My brother-in-law gave my sisters the book "Patronizing and belitteling techniques - ruthless and effective" for her birthday. I'm not sure he thought that one through properly ... π
My back garden could do with the same. How is Saturday for you?
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
I cut my lawn yesterday but it's nowhere near as impressive as that. I imagine my garden is pretty old too given my family have lived here for a few hundred years. The house is over a hundred years old too.
P.S. I'm avaliable for garden work. π
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I need the money, but there are some practical issues: moving the equipment, the weather, Brexit ... π
My grandfather actually used that machine for cutting the lawn from time to time. He was a man's man without even trying.
Did your family really have a lawn that far back, SM? I remember my grandparents telling stores of how the neighbours and their parents thought gardens was a silly idea. Gardens were for "rich" people in towns, not something farmers should do. The sheep could simply eat the grass around the houses as they always had.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
I need the money too. Always useful in these hard times of rising inflation, rising prices and the cost of living crisis. What a time to be alive! Thanks for that, Vladi. π
I think my late father used to cut the lawn with one of those old manual mowers years ago as I know he made part of one into a thing on wheels to lift and move bags of peats etc. I also remember seeing the old circular rotary blade from it in one of our outhouses. We've been using a lawnmower with an engine on our lawn for as long as I can remember though.
I don't really know how long we've had a lawn, N24, but I think there's been a garden here of some kind for a long while. I've heard elderly relatives sadly now deceased talk of "the Two Trees" which used to be in the garden in front of the house. Apparently that's what our home was known as. I don't think any of those trees are there now though we do have a very old crab apple tree in the garden which is rather gnarled but still bears fruit because it can reproduce with a much younger crab apple tree nearby. I do remember an old labernum tree being in our garden too when I was growing up but it died and rotted away eventually. Just as well, perhaps, as those trees are poisonous.
I live on a farm too but I just have what my father and other uncles, aunts and cousins have told me over the years to go by. It doesnt help that I'm the youngest cousin on both sies of the family. Sometimes we don't always ask the questions we should while we still can. My father died when I was 18 so I didn't get the longest time with him but I'm grateful he was there until I reached adulthood at least.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
It is indeed. Our farm was just a smallholding but I enjoyed looking after the cattle when I had them. The land is now let but I still do some maintenance work when required.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
All right, you leave the Port Royal Road out of Kingston. Then, along the Winthrop Road, until you get to the cement factory. Then you turn left. Follow the road up the hill. Down the other side. And two miles further on, on the left, Magenta Drive 2391. I'll be waiting for you.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
Oh, they're too busy lounging around in this heat. Finally the heatwave hits Scotland. Natives confused by sight of large yellow object in the sky. 2nd hand shops deluged with coats, jackets and umbrellas. Pubs packed with thirsty punters... oh wait a minute, there's nothing unusual in that.
Those temperatures would even be considered extreme in my part of the world and I would certainly not enjoy that at all. There are certainly places in South Africa that routinely reach 40 degrees, but I've always avoided those in favour of places that have pretty mild summer temperatures.
It's hard to imagine those temperatures right now as we're in the middle of winter here. It was about 8 degrees celsius when I went running this morning.
Our houses are designed to keep heat in and our roads and runways are designed to deal with rain and moisture ... so completely wrong for the temperatures we are experiencing. Airports closed because runways were damaged and road surfaces were lifting. Railway lines buckle.
Our houses aren't air-conditioned so there's no respite staying indoors and sleeping is virtually impossible. My family from California were here and couldn't get back home quick enough!
Very hot countries are prepared. Air conditioning everywhere. Extensive use of marble. Road surfaces created with heat in mind. I went to Dubai in July/August once and it was fine.
We're ok at the moment but we're going to get hot again in a week to two π
Obviously now is not a good time for them - well, today would be okay, it's overcast and it rained last night - but if you go ahead when it's not too hot, you need to do it once and then snuff it out for good with a persistent garden hose.
If you have a large, satisfying bonfire you might leave the ash there having doused it with a sprinkler but of course it can start up of its own accord in a couple of days and really get going. If you are unlucky that can happen at 2am or so when you aren't there to notice it, and then it can spread. unchecked. It's not normal conditions.
