woodyguy

Good point. But we have to make judgements from scientifically evaluated evidence. So steroid injections were standard treatment 3 years ago and now aren't, because they generally lead to a worse outcome and can weaken the tendon permanently which as a heavy manual worker is very bad news. The evidence therefore says - Best avoided.

I think the "they are harmful in the long term" is perhaps the relevant bit. Quote below - In most situations, steroid injections should not be used as, although they lead to very good results in the short term (six weeks), they are harmful in the longer term (more than three months). In one study, short-term success rates were greater than for physiotherapy or a wait-and-see policy, but in the long term (one year), success rates were greater for both physiotherapy and a wait-and-see policy than for injections.

This info leaflet explains why steroid injections are not currently advised Epicondylitis - Lateral and Medial | Doctor | Patient.co.uk

Hydrocortisone used to be used widely for injection for tennis elbow. As someone else posted though it has been found to delay healing so isn't generally used now. 95% of tennis elbows heal in about 18 months whatever you do. Ice, nsaid gels, massage, stretching, supports and physio all help. So I'd ice it, go for physio and probably avoid the injection. Changing working practices can help but is often difficult.

Jonny, if we're being pedantic, "however the meaning "gram-negative" refers to the polarity of a bacteria" isn't right. Gram stains identify fundamental differences in the cell wall of bacteria and have nothing to do with "polarity" which bacteria don't have. Tony rightly states that they are gram negative bacteria not fungi- so no confusion there.

Delivering on a scooter. Now that I would like to see.

Thanks for video. Shocking to watch what people will do but great to see safe alternatives offered.

You don't need a license for coppice.

Yes I suppose it is moisture going into the room. But with dry central heating and problems from that, a few grams of water a day is quite a good idea. I dry 9 logs at a time and have done it all winter with no problems. Drying a small number quickly doesn't seem to be a problem.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting article. Feel free to post more!

Now I'm really jealous. Would love to have Otters locally but none so far. Beautiful creatures.

I'm surprised at that result. My Esse stove gets wood to about 100c sitting on top, unlike clearview and others that are too hot and char it. I can dry 10inch hardwood logs from 51% to 20% in four days on the top (measured properly by weight not a moisture meter). To be fair I've not tried oak.

Oak is naturally rot resistant if you only use the heart wood. The sapwood rots quickly. I'm not sure that 2 inch thick is any good at all. May well crack and split as they dry at this thickness. I'd make them at least 6 inches personally. Soaking them in wood preservative will help but better would be just to use the heart wood. They will get very slippery though whatever you do.

Most people who have a knee replacement are happy with their mobility and improved pain. The main thing you don't say is how old you are? Hips will often last 20 years if you have one at 65years. Knee replacements however wear out much more quickly and if you have one at 50 (and are more active) will wear out even quicker. So generally people are encouraged to delay having it done so that it won't wear out before they become immobile through old age. A worn out knee replacement when you are 60 is bad news. Climbing trees and heavy work aren't within the normal expectations of a knee replacement. Difficult decision but maybe discuss it with your GP and if still keen an Orthopaedic surgeon?

Sorry if not clear. We have the right of way on our deed from 160 yrs ago and this right has been exercised daily over that period. That makes us feel safe that we won't lose those rights. The trees overhang the railway line so the rail company will maintain them. I agree that if it wasn't a railway ie just gardens or fields then nobody would maintain them. Just making the point that not all unregistered land is an issue. May just be the way that works best for people locally.

I tested mine by cutting down a rowan tree which I have to assume had constant moisture throughout the small length of trunk used for the tests. I then measured the moisture with a moisture meter. I cut a log and split it into four. From this log I cut a small kindling size piece, weighed it accurately and then dried it on the stove top at 100c for a couple of days until it got no lighter. This gave me an accurate reading for the wood's moisture when cut which was 51%. The meter was reading 37% at this time for the same wood. I then weighed the three logs and calculated the dry weight from the 51% reading. I dried these for several weeks and then split them to test with the meter. I seem to remember (no figures to hand) that when the meter was saying 20% internal fresh split surface, the actual weight showed a moisture of 36%. I was shocked as I expected it to be a small difference say 2-3% but this meant that I could be selling logs with 36% moisture as fully seasoned. I now when I split logs mark the Target weight on a couple of them and put a big cross on the end. I stack them with the others and after a few months, weigh these and when they achieve target weight then I know they are seasoned to 20%. There is a massive difference in the stove between a true 20% log and one that the moisture meter says is 20% but is actually 36%. I'd be fascinated for you to repeat the test as your meter and method might be slightly different.

