StephF

Just read previous comments, yes we have found you have to edit a new site as the spelling can be really wrong, dont they have spellcheck?

Very tidy - we are updating ours and I hope it looks as good as yours.

FC and all other sellers of roundwood, eg 3 metre lengths sell by tonne, and charge 20% vat, even though we firewood sellers have to sell by cubic metres and 5% vat! It is around £35 tonne at the moment, but can vary slightly and depends who's selling.

Strong gusting winds, and sporadic light showers, but bright and sunny.|Looks a better week ahead for work than last week..

Recently stuff has been stolen in broad daylight from farms/yards (northumberland) when people are out at work, at night we hear EVERYTHING, dogs bark and we dont miss a strange vehicle, believe me any unknown faces and trucks on lanes get clocked and number plates written down and reported to police (who people personally know) by us and all our neighbours! You are very visible in a rural area if you are not local, in a built up area you blend in and no one notices you...you'd be suprised how much CCTV there is nowadays, farmers are getting sick of all this thieving of stock and machines. . and will invest in cameras etc. Hope this turns up, heard yesterday some gear nicked from saw mill near Hexham was found near Newcastle YES!!! maybe the same thieves?

I thought you needed a license to handle adders as they are a protected species? there have been a lot around this year, seen 3 dead ones on forest tracks, they must snooze on the hot stones? Neighbouring farmer wont walk her dogs once warmth in sun as she says there are so many coming out to bask in heat, a terrier got bitten recently and died near us, its owner had not realised it had been bitten until too late.

This sounds a good idea Paul.

Hi, Look up Mike Horsecroft, he is into bikes as well..

I missed this, what a machine, could buy one just for sheeting up eh!

Thanks, been having a look at these, how wide do you cut them?

Think we'l give the toptex a try, not found anything that does'nt 'pool' water, especially after a lot of snow! Tried some black polythene sheeting before, (used for damp proof membrane) lasted 2 years. The latest stuff is made from recycled material and was rubbish, ripped before it was on logs and useless after a strong wind.

Been checking out the fabric for covering logs/hay etc on website you've listed, looks good, easy to use, but quite expensive if it only lasts 3 years. Looked at silage covers etc, they are all ££££'s! Find tarps very heavy/difficult to manhandle over large stacks, but do have several. available.

Lost some info I had on material you can buy to cover timber stacks. I was going to buy something different to keep log stacks dry (er!) this winter. Seen threads in past but searches coming up blank, so can anyone help? Where /who sells covers for timber stacked in 25tonne+ piles? What are the best covers you've tried, stuff we bought last year disintergrated 1st use.. Thanks for any help here.

Good Hardwood sales, customers getting sorted before next winter, suits us fine.

Welcome to forum, what does grow in Shetland out of interest? we are completely surrounded by sitka here in Kielder, they grow like weeds which is good as a massive demand for biomass and pulp! I think they are responsible for the dreaded midges though...

Sorry I have not replied to this! You may not have any blackcurrants by now. but frozen ones work as well, recipe for cordial: (Recipe from very old Book but works well and keeps) crush fruit, can use a fruit press, I just mashed them up. Allow to drain in a scalded (pillow case) jelly bag over night. Add 3/4 1b sugar (sorry recipe only in lbs & ozs) per 1 pint juice Stir until dissolved completely. Pour into clean bottles to 1.5 inches of top, dont screw tops on just place on top. Stand bottles in a very large pan, I put newspaper on bottom to protect bottles. Fill to necks with hot water. Bring water to 170 deg farenheight and keep for 30 mins to pasturise the contents. Remove bottles and screw tops on tightly as soon as possible. This is amazing and tastes better than Ribena, keeps for a long time as well. dilute with water soda etc to taste. Raise temperature to 170deg farenheight there are loads of recipes for Cassis on internet, I just crushed berries, marintated in vodka 2-3 months. strained, added sugar and bottled.

Dave Hornby gave up the CS 38/9 some years ago, believe he is still training though not assessing the chainsaw courses..

did you use the 'Splitta' to do that load?

I've been trying to contact Rob to organise refresher Cs 38/9 + others last week, he is very difficult to get hold of! but if you do a course with him he is an excellent trainer. See you have his number already, his company is 'Landbased Training Ltd' based in sunderland. keep trying, we did some training with him quite recently. PS if you do get hold of him or anyone else let me know as I have some more refresher training to organise asap...and we are very near Hexham.

I only ever get 3-4 carrier bags of berries, so not sure what I'd do with 500kilos!. Got an easy recipe for cordial, tastes just like Ribena and needs no cooking, uses a lot of berries up in one go. Crush the berries, strain juice, add sugar and disolve then stand bottles in pan of water and heat to 70 deg to pasturise. Keeps well, but uses a lot of sugar- have quantities if you want them.. Also I have good/easy recipe for Cassis (Vodka), but vodka is expensive, although you could sell the Cassis? it is delicious. Making jam and selling it?

Always busy with something, depends on time of year, rare to have 'quiet times'! Generally you can say the firewood gets started for serious 1st sept > end April, depending on how cold it is, and hedges seem to get done in July/August, tree work can be quiet June, which is when we are trying to get 600 loads logs cut for next winter and thankfully it is dry at the moment so doing well! Still getting out to do tree work 1-2 days week to which breaks the monotony of the logs, oh and we are re-building No 1 softwood shed this month....

Strimmer damage, see this all the time when surveying trees in school playing fields, where large machines and strimmers are used.

That is an unusual one, saw it in Northumberland 3-4 years ago outside my back dooron some flowers!, 1st time I'd ever seen one and actually thought it was a humingbird(never heard of the Humingbird moth back then), which was consusing as I know they dont live in Kielder forest!!!

This story was reported on look north news late last night, guy working in border forestyesterday had a tree fall on him, was air lifted to RVI newcastle by air ambulance, so he may not have been killed. lets hope not.