pycoed

I wonder what he thinks of this piece about burning then? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-51043828

It most certainly IS an issue in this country! Anyone getting bitten by a bat here will have exactly the same concerns, officially. FWIW a mate of mine had exactly the same experience as the OP a few years back after being bitten by a bat - he was telling the tale in the pub & his GP happened to hear it & told him to go to A&E immediately. He was subsequently ****** about so much by the NHS ( & another agency whose title I can't recall) that in the end he trusted to his own immune system (he is a knackerman!!) & told them all to stuff it.

A couple of years back now, I was strimming a rough bank rising from our lawn into a field. My son looked out of the patio door & said to my wife & daughter " Come & watch this: he's forgotten about that wasp's nest". Next thing there were 8 of the ******** inside my bib & brace - I downed the brushcutter sharpish & ran towards the house bashing myself wherever they stung me, only to see my nearest & dearest collapsed in laughter! (8 stings on the belly & 2 on the neck - but they don't affect me much at all - bees neither (the missus keeps them)

The difference between Paul Potts & Jussi Björling is the same as between Port Vale & Real Madrid in soccer terms?

Buy a copy of "Wipers Times" on Amazon & read it before you go. The book is a collection of the newspaper actually produced from 1916-1918 starting in the salient. It's a fascinating insight into life in the trenches - it's just amazing what you can get used to if you HAVE to... Incidentally you'll see how much the ideas/scripts of Blackadder Goes Forth were pinched from the paper too!!

@clemfandango, if you are involved in red kite monitoring for 7 years you should know better than to be so definite in your denials of behaviour. Never say "never". Perceived wisdom is that kites' talons are too small to do serious damage, yet one of our local kites (nesting in a Scots pine not 150 yds from my computer) killed a neighbour's Light Sussex cockerel in his run. Whether the same kite or not, another pulled the head off a Copper Black Maran hen of mine in my bottom field a couple of weeks later whilst I was just too slow to intervene. Again, kestrels won't tackle magpies. Yet I watched one that I first took to be a sparrowhawk grab one in a roadside hedgerow. When I approached & stopped the truck, I was no more than 6 feet from a kestrel! happily killing the magpie on the verge.

HSS is fine, but the killer with stainless is work hardening. Never let the bit skid on the work or you'll harden the S/S & burn the drill in a moment. You MUST use plenty of down pressure to make sure the bit actually cuts. Do that & any good (SKF/ Dormer etc) properly sharp HSS drill will do the job fine for a few holes. Use a pilot just larger than the web of the drill (around 4mm for a 11mm drill). (Did I mention keep up the downpressure?!) Production would be a different matter.

I was there with my son (8 at the time) my mate, his wife & two teenage daughters. My son & I were chatting for a good half hour on the way around to an old boy who turned out to be Lord Somebody or other. When we got back to the buses I spotted an old acquaintance from back home in the front of another bus & he explained that he was glad to make it, as he'd only been released from jail the previous week! Was a good example to the lad, that field sports are the preserve of ALL members of society, not just the toffs. Bloody Blair! Did he actually ever get ANYTHING right?

My wife was mortified & I am now under strict instructions to shoot only drakes! I hadn't seen the mother or siblings about, but I try to keep clear of the ponds except for feeding. I.m not aware of anyone else feeding flight ponds inside a mile or two but its only 4-5ml as the duck flies to Penclacwydd (WWF site) where there are tons of grain fed every day. It's just strange I've never seen ducklings in the season before...

Was out this morning feeding my flight pond & my cocker brought me back a newly dead day old mallard duckling! It was cold when she retrieved it from a pile of flag leaves in 6" of water, but I don't know if she killed it, it died of shock or was just lying there. Anyway It was quite fresh but cold. I did see two mallard mating about a month back, but I've never seen ducklings this early/late (delete as appropriate) before. I'd be interested if anyone else has seen them about? We did have about 5 days of decent frosts last week so it's doubly surprising to me since some winters we hardly get a frost at all (low altitude in Loughor valley).

I went through exactly this process about 20 years ago. I'd replace the tank with a proper potable water tank which will have a screw lid & be black plastic. Try to get plenty of cover for it so as to keep it cool in summer. Fit at least a 40mm wastepipe as the outlet from the tank if your inlet is 25mm to ensure a constant flow through the tank, but no chance of pressurising in times of large spring flow. Don't use a filter if you are happy without one - it'll clog at the most inopportune moment. Don;t let on to the council if you share the water or they'll be around poking their nose in & requiring annual testing & they will charge top whack for it (typically 3 times the charge you can get it done yourself via a hospital path lab!) UV kits can be fitted for a normal house for under £200 if you fit it yourself - personally I wouldn't have bothered except the council Gestapo got involved since our spring is shared. Even if you are happy with the potability of your supply, do get your water checked for ph because if it's low, it'll eat copper so if you get pinholes in the house pipes you may have to replumb in plastic (don't ask how I know!) PS DO fence the spring & holding tank to keep stock out!

Spot on! A lot of people are not appreciating how difficult it is to accuse the Chief Executive AND head of HR in any organisation, especially when the Chairman seems to be in cahoots with them as well. Just look at the trouble Jason Bourne had with rotters in the management!

Well I bought a couple of these cheapo Aldi calipers (note to others they are digital NOT Vernier) & they read exactly the same as both my Mitutoyo calipers & within a gnats cock of the Moore & Wright or Starrett micrometers. I use the Aldi ones often on the lathe & only for the finicky stuff do I break out the real ones! It's quite handy always having a calipers to hand when they only cost a tenner!

I don't like using anything greasy where combustion gaas can get to it. I've always used a drawing pencil 4B or similar. Rub all over the chocke threads & you get a nice dry lubricant (graphite) that has NO chance of baking on if the barrels get hot. It's also very cheap

Whassamatter? Haven't you got a gun?