SteveA

Haha! Look forwards to seeing your squirrel, um, squirrel thing. Maybe it'll look like something from Lord of the Rings? cheers, steve

Haha! How odd... that's exactly what my partner said. You could be onto a winner there! cheers, steve

My thoughts are that it doesn't look like a serious "professional" carving but it certainly has a great character .... I bet young kids would love it, so maybe worth asking for their thoughts on it?.... cheers, steve

Hi Jon, our vets did our dogs balls & microchipped him for free... it's a scheme setup for farm dogs. So if you have a smallholding/ farm holding number you might be able to get it free too. We're in Wales but maybe the scheme runs in England too? cheers, steve

I know what you are saying Jon, doesnt seem right. But so I'm told it can help to stop them running off so much.... looking for some good lady time. Although our Jack Russell seems pretty content with pinning the chickens down - naughty boy!! cheers, steve

Our Pickle is 9 months old and recently had his balls removed.... will that stop him humping the chickens? (and everything else) ....I doubt it. cheers, Steve

Nooooo!

Read what Renewable John has said above, that pretty much covers it. There's been a lot of research and testing done on Rocket Mass Heaters in the USA.... a big mistake that a lot of people have made is by making the burn chamber out of metal, which may work well initially but every one has failed in the long term/ regardless of the thickness of metal. The Stick Stove looks like it's made out of metal. Try reading a bunch of stuff here for starters:http://www.permies.com/forums/f-125/rocket-stoves cheers, steve

testing testing .... Working fine on ipad2 running on iOS 9.2.1

Not on His watch. (cap H).

Ref: "God data package" .....does it ever lose connection?

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I particularly like the sound of work slippers! cheers, Steve

Maybe he's gone for a poo?....

130ish

Nearly as super as a Natanoko.

I stuffed some new insoles into my rigger wellies and they lasted about 4 days. Any recommendations for the most squishy comfortable and long lasting insoles? cheers, steve

We've had a couple of MacBookPro's fry their logic boards. They are great when they are working though! Apple customer service ain't what it used to be; especially if you are out of the warranty period. Now I just use an ipad2 for emails & internet stuff. It's good on battery but not any good for doing serious work. The ipadPro looks interesting but also a ripoff. What can I suggest?.... Spoon carving!! cheers, steve

Ditto to all of that

I've not been reading all of this thread either... have had flu all week and not been able to concentrate on much. cheers, steve

It doesn't look like it's going to get any easier for teachers; what with more pupil assessment details being put on their workload and something like 50% of teachers being expected to leave the profession over the next 3 years.... putting even more pressure/ stress on the teachers (and the kids) that remain. The well-being for children (and teachers) seems to be the last thing on the agenda. cheers, steve

Good man! Maybe us parents should start fining schools for taking our kids on non-curriculum day trips and holidays. ....and to top that we should check up on teacher/ headteacher/ local Government and MP's attendance records. Equal rights for kids! My partner has been quite involved in the Parents Want a Say thing: you may find this helpful: "If your child's attendance is higher than 80% I would tell the HT and the council that issues a FPN that they have failed to apply the statutory test when calculating attendance rate. Part 19 of the 2012 High Court ruling of London Borough of Bromley versus "C" makes it clear that the entire academic year must be taken into consideration when calculating attendance rate and that a holiday during term time does not automatically mean a failure of regular attendance. The court case is here: London Borough of Bromley v C [2006] EWHC 1110 (Admin) (07 March 2006) This guy’s authority tried to fine him and he challenged them and won - the kids had 70% attendance" cheers, steve

That's so true. My school year was the first to do GCSE's.... 6 months into our final exam year we were told that the school hadn't been following the right curriculum and all the course work we'd done was of little to no use!... so it was back to square one. As a result we had to squeeze a whole years work into half the time. When the GCSE results came in they were comparable with other schools. I'm a great believer that to pass exams you just (mostly) need life skills on how to apply yourself. cheers, steve

Fair point about schools providing a lesson plan.... and it would be useful to have some spare paper available for lighting the camp fire. Not sure if it's the same in the USA?.... but here in the UK holiday costs are waaaay more expensive during school holiday times & a lot of families cannot afford a holiday /unless it's outside of those times. Cheers, steve

Doesn't sound like a lot, but it is for parents on a very low/ or no income.... - Parents can be fined £60, potentially rising to £120, if paid later. - They also face a £2,500 fine, a community order, or up to three months in prison, if prosecuted. But also worth keeping in mind it's a lot cheaper to book holidays in term times because the holiday companies inflate their prices massively during school holidays.... so it often works out much cheaper to save on your holiday costs and just pay the fine. Regardless; I wholeheartedly disagree with fining parents that want to go on a holiday with their kids for just a couple weeks. cheers, steve

I think taking a family holiday is one of the best educational tools for kids & also for their well-being. It's good to see "Parents Want a Say" standing for their rights (after Councils instructed schools which led to a breach of the regulations)..... a lot of parents were fined and even more given the wrong advice. Term-time holidays victory claimed by campaigners in Wales - BBC News We wouldn't hesitate to take a term time holiday (although probably not around exam years). What are your thoughts on getting the balance of family holiday/ school times?.... Cheers, steve