lxtav

It was meant in jest in an effort to stop the rant about what I would like to do with the low lifes which is probably not a good idea on a public forum. Also got off very lightly considering what could have gone.

Got up this morning and on looking out the window saw that the small door into the barn was open. Was a bit windy last night and it has blown open in the past so thought nothing of it. Went out about 10:30 and then saw the shed the chickens are in was also open which I definitely locked last night. On walking up the padlocks lying on the ground and the staple had been cut with a pair of bolt cutters. Went into the barn to find that the tack room had also been broken into with one padlock cut off and the other hasp burst out the wall. Checked inside all the sheds and missing from the sheds are a 5l petrol can with about £1 of petrol in it and a Paslode nail gun. They also took the sat nav from the car but one of the doors has not been shut right so it hasn't locked with the central locking. They had obviously been trying the car doors as next door have a van for the charity they work for to take to road shows in the yard and someone has been trying to open the door to the generator. So all plans for doing the garden today out the window while I run around buying new hasp and staples (about £70) and re securing all the doors. On the plus side the sat nav is my wifes, the nail gun is my dads so all I lost was some time repairing the damage and a worthless petrol can with a £1 of petrol in it so I can't cut the grass. But never the less I am mighty *********off about it.

Just spent an hour going through the responses published By the Scottish Government with regards the proposals to licence airguns in Scotland which can be read here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/crimes/Firearms/governmentaction/airweaponlicensing/consultationresponses I didn't go through every single one, but a lot of them, and apart from the usual ones wanting guns banned or licences costing £200 to get i.e the SSPCA, Animal Aid, LACS, some private individuals,etc. I recon about 95% of the ones I looked at were all saying the ban was unenforceable, pointless, hugely expensive, not needed and politically motivated with no evidence to justify it. It looked to me that the campaign to submit responses against the proposals by the shooting organisations has been a success and showed what can be done when we all get together as one. However we are talking about politicians and even if the whole country came out against it if they have it in their mind that they are right it will be brought in as obviously the vast numbers of people opposing the proposals are all wrong and know nothing as all politicians are always right and know what is best for the rest of us. Will be interesting how Kenny MacCaskill deals with this one if the huge majority of the responses state the legislation is not needed.

Done. Looks a bit like the Scottish airgun consultation. We want your views but were going to ignore them and do what we want anyway.

I know there have been a few threads recently having a go at the Royal mail but I think we should also give credit where credits due. Went to cut the grass last night and found that the mice we had in the stable had also been in the other shed and chewed a hole in the primer bulb for the lawnmower. After some choice words (also lost a green house in the wind and have a garden covered in glass) went on line and ordered one from Ebay. Ordered it at 1728hrs last night and it was marked dispatched by the company at 1733hrs which I thought was impressive. But 0930this morning get a knock at the door and it' s the postman with some other parcels and the primer bulb I ordered last night. That's 450 miles it has come in 16 hours which is pretty good. When royal mail get it right they are impressive but a total disaster when they get it wrong.

They are made by Buzz Bee Toys. Google it to find out where to get them usually Amazon, Smyths toy shop, Ebay. Great fun for the wee man as it opens just like a real shotgun, Takes a foam dart in a cartridge and then ejects the spent cartridge after you have fired it and opened it up. You also get bolt action rifles from them as well.

Went up to the clay ground on Friday and took the wife and my 5 year old son along as well for a bit of a morning out. Turns out my 5 year old is a dab hand with the release buttons for the clays, we did a few stands then I did a full found of Skeet and after one round he had already picked up the sequence. Now got him asking me when we are going back to the 'Gun Club' so he can come with me and press the buttons. Reckon I have a 3 - 4 years (as he is taller than most kids 1-2 years older then him) before he starts asking for a shot with a real gun then another couple of years before he starts getting better at it than me. He already has his own toy shotgun like the one below and he wants the wife to make him a case for it so he can carry it around like I do.

Pics now added.

