Billhook

Lucas Mill Sunset

And as for the price of petrol and diesel! Being only a simple soul, I cannot quite understand that if it was Putin’s war that put up the prices, surely the oil companies would be having to pay more for it so would be making less profit which does not tally with their record profits this year i have just received a massive bill for some fertiliser and the price of wheat has dropped so I am not expecting much profit this year. I will be like Clarkson’s Farm and making Diddly Squat!

I actually believe that you do not need to put a drug in sugar, just say that you have!

You are right Mick and they need my perfect solution which is to place an infertility drug into all artificial sugar. I think you must advertise that it is in there. This might clear a few beds in the NHS as I would bet that obesity would be the cause of half the patients from heart disease to hips and knees, to diabetes

I am not sure about the demise of the general bird population caused by DDT. It certainly nailed the raptors and crows and magpies and the result was lawns with thrushes and other birds out in the middle of the lawns listening for worms, unmolested by Sparrow Hawks, hedges full of nesting birds unmolested by crows and Jays and Magpies. Not saying go back to DDT but just making the point that the current demise in all these garden birds is usually put down to modern farming methods when really I think it is due to the banning of DDT which has resulted in the gradual return of raptors. What chance has a bird to raise a family against, not only all these I have just mentioned but also domestic cats.

do not think it was the peanuts a there are literally dozens of tits, hedge sparrows, robins, jays, blackbirds and squirrels on the feeders each day I suspect the water bowl and me not cleaning it daily, Many birds landing on it and pooping in it during the day. Both the birds in the picture were found right next to it

Good advice from you both, thank you

Do you think I should suggest the same to my wife to improve things down under?

Just had a huge Claas forage harvester cutting the dense Miscanthus today. The driver has cut several farms and I asked him what wildlife he has seen running out of it. He said plenty of Muntjac, few rabbits, quite a few pheasants but no foxes, not seen one since he started and there we’re always quite a few in the past I find this very worrying as we always had a stable population around here Seen quite a few dead badgers on the roadside still no rats though, mind you I am not missing them!

So you would think that if it was disease they would look thin and ragged surely? Have you or anyone seen a victim of bird flu? A quick google doesn’t seem to show that garden birds are particularly susceptible but swollen heads and sudden deaths are mentioned. They do not seem to have the swollen head but the deaths were sudden and both next to each other by the water bowl which I have cleaned Infection with avian influenza viruses among songbirds, including many common backyard birds, appears to be rare.14 Jul 2022

The Palax has been very faithful since I bought it twenty five years ago but recently the ram auto return has been playing up We can split ten pieces and it returns every time then it refuses maybe once maybe five times maybe for the rest of the session It seems simple enough as there are plenty of adjustments but we had a real good go at fixing it today to no avail no 1 is looking down at the spool valve which operates the ram . The plate hits the rod coming up from the spool and the adjustable stop on the next picture is hit by the ram going forward and triggers the return by flicking the rod the other way. The adjustment on this stop limits the ram travel so that it doesn’t hit the knife The next picture shows where that square rod is gripped by a bolt under the plate I have tried adjusting all these points but it doesn’t make any difference . The ram travel quickly when working well but seems to be slow when the fault occurs as though the spool valve has only been partially opened. I cannot understand why the ram will not trigger the return every time as it hits the stop quite hard and the spool is the kind that clicks into either position, you do not have to hold it there. A light tap with hammer or boot on the valve is all that is needed to make it return but this becomes tedious in a working day Any suggestions would be welcomed (apart from just use a bloody axe Billhook!)

Two lying dead by the drinking bowl, seemingly in good order with a good gloss on the feathers and looking quite plump. Great Tit and Brambling Bird flu? We have dozens of all sorts on the bird feeder looking well and I have to fill it sometimes twice a day with peanuts and sunflower heartsts

Fight back Mark!

I only have it for the puzzles, honest guv! Perhaps I should try the Guardian to keep you happy

I think you must have a later version. Mine is at least pre war so no top hats or wheelbarrows! Did have a car though

I think I am due to land on the “pay some income tax” card shortly which should take the shine off it!

My wife is a Daily Mail snob and would not even touch it if we had run out of loo paper!

I framed it and it now sits pride of place on our mantle piece!

Of course I read these wise words from Arbtalk so naturally am ready when I receive a phone call while I am in the middle of the woods asking to help clarify my name and address. Was not in a great mood and surprised myself by being calm and polite. ”Who am I talking to?” ”Its the Daily Mail here and I was hoping to clarify some details” I thought that they were going to ask me what I thought about the new ELM scheme on the farm or similar ”So what do you want to know?” I would just like to inform you that you have just won the Sudoku competition “ I thought here we go , next thing he will want my bank details, but I could see no harm in giving my address He said that the cheque would be in the post where have I heard that before!!! My wife gave me a billhooking “ You idiot you gave them our address, we will be burgled now etc etc” Anyway a week later a cheque turned up for £500 and I. Paid it in and it cleared and my name appeared in the paper as the winner! I have never heard of anyone winning these competitions. I only buy the Mail really for the code word and Sudoku which are more difficult than other papers, to try and keep the old brain going. I shall try and be less hasty with my torrent of abuse in the future when I receive these calls! The sad part is that the money of course has not bought me new chains and bars and fuel, just a new pair of shoes for my beloved who apologised for calling me an idiot So Billhook has brains as well as beauty!

This is the website selling them at £6 per bag so quite a mark up! Alder as well which is not quite the same as Ash Firepower Bagged Hardwood Kiln-Dried Logs LOGS-COAL-SMOKELESS-FUELS.CO.UK

Just passing by the factory shop in our local town and spotted this! Eleven pieces of kiln dried for £14 I really believe it would be cheaper for me and easier to sell my firewood and go back to North Sea gas! Funny old world! Future firewood optimism indeed!

Here in Lincolnshire I have not seen a Fox or Badger around for a year, they are not hunted or shot as far as I know. I have not seen a rat for ages or a sign of one but we do have bait traps. Very few rabbits. Hundreds of grey squirrels though. Quite a few deer Roe and Muntjack Plenty of bird life, Mistle Thrush singing today, every Tit and Finch in the county on the bird feeder. Many Carrion Crows Rooks and Jackdaws. No swans on the lake when there used to be a regular pair breeding. No sign of the Otters either Just finding it very strange particularly about the Foxes who were not afraid of me and were seen often both in the day and night.