Jonty

Zoe Ball is the reason I started listening to radio 2…… must’ve been the very late 1990’s and my last years in my 20’s, she took over the breakfast show on radio 1 and I had to start looking for a new station to listen to in order to avoid her babble. She’s now the reason why I stopped listening to Radio 2, the minute she started on the R2 breakfast show. Seems like a default that they migrate them over from Radio 1 because they’re no longer ‘down for the kids’ irrespective of whether they are suitable/half decent.

This kit has been used maybe 10 times since I bought everything, but it has been sat gathering dust in my garage for the last 7 years since I moved away from anywhere with any crops. 4 x good quality purpose made/shop bought hide poles, 1 x shop bought bouncer & 1 x DIY bouncer, 2 x 3m stealth nets, 1 x large surplus cam net, 12 x flocked shell decoys, 6 x FUD pigeons, 6 x FUD Crows, 1 x big bag with mango chutney barrel seat & various spring pegs etc. I'm looking for £100 collected from Settle N Yorkshire or maybe I could meet someone 15-20 miles from BD24.

This is the Helion XQ38F. It will Bluetooth to your phone for an additional viewer and can record footage as well. I've hardly used it, hence the sale. I'm looking for £1200.00 including insure delivery to UK mainland. Thanks

I use a dustbin 😀

Superb! You’ve even got the cobra on the go😀. Did you use a base gravy for the finished article?

If you change your search to steel conduit bender you’ll find tools with formers at 20mm, 25mm and 32mm that are suited for thicker tube walls than copper pipe. However, I’m not convinced you’d be able to do a repair with the stantions in situ - they’re a bulky piece of kit, I’ve never used one personally, but have seen installation engineers working for my company use them many times. We are in the wrong area to offer to help but I could show one of them your pictures later and ask if they think it’s possible or not.

I’m the same, I pay £50 a month for three of us, we get 2 check ups and 2 hygienists a year out of that and also 80% of the cost of any work paid back through the insurance. My teeth are rubbish and it works for me, I’ve had enough abscesses and broken teeth/fillings to not want to be in the NHS dental lottery I’m afraid. I once called at 4pm on Christmas Eve when I started getting a twinge of toothache - worried about going through the holiday in pain, I expected to get an NHS emergency number. Two hours later I was sitting in my own dentists chair with his brother (also a dentist) acting as his nurse whilst I had root canal work - that cost me £40 call out, I’m definitely a convert..

Blimey, I've not had haslet for maybe 30 years. I loved the stuff, my mum used to make me haslet and salad cream sandwiches for my school pack up. I'm sure she bought it from Cooplands the baker - a Yorkshire based chain. You've got me hankering for some now.

I had mine done at a private clinic but thought the NHS. The consultant was obviously paid for every time he saw me, the most painful part of the whole procedure was the 5 trips to and from the clinic for pointless appointments whilst he obviously racked up the cash.

Thank you LB, I do feel privileged. I set up a camera on the release pen and spotted one coming back on the first night to help himself to a chick that I’d left in there. Our garden has fields on two sides, a beck running alongside and has a drystone wall all way round so I was happy they had lots of good habitat or cover to use whilst they found a new home. Yesterday, we spotted two small brown faces peering out of our rockery - when I built it, my wife suggested I put clay pipes and tunnels/chambers in it to encourage wildlife, it looks like it may have paid off.

I’m about 35 miles inland as the crow (or oystercatcher) flies and they’re a common sight and sound around here. They nest on the rocky banks of the river, a few years back, one made its nest on top of a huge pile of aggregate that was piled up in a layby- it always made me smile when I drove past. I don’t know much about them, but I like the fact that they’re easily recognisable by either sight or their distinctive call.

Big day today, these two moved into an outdoor cage/pen about a week ago. Later this afternoon (when my 2IC weasel keeper gets home from school) I'll be opening up a small hole on the side of the pen so they can make a break for it. I'll keep feeding the pen for a few days and use a camera to see if they come an go. By all accounts it's 50/50 whether they'll use the pen as a base for a while or if they'll just head straight off. I've got mixed emotions about them going, they've been great fun and I'm incredibly privileged to have had them, but I'm really excited about them starting their next chapter. From knowing very little about weasels, I've got a new found respect for these amazing little creatures.

Kits - and very cute they are too.

Trust me, after the nip he gave me the other day, my hands won't be anywhere near them to get anymore smell on them 😀 When I was hand feeding them, I had my 'stoat coat' an old fleece I'd put on whenever I handled them to save having to change my clothes. They'd take a feed of milk and then curly up on my stomach or in a pocket and go to sleep - in a matter of literally two weeks, you wouldn't have a chance of that happening now.

