Steven P

You should warn me about these things, just watched that on the works computer....

I'd be suspicious of this, probably not oak, possibly poplar - not sure it is willow though (oak bark has more 'aggressive' wrinkles, poplar and willow softer but poplar has a darker core to the wood - from the wood I have been given anyway) 'Partially dry' I'd read as 'not as wet as it was (last week) when it fell down' - the wood looks very fresh, hasn't faded or darkened, the bark is still quite green looking. Can't tell but perhaps if you chopped into the bark with an axe a little, bet it would still be green underneath. Second thing to consider, does it smell of wood or is the smell faded a bit? You have to store this till next season, paying a mortgage for the storage area, could be used for flowers or another shed (we all need another shed). My next thought on this is that it is very clean wood, no sticks, not a lot of sawdust or chipping, no small branches and twigs - is your tree surgeon a very diligent chipper I wonder? Or has this wood been taken from site somewhere, tipped and then loaded again to be punted on to you? That's about the only way I can think of why there isn't a lot of stuff with it. I feel lucky if I only get 1 empty pop bottle in a load.... but here, not even a stray leaf.... Suspect you your tree surgeon was mistaken with what he told you it was. However whether it is good value or not depends on the cost. You now have to split it, some handyman time and a portion to pay for the splitter. I reckon 4m3, not sure it will reach the 6 suggested above, with a splitter say 1/2 day chopping the logs to size, 1/2 day to split it and half day to stack and clean up, with tea breaks (my handyman is 87% tea, 5% biscuits and 7% BS). The value depends on the species, in numbers (had to just check these), poplar is 450kg/m3, willow about 500kg/m3 and oak 740kg/m3 density, this correlated roughly to how good each species is. Willow will give about 10% more heat than the same quantity of poplar. T'Internet reckons an average UK house would use 4m3 of firewood in a year - I assume this is hardwood, or about 7m3 of softwood. and also reckons space heating is about £1000 a year for gas (both for average houses)..... 2 handyman days, + £300: £700? If you get about 5m3 out of this pile than it is sort of on a par with mains gas heating. If you have other heating types (electric, LPG, oil) then it is better value, if you have a cheap handyman or the pictures don't show the true picture again better value. Do the splitting work yourself and I think you are ahead with the fuel bill. Personally I think the tree surgeon has done well, but you haven't been ripped off.

Allegedly and only partly.

Yup, a few comments I saw around the internets was leave them to it, none of our business (same with Ukraine and a lot of other conflicts), but they are never just contained in a nice package, Gaza and Israel, but tend to spill over into the wider world - whether it is people fleeing the conflict, shipping detouring the area, or in Ukraine food exports being cancelled, they affect us all. In that area it doesn't take much for some of the other nations to think they will also have a go.

If you are struggling with a Christmas gift idea why not? All I'd say is go quality whatever you go for, reckon I am too long in the tooth for posing pants, my pant demands are fairly simple, no holes, elastic still works and good to go. After that it is just styling I think - some of us will want to be snug, and some will like a dangle, if saw dust wants to get in, it will get in. Mesh panel along the side? Going to make a massive difference underneath work trousers I think

Just spent the afternoon taking photos of a few things, doubt the photos will do them full justice but that is another aspect, nice things in a shop and people can pick them up, turn them around, see them, but a good photo is needed online - a great photo even better (got plans to make a case with lights for better photos... after the new year now though)

Etsy, I have sold a couple of hundred ££ worth this year - all firewood turned into stuff. By the way does anyone want to buy any stuff? No? Oh well, asking on Arbtalk if people wanted wood is a waste of time? What I have found is that fees, they take a flat 10%, plus a listing fee, plus if they feature it on an advert (at their discretion) and it sell there is another 10%... so I count on them taking 20%. What I make is small stuff, Royal Mail small parcels at £4 a time, which can be another 10 to 20%. Then there are incidental costs to me - wood finishes (varnish, oil, wax), packing and so on which are harder to cost per item, and of course tools (got to count for them, they will need to be replaced). So finances, I think taking 50% of the sales price as cash into my pocket is reasonable. E-Bay is similar, a bit cheaper but not a lot. The platforms do advertise, so you don't need to do that so much. What I do is just for fun. They are a congested market, got to find a niche, but a niche market isn't popular. My gran isn't going to want a hand cart, be tricky Christmas present too (however the owl should sell?). A niche market can be more profitable (I have 2 similar lines, one is a niche, one competes with mass produced from India and China, niche adds 25% extra just because). Last word from my experience is I am avoiding international sales like the plague just now. Wooden projects and have to check each country import laws (US for example needs heat treated certified wood... apparently), but for what I have sold, 4 international orders, one got as far as the front door and delivery driver just gave up and went home, 1 was lost completely and replaced (FOC) - a £25 product gone, plus another lot of postage and the last I screwed myself with the postage (made 20p in a £35 order!). So I am going to stick with it, make projects for fun, and if they sell they sell but I am not banking on paying the mortgage off it.