On behalf of my father Grain Bruiser for sale its old but is solid and works. Rollers have some surface rust but look in good condition with no pits on them and it also has a bit for chitting the grain. All it needs is a motor and belt to get to work. Was used to make feed up for my sheep my dad kept as a hobby until he had to give them up due to being diagnosed with MS as well as the ever increasing amount of paperwork. £150 but will have to be collected as its pretty heavy. He is also selling his Quick mix Hammer mill that was made by Christy and Norris in the 60's. It will mill grain has a small hopper to allow you to add other things to it and mix it in the hopper before filling it manually into bags or a wheelbarrow. Unfortunately no photos of this as yet but it is big and the motors are all three phase. £600. Both ideal for making up your own feeds.

I know it's cheap I want a quick sale so I have had to drop the price as its been for sale for a couple of months with no takers. Will get some pics tommorrow when its light and try and upload them again.

I am selling my 650 Suzuki Bandit as I don't get the time to use it anymore. It is a Blue 07 plate SAK6 S model (The last of the aircooled engine with the fairing and ABS). It is in good condition and done 24358 miles. I can sent pictures if anyone is intrested as the computer is not letting me upload to the forum for some reason just now. Bargin for the better weather coming at £1500. Edit : Pics as requested

Theres Morton clay targets at Livingston just outside edinburgh. Mostly skeet and dtl but does have a compact sporting layout. And the banters pretty good.

We have a horse and it wouldn't bother me or my wife if we ate horse meat and I have done abroad. Wouldn't eat our one (it gets Bute) but if it the animal was breed and slaughtered for the food chain like any other animal such as cows, pigs etc it wouldn't bother me. As with most people the only issue I have is that if I buy something that says beef on the packet, and pay the extra money for it, it should be beef, if it has horsein it as well say so. With regards to the Horse passports they are a complete joke and can be made or altered with a photocopier/computer and some sticky labels any one that has seen one will see what I mean about them and wouldn't be surprised that people have been fiddling with them. It is compunded by the fact that there are hundreds of organisations, some better than others, allowed to issue them and they are all different.

I have a seven year old rodeo and. apart from the elec window switch packing up has had no probs with it.

I know it's sad but I get quite a good laugh looking at some of the petitions that get put on the Number 10 site. Came across this one which I can see is having a huge success with 4 people signing it. http://epetitions.di...petitions/44649 Although not as good as some of the rejected ones.

Absolutley nothing here in West Lothian bar sunny skies with hardly a cloud its cold but the wood burner has solved that problem. Was looking forward to a bit of snow so I could go out and play in the 4x4.

My wife used to breed guinea pigs as she liked the challenge of trying to get the markings and her interest in genetics etc as she did this at Uni. It did help that baby guinea pigs are brilliant little things and are hilarious to watch. Well one of the boys that she had for breeding died overnight which may not appear much but it was at least 10 years old which is pretty good for a animal that more usually lives to 4 or so and he had a great character that the kids loved. We got him when he was at least 2 as his exact age was not known and we have had him for just over 8 years and he has seen of most of his kids and grandkids bar one and he had fathered a lot over the years. Its not as if he led a charmed life either as he lived out in the stable and when it dropped to -18 a few years ago he just got a blanket over the cage and he was still running around yesterday. Sad day so just have to break the news to my son when he comes back from primary school. No doubt he will be upset but we have never sugar coated it even when relatives have died as I believe it's good for kids to learn about the cycle of life and think having pets is a good way of teaching them responsiblity by looking after them. Just out of curiosity how many of you have had pets that have not only lived longer than they are usually expected to but just seem to go on forever.