In fact, under the ash the fire might be building up for a second wind, it can be simmering away, especially if there are fox holes underneath, unbeknown to you there can be a bit of a furnace going that you simply don't know about. This is in massive contrast to any other time of the year when it can be very hard to get a fire going because of the ongoing dampness.
Again, don't do a bonfire, but if you must, have buckets of water around, a hose and do it once and finish it off for good - not with an ineffective sprinkler but a steady stream of hose water, turn over the ash and remains with a fork and hose that down too. This dousing may take an hour or so.
Otherwise, say if you did it this week and as Lady Rose predicts, it gets really hot again in a week's time, the latent embers will simmer away and get going when you are off your guard.
I’m sure there are some members here of mi6community, I can’t enter the site, whenever I try to reach the site, there’s this showing “A Timeout Occured” or “SSL Handshake failed” on cloudflare.
I installed some other browsers to cope with it, but I still can’t enter.
How can I find a solution to this? Is it me or it’s really the problem of the mi6community site itself?
Is anyone also experiencing this problem now?
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
I'm a member over there as well. I've had the same problem since mid-afternoon UK time. This happens occasionally. It's probably a problem with the website's security certificate or something like that but the admins seem to have it resolved again as the forum is back up.
Edit: It seems I spoke too soon. MI6 is down again but it'll be a technical issue on their side and hopefully the admins or site owner will get the issue resolved in time.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I know we're not supposed to post about politics here, and I'm starting to see why. Apparently British politics is so shocking even hardened journalists faint when hearing what the politicians are saying! π²
Comments
πππ
My brother-in-law gave my sisters the book "Patronizing and belitteling techniques - ruthless and effective" for her birthday. I'm not sure he thought that one through properly ... π
Today I cut the grass on a (roughly) 190 years old road. π
My back garden could do with the same. How is Saturday for you?
I cut my lawn yesterday but it's nowhere near as impressive as that. I imagine my garden is pretty old too given my family have lived here for a few hundred years. The house is over a hundred years old too.
P.S. I'm avaliable for garden work. π
Saturday, then. £20 ok for you?
That would be fine, Barbel. π
I need the money, but there are some practical issues: moving the equipment, the weather, Brexit ... π
My grandfather actually used that machine for cutting the lawn from time to time. He was a man's man without even trying.
Did your family really have a lawn that far back, SM? I remember my grandparents telling stores of how the neighbours and their parents thought gardens was a silly idea. Gardens were for "rich" people in towns, not something farmers should do. The sheep could simply eat the grass around the houses as they always had.
I need the money too. Always useful in these hard times of rising inflation, rising prices and the cost of living crisis. What a time to be alive! Thanks for that, Vladi. π
I think my late father used to cut the lawn with one of those old manual mowers years ago as I know he made part of one into a thing on wheels to lift and move bags of peats etc. I also remember seeing the old circular rotary blade from it in one of our outhouses. We've been using a lawnmower with an engine on our lawn for as long as I can remember though.
I don't really know how long we've had a lawn, N24, but I think there's been a garden here of some kind for a long while. I've heard elderly relatives sadly now deceased talk of "the Two Trees" which used to be in the garden in front of the house. Apparently that's what our home was known as. I don't think any of those trees are there now though we do have a very old crab apple tree in the garden which is rather gnarled but still bears fruit because it can reproduce with a much younger crab apple tree nearby. I do remember an old labernum tree being in our garden too when I was growing up but it died and rotted away eventually. Just as well, perhaps, as those trees are poisonous.
I live on a farm too but I just have what my father and other uncles, aunts and cousins have told me over the years to go by. It doesnt help that I'm the youngest cousin on both sies of the family. Sometimes we don't always ask the questions we should while we still can. My father died when I was 18 so I didn't get the longest time with him but I'm grateful he was there until I reached adulthood at least.
Growing up on a farm is a special experience. ππ
It is indeed. Our farm was just a smallholding but I enjoyed looking after the cattle when I had them. The land is now let but I still do some maintenance work when required.
All right, you leave the Port Royal Road out of Kingston. Then, along the Winthrop Road, until you get to the cement factory. Then you turn left. Follow the road up the hill. Down the other side. And two miles further on, on the left, Magenta Drive 2391. I'll be waiting for you.