Varieties of hazel are only really used for garden production of hazel nuts. If you have grey squirrels then they will eat all the nuts anyway unless you net them. You can also buy hazel bare root or container for 35p but you will spent several pounds on a named Cob variety. So just buy hazel and forget the nuts.

The only reliable moisture meter is your kitchen scales!

Woodworks, as a scientist myself I would agree with your wife, let it run. There is no fault with the design which is perfect. The only way to improve it would have been to do several editions of each number ie 5 logs at number 1,2 and 3 etc. This would have made it more accurate but wasn't necessary. If you really want to put the cat amongst the pigeons, look at how accurate your moisture meter is. You have correctly used weight for this series of experiments. I tried similar with weight vs moisture meter readings and found it was pretty much a joke with readings bearing little relation to actual moisture (even if freshly split). They did go in the right direction, ie drier wood by weight read less on the meter, but when my meter said 20% it was actually 34%.

just for Justme's benefit. this would be of real value if it was the same size and same species - true. That's why it is two experiments. The first 3 rounded pieces are the same species and the same size ie properly controlled experiment. The second experiment (4+5) is the same species to the same size just one cut across the grain and one ripsawed with the grain. So it fulfills everything you quite rightly wanted it to be.

Excellent result. Really glad you posted this. So if it was 50% moisture when cut and needed to get down to 20% to be burnt, then 30% loss, so 70% is the line we need. The end grain cut got there in 4 days and the side grain in 8 days, so twice as fast losing from end grain than side of grain. Moral - cut your logs short rather than thin. The bark is shocking and shows why splitting logs however small makes sense. Interesting that none of the those three are down to the 70% line yet. Nice to see a fully valid test which fully addresses the issues that we were discussing - respect!

All fair comment but I would be very careful. As mentioned, clay soils that shrink are much more of a problem and the type of foundations you have will also affect safe distance. I previously had a big weeping willow 10m from my house and the insurance company weren't happy and neither were the various viewers when we came to sell. I agree that less than 25m is safe if kept an eye on, but many of those you've planted are going to cause problems in the future, especially when you come to sell. I then had to remove it before I could sell.

Remember that not everybody who has a right to register land may wish to take up that right as it carries responsibilities. Us and the neighbouring 4 houses have a strip of land along the bottom of our gardens. We have rights of access over it. But it has large trees and borders a railway line. So registering that land would then carry responsibilities for the trees. So we leave it unregistered, exercise our rights but the railway company maintains the trees. Best of both worlds. I suspect that there must be lots of bits of land like this, often blocked in that were never claimed.

Paul, having visited the amazing Oak forest to the North of the auvergne this summer, I know what you have there. In that they have the biggest oak forest in Europe and grow on a 200 year cutting cycle!!! In the UK we have american oak mildew which weakened oaks and stops them regenerating within oak woods. In France the light is stronger and I was awe struck by just how densely the oak saplings grow. In the Auvergne they go through first with a bill hook at about 10 year old and cut 90% of them off at waist height. How they walk through and keep track of where they are I don't know as they are about 6 inches apart. Then again in 10 years they go through with a chain saw and cut to about a 2 metre spacing. Eventually after 100+ years they end up with large oaks perhaps 30-40 feet apart that then mature at 200 years. As they have produced oak commercially for building since early 19th century and the whole massive forest is divided into 1km squares all of it managed like this, I suspect they know a thing or two about oak growing.

Interesting question. The birch and oak means that it was probably clear felled some years back and has self-regenerated ie nothing planted. Because it is an isolated fragment it will be very slow for extra species to establish. If your kids wish to play in it then brambles are a good thing to get rid of. At this time of year, get a bill hook, a thick pair of gardening gloves and remove them. If you pull on them, the roots are fairly lose at this time, and you can cut through them with a bill hook. The new shoots are a pretty pink and you will remove the whole plants. Yes don't remove them all, but most for the kids to play. Get an old bill hook off ebay not the modern rubbish that don't hold their edge. You can also use this to cut back the few that get away or you leave. As to new species, you will need to plan what you wish to plant. Buy a few Tubex tree guards, 75cm long with stake off ebay. Go to cheviot trees for small quantities of alder, field maple, hornbeam, hazle, wild cherry, sweet chestnut, beech and small leaved lime. All of these will establish if you thin the birch a little. Look at the oaks and remove those that are crowded or crossed or deformed. You are aiming to produce trees that will be good to live with for the next 50 years+. So decide your management plan, but it may well include increasing the range of species, making it more fun for the kids and planting a succession for when the birches will all die from old age. Have fun and feed back. Please feel free to ignore any of this, but I've got the same challenge for a 7 acre wood of birch and oak so I have given this some thought and even a little experience.