Recent content by GreyCat

Depends on who is telling you and why. Getting rid of "everything" is rarely an answer, although downsizing may require judicious culling. I am not a full-on hoarder, but I have acquired quite a bit of "stuff" which does get used (hobbies etc). Will you use it again? (be honest here) Does...

Comparing this winter/spring to last couple..... Spring sprouting was a couple of weeks later this year...... blossom and daffodils in particular. We have had a SE wind for a while now. Whereas prevailing direction is usually SW. Noticable in the garden. March has been drier than the past...

Indeed. Which is wht at rhe new place I have Starlink (on a business "priority " service) powered via a Delta Ecoflow with 2 extra batteries (6kWh). StarlInk including the WiFi router draws 45 Watts or so, plus i have the solar panels that I can plug into the Ecoflow. It's an investment I made...

Bog myrtle (Myrica gale). If you're really lucky you'll manage to get some girls as well as boys (it's monoecious) and get the berries which can be rendered for candle wax..... Alder buckthorn. (Fragula alnus) Will grow in wet ground and good habitat. (Iolo Williams is a fan, here's a link to...

This. If you live in an urban area and have a generator, don't expect to still have it a few days into a serious event. If the scrotes don't nick it, the state will comandeer it, and if possible force you into a "rest centre" where they can manage you. I know of estates in cities which arenot...

Today I received my order of Ecover stuff for the new place. On private drainage (albeit we replaced the very old septic tank with a top-notch packet sewage plant during the renovations) so choice of products for washing and cleaning needs care. I grew up with a septic tank so the idea of...

I wonder if some "incidents" that happened could be used as a discussion point? For example, in my sector, we use near-misses, incidents and.accidents as learning- there are sector-level videos (based on real events) that present a scenario and there's places where it stops for "what should you...

Yes, you can still get hide glue. I have a bag of it somewhere (and a glue-pot) from when I was making trad archery stuff the traditional way..... Works very well with veg-tan leather.... and for gluing sinew onto bow-backs..... I seem to recall that the Bowyers Bible (forget which volume)...

Bit of an update.... The refurb is at the point that the new place is ready to move into, so I'm spending 3 or 4 days a week here doing the stuff which makes moving easier (building units, assemsbling beds, painting, awaiting delivery of fridge etc etc etc. It's been cold so I fire up the...

Many years ago when I was a young Venture Scout, my mam gave me an old blanket to make into a campfire blanket. It was one she'd had from her dad so didn't want to offend him by chucking it away, but it wasn't really "suitable" for household use (in her view). It was an old army surplus...

I know which book you mean, I have a copy someone...... Will have to dig it out and post the title. It came with a fob to get a discount at the places featured in the book. I think it was pre covid, certainly I was traveling a lot for work at the time e I bought it. Not sure all of the places...

Duplicate post, sorry GC

Description sounds more like Gloucester services on the M5 than Tebay on the M6. Gloucester is indeed buried in the hill wereas Tebay is not, although Tebay n-bound has a large duck pond and a good view of the West Coast Main Line railway. Both owned by the same outfit. They also have the...

Laverbread, cockles and bacon in the Swansea/Gower area...... The laverbread is often rolled in oatmeal. Bit of butter in the frying pan, cook bacon, add the cockles and laverbread. Yum yum. GC

Depends how much land you have and how much fuel wood you want.... its a 3 to 4 year coppice rotation. Each Kit has (a few more than) 200 cuttings, a 25 metre by 8 metre silage sheet, pegs and instructions. I just put in 2 kits at the new place..... and if they do OK, I have room for a third...