Billhook

We appreciate all the hard work, time and money that you put into Arbtalk, so again many thanks. Your little girl is growing fast and looks fabulous!

Yes, I had not thought about the cost of keeping data. It would be good to hear from Steve on the subject

Did somebody throw all their toys out of the pram?

Bit out of date but still shocking Charity chief executive pay revealed - TFN TFN.SCOT Healthcare charities dominate in salary survey

Good point, the name is there but the old website is not. There still seem to be many tube manufacturers around though it is a shame as I thought that they were leading the way ten years ago

Good thinking! The thing about wood heat that I enjoy most is the fact that once you have done all the work, cutting, loading you can really enjoy the heat, accompanied hopefully by a warm glow through glass. This is very different to watching a gas meter or electric meter or the oil level in your tank. It does not matter how wealthy you are it still hurts to witness these things Our wood stove heats the water and radiators in Winter but in Summer we go on to solar tubes. These seem to be very efficient and are not to be confused with solar panels i went on a course in Wales with Navitron. I have a separate copper cylinder for solar water and an electric switch in the bathroom to operate a changeover valve between the cylinders In dull weather the tubes still warm the water, not quite enough for a bath or shower but it does not take long to top up with gas or electric which is a big saving as opposed to heating the water up from mains temperature . If there is a longer period of cooler Summer weather then the log burner is struck up again Navitron - The Small Solar Company WWW.SMALLSOLAR.CO.UK Solar Hot Water, Equipment and Systems for Installers and Homeowners. Navitron provides...

Both I suppose….

Is it not amazing that an animal can show more awareness of not fouling your environment than many humans?

Perhaps I am old fashioned, but charity work should be done for free. Your time and expenses should be given if you believe your cause to be noble enough. It is still a business in that we have to produce accounts, we are accountable and we have to try and be responsible with our investments to secure enough profit to pay the students and Churches The accounts must balance and we must not spend more than we earn

Have a go at me then. I am chairman of a local charity which was formed from the estate of a local vet. We have four members all volunteers with no expenses charged to the charity. We have a seven figure account which is checked by both accountants and the charity commission. It was set up to help veterinary students from the county, students of music and the arts and Churches. We generally manage to give each student about 2K a year, really for students whose families cannot afford to help them. The positive feedback we receive is reward enough.

I am sure that there are several on here who would like to show Penny what a really really hard wood looks like!

Love the Starlings! Greenfinches back in force today

I do not know if anyone here on Arbtalk has been to the Ukraine, but in 1993 a friend of mine and I decided to go with no reservations and landed in Kiev. My friend's wife had just died and I thought he needed to have a holiday which might test us a bit. He in London and me in Lincolnshire opened our World atlases and decided that Ukraine looked interesting as it had just come out of Communism. We told the taxi driver at the Kiev airport to take us to a good hotel, but the people working there were still very much under the influence of the communist regime. When I asked for a room, "We have no rooms" I pointed out that the place seemed to be deserted "We have no rooms" I told her to call the manager. He appeared and said " We have no rooms" I told him to show me. "Ok we have a room" how much would that be. "50 dollars" (everything was dollars as the currency had collapsed. I exclaimed "50 dollars!" "Ok 25" What are you talking about? "ok 10" I think that we settled on five. Unpacked in our room and decided to explore the seemingly deserted hotel. Went down to the bar in the basement with nobody there apart from the barman. Had a beer 50 cents noticed that a bottle of champagne was 3 dollars but decided to retire to our room. As we approached the door we heard all this noise from the top floor as though a party was going on, went up there and there was another large bar with gorgeous girls and a great atmosphere. The same beer as the other bar was now 6 dollars and the same bottle of champagne was 130 dollars. Sat down on a table with an American and Greek who were on business somewhere else but their plane had run out of fuel so they had to put down in Kiev. The whole country had run out of fuel, so no trains or taxis. Anyway there were four gorgeous girls on the next table and one turned to me and asked for a light. But it was not the big eye nudge nudge, she just turned away and i Kept on drinking with our new friends. Some time later I found myself talking to her again, she was very well spoken, educated, and asking me what I did and where I came from, Standard stuff and I was boring her about chainsaws and tree felling (not really!) but just having a normal chat and in the middle of it she suddenly said "If you want to sleep with me tonight it will cost 100 dollars!" Well I declined in the nicest possible way as I felt very sorry that someone like that felt that they had to go that low. Instead of hurling an insult at me or slapping my face she just kissed me on the cheek and turned away and I never saw her again. There definitely were real prostitutes and their minders in the bar but these girls were not amongst them The next day we took a river boat down the Dnepr river past all those towns I am seeing being bombed on the news. We stopped in several places and saw Cossack displays and a lot of the culture ending up at Odessa, There we took another boat across the Black Sea to the Crimea and Sebastopol where we were hoping to go to see the Valley of Death and read Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade on the battlefield. Unfortunately at the time it was a military training ground and public access was denied But I fell in love with Ukraine, I admired the people apart from those in the first hotel who were probably Russian! The women are really beautiful and are a wonderful blend of East meeting West and the Middle East. Everyone was very friendly and my heart goes out to them now. I will see if I can put some of my old analogue video onto Youtube of the wonderful Cossack display

Is it just me or has Putin put a lot of weight on. His face looks very puffy and different. People are saying that he is a different man mentally as well

Bit better close up but not my best bit of film!

Greenfinches are back on our bird feeder, at least four yesterday. Not a very clear video here but I did take a good film with my Sony Handycam but I cannot seem to make my laptop accept the files. Any advice?

Watch out for those angry clouds!

Somebody help, I need to see a therapist! I cannot stop taking photos of sunsets which must be winding up Arbtalk. I think all the high winds we have been having are making the skies much clearer Rosie, the dear little pony seemed to be enjoying it too!

Ok, I am a bit slow , but I have owned one of these cans for 25 years and still cannot work out what tool is meant to fit in this tool holder. The other side is more obvious with files and chainsaw spanner’s. What would be useful is somewhere to hold a tube of the red oil to add to the fuel or is this it? STIHL Professional Combination Can Transparent WWW.WORLDOFPOWER.CO.UK Stihl 00008810123 Professional Combination canister. UN approved, transparent, twin canister for 5...

Nearly sixty years ago but plus ca change,

White mischief out of Africa And today out of Lincolnshire!

We have a very old kitchen outbuilding that has some 15th century brickwork on the North face. Ivy had been growing up it for many years and several efforts had been made to remove it as it was penetrating the old bricks and the wall was soaking wet. The large main stem was cut but there was enough moisture in the wall for it to power on. We tried a strong dose of Roundup and 24D but no effect due to the waxy leaves as has been mentioned. However a mix of Roundup, Garlon (or Grazon) plus a wetter did kill it in the end. Best done when actively growing.. Perhaps not a good idea on a tree!

Can’t help it as they keep coming!