Jonty

Best Christmas present I got this year..... it was incredibly well wrapped in bubble wrap so the penny dropped it was a mahoosive Cross cut saw before I saw the detail, I had a good couple of minutes trying to maintain a smile whilst unwrapping it whilst thinking ‘what the hell has she bought me one of these for?’

It does sound like snipe to me. They tend to squawk when taking off, which would fit in with the dogs disturbing them.

I’ve had a 3 year hiatus from brewing after I moved house. Man cave etc was quite down on the priorities list. I eventually got my shed up (8’x24’), converted a section into my home office and the rest is beer, shooting and fishing related space. I made the brewery kit some years ago and it’s made some good beer - I usually make smaller batches but it will produce up to 70 litres at a time.. I’ve just finished plumbing it in so the vessels fill from a mains feed rather than having to use hoses or lift heavy sloshing tanks about.. I’ve a couple more tweaks to make but hopefully should be up and brewing in a week or so. Must say I’ve really missed it and can’t wait to get back started.

I'm not a plasterer but I recently paid £300 for a room of similar size to be skimmed. 1 x door 1 x window, existing plaster and plasterboard ceiling. It took one day.

Folks, I'd like to have a litter from my cocker bitch. I've never had any involvement in breeding before so any help is gratefully received. I'm only after a single litter to keep one pup from (mum to be is a lovely temperament) and then sell on any other pups to good homes just for a fee that would make people think about buying a dog rather than to make a load of money out of. I think my main queries would be about finding a stud dog - how you go about paying? Is it after a mating/proof of pregnancy/birth of pups? Also is it normal to pay a fee or offer first choice of a puppy etc? My bitch from very good working stock and I'd be getting all pups docked - so maybe a clue as to how much the average vet costs are for a litter would be good too. thanks in advance

Brisket, that's got my juices flowing - thanks.... I'll do some research

Now the picture posting is working again....... Figgy, my wife is also quite ungrateful whenever I give her a Dutch oven too!

Whenever I've made it from scratch, I've pressed the apples, added a campden tablet to the juice and then fermented with either cider or champagne yeast. The key is to let it mature after its fermented out - I'm not a cider expert but there's a secondary fermentation or the like that really softens the brew as it ages.

Hi samboy, it’s yours mate. I’ll post it hopefully tomorrow

Folks, I've just finished my copy, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not the type of book I would re-visit so if anyone would like it, I'd be happy, as my good deed for the day, to put it in the post for the first person to say 'yes please'.

Thanks for the advice, I'll get it seasoned. I have a fire pit that I cook on in the garden so it will get plenty of use. When we moved into the house (it's got plenty of space and a beck at the bottom of the garden) my wife pointed out that I'd dug/built the firepit before I'd got around to assembling the kids' beds!

I got a dutch oven and tripod as a gift from my wife & kids today - I'm really looking forward to bagging a couple of bunnies and trying it out. I've never cooked in one before, does anyone else here use one?

Nice one Ginger cat - you can't beat home made bacon. If you need any help when it comes to making your own cure up, sing out as its really straight forward. the main thing is make sure you buy cure#1 (also called Prague powder #1) for meat you are going to cook rather than cure #2 which is for dried meats. If you vac pack or wrap the bacon joint in cling film for a day before slicing it really helps to get the smoke into the meat.

I don't use them myself but I have an elderly neighbour who has a huge collection of old cane rods. He asked me if I could set up a new telly for him and I was amazed when I went into his house, it was a cross between a bomb site and a treasure trove - you could hardly move for trinkets and antiques of all shapes and sizes. In one room alone there must've been at least 50 split cane rods, all in original bags. After sorting the tv out I asked if I could take a look and we spent a good hour taking a few out of their bags, they were mostly in immaculate condition and probably hadn't (and probably won't again) seen the light of day for donkeys. It was really great to see them, but it was also a shame to know they will just sit there. When I left, he offered me money for sorting the tv out, which I declined, I did half jokingly (with my fingers crossed) suggest I'd take a hardy as payment - his response was a wink and a smile which was probably a the firmest most definite sod off I've ever been told.

I'm in the process of reading it and can concur it's a great book. What I really like is that it's all from his little patch and he's not off every other week with a "friend from Scotland with a red deer problem" or the like - it's a genuine living from his land approach.

I have a stihl petrol trimmer with an extension pole. It's not that heavy to use as it's pretty well balanced, I'd certainly buy petrol again over battery if I had to replace it. They are a great piece of kit generally - no faffing with steps etc, and you can cover a large area of hedge with relatively little effort. Great piece if kit.

Walshie, we did this earlier in the year. The stems on the pads were maybe 1ft, we put them (basket type) into 2.5ft water and they soon made their way to the surface.

I walked past him on the way to the kitchen thinking it was one of my sons dinosaur toys at first. God knows how it got into the house! We’ve just released ‭him into our pond - hopefully he has some friends in there

This is a brand new one on me - it must be 20 years since I’ve seen a newt and for whatever reason I’ve just found one in my front room!

Top tip on the cutting schedule - thanks. if anything the vessels would be down sized in mk11 - I massively over engineered on the first version as I know I usually end up going bigger and better later on

Thanks for all the info chaps - much appreciated

Thank you gents for the feedback walker570 - appreciate what yore saying RE proper welds - I'll be working under supervison OPP - thanks, I'm happy with it not being stainless as its not commercial and very limited splashing demon/James - thanks for the heads up, I'm the other side of the dales so it'd probably offset any savings in travel costs etc thanks again all - really appreciate the information.

Folks, I can make anything out of wood but don't have much experience with metal , hence needing to ask you guys. I want to make a three tier brewery stand similar to the attached picture - it's a simple design/system so I can use gravity to move the liquid about rather than pumps. The whole system works by starting with a large volume of water in the top left vessel, that water gradual lu moving through the middle vessel and eventually all (minus loss/wastage) ending up in the bottom right vessel. My vessels are 100l so the maximum loading would theoretically be 100kg of water, however, my more practical and realistic batch size would be 50l . Once the top vessel is filled to the desired quantity, no more water is added to the system so if you start with 50l, that is the maximum load for that brew. The kit itself (vessels and burners) probably weighs 15kg. I'm getting a friend to do the welding and hope to have a welding lesson in the process - nut as far as sizing the box section, I haven't a clue so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd rather not over engineer it too much but do want it to be solid. Please note I've borrowed the pic from google so please ignore the dimensions/weights shown on the drawing. Thanks in advance.

Leigh, I read that you come under North Yorkshire, I've always found the North Yorkshire firearms department to be incredibly practical, approachable and easy to deal with. I don't have any dealings relating to past convictions but have always found them really helpful. As with lots of firearms depts they are ridiculously busy and usually deal with applications in the order they land, that can mean up to six months delay on a new grant. From my own personal experience with them, I would honestly suggest you call them and have a frank chat, they have always been very helpful,and positive when I have had direct dealings with them.

Bit of a late answer chezney, but it does sound like insufficient fermentation. When relying on natural yeasts you do have a major variable in terms of time/efficiency of fermentation. The yeast eats the sugar and produces alcohol and CO2 so very little fizz, sweetness and lack of booze taste indicates the yeast hadn't finished conveying the sugar. Maybe next time let it ferment out until you have no bubbles and then prime the bottles with a little sugar to get the carbonation in the bottle???