That’s. A question. It takes me back to my days as a trade union steward. That was for Unison the public sector union. With different employers there is some flexibility about how holiday entitlement is accrued. However in the public sector only whole months count. So in your case neither July or Fe...

It’s still pretty dark though it is improving. I look forward to March 21st when we overtake you in daylight hours reaching our max in late June with no real night at all. The older hens are coming back into lay now and the snowdrops should be flowering soon. Though the worst of the winter is probab...

I know it’s an English obsession but it’s a white over. Always feels like the real start of winter once that happens. Should all be gone tomorrow but it was great crunching through it when I took the dog out first thing. Don’t know whether it’s all the reflected light but the cockerels have discover...

You have my sympathy Chris. There is a guy here who is desperate to give up and has all those devices that help you to stop. However he says that the ritual of rolling a cigarette is part of it as is the social pressure to join others in a huddle outside the bar. Is it right that there is now a drug...

The one I really wish I’d kept was me in a Haliborange advert. I was a blue eyed baby (in B and W of course) Now, to quote Arthur Daley, I’ve “got a boat like a slatehangers nail bag”. This isn't you, is it? Although this looks like a little girl. https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-1950s-old-vintage...

Thanks guys. I had considered getting some as a scatter feed but if, as you say, they pick out the good bits then I won’t bother. Even mixed corn is picked over and now I just buy wheat as a scatter feed (In case any one is wondering they all get pellets in hoppers but a scatter feed is to give them...

So has anyone tried this Garvo Alphamix? Is it any good?

Curiously we had a few visitors a couple or three months back and the question of childhood came up. Amidst much mockery they asked me if I had any baby pics. They couldn’t believe it when I said that I had no family pics at all, only chickens and dogs. I remember when our mother died myself and my ...

One advantage to it getting very wet and swamp like in the winter is having Woodcock in the garden at dusk and dawn. Oh dear! Woodcocks are my favourite bird but with game chips and red currant jelly. We only get them coming through on the autumn migration. The bird I really enjoy, not gastronomica...

Some folk in these parts garden but not on the higher, exposed ground where I am. I’m fully open to the SE and E winds which are the killers. However behind a 6ft wall on one side and a 5ft fence on the other, both of which I had built when I moved here, I have a copse. Does this count as gardening?...