Steven P

As above, put yourself on the tip sites but remember they work if it is beneficial to both sides - unlikely that someone will pass 5 other tip sites to visit you, but if you are near to a job, easy access then you might benefit. Talking to local tree surgeons can help too, let them know where you are and what you want (but never be too picky). Weird as it may be, not all tree surgeons are on this site. I know!.... Talk an early or late lunch walk if you benefit from being able to work from home, of there is a chainsaw near then you might hear it... and can introduce yourself (so long as the tree surgeon isn't half way up a tree at the time - pick your moment) I wouldn't however advise a silky saw and big rucksack unless you have the landowners permission, but mainly 60 litres (or whatever a big rucksack is) is about enough firewood for a morning. Me, I talked to a friend the other week "terrible storms, brought down one of the big trees" "really....." 5 hours later and a decent load of firewood - keep your ears open too Edit: Collecting from site is probably a PITA if you are just filling the boot of a Corsa - different if you have a transit and can load it too. Might be better to ask if they can drop it off and perhaps offer petrol money

Suspect Mark has seen plenty from your suggestions in his past, he is old enough to remember hedgerows. Also suspect that a photo or 2 of the site, where the power lines are relative to the hedge and where the tree was would quieten down those who doubt you, suspect it was these photos Mark was talking about

Go back to the beginning then Your tree, your hedgerow. Did you go in the neighbours garden and with or without permission Did anything else go in there - branches etc Was anything damaged Does the tree have any amenity value to them TPO or not - that is for the authorities to enforce, not the neighbours though they can let them know the tree is gone

On topic.... I'll often mow autumn leaves - collects them up and mulches them (same with sticks twigs, broccoli stems, windfalls, saw dust.... the mower was cheap enough to eventually trash but £100 from B&Q si surprisingly resistant) I'd do the cats as well... Australian rules only work if you can catch them in the act, otherwise "You own a cat, this is cat poo, so it was your cat" doesn't work - same with hiding (neighbours cat will scarper pretty quick if it sees me). Passive, the best I found for my neighbours was the electronic cat scarer. I'd love to be able to program a little computer, image recognition for cats and perhaps a spray gun

Victas do heat proof paint and spray cans, their customer services are usually very helpful and the girl who answers the phone tends to know her stuff (rather than being put on hold for ages for a sales rep)

Pet fox. The wild one stopped one cat. Careful consideration of the culprit (for example, I had one regularly go on the front lawn, put a 1m strip of pine branches along the edge, it stopped. Removed 1m lengths of this hedge till it started again - that was the path it used - then just planted a gooseberry bush hedge along there and it was cured). Spiky stuff in the flowerbeds.. but you spike your hands digging. CatAway scarer does pretty well. Human (and male) pee does OK

Fully agree... to the action and also as to being out of sight. When the family were younger potties of pee were a regular addition - but also to the lawn since human pee claims the territory from the neighbouring cats (and if your aim is good... on a cat - they really, really hate that).

I was going to respond but life is too short, however if you cannot take it, don't give it out. I was hoping to build up to being a Cuck this week, cuck might have blown this week.

Coal ash contains a lot of nasty stuff - arsenic amongst it - so not something to be spreading around the potatoes. Wood ash is different, can raise the PH / acidity levels (you can make strong caustic soda from wood ash), any unburnt bits add a nice bit of carbon too. Having said that, my ashes go into a pile, I might add a shovel or 2 into a wheel barrow... but only after 6 to 8 months with the nasties being washed out by the rain.. to give a bit of grit to the mix, breaks up the clay soil slightly.

I am sure I saw a soldier on the TV once No, fireman, it was a fireman, Londons Burning that was it.

Just a fact correction, the Scots comments go over his head - he's a Geordie? or close enough? However the learning English comment still stands.....

Me, it is just a tidy heap that is turned over a couple of times a year - everything goes, plus some saw dust to give it the 'brown' to work against the 'greens'. Edges of the heap are a few scaffold boards with gaps between them. About once a year I dig it all out and sift out the fine stuff into an old wheelie bin for potting / as a slugs nest and the big stuff - sticks and so on, goes back in. I'm finding doing this all the stones and rubbish ends up at the bottom of the pile (it keeps getting returned, is the last to be dug out / first to be returned) rather than in the compost itself.

