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... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
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gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8576
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Thu Nov 14, 19 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think the only chance of a 9 ft piece of wood would be take the front passenger seat out

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 19 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That sounds like the new style Ranger Gregotyn. The problem with them is that they are more SUV than UV, and the sides are too high. We need to be able to reach in over the side to pick things up, which we can do with the old style, but not the new one. Not sure what the fuel consumption is on the new ones as they are a lot heavier and higher, even though they have more fuel efficient engines. The garage we use for servicing can't take them as they are too high.

Had a happy day bagging logs yesterday. Have 40 nets now, and 10 baby dumpy sacks full, 20 nets and 10 dumpy sacks to go from that today.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Fri Nov 15, 19 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It is definitely the new style of Ranger, MR, where I can only collect out of the back, which is also high, its only value is that if you have bags they will be right for picking them up at a comfortable back height, but have to be picked up to that height to put them on the back, sod's law rules always!
You achieved well yesterday with the nets and the dumpy sacks. Here's hoping the mini dumpys work well-they should be easier to fill for you, and unload by the user.

Talking of 9ft. gz, I am collecting 2 pallets about 12 feet long tomorrow morning on my 8ft. trailer, before I come here, each has 6 pieces of 3"x3" plus the cross members. I don't think I will be cutting them for kindling!
My man wants me to buy a Nissan Nervada (sp?). I am not so sure, but we will see. I am planning a trip to Newtown to go to the pickup man and see what he has in stock, next week, as I work half way toward him.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 19 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The dumpy sacks are a lot easier to fill, but because I can't get ones with vented sides, the wood has to be very dry. Not easy in this weather. Anyway, they went off yesterday, and the other 10 nets and a log load should be going off over the weekend. I help deliver them, as son and DIL do like to see each other sometimes over weekends, and DIL can't help with deliveries. She does come to shows with us though, and is a great help.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 19 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I collected the timber this morning, and had a good talk with my friend and his wife, who have a tractor franchise 4 miles from my home. He buys things from where I work and so I often deliver to them to save a round trip of 30miles as I go past them every day, twice!
Somewhere on the "market", MR, there is a machine-like pliers-which will cut holes and seal them with a metal washer top and bottom of the hole which the machine cut, to prevent ripping and help with the ventilation of the dumpy sack sides and give drainage into the base if that was also needed. I may have the wrong end of the "stick", and not understood the problem of the bags.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 19 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes, I think you are right about the eyelet tool Gregotyn. It is possible to buy large dumpy sacks with mesh on two sides which gives ventilation to the wood inside, but unfortunately, though I asked, that is not available for these little ones. The mesh allows air to pass through the wood and removes any moisture. Eyelets would help, but wouldn't be as good as net sides. Thanks for mentioning it though.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 19 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

All this technical stuff is beyond me. Sorry I missed your birthday Gregotyn but I have been house-sitting for some time and never did work out how their wifi worked. The Dog came with me and the cats remained at home, but as I was only in Oatlands, it was a simple matter to call out and see to them from time to time. Poppet decided to go feral again so would hide, but she is now firmly attached to my side.

The dog had to spend his days outdoors so it was a fraught couple of days before he became accustomed to that, but at least he did not howl and dig deep holes (he did prepare a nest in the shelter of a stone wall in the sunshine, but apparently that was already partly developed anyway).

I have also been shop-sitting hence the need for him to be outdoors as they have a puppy and I was not confident Seb would not take the puppy's accidents as an invitation to contribute.

Meanwhile in the middle of this a former Treasurer of the committee who stood down at the AGM as she was moving some two hours away, has returned with a vengeance complaining about lack of communication (she has not provided a postal or email address) and subjected me to a verbal tirade, and ten days of harrassment by text because I had the unmitigated gall to not consult her about the name of our fundraiser. I have spent every spare second fire-fighting the trouble she caused, including calling an irregular meeting (she's an Ordinary Member) attended by three members (five is a quorum) at which, according to her records voted in a fourth member and proceeded to elect herself treasurer. She is also accusing me of hiding the minutes from the AGM (which are filed under AGM in the filing cabinet) and generally throwing tantrums. The most concerning part of her behaviour is that she is distributing advertising material which is contradicting our actual advertised program which, since we need to raise $900 odd dollars just to meet our next bill in January, is far from helpful. She has also flooded our FB page with self-promotional posts which have driven our announcement of the event well down the feed. And now she is threatening legal action (which she would lose hands down as she is well and truly exceeding her rights under the Articles of Incorporation and has failed in her responsibilities as Treasurer (no audited accounts for AGMs, no receipts issued since 2014 etc). In fact last month was the first time the committee has received a written Treasurers report in god knows how long.