Just had mine in and I've been with the same company (Elephant) for several years and they are always cheaper than the comparison sites as I check every year. In fact for the past 4 years it has been getting less every year and it's now under £300 quid for my rodeo

Woke up this morning to find a Buzzard in the garden looking a bit dazed. Nothing unusual there we give them half an hour or so and their generaly gone. Today however it stayed and got out walking onto he road so my wife went out and walked straight up to it and picked it up without it even trying to run off. Quick look at it showed that it had a broken wing but other than that it was a beautifull looking bird. Obviously if it had been a pigeon as is normally the case it would have been dealt with no probs but being a raptor decided had better call the SSPCA to get them to deal with it. The inspector turned up had a look at the bird saw it had a bacterial infection and a bad break to the main bone in its wing. Obviously the SSPCA up here in Scotland has a bit more common sense than the RSPCA down south who lately are getting a bit political and we must save all the creatures no matter what as it was put down to prevent its suffering (up here only vets and the SSPCA are allowed to do that to raptors). Had a good chat for about 20mins with the inspector after that and they were definately not a bunny hugger or anti. She was firmley of the opinion that not everything can be saved and the country side has to be managed to prevent problems even if this means killing off a few of the local wildlife. They also were saying that people are of the opinion the SSPCA are against all shooting and pest control of wild animals but as long as they are done humanely and for a reason they have no issues with it. It was an intresting chat given what the RSPCA have been up to lately.

Went to the club recently and saw that I had been accepted as a member after my probationary period so ran off and got the forms to apply for my FAC (and coterminus SGC). Already got one referee lined up and just have to ask the other one which shouldn't be a problem as they signed my SGC application. So this weeks task is to get club membership paid, forms filled out and sent off before the long wait. Don't think there will be any problems as I already have a SGC, am only asking for a .22rf for target shooting at the club and have a space in the cabinet.

There are good and bad in all jobs especially one with as many people as the police it doesn't automatically mean that there is a problem with the culture of the police as such. However since the Tory government of the 80's policing has gone from what I regard as policing, helping the public and using a bit of common sense to uphold the peace, to a numbers game, lock everyone up there is a crime in everything. A common phrase around the stations at times is "It's not a numbers game" as so many of the senior management have got to where they are by manipulating figures to get better results so they can say how good they are to get another promotion. I have been told things such as we will do X amount of hours of foot patrol which is virtually impossible with the manpower available so we have been told that walking from the car to the door of the house is foot patrol so now there is a kind of its O.K to bend the rules mentality with some officers. It is much much better than the dishonest beat them up police force of the past but you will always get the odd officer that is still like that and they deserve everything that they get when found out. In the Andrew Mitchell case if officers have found to have lied then they deserve everything they get as it reflects badly on the thousands of good cops out there. It is unfortunate that it is only the bad cops that make the headlines so it looks like a huge problem when it is just a few individuals overall as "Cop lies to sack Goverment minister" makes a better headline than "Cop helps granny that has fallen over". One thing to remember is that Mitchell has stated himself that he shouted and swore at the police officers so despite the fact that it appears that officers have lied or embellished the story he still swore at the police. As several other politicians have stated if he had been a teenage hoodie on a council estate he would have been flung in a cell and prosecuted with the Government applauding the stern zero tolerance attitude of the police why should it be any different just because he is a politician that he can say sorry to the oficers and it's O.K.

If I have to apply for a licence well I'll just have to do it as long as it is cheap as most air rifles sold are not expensive and as I have a shotgun cert and am deemed safe to have one that it is just a formallity to get the bit of paper to have the airgun as well. I use it responsibly for a ligitimate reason anyway (keeping the rabbit population in check in my fields) so it shouldn't be much of an issue for me anyway and as am going to apply for my FAC for a FAC airgun soon, as the incresed range would be a great help, it may be slightly academic for me. I can see where they are going with it as why do you need to have an air rifle just just to say you own one and never use it for pest control or target shooting. If it gets rid of the scum and chavs that have them and use them in the small back gardens of towns and cities to shoot cats and other things and generally cause major problems then it would be a good thing. As looking out your kitchen window and seeing some scumbag walking down the street with a rifle of some sort is not going to engender any good feeling towards gun owners by the general public who can't tell the difference between a sub 12ft/lb rifle and a deer calible rifle and think the are all the same . However if you are a chav that does this you are not going to bother getting a licence anyway as they guns they are using are never going to be handed in or registered so it is pointless which is further enhanced by the following two paragraphs from the consultation paper (on the BASC website) 33. Prior to purchasing an air weapon, the onus should be on the buyer to ensure that they are in possession of a valid certificate which they could present at the point of purchase. Under existing arrangements, registered firearms dealers already have to confirm a buyer‟s age and address before making an air weapons sale. We do not propose that dealers or sellers would have to confirm that a valid certificate is in place as well. 34. We will expect registered dealers to make buyers aware of their responsibilities as an air weapon owner, through the display or distribution of up to date information and advice. This could form part of a long term, joint information campaign involving dealers, shooting organisations and clubs and the Scottish Government. What is the point of having to apply for a licence to how that you have good reason and are not a chav nutcase if you don't have to show it when you buy the airgun. I am firmly of the opinion that we should do what we can to prevent this from coming in but I believe that within 2 years all airguns in Scotland will have to be licenced as it is an idea that the Scottish Government i.e the SNP have an at all cost attitude to put this through. Just look at the responses to the Gay marriage proposals from church and other bodies against it that appear to have been totally ignored. All I can see is already overstretched fireams departments grinding to a halt and the whole thing being a total farce. One point to consider is that this has been a well known proposal of the SNP for years so if you are an airgun owner and voted for them in the last Scottish election that put them in government you can't moan about having to get a licence for your airgun as you put them there.

