Billhook

Just been testing my new MS251C with easy start to relieve my poor arthritic wrists. Game changer for me. 16 inch bar made light work of this Ash ready now to be split with the “Lockdown home built processor “ still going strong after several mods

It would lift one this size but I only have a photo using forks

I bought a clapped out Sanderson muck grab and fitted some cone adapters for the Matbro. It has been much abused and much welded on the grab but the tines are strong. It is really useful for picking up large heaps of brash by tilting it forwards and dropping it down vertically on the heap with the grab wide open before grabbing at ground level

Anyone had the misfortune to sit on one of these? London on red fire ant alert after deadly species found in Europe WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK Entomologists warn invasive species which has killed 80 people in US could enter UK through ports

Just sitting here by the lake and there is another big black cloud heading this way……. I’m off!

Just had the mother of all thunderstorms last evening in mid Lincolnshire. In all my seventy years I have not witnessed the like. First one came with usual black cloud and that feeling you have with the pressure change. It was quite severe then the skies cleared to reveal blue sky and powder puff clouds so I thought I would venture down to the lake with the Matbro to do a bit of brash clearing with the muck fork. As I went down the track there was a line of silvery cloud in the South with a lot of vertical lines, but since it was fine where I was I continue on…… big mistake! I thought for a moment Putin must have launched a new secret weapon and the thunder and lightning were continuous for about half an hour and I felt very vulnerable in the middle of the farm so I turned for home in the middle of a load of crash bangs. I thought that I am sure I am ok as I am in a Faraday cage but it did not feel very safe and then the torrential rain was so much the wipers couldn’t cope then the hail started! Made it to the barn and sat there until it dispersed. So into the car and back home and another black cloud on the horizon , surely there cannot be three but sure enough bang crash again. Anyway good test for leaks in the roof Just going round now to check for tree damage

Never watched that film. Are there a lot of pigeons in it ? We walked along the High Line old railway today where they have done a fabulous job of both preserving the old line, creating a peaceful walk with great views and resting places as well as planting up the edges with interesting trees and plants that are not just plonked there but well tended In the Uk I would expect to see squirrels and pigeons and sparrows particularly hanging around places where people are eating but nothing today. Perhaps they are all following Tom Lehrer’s advice

Been walking around New York since Wednesday and have not seen a single butterfly or moth! Also no pigeons or any birds really but going into Central Park today and then Coney Island so May at least see a rabbit there!

I am also a very good butterfly photographer, but only when they are all dead and pinned to a box!

You really are a fantastic photographer AJ!

Are they good to eat?

Also we came across this big boy, a Signal Crayfish, again not that welcome but perhaps the Mink was after them That one was more than the width of my outstretched hand at about 9 inches. Would one that big be able to fend off a Mink with its huge pincers or are Mink too fearless and strong?

Since we stopped people and their dogs coming down to the lake , the wildlife seems to have returned. Some welcome others less so. I was walking quietly around the lake when I saw this movement in the pool where the water exits the lake and enters the chalk stream. The wind was blowing in his direction (sorry if I misgendered him!) but he did not seem that bothered by me. https://youtu.be/qVn13qunuwQ

What is really great for us here is that they are very friendly and in the Spring dive at us and fly very close just to tell us they are pleased to be back and just now as they sit on the roof and the barn they do not move when I go near them. I wish them safe passage and to avoid Malta where they may be eaten!

Following on from the previous video there was a large gathering of Swallows and House Martins in the yard. A bit earlier than normal. I have not seen any Martins around the House or yard and there seem to be far more Swallows than I would normally see so I expect they have come from neighbouring sites

I can easily understand the fascination with collecting beautiful butterflies, but I never could become excited by my father's obsession with collecting brown moths, small flies, gnats and midges. He sent a lot of hid stuff to the Norwich museum, but I am glad he left these items as it is good to be able to show people them, especially children who often ask to see them again. Museums can be wonderful but there are often too many distractions to appreciate one collection.

Balls! Naphthalene! Also the boxes seem to have an airtight seal

Bit different here. My father was a keen amateur lepidopterist as well as inheriting a large collection of butterflies brought back from South America in the 1800s . Not sure how he came to inherit them as it was not from a member of the family. I think it was from a bachelor doctor in the village who saw father as a child and his interests in moths and butterflies They have been kept in boxes in his library here and it is amazing how vibrant the colours are maybe after 150 years and no signs of body decomposition.

Don't stand behind it when you feed the thicknesser Andy, but you probably know that

And I am wearing an overcoat when I go out

WE have just lit the log burner here on the East Coast of Lincolnshire!

A few years later

Never quite sure what became of Taylor Wilson, probably taken out by oil companies!

The idea is good, but I feel that it needs to be grown and harvested and burnt on a local basis. A small town or large village should have its own anaerobic digester, straw burning plant both for heat and electric, every house with solar panels and tubes, ground and air source heat pumps, local wind machines. There are so many inefficiencies with transporting all this straw with HGVs, and electrical losses in long distance electric lines.

Because the government thought that it was a great idea to pay us to harvest it, bale it and sell it to firms that burn it and convert it into electricity