Billhook

Don’t get me started on gloves! I am totally left handed and have ended up with seven left handed gloves. Logically I should take off my left gloves to do things like opening doors or other general things so you would think I should have seven right handed gloves having discarded the left gloves somewhere. This explains my mid matched pair in the photo!

By the way I cycle about 1000 miles a year (3.5 x 365) x 24 year is over 24,000 miles so I have been round the World!

Ever since 2000 I have been cycling a 3.5 mile circuit with a couple of steep hills to try and keep not only a level of fitness but also to keep the road verges clear of rubbish that people insist on throwing out of their cars here. ladt Friday we went away for a Wedding and came back to find these thirteen cans of Carling strewn out along a short stretch of road near our home, less than than 200 yards It may be just that they buy the stuff at a local garage and by the time they have finished drinking it they are here, or it maybe that someone knows I pick up rubbish and is being a , well you know the word. Either way if I ever was to catch them I am sure the police would not be interested so what would you lit do if you were in a similar situation?

It is interesting to note that although this petition is heading for three million votes, an earlier petition to add “None of the Above” or NOTA, only managed just over six thousand votes votes Petition: Implement "None of the above" on ballots in all United Kingdom elections #NOTAUK PETITION.PARLIAMENT.UK I urge the UK Government to permanently adopt "None of the above" on all ballots starting with...

All politicians should be forced to wear a pork pie hat before they speak!

Is there any difference between a manifesto and a pledge?

There has to be some accountability for any political party reneging on a promise on which they were elected to carry out. I could start up the Pork Pie party and promise every citizen a million pounds if you elect me. When elected I just say Oh Dear, the Black Hole is bigger than I thought and there is no money. But apparently you cannot kick me out now due to our system

You are now banned!

Predictions, predictions. I suggest a total ban on all predictions from now on!

So depressing to see World War One conditions, trench warfare, tanks, rats, disease, food shortages, lack of sanitation and care of wounded all so graphically described in many brilliant films such as “All Quiet on the Western Front “ a hundred years later after the war to end all wars, the senseless slaughter of so many young men and innocent civilians all pushed by very few power obsessed individuals with the backing of the arms industry. The human race never seems to learn

Just found this on our road. Must have only just happened. Phoned the local owl man, unfortunately no rings but he told me to wrap it in a bag and put it in the freezer and I suppose they will examine stomach contents and any wounds or disease. Those of you in the know may be able to tell me more about its age looking at the wings

A friend asked me to cut some dunnage blocks into sleepers for a small gauge railway he is building. Not sure what the wood was, it was treated and quite heavy, being dunnage it could have come from anywhere in the World Everything going fine until I lost a couple of teeth out of the five on the Lucas blade. I have only lost a couple of teeth before in the thirty years of owning the Mill and that was due to a hidden nail. We looked around to try and see the cause but could find nothing so put a new blade on. This lost all five teeth in the first millisecond of the vertical run We assume that one or two of the teeth from the previous blade had been left in the cut. Moral of the tale is not to attempt another cut into the groove until you have either cut out the piece or abandoned it for another piece. IMG_7638.mov

I heard that it was the case with the sinking of the Bismarck in WW2, the Swordfish torpedo bombers were so slow, WW1 speed that the German guns could not find the range

I have just managed to remove all five tips on the Lucas |Mill blade, a first since I bought it in 1996! I think that it lost a tip with the previous blade that remained lodged in the groove so when the new blade went it it took all of one millisecond to ruin it! Hence I need to visit Skellingthorpe Saw Point and I will be passing Lincoln and will call in. They had a big display board describing the table which I did not read on the evening I was there so I may find out more. They may even be selling smaller pieces

Don't worry, they have to invite the riff raff like us to balance against the high and mighty!