My wife has a horse that is soon to become two and over the years going to events with her there are definately two types of horse owner. There are the ones that have the horses because they like having them and appreciate the countryside and that a little give and take such as asking the farmer if they can ride in his stubble field, even though the law in Scotland says you can do it anyway, or putting the horse in the stable for the night when the farmer asks as he has some fence work or something to do goes a long way. As my wife says being polite costs nothing and goes a long way with people. You also tend to find these people have grown up in or on farms and understand the way the countryside works. Then there are the ones who are usually 'Townies' who have to have the latest gear, most expensive and cleanest (as its done nothing more than bump up a kerb) 4x4 they can buy and think that they can do whatever they please as they are Horse owners and have no understanding of even the basics of the countryside. They can be summed up as the ones that think Bacon and Milk comes from the supermarket and see the horse as a status symbol to boast about. Luckily most of the horse owners around me are the first kind but there are the odd one who can't understand why the farmer is going ballistic as they have just galloped over his field of 'Grass' that is in fact winter barley.

Just come back from 6 days in Spain (mother in law has a house there) and while there went into the Decathlon store in Malaga for a look. I admit it is about three times the size of the store near me in Edinburgh but the amount of shooting stuff (and other sports) was great. Go to one in Britain and your lucky to get a few racks with a couple of jackets/trousers and some welly boots in the so called hunting section and if you go online you can see the entire range but about 95% is never available here. There was two entire Aisles of shooting equipment and clothing (three is you consider the overlap with the fishing aisle) as well as full Aisles of every other sport you could imagine from scuba diving, horseriding to running and rock climbing. There was an entire aisle of clothing with fleeces, jackets, trousers, tops etc all in green, cammo and the dayglo orange they have to wear over there with another aisle of gun cases, slips, airgun pellets and cartridges (had to ask for them but were on display in a locked cabinet). Could have spent a fortune but had no space in the suitcase but picked up a plastic cartridge carry case for 150 cartridges but it takes 200 for 9.95 euros (about £8.30) that looks exactly like the ones you get over here for double that or more if it has a name like Beretta on it. If it's supposed to be an international chain why can't we have the same stuff as they do over in Spain or France (wifes pal stays in rural France and the local Decathlon there is about 60% shooting gear and huge) even if just online. The gear is never going to be any good in the looks dept for a game shoot but I have found there stuff good quality and pretty well priced for everyday use.

Dads just shelled out on another Tractor a Case 4240 with loader after we knackered the old Leyland 262 we had been using as a loader tractor to move the hay and haylage we make around. It broke the fan belt and very quickly overheated and looks like it's cracked the cylinder block but thats the risk with old tractors I suppose . He's trading in the Leyland and his old Zetor 7245 which is getting past it for the Case after he spend about a month driving round looking at tractors that he can get in and out off (he has MS so is unsteady on his feet making some tractors nigh on impossible for him to get in an out off). Can't wait for it to arrive so I can have a play with it.