Thanks Charlie, they have issued me with a walking stick to aid my walking with constant back pain! Old age!
You and me both, I have two ruptured/collapsed discs at the base of my spine which causes constant pain (although my wife thinks i'm more a pain the neck) Does the stick help? I have tried to resist that path but finding it more & more painful going up and down slopes so might enquire about one.
It certainly helps me, my back pain causes me to lean forward the further I walk, so the least little thing was causing me to fall. The stick helps me to keep more upright, though it doesn't ease the pain!
I have been thinking for some time that my grass cutting equipment is getting worn out. It has taken a pounding for 8 or 9 years on some very rough terrain, not helped when you get people on quad bikes driving at high speed down the green lanes. Yesterday my strimmer started to play up again so I will go off this afternoon and spend a bit of money to get a new mower.
Could you not pinch one of the quad bikes and modify it so that you can cut the grass at the same time as riding it?
Nice idea Dan, but we have had no reported crime here for 10 years. The last one was when someone attempted to steal a helicopter that had been parked overnight in a field. We can still go out for the day and leave the doors open, although on the huge monthly market day people come from miles around, so we do lock up. I don't think I will start a crime wave.
I want to hear more on the attempted helicopter theft. Why was it parked in a field? Could the thieves fly a helicopter? What do you do with a helicopter once you have stolen it? I have an image of a group of drunken youths coming out of a pub one night and thinking it would be fun to fly home rather than walk.
Well the helicopter was parked up overnight because the next day it was going to give 10 minute flights to people, at a cost, to raise some money at the village fete. The attempted theft got as far as the doors being forced and an unsuccessful attempt to hot wire it. As far as I remember the police gave it a case number, but no one was caught. Even if they had started it I doubt they would have known what to do with it. As it was fete time there would have been several bars open that night which could have well had something to do with it.
Thanks Frenchie. It is good to see you rural types can make your own entertainment rather than having to rely on screens. I bet the attempted theft was the talk of the area for a while.
I absolutely love OFH's little bulletins - they'd make for a much better programme than a year in Provence!
Strange that you should mention screens NZ. There was a crime in La Trimouille last year when someone broke into an empty office and stole a computer screen that had been left behind. La Trimouille is our nearest town, population 982, and the small market square, Le Place du Pont, had a lady pull up in an open topped sports car. Going off into the bakers to buy some bread she left her handbag, mobile phone and wallet on the front seat. Being English I did wonder if this was wise, but of course I don't live there anymore.
In our rural bit of England the helicopter thieves have gone quiet. Horse thieves and fly tippers seem to top our Most Wanted list.
we dont have to lock the doors everyone knows if you find someone on your land you can shoot them lol
Went and bought a new mower this afternoon. The shop assistant apologized because he didn't have any oil to put in it and would have to get an entire tub down and charge me about £7, but I would have the half a container that he didn't use. Having assembled it he put enough petrol in it to ensure that it was working well, and then helped me into the car with it. I had to prove my identity as I had pre-ordered it, so produced my French driving license. He assumed therefore that I was a national and chatted away. It was only when he heard my accent that doubts entered his mind. He asked if I was English, and on confirmation tried his best phrases out on me. Seems that his employers send their staff out to English lessons in case they have us lot roll in. I wonder if B & Q send their staff out on similar courses.
Good morning all from a cold Weston-super-Mare! Congratulations on your fine win at Wigan, was disappointed that we only drew but there'll be a few more twists and turns before May 2nd, onward and upward! Have a good day!