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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15598
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
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Posted: Thu Jun 13, 19 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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So true about the cost, but it was, the lad said, new brake pads, so the rate per hour must be high! Anyway it is going without fear of a wheel coming off and no grinding noise. I have slowed down a lot in the last 2 years, common sense starting to kick in after 50 odd years of driving! I was never off the road, just driving with a constant grinding noise from one of the wheels.
The mossies have not surfaced up here...yet, but I have hay fever as usual at this time of the year and am sniffling well. It only affects my nose and I don't feel unwell because of it, as some folks undoubtedly do.
I have come to a stop on the felling of those trees by my house, my man who did the job is a professional, and as he didn't come last weekend I assumed he had somewhere else to go that is a paying proposition, unlike mine, which is a "favour for mates" as he doesn't want any cash I am worried what he does want instead! I have already donated a child's tricycle for his granddaughter.
I am coming to the conclusion that it is time I gave up working for a living. I can do my own bit of the work, it is the customers that cause trouble-you know those people who indirectly pay the wages, well the boss has it all first and the distributes accordingly!
I learned yesterday that you can't just go into the doctors surgery and get an appointment. Now you have to phone them-first problem, I don't have a phone, so they will be ringing work tomorrow morning. And if they don't then I can just go away and find a "quack doc" no doubt. It is interesting I could have been in serious pain a couple of years ago when I ate too many peanuts and my gut got upset to the point I was nearly fainting here in the library. And an emergency nurse sorted me out. It can't have been all bad as I am still around! |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 45508 Location: yes
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Jam Lady
Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2507 Location: New Jersey, USA
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15598
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Posted: Fri Jun 14, 19 6:02 am Post subject: |
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We have thought about those Jam Lady, and they would make sense on our roof, but somehow other things have got in the way. Agree they do help, and something perhaps we ought to consider again.
Gregotyn, our surgery runs a two tier system. If you phone at 8am or 2.30pm you can ask for an emergency appointment, but it doesn't always work. Having missed out for two consecutive days, I did ask what I was supposed to do, as if I wasn't treated for something quite simple I could end up in A&E as a real emergency. They found me an appointment. The other one is the longer term one which can be a week or two. As with yours, they will give phone consultations, but as you say, only all right if you have a phone.
Rain was horrible yesterday and had to give up firing the kiln as the kindling was so wet and couldn't get the temperature up. I couldn't make besoms as I would have had to work under the store tent and it was far too dark. I ended up sitting on the covered area in front of the shelter splitting hazel for baskets, so at least something constructive. Made my hands hurt at the time, but no lasting pain thank goodness. |
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15598
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 19 7:37 am Post subject: |
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Sounds as if you got rather distracted with the charcoal burner Gregotyn. Perhaps the best way to go is to plan everything before you do it, make sure you have all the things you need, like your wallet, before leaving the house, then go. More haste, less speed as they say. Turn it round and you have less haste, more speed. I find, particularly when doing something new, that planning first, so I know what I am going to do, makes things far less stressful.
We had our volunteer group yesterday morning, and just finished before the rain came. I went down the garden afterwards to do some work, but it rained again, so I just gave up. Hoping to get on this coming week as I still have things to plant out, but don't see any point in getting wet again. |
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 19 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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I think I am getting old single person syndrome or, as I call it, going nuts. It is bound to happen, but I hoped later in life rather than today! I think I will give up the day job soon, these early morning starts could be better employed on stick chopping. The plus of work is the money, but also the perks-lots of reject pallets which are usually dry, clean, and they are glad to be got rid as well. Along with cheap tools at cost plus 10%; and work makes me get up in the morning, pressure to get up is there, but not at the weekends and I barely scrape into the library on winter mornings in time!
