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It makes good cordage :) and I'm pretty sure John Fenna posted about making baskets from it too. The secret to taking off the thorns is folded layers of cloth and drag the stems through it to strip them. I know someone who used a fixed upright in the ground split stick to drag the lengths...

What a beautiful place :) a bit of paradise. Thank you for sharing :) M

I am firmly of the opinion that one is never too old to have a happy childhood :D

Look at the continuing education lists for the local universities and colleges.....some of them do some brilliant things, and they're very much subsidised....well, ours are. Like this.... https://www.gla.ac.uk/study/short/langbsl/

It's the middle of summer here, and I'm running dehumidifiers because above 67˚ moisture we grow mildew.....I don't want to put heat on to dry out the house, and I don't dry washing indoors.....but the UK is a temperate damp climate. 20% moisture would be woah!, don't think we've ever done 20%...

I hadn't realised that they could be hotter than normal logs....I know in the workshop they just shoved them into the big furnace as fuel....and that the briquettes that folks bought in my childhood did not burn hot, they were a slow burn fuel.

I was actually just wondering about that. I'm cleaning out kitchen drawers and there's an old aluminium measure in there that I keep meaning to throw away because it always leaves my kitchen towel grey, and this thread came to mind. I couldn't see how the kettle was re-greased, so to speak...

Well that's good to know :) A good scrub and try wiping it with white paper towels...if those stay clean, it's sorted :)

That's the kind of practical household economy that I can get behind :) They'd dry out on top of an evening lit stove too I reckon. Just get a quiet system going and do it. Probably take a few days to dry thoroughly though. I know the lads added wax and resins to the logs trying to speed things...

They're hard work to make, hard to dry properly, but they do use up free stuff. At some points the workshops produce over a ton of sawdust a week, it seemed a good idea. Hmmmm was the best result. When coal fires were ubiquitous, folks used to buy briquettes to eke out a slow overnight fire...

I know three meanings, real ones, of the word. One, it's a bundle of sticks/kindling. Two, it's a rolled up stuffed meat dish. Three, it's the insert borders around individual blocks of a patchwork quilt. I'm not American....

I never heard of it called Meatloaf....I like his music though :) Haslet, meat roll, faggots, savoury duck, potted meat.....as many regional recipes and names as there are towns and counties in the UK, I reckon :)

That looks like an excellent chill out :) Nice write up too :cool: Thank you for sharing :D Hard ground like that, sometimes it's easier to just cut out some wooden stakes...if you can get them through the tether holes that is. I had one tent that the rings couldn't be more than 5mm in...

Nice :) very tidy :) I like sycamore in the kitchen. It's clean and fuss free, long lasting and sound.

They are, aren't they ? and everyone loves having a real fire....until they don't have it and they start to complain about the smell and the smoke, etc., Personally I love fire, I have a thing about old hearth herbs, but I loathe the stench of improperly burnt crude hydrocarbons....you know the...

If you can smell it then it's a very obvious sign that the air is full of micro particles....and those are now considered hazardous to health. If you live cheek by jowl with neighbours even with windows closed smoke from next door can stink up a house. An occasional fire is fun, a constant one...

Very much so. I don't really use the leaves, but I use the flourish as a stomach safe natural aspirin. I gather and dry jars full every year :)

Meant to say too; meadowsweet root is excellent for easing the pain of toothache, mouth ulcers or a sore throat. It's an unmistakable root, it's red and it smells of germolene. You need the tiniest wee bit to crush up and hold against the tooth or ulcer, or gargle for a sore throat. Thinking on...

We can well understand the individual who has to say that they can't accept the notes. It's not their fault, it's their training and the lack of acceptance that our money is every bit as valid in payment as an English banknote is. Just the way it goes. We make sure before we cross the border...

Do you have Rosenoble ? Figwort ? That used to be gathered and dried and then boiled up like tea, a kind of universal panacea. It's like foxgloves though, and once you have it, well, there's no getting rid of it. Happy to pass along seeds if anyone's in need. It actually brews up reminiscent...