Should do that, take out what they can and use the rest as a fuel - instead or fresh oil or gas.

older axe should re-shape OK

It -can- be recycled but needs to be separated into each colour, I don't think you can remove the colour from glass. Melt 2 or more colours together and you get a sort of attractive grey sludge colour - not so good for foods, but I guess might work for other things./ Once the glass is smashed the cost to recycle increases and might not be economical to separate broken glass - small pieces especially.

I can't be the only one thinking that when I end up in one of them and garage full of toys gathering dust, I'll get a 2 stroke powered mobility scooter

Is there a flow of £££ notes? That might complicate things. If not, the tree surgeon might be able to add something to the job, a unique selling point to win it by adding in the bowl for free, you get the firewood for your time turning the bowl - but if you enjoy turning then that is firewood for free really? Only so many bowls you can make and keep in the house so got to get rid of some eventually. Customer get a free bowl from the tree, Might need you to knock on a few tree surgeons doors to get one willing to work along with you

There is some merit to this, most plastics made from oil, the oil could just as easily be diverted into the power station instead of making plastic. So all we are doing there is using the oil before it is converted to electricity, and the big power stations can have industrial filtration and cleaning on the chimneys, carbon capture and so on. However I'd only advocate that when the plastic gets to the end of its useful life rather than a 2 shot use - plastic bag, burn it. It saves creating huge landfills which are just methane machines - methane is worse than Carbon Dioxide. Colouring of stuff... it has been a thought of mine for a few years that anything that is not easily recyclable is coloured magenta (pink-purple) in the shops. All branding gone, just a pink box with the product name on. Manufacturers will change what they use but for me, as a consumer we'd only need 2 bins: dry waste and wet waste, no thought needed. In the recycling centre anything pink is dumped / burnt whatever, and everything else is recycled. All wet waste (food scraps etc) can be composted / methane digesters / whatever. Similar to the bottle ideas above, all I'd want to do is take bottles to recycle with no thought needed if it is good to recycle or not.

Third vote for a Henry - no coincidence that soot hoovers are the same type. However soot = hoover killer. For my stove I'll put in a paper supermarket carrier bag which catches most soot, wrap it up and in the bin (or in the fire pit and put a match to it - soot burns pretty well, slow burner but load of heat)

Surely not, tax us? Noticing the cash only barber I'll go to tomorrow is something like £13.50 so everyone gives £15.... £1.50 a cut is never declared... sure that would never happen

but that puts me off generally. Every now and then I'll send a message to ask for more details but if I don't get anything I won't put a bid on - say a £50 'spares or repair' might need fresh fuel, adjustment and a good clean, it might need a new cylinder so I'd like a clue what kind of repair is needed, might get more bids that way.

If I want to collect a 2nd hand thing I'll go to Gumtree, if i want it posted to me I'll go to ebay. A frustration of mine is "spare or repairs, none runner" with no clue about why it is a none runner - a decent description will save you hassles later. If you think they are easy fixes suggest you what you think the problem is.. with a disclaimer of course.

I saw that, the insults he was throwing about are the kind that could stick and could be career ending. Banter is one thing and the false arguments that they have so that they can keep their names in the public domain, part of being in public life. However there is line I think and crossing it isn't acceptable - comparing Vine to Rolf Harris? I assume he was referring to Harris conviction of touching up school girls and not dodgy painting on the TV. Unacceptable and deserves all he gets. Probably all who make similar insults deserve the same.

Reckon they have gone but... financially spending time on them is the best, whether it is to make 2 or 3 running and strip the 4th for spares, or splitting them all for parts to sell separately. However to clear workshop space a message on here "does anyone want them" or auction site job lot spare will do that - all depends on the motivation. Middle ground is clean them up, blow with an air line if you have one, sell individually as spares / repair.

Going to distract the conversation further here - used to look after a large gas engine, also started on compressed air. Amazing to see a piece of machinery as big as that starting so silently. I think the air vessel had to be insured and tested separately. I reckon at the moment so long as the green energy is being captured and used or stored every little helps - it is often turned off due to demand or storage issues. Different demands though, heat stores, great if you are wanting heat, hydrogen or other liquids if you need the energy to be portable (ships, planes, and so on). In the middle there is the question of how do we store electricity for later use - batteries, heat or compressed air, or something like hydrogen. We are limited in this country for pumped storage locations and capacity. I'm not sure which is the best but just my gut reaction which I think is.