So the vermiculite chips around the chimney are to keep the liner hot, the tar won't cool and condense as much and leads to a cleaner chimney (plus fewer nasty chemicals on the liner it could last longer). Often seams to me that the stove industry tells us a lot how to burn wood efficiently and send that heat straight up and out (insulated bricks, heat stays in fire box, insulated chimney, heat stays in that). Insulated chimney doesn't do a lot for house heating. Our master bedroom has the chimney breast and uninsulated chimney it can get nice and warm - never had a problem with that room being cold. I think heat going through the register plate will help heat the chimney brickwork so you get benefit higher up, and noting that I think both ends should be reasonably sealed - so convection currents don't go straight up and out. It is a thought I had before, was going to put a lower plate in nearer the base of the lintel to reduce that void a bit but as above the hot air there is a bit of a heat sink for late evenings, and the fan helps too. Insulation... one test I did once was throw a load into the fire - solid (polystyrene and phenolic type), sheeps wool, rockwool and glass fibre. The Rockwool was fairly stable, then glass fibre which melted quicker, sheeps wool burnt and the solid type burn quite nice. Probably OK to use Rockwool near the liner, might leave a gap though just in case. The reason for burning it? Traditional layout semi- house with 1 stair case, insulating under the suspended floors, and I didn't want anything that would be a raging fire in case of a problem - we still need to escape. We have rock wool under the house, and no solid insulation below the bedroom ceilings height. So might be you can pour vermiculite down the chimney if you want some insulation there?

I've had a few insects in the past and think Moth would probably be best in a mix rather than neat, furry bellies might not be so good (spiced ants are good by the way - think ant + smoked paprika)

I thought that national defence is still under control of the individual countries involved? So all is good with the EU and Italy (and would have been good also if we were still in and collaborating with that the Commonwealth - Canada, Australia et al)

A tip I learnt from steam engine boilers... never touch the handles! I'll use the poker for that

Oh, no, I can do 5 a day.... (6 and emptying the whole box would just be greedy)

Always been my way of thinking about it too. If I can easily identify the source, it is good "xyz comes from abc" (Beef comes from a Cow, flour from wheat, sugar from sugar beat, Aspartame comes from the errr....errr....)

Vegetarian and vegan food isn't always brilliant for you, can still have the same fats, sugars, salts, and so on, and can be a lot more processed than a lump of meat

Did you look under the sofa, when my boys lose something it is often there. Apart from the TV remote, I'm looking for my TV remote in the Glasgow area anyone? What you might do is give a hint what type of wood and where in Essex, collection, delivery, how many cords, you know, the other little details that stop others asking these same questions. I assume for firewood purposes, but maybe not?

Likewise, I prefer to have a few kinds of wood.

Because it has worked so well for smokers for the past few decades...... Can't fix it, tax it.

If it is wet ground I would consider that more than the species perhaps, 100 middle ground trees not thriving or 100 fast growing water loving trees thriving? Wet loving trees - Alder, silver birch as above, and if willow and hazel are going well why not stick to what you know does well?

Trying to work out how you would bend a bar lengthways then. Into the wood and not going straight down but a very gentle curve maybe? With the lever probably applying enough pressure to bend the bar? maybe? Left to right bend of right to left would suggest the direction of the curve but my head is hurting trying to work out which way it is bending

Yes, that is going to be a problem in about 15 years - the UK population is predicted to fall, and of course the fall will start from the bottom upwards leading to an aging population (same too with most of Europe). The solutions are not popular though, increase the retirement age to return our retirement length to about 5 to 10 years, pay more into the system in taxes, import young workers (who can work and pay taxes), or cut services and maintenance of the country (like roads and so on)

which direction is the bend? top to bottom or lengthwise?

I might add.... it is a long time since I had a school meal - the systems have changed since then

Yup, if they got an increase in budget to cover the meals then all is good. My thoughts on this is that you know 63 get free school meals, probably could identify which ones too, don't think we should be able to do this. At secondary school the 'free' meals got tokens, we paid in cash and knew who was 'poor' - I think this is an added pressure to kids that can be avoided by keeping payment or not discrete from the children. If the catering staff are there and paid for regardless, the kitchen is there and paid for anyway, then the cost of a meal is just the cost of the food? So the paid for meals can be 'at cost' - and all can get a school meal (parents pay, school pays, state pays, however)? Economies of scale should make a school lunch cheaper than you can make at home.

£52,000 on drugs!! So that's got your attention... but it is the system we have, free at the point of use, the premise of the national health service, as a society we club together to help each other out in their times of need. If £1k a month in drugs - free at the point of use - is too much then where do you stop? Very soon you'll be suggesting that the NHS becomes a pay-to-go service. If you can afford it you get treated, if not, well, you can just die.

Never convinced that keeping it by the fire is a good thing by the way, OK once in the fire it is more efficient but you still loose that heat energy evaporating the water in the log that is next to the fire.... and all that water vapour makes the house damp or goes up the chimney anyway. Yes, been so wet that the logs are re-abosorbing the moisture, usually it is just surface moisture now, dries up with 2 clear days and some wind.. but yes, they are more wet this year