go at carving some simple stuff in the round with hand chisels..but that is simply stunning!

I've been a bit busy to update this thread recently but while I was clearing some scrub today I remembered this story and thought I'd share. I'm going to call it 'experience'. Way, way back in time or in the dim and distant or, for the kiddies, 'Once upon a time'.. I shared a flat with Tony. We were both in the University Rowing team and both fit and hungry students but also both quite naive about life and looking after ourselves. One evening we heard about a party that was supposedly going to be a seriously boozy affair with game young ladies in attendance. Now we were young and inexperienced and a little shy so the bonus of booze to loosen our inhibitions and, more importantly that of the game young ladies, wasn't something to pass up. We were always short of money and always training so we needed to think ahead in terms of a quick, easy cheap meal we could make after training and leave us enough cash to arrive with some booze. Aged folk will remember the classic Watney's Party Seven we could pool our funds on. But what to eat first? I came up with the idea of meatballs and rice. It would be quick and simple - canned Cambell's meatballs and plain boiled - cheap, tasty and a good booze lining to get the ladies mellow while we were still 'functional'.. I went shopping. The meatballs were easy. I figured that the average portion sold is good for a family of four. That sort of quantity could just about be enough for the two of us but when I saw the weight on the meatball can then it was clear to this athlete that we were going to need a can each. I played safe with the rice..just one one pound bag. Yes. I do know the mistake - now, but back then it looked so obvious. I put the meatballs on a low heat, chucked the pound bag of rice in another saucepan and added some water. A little while later i had to add more water - and again. Soon I had to split the rice into a second saucepan, then a third and even into the frying pan. That rice just grew and grew and grew..and grew. I do admit that it looked like quite a lot of rice. When it was ready for washing through to loose the sticky it ended up filling a whole large washing up bowl and I was pushed to find room in there to stir in the two cans of meatballs. 'Dinner's ready, Tone!' Neither of us had been brought up to leave food on a plate but it got quite difficult towards the end to shovel the last few mouthfulls down. For those that remember 'Cool Hand Luke' and the boiled eggs, well he had it easy. We were so full that breathing was getting hard which wasn't the bit we had planned on. As I had said we were young and fit and within a half hour or so figured we could start to move a bit and even stand up and might not be too late for the main event - Party! It was an ucomfortale trip across London's tube network to the target flat but training helped us forge ahead. It was worth it. The Party was rowdy, thoroughly wamred up at the late hour and the game young ladies looked suitable lubricated as indeed did everyone else. Dancing wasn't gping to be possible and Tony's groaning wasn't going to be wingman support so I headed for a dim corner with a sofa to ease the belly cramps and sat down. Moments later an attractive young lady sat down next to me and handed me a pint. She surely matched the form of one of the game young ladies I'd heard so much about and the forward way she leant up against me with her pert pair left me unable to think of anything suitable to say: so I took a long pull on the proffered pint. She must have known something in the way she gave a gently rub on my tummy and I hastily took another long gulp of beer. But that hand didnlt stay rubbing my tummy for long. I took an even bigger gulp of beer. At this point perhaps we need to image quite was happens when half a pound of rice is boiled, mixed with a 16 ounce can of Cambells meatballs, placed in a huge ballon inside an abdomen and then rehydrated further with 12 ounces of beer... If you haven't figured it out then what happens is you struggle to swallow, fail and vomit rice down both nostrils and sneeze it into your companions cleavage. Apparently that's a passion-killer...

Tables with attached benches are a personal hate (not wishing to offend).. i consider then heightist because at 6' 8" I can never get my knees under there!