So in between that and the housesitting, my crepe paper flower making is behind schedule, as is my distribution of proper advertising material and I am at my wits end, or would be if I were not on medication to help me deal with it.

The fundraiser is next weekend, and she had better not screw it up for us or I will be seeking disciplinary action against her.

This morning I was all organised. I was going to Kat's place to remove all evidence of my presence, and vacuum the floor, then going to the bank to clean then getting back to mind the shop before they returned at lunch time. So much for plans. I at least succeeded in removing my presence and getting the vacuuming done, then I went to clean the bank. They have just had new security installed and the door between the staff area and the customer area is left open for me as I do not have its code. Unfortunately the new door is very well balanced so as I went to plug in the vacuum cleaner and knocked it, it closed. Tight.

Phone, car keys, keys to bank door all on the other side.

Office phone on the other side.

So I pulled the front door to, and wandered up the street to the local radio station to see if they had the phone number for the local staff number but no such luck. Our conversation reminded me that a former employee of our other (now closed) bank was working at the local cafe and might have her number, so off I trotted to the cafe where the former staffer was not on duty and her employer was unwilling to call her until I explained that I would have to sleep at the bank as I was unable to lock it up. She finally called her and she supplied me with the code (which presumably they will have to change on Monday), and in I got. Was just washing the floor when I received a text from Kat asking if she had forgotten to supply sheets for the bed (I had stripped it and put them in the machine but given up trying to work out how to turn it on - it has a secret lock at the back - and been unable to find replacement bedding to make up the bed for them).

So as soon as it was all locked up at the bank I headed up to their place, helped unload the furniture they had brought back from their visit to their former home, and sat in the shop for the remainder of the day (fortunately Kat had keys as I had left mine at home).

Yesterday was rather more edifying as a few of us carpooled up to Launceston to a spinning group up there and had a lovely day meeting other spinners, recruiting some to our group (ooops) and eating vast amounts of food.

Meanwhile tomorrow being galeforce winds I will finish off the crepe paper flowers ,but not install them at the Hall until I am sure Miss troublemaker has gone back to St Mary's, and deliver some authorised advertising material around the village (and hopefully persuade our new postie to do some of it for me to farther flung places).

Never let anyone tell you retirement is dull.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8576
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 19 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Far from dull! Certainly eventful!!
We!come back

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 19 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

am i missing something between no audited accounts and having a flap to return to control?
rhetorical question

as a time served house mender i understand the between the doors thing
tis just part of the job ecostructure

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 19 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I take it the other members of the Committee are either sheep, or don't understand the implications of her actions. If it is putting you on medication, perhaps the best thing to do would be to bale out; you don't need stress like that, and her behaviour sounds as if it can easily be classed as harassment if you involved the police. Hope it all settles down again quickly and she disappears.

It always worries me about getting locked out. Our back door lock is a little awkward sometimes, so when I go down the garden if there is nobody in the house and I lock it, I always take the front door keys as well.

I managed to do a bit of work in the garden yesterday. The ground was a bit wet, but as I was only working in a raised bed and doing cutting back and clearing up, it didn't matter too much.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 19 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack that is but the start of it. This is the committee which I last resigned from five or six years ago due to white-anting from my Deputy President and a senile secretary who recorded the meeting she would have liked to have attended. Her idea of an agenda was the headings.

After me, the Deputy President was elected by default as he was the only one fanging for the job. But he lost interest some time in the second year and started forgetting to turn up to his own meetings. I was then approached by the lower orders of the committee for advice on how to get rid of him. I referred them to their Articles of Incorporation - the bit where it says anyone who fails to attend four consecutive meetings of which they have been advised is deemed to have resigned. Three months later they came back to me as they had not yet gained control of the bank accounts so I advised them on calling an AGM, minuting the new positions and informing the bank. Then for two more years they tried to get me back on board but I was satisfied that as long as they occasionally obtained advice from me they would be ok. This election I was persuaded to return as secretary as the person who has been giving me grief was resigning. I suspect she has an acquired brain injury as she's like the little girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead - when she's bad she's horrid.

Her mother is president and was very wary of me as I have a fairly undeserved reputation in the village for being hard to get along with. basically I am not interested in what occupies them, and they are not interested in what occupies me so I spend most of my relaxing time in Oatlands. And only row with the neighbours haha.

The mother and I have developed quite a good working relationship as she is that rare person who makes her own decisions about people rather than relying on the opinions of others. But as a consequence of the latest drama the daughter has been telling everyone I am bullying her mother (actually it's the daughter doing that) and after ten days of gaslighting I was beginning to wonder if Pat has been frank with me. So I called to see her today and we had a cuppa and plotted means of controlling her daughter (who is telling everyone she's Treasurer, despite the fact we have one, and I am currently acting in the position as the Treasurer is on leave of absence for family reasons.

