39TDS

Big changes around here over the decades have been the move from many small/medium sized family farms to far fewer farms that are great big places with hundreds of cows rather than 50-60. Those smaller farms were often mixed farming so had dairy and arable. So all the farmyards with flocks of sparrows feeding off the spilled grain etc are gone along with the farmyard. The buildings are now houses and not somewhere for swallows etc to nest. Gone are the days of haymaking, nearly everyone just does multiple silage cuts. So no wild flower meadows full of insects and seeds for the birds. I also think that removal of certain insecticides for often political reasons means less choice and the ones left kill everything. Neonicotinoids were subject to a blanket ban where some of them were "bee friendly", the choice then were permethrins which kill everything. I might be wrong on that but worth looking into. There is currently a long running campaign by Greenpeace against the limited use of neonicotinoids in sugar beet on the grounds that it harms bees. It makes no sense as it is a seed treatment and sugar beet is harvested before flowering. Bees won't come into contact with it. There are other things going on that no doubt affect the bird population but I do think the big changes in agriculture are going to be a big part of it. I am not blaming the farmers, they are in massive decline too!

One here today

Deserves it after peeing in it for all those years.

Wasn't the gunge just the cream off the milk? Back in the olden days before it was all homogenised rubbish.

I think you would be naive to think that Russia and others would not play on these thing to the maximum though. They are stirring the pot, of that I have no doubt.

My Greener stopped working, turned out to be due to the firing pin having snapped. Gunsmith drilled a hole tapped it and threaded a new pin he had made into it. I was quite shocked at the time he could actually do that at all never mind for a viable price, it worked too. Can't say I ever really enjoyed the gun and don't see the appeal but each to their own. Sold mine to someone who wanted to pretend it was a rifle and reenact being a soldier in Rourke's Drift.

Same here apart from the salt. I doubt anyone in this lane can remember when the last gritter came past. Not fussed at all about no street lights, I don't see the need. There are some new ones about a mile away and can't think for the life of me what purpose they serve. They were fitted outside a local attraction but it is never open when it is dark.

Yep. I pay Over £3,800 to have my bins emptied. Nearly £4k a year for what exactly? To pay some useless ****** pension I guess, probably the guy that draws white lines around all the bomb holes in the road once a month. Should spend less on paint and more on tarmac.

Doesn't really matter because they won't break under normal use anyway and are actually nicer to use than other makes too.

Hold it tight when you do eventually shoot it. They kick and the safety latch can hurt. They do have a significant place in shooting history but I can only think of the Cooey that was a worse gun I ever owned. No offense intended to owners and I hope you enjoy yours.

I was in my prime, didn't need any help from Gordon or anyone else for that matter. 😁 A long time ago and seriously the best years of my life. Very grateful to be where I am now and who I am with now but particularly enjoyed that part of the journey. If there was an option to do it all again I wouldn't change much but don't pretend for one second I got it all right. Nice to look back on some incredibly fun times over the decades.

Alternating between the two at 15 minute intervals.

Living with two girls and ******** them both. Oh to go back. It would be nice to think I still had that kind of energy never mind opportunity.

There is a definition somewhere of what counts as family for these purposes. Cousins don't count as family and I have had cousins and their partners act as referee for my licenses.

Not sure what is going on with Google Earth pro but from my point of view it appears to be some kind of low res AI version. My own place is now so blurred it is no use whatsoever. I am fairly rural but if you go into Chester the res is better but they have edited every person out of it, even in the main streets where you just know there would be people. Whatever is going on for the most part it is unusable now