The only 2-stroke carbs i play with are on my petrol helicopter models..and repeat experience has shown that carb cleaners are as likely to soften oily sludge and move it as they are to clean it right out. We usually keep a spare new carb handy: if swapping for the new carb solves the problem then, yes, rebuild or (better) chuck the old one: those walbro carbs are about £36 and a rebuild kit costs £12.50 and doesn't always solve the issue. If the new carb makes no difference then carry on hunting for the real cause..commonly an air leak under it's manifold or header or in the crank case... I muts admit i was suprised at the price quoted for new 200 carbs for this saw. ..just saw the crap in the gauze filter comment. The screen in my carbs is a known blockage too.. we pick out that tiny round gauze disc, cook it glowing with a lighter and pop it back..works better than just trying to blow through to burn any filtered clunk rubbish off

..at least it didn't take long to re-assemble the rest and works..even better the cord recoil is now better tensioned than before and i've got yesterday's job finished. I think i'll invest in an alcohol reward tonight :-) ..now to get today's chores sorted...

I'm sure she would..but I bought the land to be able to walk through it and enjoy her too. At least some pathways....

..but not what you think :-) Late morning and I dragged the rough cutter/land clearer across a couple of hundred yards of boggy garden to a dry area I've been working at to clear big lumpy tussocks of grass..the sort of thing you have to go over about a dozen times with the engine threatening to stall - or stalling and yet another pull start..slow work for this old man .. two hours yesterday and I was wiped! So having dragged the cutter across, primed and gave a yank on the cord.. and it snapped. One of those days.. ..drag it back across the boggy bit to the tool barn. ..fire up compressor and blow it clean ..work out how the darn thing comes apart. ..yeah, a non standard nut size..the one socket not in the kit! ..dig about to find where the heck I might have put that..found. ..dismantle..retrieve rest of cord. ..No, I haven't got any that thickness in my supplies. ..drive to the nearest village. ..hardware store No1 - closed ..hardware store No2 - 'We'll have some next wdnesday" ..start to drive to next town.. ..stop at agricutural machine place on the way - Yea! He has some..gives me a couple of meters freebie.. ..drive home ..undo the reel holder - carefully...but.. Sprrroooiiiinnngg...as a huge coil of spring goes dancing across the barn.. ..2 hours later I take a break from trying to fight the darned thing back in... ..coffee ..1 and a half hours later I take a break from trying to fight the darned thing in ..supper ..2 hours in front of the telly fighting the darned thing in.. Success! ..not the most productive day..

Thanks for all the comments. I managed to force my way through to the top of that section today ..sweating buckets and puffing by the time I got there :-(... ..the top has a clearing clear of brambles..just died back bracken..so now I'm thinking if I can widen the access and clear the way to winch up some gear then I might be able to use the landclearer with gravity on my side. That's going to have to wait though...ground is still too boggy to get a tractor across the fields to that slope without ploughing huge furrows..

The majority of trees are silver birch and ash... not really trees that close a canopy enough to exclude light? As for trying to use any brushcutter upwards on a 45 deg slope...age has probably caught up with me for that... I like the pig idea..surely by 12 year old trees they'd cope with pigs?? Plan B would be just to chop some zigzags through so i can enjoy that section...

I was wondering about pigs..will they shift the huge brambles too? I know of some pigs needing rescue that could have a working home...

Interesting to see a regulation that appears to contradict itself - and probably invalidates itself in so doing. According to that wodd burning owners are going to have to collect??

My predecessor here had planted a few acres of woodland..blocks of slver birch, ash and oak mostly. This question is for the hilly field..runs at 45 degree slope and it's thick with neglected bramble and bracken. Now that it's died back over winter it's still all but impossible to wade through without chopping as you go..and the tree spacing is about 2 metres. How do folk cope with clearing that undergrowth? Even spraying would be a mare to try and cut pathways through to get to do it. Chainsaw one's way through the brambles?..I've tried machete's and brush cutters and hedge-type cutters and trying to work uphill (can't start from the top down) with any of those has been more work than results. I've done best on flatter areas clearing brambles with the chainsaw and then mulching the base down with a land clearer..still hard work but gets there..just don't see that working on the steep slope? Sorry.. should have added the trees are about 10-12 years old.

