Billhook

I am nearly seventy years old and still razor sharp!

Heard a good talk on Radio 4 today https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_fourfm My father inherited a large butterfly collection from a man in the village he grew up in . He was always around to this man’s house as a lad not even ten years old, enthralled by the collection of South American Morphos and other highly coloured beauties. He was very surprised when he was left the collection in his will in 1940. I was always amazed that such brightly coloured insects should survive predators but this morning’s talk showed why . I keep wondering what to do with them but at the moment I show them to people, especially children, who see them in a different and more intimate way than glass cases full of many other distractions. Certainly when I see the children sometimes many years later they often refer to the time they “ were allowed” to see the butterflies and moths, many of which are more beautiful and certainly more subtle in their colours

My wife is Danish and there are many words in the old Lincolnshire dialect that are similar. Not surprising as we were under Danelaw for so long (I still am!) This was interesting written in 1892 obviously Yorkshire was under Danelaw as well but a couple of words we use here every day are Gimme for ewe lamb and Clegg for Horsefly, Danish KLaeg GENUKI: YORKSHIRE FOLK TALK: Danish comparisons, Yorkshire WWW.GENUKI.ORG.UK YORKSHIRE FOLK TALK: Danish comparisons Yorkshire genealogy Yellow Hammer is another good example from Germany In German it is Gelb Ammer the Ammer part means finch By the way I have been introduced to an APP on my phone called Merlin which detects bird song and identifies. All of you probably have it already as I am always the last to hear about these things but it is brilliant

I bought the Dnepr 650 after visiting Ukraine in 1993. They copied the BMWs that the Germans left behind and I think made them out of recycled tank metal! The number plate cost nothing extra to any ordinary plate and the two Airedales loved the ride and would sit in calmly in the local town when I went shopping. I would return to find a crowd talking to them "Where ya off to duck" etc It would be quite a challenge to clone this plate to another Dnepr, I don't think it is possible to break any speed limits with one!

Had the boiler stove running up to the end of March and then only morning and evening in April. Been so long since I used the solar heating that I forgot about it until today! So heading for my first solar bath of the year, the two dozen tubes on the roof have heated the tank to 60 degrees C today

Here in Lincolnshire the first one today sheltering from a cold North East wind, probably wondering why he left the South African sunshine!

I don't geddit!

Father used to run a moth trap together with an old surgeon friend and they used to log their count each day. I think they sent the results eventually to the Norwich Natural History Museum. Yes there were more moths about and I rarely see them coming to the light at night. There may be other factors to take into account such as the increase in bat numbers. Same with insects on windscreens. Firstly there are so many more cars on the roads, secondly cars are more aerodynamic, and there is also the possibility that insects have evolved to avoid roads But yes, it is true that there has been a general vast decline, except at our lake which also ruins my bat theory as there are so many pipistrelles there!

I built a serious des res bat box a few years ago, thought I had picked the perfect site and orientation, but so far not a sign. However at the log cabin there is a lot of activity which I think is probably due to the insect life available on the lake. They also like spaces in the foam insulation in the roof of our old disused potato store brick building.

I know ,I know , I should be posting about hookaroons, but,but but it is Easter after all. I think I need to see a doctor!

Vladimir Presnyakov The night was moonless Quiet like at a churchyard I saw you cruising my way Surrounded by stars Oh, how young you were I lost my heart to your charms Stewardess named Jeanne I admire you, i desire you You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near Stewardess named Jeanne You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near Stewardess named Jeanne You are my fifth ocean, My wonder woman I want our heavenly affair To last forever No evil, no lies should touch us, No unexpected disasters Stewardess named Jeanne I admire you, i desire you You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near Stewardess named Jeanne I admire you, i desire you You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near I leave my worries behind, I forget all troubles When the stewardess of night Calls me to the everlasting flight I'm flying and the heavens sing As our plane goes higher and higher Stewardess named Jeanne I admire you, i desire you You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near Stewardess named Jeanne39 You are my angel from heaven Wherever i am, you are near Stewardess named Jeanne Stewardess named Jeanne Stewardess named Jeanne https://lyricstranslate.com

Earlier version

I first heard the song on a river boat going down the Dnepr River in 1993 to Odessa and I thought the song was about Odessa not Airhostessa!

Built this for mine with some scrap steel, and some boards cut with the Lucas Mill plus some boat trailer rollers off Ebay. Works for me as I need a bit of manual work to keep warm but without the heavy lifting which is done with the Teleporter. Sorry about the filming but it is difficult to drag the log and cut it with one hand, the other on the camera!

Used the Stihl Hookeroon and hammer to clear out the compressed sawdust in the ram track. It was a hard as concrete and all seems to be working properly now. Thanks to all.

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The sound of the saw reminds me of the scene in the film CONTACT with Jodie Foster when she first hears the alien signal!

All the more amazing is the guy who invented it, Cornelis Corneliszoon, did so in 1594. Here is a link to the history A Brief History of Wood-Splitting Technology, Part 3: The Wind-Powered Sawmill That Changed Dutch History - Core77 WWW.CORE77.COM Invented by a farmer in 1594, this increased efficiency by a whopping 3,000%

Just sitting on a bench at the log cabin by the lake in the first sunshine for a while and the air is full of buzzing insects, flies and bumblebees in spite of Attenborough’s claims that they are depleted. A small fish, possibly a silver Rudd suddenly surfaced and went about twenty feet across the surface like a jet skier and went completely out of the water and on to the bank. It then flipped about and flipped itself back in the lake. Never seen that before. Possibly escaping a Pike?

It did not seem a very prolonged period of cold, compared say to 1963, but perhaps species of all sorts have become softer with the series of mild Winters. Do you think that the lack of rabbits has done for the foxes? My Pipistrelle bats seem to be doing ok in the log cabin, nestling between the full scribe Poplar logs. Little droppings everywhere !

I still have not seen a fox or a rat on the farm, a very few baby rabbits are appearing but hardly any adults. Badger signs are everywhere but I have not encountered a badger on the road at night as I would normally. Squirrels everywhere and good variety of bird life but another depletion is queen wasps. Normally my conservatory where I bring in the wood for the stove would be buzzing with them as they wake with the warmth. Do you think that the very cold spell we had did for them?

Some people have a unique way with words!