Sounds a trifle ominous. Is this the Garden of Death by any chance? π€¨
You've been listening to my neighbours, haven't you?
Same here.
The ones that have survived, yes. π
Oh, they're too busy lounging around in this heat. Finally the heatwave hits Scotland. Natives confused by sight of large yellow object in the sky. 2nd hand shops deluged with coats, jackets and umbrellas. Pubs packed with thirsty punters... oh wait a minute, there's nothing unusual in that.
What's this heat you're talking about? Or the yellow object in the sky? π
This is a photo of my younger sister and her family leaving the town of Ålesund on Monday. Today was a bit warmer, but nothing uncomfortable.
It's hot here, but not like they have in England and Wales. Nice pic π
I'd rather have 15-16 degrees Celsius, cloudy sky and some rain like we do now than 45 Celcius. People don't die or have to be evacuated here.
I felt absolutely horrible the last couple of days. The heat was really debilitating because it got quite humid too. We hit 39 Celsius/ 102 fahrenheit
Sounds awful. The weather people say we should get used to it, cos this won't be the last time.
Those temperatures would even be considered extreme in my part of the world and I would certainly not enjoy that at all. There are certainly places in South Africa that routinely reach 40 degrees, but I've always avoided those in favour of places that have pretty mild summer temperatures.
It's hard to imagine those temperatures right now as we're in the middle of winter here. It was about 8 degrees celsius when I went running this morning.
Some parts of the UK reached 40 degrees.
Our houses are designed to keep heat in and our roads and runways are designed to deal with rain and moisture ... so completely wrong for the temperatures we are experiencing. Airports closed because runways were damaged and road surfaces were lifting. Railway lines buckle.
Our houses aren't air-conditioned so there's no respite staying indoors and sleeping is virtually impossible. My family from California were here and couldn't get back home quick enough!
Very hot countries are prepared. Air conditioning everywhere. Extensive use of marble. Road surfaces created with heat in mind. I went to Dubai in July/August once and it was fine.
We're ok at the moment but we're going to get hot again in a week to two π
A thing about bonfires...
Obviously now is not a good time for them - well, today would be okay, it's overcast and it rained last night - but if you go ahead when it's not too hot, you need to do it once and then snuff it out for good with a persistent garden hose.
If you have a large, satisfying bonfire you might leave the ash there having doused it with a sprinkler but of course it can start up of its own accord in a couple of days and really get going. If you are unlucky that can happen at 2am or so when you aren't there to notice it, and then it can spread. unchecked. It's not normal conditions.
In fact, under the ash the fire might be building up for a second wind, it can be simmering away, especially if there are fox holes underneath, unbeknown to you there can be a bit of a furnace going that you simply don't know about. This is in massive contrast to any other time of the year when it can be very hard to get a fire going because of the ongoing dampness.
Again, don't do a bonfire, but if you must, have buckets of water around, a hose and do it once and finish it off for good - not with an ineffective sprinkler but a steady stream of hose water, turn over the ash and remains with a fork and hose that down too. This dousing may take an hour or so.
Otherwise, say if you did it this week and as Lady Rose predicts, it gets really hot again in a week's time, the latent embers will simmer away and get going when you are off your guard.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
The fire in Wennington this week is believed to have started in a compost heap.
The weather? Could be worse ....
I’m sure there are some members here of mi6community, I can’t enter the site, whenever I try to reach the site, there’s this showing “A Timeout Occured” or “SSL Handshake failed” on cloudflare.
I installed some other browsers to cope with it, but I still can’t enter.
How can I find a solution to this? Is it me or it’s really the problem of the mi6community site itself?
Is anyone also experiencing this problem now?
I'm a member over there as well. I've had the same problem since mid-afternoon UK time. This happens occasionally. It's probably a problem with the website's security certificate or something like that but the admins seem to have it resolved again as the forum is back up.
Edit: It seems I spoke too soon. MI6 is down again but it'll be a technical issue on their side and hopefully the admins or site owner will get the issue resolved in time.
I know we're not supposed to post about politics here, and I'm starting to see why. Apparently British politics is so shocking even hardened journalists faint when hearing what the politicians are saying! π²