Thanks guys, it’s been an absolute pleasure to get so close to them and see how they behave. Like most people, up to now, my only experiences have been that flash of reddy brown as they dart across a lane ahead of you.

I can certainly vouch for the ferocity…. When I cleaned their cage at the weekend, I thought, naively, I’d maybe weigh them one last time. It was incredible (and encouraging) how wild they’ve got after only a relatively short period of not being handled. Suffice to say, I’ll not be trying to handle them again!

I've been lucky enough to get 'up close and personal' with a pair of weasels for the last few weeks. My wife helps out with a local animal rescue, mainly looking after sick hedgehogs, but three weeks ago we got asked if we'd be able to take in an orphaned weasel who was found latched onto his dead mother by the side of the road. A day later, it turned into two weasels after another orphan (not related) was brought in. They were around 3 weeks (female) and 4 weeks (male) when I got them, both needed hand weaning with a syringe, but amazingly, even with their eyes still closed, they'd still tuck into a day old chick. Now they're weaned, I've stopped handling them and they are soon becoming wilder and wilder day by day. hopefully in two or three weeks, I'll move them into an outside pen in order to start a soft release back into the wild. I've had no experience with weasels up to this, but luckily I've had the support of some people who really know what they're talking about regarding these amazing little creatures. I do have to say, its been, and still is, an absolute pleasure looking after them and seeing them grow and develop. It's a bit of a tug on the old heartstrings that they won't curl up on my stomach and go to sleep anymore, but, the prospect of them making it back into the wild more than make up for it.

Thanks Dave 👍 Cheers! It turned out great. I’m over the moon with it, I must admit that I let it cook for longer than it should so it’s slightly dryer than I would have liked, but taste and texture is bang on…. I’ve just hoovered down a pastrami and pickled cabbage baguette and it was blinking lovely!

That looks amazing! I also have species envy… I’ve never tasted either CWD or Muntjac- if you ever fancy a swap for Red or Roe, give me a shout! I dice and mince a lot of my venison to use in a similar way to you, it beats buying beef in the supermarket 👍

Well kind of pastrami. I know venison will never be as fatty and rich as a really nice piece of beef brisket, but I've got plenty of venison and have been meaning to try this for a while. I used a sirloin (I think - I'm no butcher) joint I took from a red hind's haunch. Mixed up some brine which I then injected approximately 15% of the weight of the meat into the joint and then submerged the meat in the remaining liquid. This trick really speeds up the curing time needed and hopefully eliminates the chances of slicing the meat and finding a tell tale grey uncured spot in the middle. It has a couple more days to go in the fridge before I'll rinse it, cover it with seasoning and cook it.

Exactly - think of the salt tuning it into an internal marinade by pulling it into the meat rather than staying on the outside as a coating.

John you want to brine the chops, it makes for a lovely moist pan fried pork chop. You just need a week brine for 2-6 hours. I 'eyeball' my brine mix but I'd say its approximately 2tbsn salt and 1tbsp sugar to around 1 litre of water/liquid. you can also add any herbs/peppercorns/bayleafs to the brine to suit. I use normal sea salt and prefer the sugar to be either brown sugar or black treacle. If I'm feeling fancy, the water might get replaced with cider. Basically you dissolve the salt and sugar in the liquid and let it cool and then put your chops in the liquid for a few hours. Using a weak quick brine, you don't have a bacony taste, just moist meat. The idea is that the salt likes to be in equilibrium with everything in it's contact, so it makes its' way into the lower salt content meat, obviously taking the liquid and flavours of the brine with it. It works really well - I hope if you give it a try you enjoy the results.

I'm the other side of the Dales Bob, close to Settle. Spent a lot of time at the garrison though in my teens as a cadet. Brilliant!!

We got a good covering here in the dales yesterday, but some of the drifts on the smaller lanes and roads are pretty spectacular

Owee, my wife helps out with the local animal rescue centre, we've currently got a couple of hogs in our shed at the moment that wouldn't have made it through the winter outside. I've learned a lot about these interesting little critters since she's been involved with them. Generally if you see a hedgehog out in the daytime, it is usually not well/in trouble and the best thing you can do is take it to a local rescue centre. If you are seeing them out and about at night at this time of year, it's not unusual for them to wake up mid hibernation, go for a wander and then go back to sleep. They sometimes change house/nest as well. if you want to put anything out for them food wise, at this time of year, dry kitten food is great. I've really enjoyed being able to get up close and personal with hogs - up until us taking them in, I'd never seen a hedgehogs ear, or realised that along with the spikes, they also have some lovely soft fur too. I had to take the picture below a while back after shouting through to my wife if she wanted a cup of coffee - her reply was "yes please , but in a minute, I'm just giving the hedgehog her medicine'' - you couldn't make it up!!