The friend's burner is a large old fuel tank with a big side cut out at an angle from top to bottom and then laid out with the non cut big side on the ground for producing "biochar" as they call it. It is produced by just burning and keeping lots of stuff to go at, in the open; then you sort of close it down by putting the cut piece over it and let it go "out" at which point you have charcoal and a lot of ash-we produced 2 by 200litre oil drums in about 2 hours. This stuff he tells me makes a good path to walk on as well as feed plants. He uses it in his polytunnel, for the pathways, and on the beds as a sort of feed, and he tells me that it has reduced his slug intrusion to nil. as he has surrounded the beds with the stuff as well as outside the tunnel. We literally burned all the tree trimmings in around a couple of hours, with the largest diameter about 1.5 in-38mm. The man tells me it is edible for humans, but I chickened out! It was nothing like any charcoal burner as I knew them., but it produced a batch of which he was pleased. I didn't realise that it was "biochar day"; he just turned up, then next day, we had a day digging for my sewage leakage "spot" and cellar drainage pipe, with the aim being to get both to work again. All go.
If I were making my own burner I would cut it as he has, but also hinge the side he has cut off his; this would make it easier to close it when you want to stop the burn. Anyway I was impressed with the system and how easy it was to do. This system is not the same as charcoal production, but I can see how useful the product could be in a garden if only for the slug control!
We had some rain yesterday, it was raining as I went to work this am. at 4.30am, but we are having a lovely day now, if a little windy. Sorry about your rain stopping planting.
I will look into the solar water heating idea on the newly exposed roof and how much in cost versus potential benefit. I am thinking indirectly heating the water with effectively a radiator to collect the heat and the rise to heat the internal tank. I need to look into it as they say, and see if I am still up to it-read a book first! and have a sleep or two! |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 45508 Location: yes
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15598
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Jam Lady
Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2507 Location: New Jersey, USA
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 45508 Location: yes
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gz
Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 8613 Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 45508 Location: yes
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gregotyn
Joined: 24 Jun 2010 Posts: 2201 Location: Llanfyllin area
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 19 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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My basic needs are to be able to wash in warm water other than the current kettle full! It all started a long time ago when I went away for Christmas and came home to water running down the road from inside the house. I was at fault and should have turned the water off when I went away, but hindsight is easy to see the problem. Anyway I have a tap in one of the buildings working and it does for me. But to be able to get hot water would be good, although I have survived about 10 years without it. In fact I only have 3 hot water bottles for heat in winter. I am immune to cold in many ways, having been married to a girl for whom the heating was needed right up to the end of May, and by September it was reinstated. A bungalow so lots of roof area to take the heat out, in spite of insulation.
As you state gz, is as I thought, get the initial water heating from solar and the required heat via the immersion heater. I guess I will make do with what I can manage to do myself.
I am inundated with felled timber-and am in log production ready for the winter trade, with a friend helping. And the kindling is still selling well for this time of the year at about 6 nets a week. I guess I will be doing the same when I hit old age-ha, ha-and will be buying kindling for my fire, I have been chopping it for over 60 years already. I use pallet wood for the sticks as it is usually dry and needs no drying, whereas felled timber for logs needs to be ash or laid up for a while! I am still waiting for the Tree Feller to return and complete the reduction in height of some more of the trees. I have ash well over 60 feet high, but as they were self set, they are too close together in a hedge of trees so the whole row is high and no body The base is a max. of 15 inches in diameter! Where my big oaks are they have much more girth, around 15 feet dia., and 14 ft. to the first branches, which is not enough in summer when the weight of sap and leaves lowers the branches, and you have a trailer load of hay to get down the hill at the least sloping end of the field and needs to get under those branches!-we basically get 2 loads down the hill and then unload one load onto the other trailer at the bottom! My friend had an oak fall in the wind and had it planked for his use, refusing over £900 about 10 years back.
Weather today not too bad-warm and sunny for a welcome change-but cool and wet first thing about 4.30.
I am interested in kit to turn timber into hot water or even house heating with wood. It is a question of cost versus age for me. I made a mistake of putting 2 wood burners into the house and even when there was a barrier between them-2 doors-the draw was no where near as good as when only one stove was in action. |
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