Eric42

I once left damp gloves to dry out in a wood store. When I next put them on they felt even wetter. Thought at first the roof must be leaking - then the smell hit me - fox pee!

I used to have a dive bottle for refilling when I did a bit of competitive field target shooting. Now I live more rural and find it more convenient to use a pump (mine is a Hill's Mk5). If you are only shooting a few dozen pellets at a time, a decent quality stirrup pump is a nice steady workout. I pump 20-30 times, then leave it a few minutes to save the pump (and me !) from getting too hot. The dog goes into hiding when he sees the pump - doesn't like the noise when I let loose the air from the filling tube.🙂 .177 is my choice. Head shots only, placed between eye and ear.

Possibly Acute Oak Decline (AOD) There is a good description of the symptoms here

Always thought that nice blue colour came from all the embedded barbed wire and staples in hedgerow firewood 🙂

We have a Clearview Vision 500 that only every burns wood, so except for the annual chimney clean it always has a good bed of ash over the grid. No problem with air control, when the spin wheel is closed the primary air is completely shut off. Occasionally I poke a hole through the ash layer and use bottom air to get it going quickly, however most of the time I light the fire "top down", which is recommended nowadays to minimise start-up emissions (and is always fascinating to watch !)

If you have the time, Hawthorn from hedges that have never been flailed and have almost no thorns. One of the most satisfying things in life is to see a hedgerow regenerated by coppicing/laying a few years ago, then go home and watch flames from seasoned logs cut from that same hedge.