The Lemon Fool

It's certainly one of the whisky areas. The most fashionable I guess is Islay...probably because it's small and therefore 'exclusive'
Me, I prefer it with an 'e', or the Japanese stuff...
Although...Highland Park is pretty dashed good

Some of the worst hangovers in my life have provided sufficient motivation for me to avoid any whisky, however good, at all costs.

Snorvey wrote:One for Scotia (and all other river minded scenery type folks)

https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/ho ... ng-235940/

I'll be watching.
On Monday my son landed a fresh run 10lb salmon from the Spey - but that won't be on the program.

Ah, poacher is he ?

Just picked off my 2,000th slug from the garden (starting the count from Jan 1st each year).

VRD

vrdiver wrote:Just picked off my 2,000th slug from the garden (starting the count from Jan 1st each year).

You count slugs? Each year?

It's reckoned that there are 200 slugs for every square metre of your garden. (Keep at it.) And that the UK has two thirds of all the slugs in Europe. No wonder Brussels is glad to see the back of us.

BJ

vrdiver wrote:Just picked off my 2,000th slug from the garden (starting the count from Jan 1st each year).

VRD

May I ask what you do with the slugs after you have picked them off? Suggestions, please.

We used to have a big snail problem when we had a walled garden. Those critters dined copiously on our plants for first course and then apparently ate the lime morter from the walls for dessert, to build themselves nice strong shells. I used to collect them and chuck them onto a local railway embankment, telling the kids that they were going on a nice holiday (the snails, not the kids).

slimily and crunchily,
S

bungeejumper wrote:
It's reckoned that there are 200 slugs for every square metre of your garden. (Keep at it.) And that the UK has two thirds of all the slugs in Europe. No wonder Brussels is glad to see the back of us.

BJ

That's an amazing statistic - do you have a reference for the UK having two thirds of all the slugs in Europe?

I understand that slugs are quite nutritious and, with a pinch of salt, they just melt in your mouth. They are not without their risks, however, and can harbour Rat Lungworm, a parasite that can burrow into the brain.


Julian F. G. W.

Gersemi wrote:That's an amazing statistic - do you have a reference for the UK having two thirds of all the slugs in Europe?

Good query, and no, I don't. It was probably something I heard on the telly, which suggests that it probably shouldn't be taken too literally. But the usual black slugs thrive best in wet temperate conditions, and they really don't like dry weather, which is why they're a particular problem in Britain, Ireland and northern Germany/Netherlands.

Paradoxically, the very large orange slugs were first seen in Spain during the late 1800s, and they've been slowly colonising the continent over the last fifty years or so. Unpleasant buggers, because the things they eat include other slugs (slurrrrrrp, smacks lips) - but not enough to make a difference to the native population, so they're double trouble. In my book, you get quadruple points for killing an orange one.

BJ

spasmodicus wrote:

vrdiver wrote:Just picked off my 2,000th slug from the garden (starting the count from Jan 1st each year).

May I ask what you do with the slugs after you have picked them off? Suggestions, please.

I used to take them to our local pond to feed the ducks/frogs/fish, but the hassle factor was relatively high (even though the pond is quite close by) and I had a suspicion I was just creating a superbreed of homing slug Keeping them in the slug bucket was an ongoing challenge, as quite a few of them seemed related to Houdini when it came to confined spaces...

These days I'm afraid I have a small container with salt water at the bottom. Not a single slug has come back to complain. The contents go down the drain whenever it becomes offensive.

For those questioning the cruelty, I equate this fate as similar to ending up in a bird or frog stomach, and have noticed that a strong salt solution finishes them off quite quickly. However, I don't recommend "salted slug", just from looking at the results... This year I've also installed an electric fence* around the raised beds, so I am also guilty of electrocuting them.

bungeejumper wrote:You count slugs? Each year?

It's reckoned that there are 200 slugs for every square metre of your garden. (Keep at it.)

Yes, I'd read that statistic. They can be found up to two metres below ground, and may only be on the surface of the garden for a relatively small part of the day(night).

As I count them, I entertain myself by imagining each new square cm of slug-free garden.

VRD

*Two strands of uncoated copper wire, 5mm apart, on the vertical side of the railway sleepers that make up the beds, connected to a 9V battery. Stops them in their tracks!

vrdiver wrote:These days I'm afraid I have a small container with salt water at the bottom. Not a single slug has come back to complain. The contents go down the drain whenever it becomes offensive.

For those questioning the cruelty, I equate this fate as similar to ending up in a bird or frog stomach, and have noticed that a strong salt solution finishes them off quite quickly.

I used to put a small quantity of cheapo supermarket beer into plastic cups, and bury them up to their necks in the soil. It wasn't as effective as hand-picking the little varmints - I didn't get twenty a day like you - but they died happy. And every so often, a hedgehog would come along and yank the cup out of the ground, and scoff the lot. It felt like a win-win.

Don't see so many hedgehogs these days, sadly. But the blackbirds and thrushes are still enjoying the slugs. Keep at it, birdies.

BJ

From the BBC today:-

The Royal Marines are testing out a jet suit, made by Gravity Industries, to assist in Maritime Boarding Operations.
Normally they would fast-rope down from a helicopter, but the jet suit allows for a different boarding strategy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56979994

scotia wrote:The Royal Marines are testing out a jet suit, made by Gravity Industries, to assist in Maritime Boarding Operations.
Normally they would fast-rope down from a helicopter, but the jet suit allows for a different boarding strategy.

Hmmmm, fry the pirates on the deck to a crisp before you even arrive. Might not be so popular on an oil drilling platform, but hey, maybe I'm quibbling?

BJ

James Bond had one of those in 1965.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K8zz9eI4-8

The Bell Rocket Belt only run for 21.5 seconds though,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sR83z7lxb8


Julian F. G. W.

The finalists are both English. Turkey has yet to get on top of its covid problem. The journey will cost fans a lot of money and cause many problems with isolation etc. Therefore it makes total sense to play the final in Istanbul. *

* To UEFA.

Snorvey wrote:Now we wait. I guess now I know what local the wimmin feel like when they nervously piss on a stick after a particularly memorable weekend.

One might advise wimmin with that kind of lifestyle to use a pill. One might similarly advise Snorveii to use a vaccine. And since you mention it, maybe Made in China in both cases?

Leothebear wrote:The finalists are both English. Turkey has yet to get on top of its covid problem. The journey will cost fans a lot of money and cause many problems with isolation etc. Therefore it makes total sense to play the final in Istanbul. *

* To UEFA.

A problem is if not handled sufficiently well by the lawyers it may set an unintended precedent for the future. Where would the right place for two Turkish teams reaching a future final slated for Wembley be to play?

A few weeks ago I discovered that on the double light switch in our kitchen the right-hand side switch is for the lights in the utility room. No more having to turn both switches on and then off in the hope of getting the one i want.

When I told Mrs Bnc how delighted I was at my discovery she said she'd only ever used the right hand switch for the utility room and reminded me that it was my idea to have a double light switch and for the right-hand one to be for the utility room when we had the lighting redone 16 years ago.

A much simpler discovery: I only recently found that the cardboard containers for cling film and kitchen-foil rolls had push-in dimples at each end that allowed the rolls to pivot smoothly. No doubt everyone else has read the instructions; perhaps there is even a manual.