I have photocopied a copy of the Articles and highlighted the bits about quorums, voting, new members etc. Actually it seems none of us had read that bit for some time, so there's to be a few changes to get us more compliant. The President has promised me her daughter will be resigning after Christmas and that she, too will be doing so as she is happy that I and the people I have been recruiting have a far better idea of how to go about things as we have professional backgrounds.I agree, but I will be trying to persuade her to remain as an Ordinary Member as she has good ideas and insights into that part of the Village I have never penetrated.

Chris, she is going soon and I have recruited some really good people, so I am quite looking forward to finally being in charge of a team of people who understand team work. The fact three of them are gay boys probably helps as I usually get along better with men, and feel less threatened by gay ones.

So apart from the Pax Romana, I have been delivering flyers, and fretting in the wind (it's been very blowy) and getting myself stuck. I backed into a bank as I was reversing to turn, and collected a scrap of fencing wire which cunningly stuck itself between the leaves of the back springs. I discovered it after driving a short while and hearing some strange noises. So I stopped and had a look and worked out the first bit of wire but the second one was well embedded. Fortunately I had some star pickets in the back of the ute which I worked between the bits of wire and laid on the tow bar as a lever. Sadly it seems knitting and spinning don't do much for muscle development so after about fifteen minutes of failing to budge it I settled back in the ute to wait for passing traffic. It only took half and hour and then I had to have a robust discussion with the nice man as he assumed I had driven over the wire and it was stuck in the front of the leaves. As he was also having a conversation with someone on the phone about bulls and markets and other such farmerly things it took a while to get him to pay attention and recognise that I actually did know what I was talking about haha.

So home James, having letterboxed the neighbourhood (the upside of political campaigning is that there are some things you can speed up. Then bank to clean, and now vegging in front of the telly. Early night tonight as I am sore all over from tense muscles after the last few days.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8576
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 19 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Cassandra that's an awful mess to deal with.
One of those Deep breath, keep calm , keep your head down and carry on jobs.
Hopefully it will sort out before too long

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 19 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I hope the ex-Secretary disappears soon. At least it seems her mother knows her for what she is, which must be rather sad for the mother. Seems as if you have things in order, so hope the useless ones admit that the new committee can get the job done with no trouble to themselves. Good luck with your fund raiser, and hope it makes lots of funds in spite of the misinformation being spread.

You have reminded me that I need to get out an agenda for next weeks coppice group committee meeting, as I am the Secretary. The main reason is that I am the only one who doesn't mind, and is capable of taking notes for the minutes. Our previous Secretary still circulates things, but she never did like minutes, so I was Minutes secretary before, and she did the rest.

cassandra



Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 19 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'd much rather be minutes secretary and have no other responsibilities too. But sadly not so far. I have been watching the forecast and Thursday is to be 28 degrees with strong winds, so I have decided to use that as an excuse to get out of the hall cleaning exercise (which involves this individual assigning the same job to multiple person with the result one is exhausted and feeling useless by the end. So I have left my crepe paper flowers and the streamers and balloons for others to install as I will be whipper snipping and catching up with a fortnight's washing.

I will need my physical strength for Saturday and my emotional strength is a big drain on that. So I will bow out with good excuse and leave her to drive others insane.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 19 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Cassandra, sounds as if you need to take a rest somewhere along the line. I have read it all, but not taken it in very well, and will have to go back when I have more time-Saturday is when I have no pressure to get on, usually. Having said that I am selling wood faster than I can chop it, 36 nets in 3 days! I do have a stock but it is dwindling-fast. I had planned on doing logs this year as well, with a view to retiring in the new year, but highly unlikely, work being my main source of wood to chop and also income. My friends tell me to stop chopping wood and sort the house out-but chopping wood is what pays for the decorating and so on, along with the job. They all say retire, from working, but it is good income for part time, and a source of wood for chopping and with my pension I am doing ok.

I also lock my back door when I go out on the holding and chopping wood, as I am apt to do other things at the same time and forget that the house is open. I am lucky in that I get an electric cable from in the house, but am also able to lock the door as well, because that door is so rotten at the base, the cable gets out underneath! I always have my keys attached to me on a long chain, as I have lost so many before now. I had one set on a chain as I went out to the last agric. show. The none vehicle set of keys for some reason fell from my pocket in the back kitchen, so I kicked them out of sight under some debris. I went to collect them when I got back and they had gone and never seen since, how they got from a room on the right side to obscurity I don't still know. I had to cut all the outside shed locks off and replace them-expensive! I don't have a properly operational front door. When I went into the house it had no key, so it is on a lock and bolts, but I never had a key to the lock-I can get out but not in!

I don't join committees, far too much to do at home, and I usually see everybody's point of view, which is of no use when a decision has to be made!

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