Recent content by GreyCat

Not that unusual unfortunately. In 2008, I spent a year commuting by 737 between Glasgow and Cardiff. Thankfully, the expected job transfer did happen and I was able to move back home. I spent a big chunk of 2020-21 on sites living out of my Big Van over in the East Midlands. Most major...

Indeed. There's quite a bit of housing which could be brought into use- and probably much more quickly than new build- if the incentives were there. Empty houses: these articles are interesting...

Who decides what "spare" is....? Our rooms are all used thanks. We have hobbies rather than going on expensive holidays abroad several times a year or having the latest gadgets. On the other hand, there's a bunch of empty houses in UK, the difficulty is the capital needed to bring them to a...

I believe we have. About 5 years ago, I did some speculative business development whereby I was able to operate a (large) drone to cover a 50Ha field with a muilti-spectral sensor at a resolution of 2cm/pixel, covered that field in about 45 minutes. With processing and recharge, there was...

Not so much making as preparing to make: over the weekend I was harvesting willow bark to use to weave bark baskets, it is the time of year when the bark can be peeled off the inch thick willow rods thinned from my biomass plantation...... GC

Accommodation prices have gone daft all over the place. If I wasn't WFH so much these days, I would get another van and convert it and use for client work overnights as I did in the past, these days i can usually do long day trips or lodge the Sunday or Monday night when prices are a lot lower...

Had a good Easter weekend in the garden. Finally got the 3 quince trees out of their pots and into a large raised bed which is in the shelter of the new polytunnels- they are deliberately arranged in a way which both minimises them shading each other and which creates a sheltered area. Then I...

Interesting. She clearly has a back garden that is larger than many as she has managed to get a polytunnel in. I had one of those little tunnels when I had a (half-plot) allotment. Couldn't have got it in the back garden of the previous place. A small greenhouse would have been OK there...

Yeah around us we have a few pheasants that have escaped the shoot over on the other hill, they happily live in the scrubby woodland edge amongst the brambles. They seem to be quite keen on the willow groves too. (It's soggy and a bit acidic around here). There's a group of a male and about 4...

I wonder though. In the "traditional" woodland *pasture* would most of the oaks/other trees not have been pollarded (with a selected few left for the bigger house beams and suchlike)? GC

I heard the first one on Tuesday this week. I don't have lilac but my quince have thewir leaves and flower buds. It does feel like it's been a cold and slow spring this year, although daffs were roughly on usual schedule, the leaves are slow coming on the trees. GC

Don't forget the other non-food items. We use the Ecover range as we have private drainage. Back in November, I took advantage of the Black Friday deals on Amazon to stock up on 5L containers of all the usual things (washing up liquid, laundry liquid, hand soap etc) at 35% to 50% off. They are...

The situation with aviation fuel seems most challenging. Uk imports most, but does refine quite a bit of petrol and diesel although not as much as it used to. Thing is, refineries are set up for a particular type of oil, so North Sea light crude is no use as feedstock for a refinery set up for...

@fleetwalker : you might want to look up "Fandabi Dozi" on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@FandabiDozi He has done quite a lot about the Great Kilt: GC

I am a fan of the M&S "flex fit" tencel underthings. No hard edges to dig in, comfortable, wash well and last well. GC