Front dewclaws do serve a purpose in grip on downslopes and gripping chewing items BUT they can be a liability around kids, tights and so forth when the pooch is jumping up for attention or play. Hanging, loose back dewclaws are a liability to the dog although they are a breed requirement for show in some..double dewclaws on the back of pyrenean mountain dogs! Removal during other surgeries is the easy answer. Cutting ordinary claws: 'theoretically' you can push the claw forwards and trim it level with the toe pad BUT in many dogs the claw has grown enough that the quick has also lengthened and, yes, you will get bleeding if you get unlucky cutting them. various styptics will work if that happens. Silver Nitrate sticks have a habit of snapping off just when you needed it, potassium permanganate crystals held on the would work well but any left-over bits will corrode even stainless steel if it gets in the wife's sink. The easiest current answer is probably 'clip stop' which is a brown powder by the tub. Hold a small cotton pad of it over the cut claw - works fast. My approach to the difficult guessing game claw is to start long and nibble back..you can usually get a bit of a clue as to the change in claw centre before you hit blood..and that gives a reference length for dealing with the rest of them. If really in doubt then file them down instead..at least to round off the ends and reduce kiddie damage. Rough ground, gravel quarries and shingle beaches can do the job for you nicely. I had a dream of taking dogs and fit young nurses to brighton for long tax-deducted weekends to get those claws worn down - while I recovered:biggrin:

I suspect the answer is neither. I'd like to see some deep math on all these ideas: where it's properly factored in for the costs of surveys, environmental arguments, maintenance, import of parts, decommisioning costs, loss of land from food production against importing food costs and the like. Timber sounds good and sounds easy to push/convince the public but is likely more being used as a 'theoretical' carbon sequestration to help hit 'targets' than terribly practical on a small island. How many acres per head required to grow energy biomass? I'm guessing around 4 or 5 if we add in other fuel related people uses let alone the costs of harvest etc? If you do that sum then for a population of 65 million the british isles isn't big enough! On wind power: it's variable, unreliable and works on a narrow wind speed, best off shore but then expensive to build and maintain..mostly with imported materials.. Tidal power actually sounds most reliable but the best sites appear to be the one's environmentalists want to preserve. Photovoltaic really gets me on costs of manufacture and then later getting rid of old panels..as i understand it the components lead to toxic waste in manufacture and disposal until more effcicent technologes come alone - and whatever you do the rest of the third world won't cooperate with anyway...nor will the US. the bigger waste and pollution is from manufacture rather than basic human needs..clamouring for an even bigger, wider screen telly every year to watch the same repeated dross. Or wanting a new shiney car with the latest gizmos so you can sit in the same traffic jam looking even cooler than last year. Along with the nonsense of thousands of cargo ships running at a gallon a foot around the globe sellong tat from nation to nation... I'd better stop here..

I'm guessing that has a lot to do with whether one has access to mains gas and what current fireplaces/boiler options there might be. Certainly my old London house with a new gas boiler was easy...no ash to clean, no chimney sweeping etc. Here in Wales I have a central multiburner with back boiler, oil for the rayburn and small fireplaces in several other rooms. Since I have large stores of free wood then I'm burning that but it's a daily chore splitting and carting and cleaning and chucking logs into the burner. On the other hand if I want to work upstairs when it's cold and light a coal fire then that one load of smokeless lasts almost 12 hrs and bought commercially probably costs less than wood would.

Not sure if cuba is one of those countries where foreigners can't buy/own property..like mexico where you have to do it through proxies.. I came close to buying a plantation in jamacia a few years ago...89 acres, half in coffee and half in coconuts and a few acres of citrus, breadfruit etc..included a nice enough 4 bedroom house and was going for 350K. Wifey scuppered that a bit with all sorts of extra demands if we went..that and the amount of general corruption you have to play ball with to actually get to sell a crop unless you plan on sitting on the roadside to try and sell 40 acres of coconuts!...

I'm on the wrong side of 60 and it doesn't stop me planning stuff - either for the future folk or if the worst scenario then selling a 5-10 yr planting still has added land value...or my kids get an inheritance tax free sum and somewhere to scatter old dad...

