Recent content by Atellus

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
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    Traditional building methods for garden shed/workshop

    Good point. I'm agnostic about what the foundation is made of so long as it's not going to break the bank. That recycled plastic wood, for instance, is too pricey, even though it's waterproof. I'm just as happy with a concrete or gravel base supporting a row of stones... just have to find a...
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    Traditional building methods for garden shed/workshop

    You make a good point about the size. This did occur to me early on, when my first draft topped out at close to 30 sq m. But looking at the layout, no part of the building involves a very long span of joists. Basically, I was treating the building as too separate buildings in close proximity...
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    Traditional building methods for garden shed/workshop

    Wow, sounds like a real horror story. Very appropriate for Halloween! That guy must have got a discount on a lorry load of 45mm studs and decided to build everything out of them! I've seen a boat shed with long timbers laminated out of short lengths. It's a couple of decades old, now, and rock...
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    Traditional building methods for garden shed/workshop

    Hello. It's been the best part of a decade since I was last on here... wow, looking at my old posts, it's like a glimpse back at another world. Oh, 2011, whatever happened to you? Come back! All is forgiven! Back in 2011 there was not a Homesteading forum! How very cool :cool: I suppose this...
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    The future is here, the future is SUGRU

    Someone suggested I could use this stuff to fix the cracks in the toe creases of my boots before they become holes, or to fix the holes where the stitching has parted on the uppers of a pair of old shoes. Has anyone successfully done so? And what's this polymorph stuff? Google is not...
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    Should I intervene?

    Actually, no. I was posing the question of how relevant the 'let nature take its course' philosophy can be in these situations. I have yet to make up my mind either way. Bushwhacker's point about multiple nests is very interesting and if true, may mean that 'nature's course' is in fact the...
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    Should I intervene?

    Thanks for the replies. Contacting the farmer would probably be the way to start except that I have no idea who that is or where to find them! There are several active farms in the area, but the situation has been complicated by "development" (read urban sprawl) over the years and this has...
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    Should I intervene?

    Hi. I haven't posted much in a long time but am still interested... honest! However, what has dragged me back is a dilemma I'm having about whether to intervene in what might seem an inconsequential situation. Nevertheless, I would appreciate your informed opinion. I live in Cheshire in...
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    Before there were knives, how were there spoons?

    I remember that Northern Wilderness episode in which RM described how, before the trade posts brought metal pots to the tribes, Indian women would heat water by dropping hot rocks into birch bark containers. But how small can one make a bark container? Is there a minimum size below which...
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    Before there were knives, how were there spoons?

    Question: before there were conveniently shaped metal knives, how did people make cups and spoons?
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    My first thing ever! Nettle cordage!

    Thanks for the encouragement, and the advice. It should help me refine my technique. Just to show how immature I can be, my first thought upon viewing the finished cord was that it looked more like a left-over piece of Spiderman's webbing! I was going to try weaving the remaining strands...
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    My first thing ever! Nettle cordage!

    But before I go on... because I do rather go on... I have a confession to make. This is not just my first attempt at making cordage. This is my first attempt at hands-on bushcraft at all! Before today I inhabited the lofty world of the Theoretical Bushcrafter: one who inhabits libraries or...
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    coyote attack

    Good point from BorderReiver and although the article doesn't suggest this, one has to account for the inevitable bias introduced into any journalism. We don't know, for instance, if she had fallen and injured a leg and was unable to move or defend herself, which puts her firmly at the top of...
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    What manner of beast makes such marks?

    ... thinks the king penguin chick in the image below, submitted for the One Earth Award. Full article at Footprints I put this here because it's not a question about photography, just a thought that seems very relevant to many discussions here that touch on the impact of our activities...
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    Northern Wilderness, your thoughts?

    Yes, loved the mushroom moment as well! But I didn't like the way he handled the natural history aspects of the programme. I thought it was far to light weight and brief which was demonstrated by his discussion of the beaver lodge and the lifestyle of beavers. Someone above suggested he could...