Billhook

Local lad came round last night to tell me that the next door neighbour farmer and friend had died on Monday night. This spooked me more than a bit, but let;s hope that is an end to it. Superstitions about rooks ROOK: Should a group of them leave an area where they have settled, then a human connected with that land is about to die. They are an omen of summer weather to come: if they are high up it will be fine, but low down and it will be cold and wet. Adrian Dangar 12:01AM BST 18 May 2002 Comment There is something about a rookery that is quintessentially English: the reassuring return of the colony each February to rebuild bulky nests; the harsh cawing as the birds wheel in the sky, a sound as familiar as lambs bleating in spring; and the siting of so many ancient rookeries near great country houses, as if to confirm the superstition that these birds breed only where there is money. Unlike the murderous carrion crow, which builds a solitary nest and prefers the eyes of live lambs to leatherjackets and earthworms, the rook is a communal and dignified bird. Both are jet black, with an iridescent sheen of purple and blue. The rook, however, is distinguished by a pale grey patch of skin the size of a sovereign at the base of its beak. And, like jackdaws, magpies and jays, both are members of the corvidae family, renowned for intelligence and cunning. The rook's acumen extends to a sophisticated and well-regulated way of life in clusters of up to several hundred nests, the residents of which must conform for the greater good. Occasionally, a wayward or sick individual is condemned to death by a "rook parliament". In this bizarre avian trial, the entire population of the rookery takes to the sky in a cacophony of cawing and frenetic wingbeats that serve as a prelude to battering the victim to death. Rural superstitions acknowledge the rook's uncanny ability to predict disaster and there have been several instances where a human death has been preceded by similar eerie displays. In at least one of these cases, the birds deserted the nests that had served them for generations and never returned. It may be surprising that anyone should want to kill a bird so shrouded in mystique, yet rook shooting during May is one of the countryside's oldest traditions. At this time of year - some even pinpoint May 13 as being the optimum date - young rooks are clambering out on to swaying branches for the first time. Opinions are divided over the necessity for a cull. Some farmers reason that the damage rooks inflict on seedlings is made up for by their destruction of agricultural pests. However, the annual ritual involving 12-bore shotguns or .22-calibre rifles is eagerly anticipated in many parts of the country and hardly dents a population that is difficult to keep in check once the birds are mature. Provided a rookery is visited just once during this brief season, only a fraction of each year's young will be harvested. The unlucky branchies, as young rooks are sometimes labelled, are often collected to form the main ingredient of rook pie, a country dish that has been around for centuries and even merited a mention in Dickens's Pickwick Papers. Some claim that four and 20 blackbirds baking in a pie are not the songbirds that pull worms from your lawn, but that the nursery rhyme refers instead to rook pie, at that time a staple dish of the poor in spring. Some parts of rural Britain still indulge in this dish. The landlord of the Fox and Hounds in Acton Turville in Gloucestershire, Mad Chico, hosts an annual rook pie night. "I make an extremely moreish pie, with sausage meat, sherry, brandy and spices to complement the rook meat," he says. "It's so delicious I have to set some aside for any regulars that cannot make it." Until recently, the Carrington Arms in Ashby Folville, Leicestershire, held a similar evening for the Quorn Hunt's earth-stoppers. The landlord's recipe of bacon, eggs and rook breasts marinated in milk was so popular that each guest took home a slice of pie in a pot to eat cold the next day. Since the demise of the English elm, ash and sycamore are the preferred choice for rookeries. By the end of summer, the trees that have served as home for a few months are abandoned in favour of roosting sites sometimes many miles from the nursery. But flocks of rooks swelled by survivors from the breeding season endure as an irreplaceable feature of the English landscape. Sponsored

I would wear a dust mask and some eye protection as most parts of the tree are poisonous. At best an irritant but some people suffer more than others with rashes and sore eyes. http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/ http://www.getwoodworking.com/forums/postings.asp?th=2378 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf

We have had a Rookery here forever and last year it was so big that small groups of Rooks set up three more mini Rookeries nearby. Not one nest this year and not even the remains of last years nests I seem to remember the usual huge gathering of Rooks and Jackdaws last Autumn and even some around earlier and there were a few about on the farm. Not seen any dead ones, there is no shooting here and we have not changed any agricultural practice. Anyone else have a similar tale? Superstition says it is a bad omen so perhaps Nicola Sturgeon will be Prime Minister after all!