Agreed if just frittering it. But if soemone has grit and some skills then they could go a long way. Howabout this scenario: 100K and a history of an income and the right credentials. That should allow one to borrow another £2-300K for business reasons. Spend £200K on woodland at (say) £6-10K an acre depending on location..so call that 25 acres and another 50K on equipment secondhand. Any new business (from my own experiences) means you work 7 days a week for the first three years. here you need to work for the man for 4 days a week and yourself the other three. It's not my area to know the return ..but I;d make a good guess that firewood, chip and sawdust at fair prices should give a bnet profit return of 10%..or no-one would own woodland except as a fluffy hobby. Three years and you guys should have that woodland tamed, managed and extra incomes from it's amenity use and survived financially on your other job and a bit of the profit. Re-invest..more woodland with any surplus monies..work more for yourself and less for the man. 3-4 years should see the light at the end of the recession. Even if you fail to make any large money out of the timber then you have done two things ..paid off part of the mortgage, owned more land and it's increased in value. As folk have more disposable income then owning a nice tidy hobby wood becomes a fuzzy thing to do? Yes, you worked like a slave but you could reasonable expect to cash out with 160-170K so 60-70K more than you started with and definately double+ what any safe bond or savings account would have given you..Oh, and a lot of blisters..

Gold pulled back because the price at $1900 was panic nonsense..and I'm glad to say i made a few K around then out of it. If you look at long term gold price charts then it has (rationally) gone up with general inflation. As I said it's not an investment in the sense of making money...that would be gold speculation. It's a safe haven for if/when banks or currencies go under. Extrapolate gold charts of the last several years and the 'true' price should probably be around the $1500-1600 mark. Yes it may well go down if money collapsed but you could bet that whenever money recovered then the gold would regain that value..or at the very worst still have a value. Something you can't say for any shares or even deposits in banks..even those banks supported by a government will lose value if that government just start printing notes and devaluing itself. If investing in gold you do need to make sure it's genuine metal as opposed to paper gold and read and understand the different ways you can do that and their own inherent costs (trade charges and deposit/insurance charges). The other point about gold is that it allows currency trading without currency exchange costs. say you bought in pounds and the pound goes down..then selling in pounds make's more pounds..but you could speculate and sell ina different currency..

I suppose with a fantasy thread it's not suprising that most replies are fantasy <s>.. Fr a real answer i'd make th following points. If you are young enough and still have energy and enthusiasm then become self employed (if not) and roll your sleeves up for yourself. If already self employed then expamd that business! When I was working I always took the opportunity of a recession to remodel the practice, get down and work hard to keep my fees within Joe Public's pocket (longer hours still) and thus be ready with a good client base and modernisation for the end of tha current blip in economy to make the good money once opportunities came back. Investment is a glib phrase to use. £100K doesn't give you enough market spread to play safe with and with the fees charged by investment services the risks are just as much there as with pensions..something most of us have fallen foul to. It was always stated that any investment portfolio should hold about 10% assets in gold. Gold will not grow in size but is the ultimate hedge against a financial meltdown - Yes you can make money by speculating in gold (like any speculation) but that is a secondary feature. Nor will it pay a dividend like shares may. Buy to let properties only make money if you manage them full-time and hard - and do all the maintenance and repairs etc yourself. the heady days when property prices kept climbing so you made loot out of their increased value will not come back for some time - in fact if the global recssion really bites then rent fixing by governments and falling prices make that a riskier venture. Equally money in bonds and deposits are earning less interest than inflation right now - it's a volatile and worrying world out there. I retired last year with a big chunk of money and just keeping that inflation proofed is impossible unless one is prepared to take risks. Not something you want to do with a retirement fund. The only safe investment is in yourself - if you are prepared to graft. there is an old sci-fi phrase TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. So my advice is - if young then use it to help you work harder and earn more. If past working then in this climate buy gold or land. Gold is just a safe haven..land - well they ain't going to be making more of that so it will always have a value. I did both <vbg>