I expect this may have been seen before on this site. I was invited with my wife to a grand dinner at Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire UK to celebrate the new High Sheriff. Found ourselves sitting in the main aisle in front of this lovely table. So hard that place mats were not required as no water, heat or wine stains would show , here is its story https://www.thefenlandblackoakproject.co.uk/

I think the one thing we did demonstrate was that Poplar is an easy wood to work with using the full scribe method and when kept off the ground it doesn’t rot. It rots very quickly on the ground and I found half a dozen large Sandstones to sit the main bearers on and twenty four years later it still looks good A pleasant surprise were visits by Kingfishers, an Osprey came regularly for seven years and a pair of Otters bred two years running two pups each time Here is one of the pups playing with a tennis ball that I hung from a branch over the concrete overflow

Just look at Dan’s other work on his website, mine is quite ordinary in comparison. If someone is hugely wealthy they would be better to contact him and have one built to their own specifications

Found a whole load of old photos to bore you all with, but the cabin is such a rewarding part of our lives as well as the lake. The field corner was always a pain to farm as well as flooding occasionally. My father had a serious heart operation in 1998 and was having difficulty in finding enough incentive to go out and exercise to aid his recovery. So the lake was a big incentive and he spent a lot of time down there with help from various people directing what and where to plant various shrubs and trees. The cabin was up and running as a shelter later. So this was the part of the field drilled with wheat and a puddle after some not very heavy rain We first dug a trial pond around the Ash tree in the middle Then created a small pond to see if it held water Then started work on the lake with Dozers Cabin to be built at extreme far left. I diverted the ditch feeding the lake at right angles to slow the water down and act as a silt trap which I could clear with the digger. Middle photo shows overflow back into main beck and black pipe sticking up behind is the drain to keep the level of the lake which can be adjusted slightly Log cabin course in Devon with Dan Franklin, here with some pine JCB here very handy for putting it together. My wife adjusted the strap to find the centre of gravity for each log. The logs were all marked and fitted perfectly Relief! Rafters covered firstly with 3/4” ply sheets then corrugated tin I was thinking of having a grass roof but it did not happen Aerial view pre cabin which is now in the top right corner by the road Our neighbours daughter and new husband spent their first night there after the Wedding with the cabin suitably decorated Hope all this may help

And third photo with swans

Log Cabins | Woodenways WWW.WOODENWAYS.COM My cabin is in the first picture in the snow

Hi Lorraine Yes it is still there twenty four years later and has survived storms and flooding without damage. It is the go to place by the lake when we have company especially if they bring kids Inside I cut the floor from a Copper Beech with a Lucas Sawmill After a huge rainfall last year! I was lucky in 2000 in that our UK government was giving a grant to help educate people into projects like this. I had gone on a full scribe log course in England run by Dan Franklin. This was because my dear father had planted several acres of Poplar for the match industry in 1960. He told me that with the projected amount of smokers in the year 2000 I would become very rich .However come the Millennium most people had packed up smoking and those that did used butane lighters! So I had all these trees looking for a home Poplar is not very good firewood . A chance remark from a friend in Oregon who told me that there was a Church there made from Poplar in the full scribe method that was 120 years old Anyway I started this course on our farm having felled forty trees and we had a ream of about ten people and built the basic cabin in about a fortnight What was worse was that we had to build it in a barn due to restrictions with Mad Cow Disease which prevented Dan from coming here in the summer My wife and I were able to put it together like Lego with no nails but a 360 15 ton digger did help a bit! So it cost me very little money but quite a bit of time, but worth every moment! I will post Dan’s Wooden Ways web in a bit

Best time to visit the gardens for Tulips in Bloom will be 27th & 28th April 2024 (weather dependent). Later in the season May to June (five weeks) we uplift over 130,000 spring bulbs to direct plant over 1,200 dahlia tubers to include over 100 varieties, creating stunning summer/autumn displays.

It was split by my Lockdown splitter three years ago into mainly 4 inch square x 16 inch. It is bone dry but still heavy, there is absolutely no smoke coming from the stainless steel chimney. It does not feel like pine, could it perhaps be a slower growth rate making it more dense? Or perhaps just a different variety of Leylandii.

Thanks David