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I heard today that some new laws have been passed limiting the amount of livestock that you can keep. Whats all that about? It's a long time you wrote that - I've been trying to find out more about this but no success. Can you give me more detail about who told you, and in what context? I could onl...

Sorry, me again. :? I just realised that we had got away from the original topic - would you buy? Andy, how about using your cycle trip to do a bit of market research? No better chance than this; to get together with lots of people with similar interests (but sufficiently different outlooks on life)...

Of course you are both right. I just don't think they would pay up, and I see potential riot damage as just one "cost" that the organisers of the summit should budget for! After all, if the damage/injuries happened to the participants, I can't see them pulling out their own wallet... Anyway, the res...

Maybe you could leave it on, just to see if it produces proper seed? Then you can sow your own next year! Another step towards self sufficiency... (If you want to take it that far!) It works well with chives. My neighbour has loads of chives in her garden, which she never picks. It flowers profusely...

Free draining soil might not be the worst for your potatoes - no potatoes ever tasted better than those out of my father's garden, and that soil still classifies as sandy after 40 years of constant addition of compost! Lighter soils are actually supposed to keep the plants healthier, at least, we ne...

The worst is, those idiots who want the prestige of living in the country but none of the "inconveniences" or what they see as such price us out of buying anything... The house I live in came with the job, otherwise I'd never be able to afford living in this area! It leaves all of us with the proble...

I read in last Sunday's paper that the residents of the village near Gleneagles (Auchterrarder, I think?) have been asked to make sure that their insurance covers damage through rioters. So just because they have the misfortune to live there they now have to pay more insurance, too? Is that fair? Sh...

Thanks for all that advice, Lee - I shall ask around and let you knwo how I get on. Maybe next year it's time for a "fashion show" of homespun luxury jumpers...

Cheers
Ina

Actually, I still live without TV, or video, or DVD.... Am regularly hassled by those licencing people in Bristol, of course. I offered to pay for listening to the radio, but they don't want that. Tough luck.

Even if I don't understand every single joke, I think I get the gist of it!

Ina

Thanks, Lee - I think I once saw something about a spinning guild, so I shall enquire. I've got access to all sorts of wool, I'm surrounded by sheep; a friend of mine even keeps a breeding flock of merinos. Do you wrap the mohair in something before you wash it? Otherwise I can imagine the machine m...

Hi greenbean Yes, neighbours can be a bit of a pain. I live more or less in the middle of nowhere now - great - but even some of the folk who move here have funny notions about life in the country. A friend of mine is selling her house just now, and when she told some prospective buyer keen on movin...

I wish I was! I lived in London from 1977 to 81, and that was after I'd left school! But I still managed to miss that. Fact is, I grew up without TV and never really got into the habit later. But then, I remember stuff like The hitchhiker's guide on radio the first time round, and everybody else rem...

My perfect transport idea is still the plane in Chicken Run - anybody remember that? It might be a bit hard on folks on long haul flights, but maybe we could get one going for the shorter trips to Europe?

Ina

As far as I remember it was screwtop bottles, as recommended in the recipe... Which made me decide not to rely on recipes in future but to use more of my own common sense! Funny enough, we have all sorts of stuff growing in the area, but no elder. I have one small plant in a pot, which I am hoping t...

I know the feeling. I've even poked about in the compost to see if I can't make them come up a bit faster... And I put the heater on in the living room just to get the seedlings going - well, they can't put on an extra wooly jumper like I do, can they???