I have posted this before about a 100 year old skier and ski racer. Lou Bacari. The interviewer's final comment is memorable. " How can I sit in an armchair and say I am too old to do anything when Lou Bacari is hurtling down a mountain somewhere" [ame] [/ame]

My next Sunday sermon will be on the iniquity of politics. Bless you my son

I am not sure about the smoke and mirrors theory. In the real world Billhook is partial to a bit of Scottish smoked salmon which is half the price of Tescos at Lidl. Lot of Karma proverbs from the bible which are appropriate considering the way they have treated suppliers Alleluia! Bible Verses About What Goes Around Comes Around Bible verses related to What Goes Around Comes Around from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance - Sort By Book Order Isaiah 3:11 - Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Matthew 7:12 - Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Galatians 6:7 - Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Proverbs 26:27 - Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. Romans 12:19 - Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 - The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. (Read More...) 1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. John 14:1 - Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Proverbs 22:8 - He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. Hosea 8:7 - For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

I was hoping that one day someone would show me how to do a proper plunge cut!

A vent pipe to an upstairs tank is essential otherwise there will be an explosion!

That incident seemed to be the beginning of a culture of people who were in prominent and highly paid positions, refusing to resign when they have done something wrong. It seems to be a joke now but at the time much damage could have been averted if people had battened the hatches. I remember hearing the woman calling in live saying that her sister was living in Brittany and she was in the middle of a hurricane which seemed to be heading North.

I was thinking that 86" boards meant that it must have been one helluva tree!

I am not sure what to think on the subject based on what happened to the council houses in our own small village. There are six attached houses and the inner two bought their properties when they were given the opportunity first time round The new owners were very pleased and proud of their new homes and suddenly the gardens had a makeover and double glazing went in and they rather stood out against the others. This was at a time when it was hard to start on the housing ladder (when is it ever easy?) As time went on the residents of the other properties seemed to find ways of increasing their benefits. Usual story of limping around town with a zimmerframe but playing football with the kids at home. The motability brand new cars then started to stand out a bit against the tired looking vehicles of the owner occupiers. The latest thing is that the council decided it had too much money at the year end so they opted to re roof all the council houses, which were perfectly good concrete pan tiles which would have lasted another century. The whole lot looks a picture now with four properties with stark new tiles and two without. It must have cost a fortune with full scaffolding and two teams of builders there for ages. But all this is lost somewhere in the massive council tax bill that we have to find each year.

You can please the fools some of the time, but you can't fool the pleasers in the Summertime

That was very simple Gnome. It should appeal to simple people.

But these bastards are not necessarily Conservative voters. A lot of the very rich were backing the last Labour government all brown nosing (or should that be Brown nosing!) Tony Blair who seems to me to be the epitome of disgrace in all departments. He made a fortune, which he is now trying to cover up, on a lot of dodgy deals involving untraceable money movements to off shore far off places. Ambassador to the Far East, there is a joke. And to crown it all he is paid vast sums for telling people it was " The right thing to do" Now he is backing Miliband 100%. As good a reason as any for not voting for Miliband. He has the cheek to say that the British public are not capable of making the right decision in a referendum on Europe. He may be right about that as some wag wrote to one of the papers " Well the British public really cannot be trusted to make the right decision, after all they elected Tony Blair three times in a row!"

