Peasgood

Did you read @Stere's link?

It is so feckin hard to know what the hell to believe. A quote in the vid supposedly from Mark Twain. If you do not read the newspapers you are uninformed, if you do read the newspapers you are misinformed.

This link will give you an idea what you are up against. https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/openreach-over-reaching-their-authority.354117/

Well worth watching. A good view of one of the versions of who are the players and who are the played. (spoiler alert: we are the played)

I would expect your missing door to match the one you do have in appearance, just sized to fit the hole.

I can't see it working in the way you suggest but how about heating it with gas instead? My understanding is you heat the oven and then use that residual heat to bake the bread, there are some pretty big gas burners out there that might be able to do it instead of wood fires. Chuck a stick in with the dough for that authentic flavour.

Wait until you have to sign up and pay for the drain cover police scheme.

If you took the tin off carefully by hand someone would buy it off you, again might be different in NI but I doubt it. They would probably buy any substantial roof timbers if they are anything other than rotten, looks like they should be ok under that tin. The larger rocks should be re used as you have suggested you will, the old thatch/sod/turf roof should either spread on the land and disappear or maybe even burn. The more modern extension roof would be ok for hardcore somewhere, the drive for example and maybe the wall material too depending what it is. I would minimise anything into a skip purely for the price and maximise reusing materials for the same reason.

Personally I would do everything I could to keep it.

That is the worrying thing isn't it. In Mum's case she had me and my brother to sort things out for her and to care for her etc (as I believe family should where they can) but what about the poor souls that do not have that backup there for them? Plenty of folk could fall into that category for all sorts of reasons, simply distance can easily be the issue. Brother lives close to Mum's and I am 10 miles away, couldn't have done much if I was 100 miles away or even abroad. Brother and myself are self employed, no employer would have been able to let us have the time out we have taken. We can afford the time out too, we have to but that is definitely not the case for all. Things have been a bit crap alright but we have also been incredibly lucky in lots of ways in that we have been able to cope for the most part. It was the stress of dealing with "the system" that put a major strain on us. Brother did end up in hospital with suspected heart attack/stroke (turned out not to be fortunately) and I really don't think I was far behind.

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I don't actually know what their role is but I get the impression that you would normally be assigned a McMillan nurse once diagnosed with cancer. That little detail never happened no matter what their role was to be. Due to Covid I think was the excuse used but we certainly never had any contact with them. The hospital actually hands you a McMillan booklet with numbers to ring, I rang them hoping to get some info of what to expect, not really what to expect off them but more what happens next. Mum was on chemo so was her hair going to fall out, that sort of thing. They basically said read the book, fair enough but would have liked a bit more support than that. Only other thing was they kept saying "and how does that make you feel?" I am a practical person, I can deal with practical things, I am probably like most blokes and try to completely refuse to even consider how it makes me feel because what difference would that make. As for Marie Curie, was told they were only involved in the last 48 hours of life. Well how the feck would I know when that 48 hours was going to start?

One thing I would say we got in great quantities was equipment. If you need a zimmer frame, commode, bath aid (electric seat to lower into bath), hospital bed etc they are there straight away, often two of them and often without asking/wanting them. The cynic in me says they are bringing £5 zimmer frames and charging the Gov £50. I shouldn't be ungrateful because they did help a great deal but I was quite surprised at how readily available these things were. The service there was Amazon Prime type service.

There are widespread comments about how difficult it is to see a GP. To illustrate just how bad it is you should go on the BUPA website and see if you can book a face to face visit to a private GP. These are offered by BUPA at £70 for 15 minutes, only one I can find available is 180 miles away at 7am a week on Tuesday. People say why don’t you go private for treatment then. Try it, they are fully booked and it is not an option

The thread title and the first few posts need tidying up to reflect the help offered with navigating the care system. If/when you enter that world of pain you will be grateful for any scrap of assistance you can get! Having been through it of late I can say it is the awful topping on a nightmare experience. I am left with a very dim view of the NHS, most especially GPs and their absence/reluctance to see any patients. The hospital system is mostly dysfunctional despite the efforts of some of the people in there. There are some wonderful people seemingly trying to do their absolute best but there are also a high number that are the complete opposite and a big number that although presumably trained in biology would not know their arse from their elbow. I hear rumours that McMillan offer a great deal of support, as far as my experience goes it is along the same lines as mermaids are beautiful and unicorns are magical. Haven't seen any of them so wouldn't know. Haven't tried to contact mermaids or unicorns so maybe I am being unjust putting them in the same bracket. Spoke to the GP about palliative care to be told they don't offer any as they can't get the staff. One of the district nurses did offer to arrange physio when Mum was no longer able to get out of bed, of all the shit we have had to deal with over the last 6 months or so that was the one that really broke me. I don't know how it can be so cruel as being told Mum has a fortnight at best and the next day being offered physio. I am a strong believer of not relying on the state for much at all and that you have to look after your family but a bit more help would have been appreciated. Me and my brother have had to deal with things that went way beyond decency and dignity. It has been very hard work and I genuinely think it very nearly killed me and my brother in the process. Anyway, Mum had 24 hour care from her family, we made sure she was able to stay at home where she wanted to be and passed away this morning. I'm sure you good people will pass on your messages to me and I don't want to seem ungrateful by saying I struggle with the emotional bit that such things bring on. Instead you should prepare yourselves for when you have to deal with it, either for yourself or for your loved ones. For something as basic as this you would think the process was simple, it isn't.

Thank you

Water company. Here it is Waterplus, they are a company that you have to experience in order to start to grasp just how incompetent they are. I don’t think the English language is actually able to convey how bad they can be.

Things have changed then because that will want to inspect the layout right into the property. Mostly to make sure it is deep enough and insulated enough to be sure it can't freeze. The standard of inspection will vary and every inspector seems to want something different to the last one.

Could be worse, my Mum has little to no care other than what myself and my brother provide. She has needed constant 24 hour care since Christmas and a fair bit right back to September. We are both self employed and no pay while not at work. Between us we could pay for private care but there is non available. Haven't even seen a McMillan nurse that so many folk praise. It has been a bloody tough time for all of us.

You could cut that outward branch off just above the top of the piece of wood, not perfect but would help. A bit more involved but you could plant a rootstock and graft it into the existing tree to permanently replace the piece of wood. The tree is a bit challenged by the fence and the house and will always grow toward the light.

Ivy Close

And the English version?

Very good advice.

If badgers, fly tippers, trespassers and uncontrolled dogs were put on the general license a great many of this country's problems would be solved overnight. I don't have a problem with footpaths so much as the self important twats that use them. I don't mean the ramblers as they are very nearly always polite, courteous and stick to the path. We regularly had massive amounts of kids traipsing through doing their DoE awards, they were fine as they generally stuck to the paths, didn't leave any litter and were always very polite. We did have a bunch through from a school in Stockport that I would prefer never to see again but have to accept that a day away from wherever they lived most likely improved their lives a great deal. The ones I really cannot stand are the ones that just wander anywhere other than on the footpath usually with a dog three fields away from them running amok. They are the ones I would shoot first, most especially before they even got chance to tell me that they were good friends with owner and he had given them permission ( I am the owner and I have never set eyes on the twats in my life!)