Billhook

Tentsile tree tents

The Slow worm is a lizard, the Grass snake a snake.

Just reminded me of a letter from raw South Africa dated April 4th 1846 from Swellendam. It was written to my Gt Gt Grandma from her brother William Atmore who went out there as a land surveyor. He was a bit full of himself but I think that you had to be like that to survive out there in those days. "What does that old humbug Pooley say about my success in this country? I daresay if the truth be known it gives him the gripes and I hope the colic Jack is a better man than his master now and he a clodhopper. I know you will laugh to hear me vent my spite on the old reptile. I should like to see him here with a fair deal and no favour and then see who is the best man! I recall how afraid the old fellow is of a snake, I should laugh to see him blinder over a Yellow Snake ten feet long, one of the devils that will stand up and bid you do battle and if you run away they will run after you by Jove and he would have to wash his breeches. Some days I kill five or six of these vermin in a day but when I first came I would soon had seen the Devil-- a Yellow Snake laid in the path the other day and started up before me and I kicked it to death....." And we only have a few Adders to worry about! He was building the Buffelsjag Bridge at Swellendam on the subject of timber. Presumably hand sawn but still standing 160 years later until 2007 when sections were washed away by massive floods. Now a national monument. The old 'Sugar Bridge' at Buffeljags, Western Cape – Blog – South African Tourism

Peatff, had a strange hobby Climbing trees Up pines, zip lines They suit him fine!

Pink Anderson and Floyd Council

He's a celebrity sushi chef

Just bitten on stomach last night,and itching like hell. Put Aquafresh toothpaste on it which had an initial effect of soothing which lasted all of five minutes. Tried again with Colegate. No better and wife will not come near me complaining of smell and.sheets and nightie staining! Any particular brand of toothpaste you recommend? This was the sort of bite I am familiar with and aloe Vera seems to work but the other day I was bitten by something very different in the woods I had no feeling at all of being bitten but had four or five big red weals on my legs. I felt a bit stiff a a little dizzy all day . Put some antihistamine cream on but they took a week to go. Should have taken some horror photos for you all! I was wondering if it could have been ants but peculiar not to have felt anything. I suppose when chainsawing you are less aware of such things amongst the nettles and briars.

Total train weight is nearly quarters of three quarters of a ton lighter Braking system is far superior ABS and 4x4 linked in a superior way Tyres are wider and for Tarmac as opposed to off-road Visibility is far superior Wipers work better in heavy rain Ice alerts Driver and passenger and curtain airbags Better headlights and brighter brake and indicators More power for overtaking a slow cyclist up a hill Cruise control for keeping to speed limits Climate control for increasing driver comfort and decreasing fatigue Better seats for the same result Journey would be quicker so again less fatigue Journey would be quieter ditto Lane wandering warning system Better horn Less chance of breaking down and being stranded on the side of the road with all the dangers that entails Far better fuel consumption so probably do it on a tank,no time lost as there would be with Landie constant fill ups I am sure I will think of some more things to post later (Moderator says " Please don't bother Billhook!")

If a trailer is full and being towed by a correctly plated vehicle they still would not know if it was overweight, so that is much the same problem for the police. I am just saying that if it is empty, and the unladen weight is on the plate it should be a special separate case. For instance if I bought an Ebay bargain Ifor Williams 3.5 plant trailer, unladen weight 670kg, from say Cornwall 300 miles away, I would not fancy doing the journey in the old Land Rover, but our trusty Volvo XC70 , 2000kg capacity, would do the job comfortably and economically and more safely.

Hedgesparrow's post in the braked trailer paragraph says " REMEMBER, the law does not care whether the trailer is empty or packed to the roof with bricks, what counts is the plated gross vehicle weight of the trailer." And I believe I have read the same elsewhere, cannot fathom the reasoning behind it

What is the reasoning behind the law that you cannot tow an empty 3500kg plated trailer with a lesser vehicle if say you were just taking it to be repaired, or taking delivery of it?

No antennae, no slim waist, only two wings instead of four, so not Hymenoptera Some sort of drone fly.

Does anybody know the actual cost to the council of erecting each road sign? The approval process, committees, labour, concrete apart from the sign itself. Our main road crossroads has over fifty signs, forty are unnecessary. We have signs for "Bicycles", "Ducks", "Old people" none of which I have ever seen on the road. These are subjects that may appear on any road at any time and particularly on country lanes people should approach corners expecting to see a woman wheeling a pram on the other side. (I have not seen a sign for that yet!) Drachten is the town in Holland where they have successfully removed all signs Controlled Chaos: European Cities Do Away with Traffic Signs - SPIEGEL ONLINE My own brush with H&S was when we had an inspection on the farm and the inspector saw a ladder leaning up against one of the 50 ton corn bins. The bin has a semi horizontal ladder on top to reach the centre but I had tied the top of the ladder to this top ladder so that it did not slide from side to side. " Oh no, we can't have that. It is now a fixed ladder and the steps must be of a certain width and angle and there must be handrails." So I went up and untied the rope and came down (with the ladder slipping from side to side) and that was all right with him.

You're fired!

Generally true although those £1 Chinese flexi grabbing thingys for retrieving that little nut/bolt that you have just dropped down the back of a tiny space, and their magnetic cousin at £1.50 are exceptions. I also have one of those cheap automatic wire strippers which work well.

They really are quite peaceful insects unless you are trying to destroy them or their nest. My father was an amateur entomologist and he was always fascinated by them. As has been stated before he insisted that the sting was no worse than a wasp but that the sting spike actually causes a painful slash. If you disturb a nest in the woods an upset them they will fly around squirting venom in the air which makes the whole nest very animated and active, time to beat a hasty retreat! Father had a friend who used to move nests out of people's lofts and reposition them in a hole in a tree. He used to take the nest with his bare hands and if he did not knock it on the way to the tree, he said the hornets were quite all right, and settled well into their new home. Like wasps they actually do a lot of good in cleaning up the flies and debris around the place and unless they are really in the way should be left alone and not persecuted just because they have a defensive sting.

It was put on your back, you could not lift it onto your back. I forgot to add to the other theme, when I was but a lad, about being asked to go to the workshop to fetch a tub of elbow grease...........

Graham is correct, it was 18 stone sacks of beans not 16 stone. Hedge sparrow I feel that 100 cwt of cement would have quite a detrimental effect on the body and 200cwt (10tons) might just leave you feeling a little flat!

Normal farmworker test in Norfolk! Sort the men out from the boys. Started with 16 stone sacks which were put on your back with a sack lift, but eight stone sacks were normal to be lifted off the ground. I have a video somewhere of me doing ten "push-ups" from the shoulder with a four stone weight. Cannot do that anymore. Not so much the actual weight but the bloody awkwardness of the thing which made it difficult.

I'm diamond tipped at 60 But I can still lift two four stone weights slowly above my head and clack them together! (That's 2x56 lbs to the over 40s and 2x25kg for the young'uns.)

Just saw a Jay today on my morning bike ride and realised that it was the first I have seen or heard this year. Previous years the woods have been full of them and their loud scolding. Anyone else notice a decline?

Two Years ago? That means he will have served two years and will be out of jail by now. These people walk amongst us!

It seems I was wrong about that.....