If you build a machine like the one in the video, you are still going to have to pick up the split/cut timber and put it in the furnace. Would you not be better investing in a second hand processor like a Palax Combi with a circular saw and conveyor which you could arrange to feed the boiler perhaps with the whole processor mounted on a sliding track. You could open the furnace doors and slide the whole thing forward so the conveyor feeds the oven. I would not bother splitting it, just cut up to 12" diameter 2' 6" foot logs. Then invest in a decent roller table(or build one) to present the five foot logs easily to the processor. Use your mini digger only for loading the roller table and the initial stacking. I find that with my trusty old Palax 600 combi which I bought from Jas Wilson in 1996 for £2500 I can process a large amount of timber in a short time and load it as long as it is presented to the processor constantly. Apart from blade sharpening I have never had a problem with it in nearly 20 years. It was pto but I fitted a 3 phase motor which was really easy as all the pulleys were already there, so now I can use either electric or pto. The electric motor makes it quiet and slightly safer to turn on and off.

Much the best idea is to buy a trail camera like this one or a Bushnell. [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bushnell-Trophy-Night-Vision-119436/dp/B005OYFV06/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428553743&sr=8-2&keywords=bushnell+trail+camera]Bushnell Trophy Cam 8MP Night Vision #119436: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PPiqTqkJL.@@AMEPARAM@@41PPiqTqkJL[/ame] This one is £127 but much cheaper than legal fees as the garden waste conflict escalates! They work at night and have the time and date on the clips. You can have either still shots or short,(say 10 second) video shots. Great definition in colour by day and quite good range at night in black and white. The great thing is that they are so good for wildlife in your woods. You can check for all sorts of animals and birds and also woodsnatchers and tool shed raiders. My latest video is the best so far catching an otter with two young on our lake which I created at the Millenium.

I thought that you were going to say that he could not come in because of transport problems as "My girlfriend drives me mad!"

Thank you for the encouraging post, i will persevere this Autumn.

And of course Tony Blair was never interested in lining his pockets and Jack Straw was never going to charge any money (£5000 a day) for influencing an outcome.

I am in favour of compulsory turnout to the voting station as happens apparently in 22 countries. Compulsory voting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You do not have to vote when you turn up and you can write something rude (spoil) the ballot slip, but at least you have turned up to respect all those who have died as you have pointed out Mark. My other issue with the system here is that there is a number on the back of my voting slip which links to a number on the recorder's slip. When I challenge them about this they always say that the ballots slips are locked away from the counterfoils and kept in a safe place but this is all only probably ok in a rural community like my one. I point out that I could come in last thing in the evening when they are about to close with half a dozen of my big strong logger friends and take away both the ballot boxes and the other papers and there are generally only two old ladies who are going to stop me Ah you say, in that case there would need to be another local voting session, but the point is I would now have information on how everyone voted and would be able to intimidate. Not many of you on this forum would be intimidated by me I must admit, but now think of an inner city where a religious extremist preacher may have a congregation of several thousand. He could wave his finger and threaten and tell them all that he can find out how they voted, so they had better do as he suggests or else. The postal voting system is abused and needs a complete overhaul as well.

I too have been wondering about a planer but they are too expensive for the amount of work I have in mind, so I was wondering about making a bracket which can be easily fixed and removed to the Lucas Mill carriage, which would hold an electric planer or even that evil looking planing disc that fits on an angle grinder. This grinder disc looks lethal freehand but perhaps useful when fixed to the Lucas. A sander could be fixed in the same way. The great thing about the Lucas Mill is that you end up with a finished board size in two quick passes. You can slab with a dedicated slabber but it seems a lot of slow faffing about for most jobs unless you are making huge table tops. [ame] [/ame] The Peterson video shows a similar planer. [ame] [/ame] I bought a 9" Cooksley planer thicknesser years ago and it works well for flooring just like this one cooksley planer | eBay but they need a lot of caution in use and one rule is not to stand in line behind them when feeding in.

Second that. Wonderful song wonderful woman. Also Johnny Cash strikes a chord with me some Sundays! [ame] [/ame]

Pink Floyd On the Turning Away live in Venice [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FStB5_yT9o4[/ame] More powerful original video [ame] [/ame]

Police phone (someone was in trouble for that!) Cowley level (Very useful) A complete cigarette machine ripped off a wall minus cigarettes and money!

Save the cost of the electric splitter, save the cost of the gym membership, save on electricity and save the planet! It is a lot quicker too. [ame] [/ame]