Billhook

Bet they are on their way to us!

Weather Sayings and Meanings “Red sky at night, sailors delight. ... “The higher the clouds, the finer the weather.” ... “Clear Moon, frost soon.” ... “When clouds appear like towers, the Earth is refreshed by frequent showers.” ... “Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning.” ... “Ring around the moon? ... “Rain foretold, long last.

Letter in the Torygraph today ”It is clear the Government gave no thought to the arrival of the Blackthorn Winter when allowing pubs to serve customers only outdoors. This cold snap comes every year and will be with us for at least another week” Michael Glover, Wiltshire Photo of our local bypass with an abundance of Blackthorn in flower.

We had an ATV trac tracker fitted to our Kawasaki Mule. It cost about £380 but has several times warned us if the Mule has been moved when we have just pushed it out of the way without the key in., or when the dealer took it away to be serviced and forgot to put the key in the ignition. Recommended by the dealer. ATVTrac - Discreet ATV and asset tracking ATVTRAC.CO.UK Revolutionising ATV Tracking Security

Oh where is Steve to moderate this thread!!!!

Take a tip from me to get yourself out of a hole, you may have to crowd fund it otherwise you will end up in a scrape.

No problem once you get your teeth into it!

If I have any worry about a hung tree or rotten dangerous one I bring the Teleporter with a 6 metre boom, 3 tons of lift and a lot of pushing power as well as quite a bit of pulling power. 4 wheel drive ad the teleram to push the machine out of a muddy situation, it will tackle nearly anything that it can drive up to. Last job was a large Lime that had split about eight feet up and was leaning at about 30 degrees into a mass of Sycamore small branches. Too dangerous for me even to chainsaw, and a nightmare to rope up and winch so I just went in with the Teleporter and with a heavy weight on the forks rested it on top of the large limb which came crashing down safely to the ground moved the machine further up the limb and the weight brought the rest of it down to the ground. Ten minute job, solo with me 6 metres away in a safety cab. Ok not everyone has a teleporter, but it is worth thinking about speaking to a local farmer or contractor who may be happy to charge you but what price is safety?

That story was quite a scoop!

Well she was French and maybe used guilish words to lure me!

Really dig that!

I remember my first shag from years ago, but it could have been a guillemot!

Always the favourite band of our bass player. Never really listened to them properly. Taste On the Boards album nearly worn out! I remember Dave Arbus playing this song at Lynn

Here is my quote on here from 2018! Now you both have made me sad and nostalgic! I went to see Rory Gallagher at the Corn Exchange in King's Lynn in about 1970 and it was amazing how he filled that great room with the sound of his AC30. East of Eden were the support band. So I bought an old AC30 some time in the late 1970s and had some fun with it and the Strat. Unfortunately it was one of the many casualties of my massive 1991 burglary along with the 1968 left hand maple neck sunburst strat. I put my postcode in several hidden places on that guitar hoping that perhaps some guitar repair shop might just inform me. Alas no such identification on the Vox. Aaaaah the warmth of valves and the fullness of analogue! Quote

House could be haunted!

Well you have all those 10mm spanners and electrical screwdrivers for a start, then tape measures, trowels, axes, knives, chains, shackles, groundies..............!

After over a year and a half of searching, been round the farm, searched all the woods and tool stores and vehicles, just about given up when I found my missing Stihl skidding/ lifting tongs in my garden leaning up against a tree. The bright original paint had worn off and a layer of rust and green mould had made them invisible. I must have walked by them a hundred times Anyway I searched the web and could not find another set anywhere. I bought these in 1996. I did not think that they looked strong enough but as I used them more and more, I was amazed how they coped with everything. Never bent and never had to be sharpened. in the end I bought these much heavier duty Wilmec double tongs which are excellent but less handy for smaller jobs I have also searched the web for another set of these for a friend who was similarly impressed, but they too seem to be out of production . The Stihl ones open to about 20 inches and the Wilmec ones to over four feet. ( for a slab). Three and a half feet for a log With the Stihl ones I did have to leave the cab to put them over the log but the Wilmec ones are brilliant and seem to grip every time Anyone know if either are available? I have invested in a pot of Matbro yellow paint and had a morning dabbing most of our tools!

Well it was shirtsleeves yesterday and suntan but today my fundamentals have been frozen while mowing and I see the Blackthorn is out in beautiful white flower, so again “Beware the Blackthorn Winter” saying comes true!

I do not sell firewood but burn a lot and the stove is on all day every day and night throughout the Winter. When we have some sun the hot water is heated by solar tubes. i burn Ash , Oak, Elm and Sycamore. Mainly Ash and am not fanatical about checking moisture with a meter. All the wood is kept loose filled in 2 cubic meter wooden boxes which have open slats and are stored in an open fronted lean-to. I can tell by looking them whether they are fit to burn, colour ,cracking, settling in the box and also weight of each log and sound it makes when clacked against another. Out of interest , I will try the Fairy Liquid method on some different pieces using our air compressor maybe attached to a rubber loo plunger and do a video on the result (if there is one!) Proof is in the pudding and the stove has a temperature gauge both on the door and on the heating pipe which operate in a narrow band if everything is ok with the wood. Added to this there is no smoke out of the insulated flue when running and I have put the chimney brush up the flue only once in years and there was honestly nothing there but a little dust. So because my supply is fairly constant and uniform, I have reached a stable situation after a time I have the luxury of not having to deal with the general public and therefore not having to deal with the new rules. When we did try and sell wood years ago it was painful. They wanted different lengths, different splits, pine to make it smell good, and some wanted it stacking in their woodshed which was through a gate across the lawn, down some steps, well many here know the story. One customer we found sprinkling the wood with a garden hose because he said it makes it last longer!!!! They walk amongst us!

I always loved this one, Villanova Junction from Woodstock, which was very different from his usual guitar work and very moving.

Never heard this live version of it before either, I think he must have been practicing ready for Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock !