Cool, Large will be fine, 2″ taller than you and 10kg heavier, sounds perfect.

I’m pretty much bang on the same weight and height as you. I’m a standard Large in just about everything inc. ME. You’ll be grand.

I have a Rupal and a Makalu from ME.

The Rupal is a good unfussy jacket. It’s been worn in some bloody awful conditions and performed as it should.

I’ve got quite a few jackets from other companies, but ME definitely have the best hood design.

Not sure if there is anything left from the ME outlet sale at Magic Mountain.

Used Cofra boots for a long time and they are good.
Currently using Redwing Petrokings which are superb.

I much prefer Wayfarers to Aviators.

I bought a pair of Frogskins Lite on a whim from Oakley. Must admit I really like them. First pair of Oakley’s I’ve bought in years.

I’ve had a few Polar decks and they are good. Have a look at Welcome. They do some nicely shaped modern decks. My last few have all been Welcome (all 8.75).

Indy or Thunder trucks and Spitfire wheels.

Be careful with the Garlic. Allium is toxic to dogs even in small doses. Depends on the weight of the dog as to how much and how often. I’ll stick to Frontline every few months

https://dogsfirst.ie/raw-garlic-for-dogs/

From memory, one study showed ill effects after a dog was fed a huge amount of garlic. In small doses, it’s good for them.

Those of you going with the raw diet -how do you ensure your dogs are getting enough calcium?

Raw bones. A minimum of 10% of their diet is bone.

@ThePilot it’s hard to argue with this face

ThePilot Cairn Terriers. Parsons are great dogs, a pal has one. That’s brutal that a vet recommend that. I give a little cheese now and then but never close to bed time!

@RustyNissanPrairie watch out feeding kibble and raw. They both take different times to digest and can upset the gut flora and pH balance. I don’t brush teeth as the bones do better than me putting my fingers in there 🤣 I don’t give flea treatment. A clove of garlic every few days keeps fleas and ticks away.

@bjj.andy.w sounds like your dog is doing well in the ring. Well done, that takes a lot of work. I don’t show, but my bitch is the daughter of the most awarded and well known dog of the breed and her mother is also very well known. I had offers when she was younger to get a stud to mate with her, I just didn’t see what it would bring to the breed, so didn’t take up any offer. Both my dogs ancestry is from all over the world. It dispels the “all pedigree dogs are hugely inbred” myth (assuming they are the product of good breeders).

@ThePilot, Terriers are great. They may drive you to the edge of despair with their stubbornness at times, but they always reward you for it.

FWIW I’m not a pedigree zealot, I’ve had a few Heinz 57’s in my time too.

ThePilot, my local vet feed told me privately that they feed BARF too. I thought that was quite telling.

Sorry about your terrier. It’s terriers that I have too.

Unless sturgeon pushes hard with everything possible towards independence the SNP will split

I’d agree with this. There seems to be an increasingly vocal faction within the pro independent movement, who are becoming frustrated with a perceived lack of action from the SNP. I can only see that growing.

I see buying a dog from a breeder as pretty much the same. It may not be a criminal act, but neither is a lot of animal cruelty, but a lot of what breeders do is morally indefensible. If you choose to support that by buying puppies from breeders then that is of course your choice.
Maybe just have a think about the bigger picture before you do.

That’s a very broad brush statement. I mentioned before that I’m involved in a breed club. Admittedly, a breed which is now relatively unfashionable. Every breeder that I know is 100% involved in ensuring the breed is maintained as it is and ensuring the health of the breed.
We fund an annual health report, to monitor any prevailing illness or conditions that may pop up, and selective breeding can ensure that these are nipped in the bud. I’ve visited several breeders homes and the pups are treated wonderfully. They all do it because of a love of the breed and the desire to see it continue. Financially, there isn’t even much gained as they aren’t a particularly fashionable breed, so they don’t sell for daft prices. Once vet costs and time and effort with the pups is taken in to account, I’d say there is very slim profit to be had if any at all.

I plan to breed at some point in the near future and have spent hours researching the lines of dogs to ensure that I can produce the healthiest and best bred, with the loweat inbreeding coefficient. I’ve also been given lots of advise from existing breeders, who are happy to share info.
A picture of my breed and a picture of a dog taken 100 years ago would show that the breed hasn’t been mucked around with as the dogs look identical.

Whilst I don’t disagree that some breeders see they dogs as a means of cash, and have absolutely ruined some breeds, there are many, many who don’t.

Dog food is a other minefield – I knew that cheap dog food is ground up beaks and bollocks but it took ages and lots of googling to find decent food. There is so much hidden crap in dog food.

Big time. Commercial pet food was created as an industry to get rid of the waste products from the human food chain. Vets get very limited nutritional training and it’s usually sponsored by a pet food company. There is an American documentary on Netflix called Petfooled which is worth a watch. My dogs never get commercial dog food and are raw fed meat, bones, offal and the odd bit of fruit and veg.

The annual booster schedule is nothing but a scam. My dogs get their full set of puppy jags and nothing after that. They get an annual titre test, which always shows healthy levels of existing antibodies. I’ve never had to boost a dog yet.

I’m currently the bad guy in my family after having a go at my Sister. As recently as Sunday, she had a play date for my Niece and friends in the house. My BiL think it’s all a hoax and hasn’t been taking many precautions and my Sister is an Orthodontist so will have had her hands in folks mouths up until Xmas Eve, however my Mum is going round for Xmas day (my mum is about to turn 70, had a brain hemorrhage last year and I suspect COPD).

I’m also a di*k, because I won’t drive a 80 mile round trip (across council boundaries) with my kids on Boxing Day to exchange presents with them.

I was also a di*k because I wouldn’t drive the kids from a lower tier to a higher tier, so the kids could get a Christmas portrait photo done together.

TBH, I quite like being on my own at Xmas (no offence intended to those who don’t).

I’m confusing myself with the new L4 requirements.

I’m in South Aberdeenshire, so quite a large area to cover. Am I correct in thinking a half hour drive to the local Corbett would be ok, but that driving an hour or so to the Ballater area would be breaking the keeping driving to a minimum rule (or alternatively Rule#1)?

I’m as close to the Angus hills, but assuming crossing the council boundary is a no no.

#sairheid

Condolences, some info here may be helpful:

https://www.mygov.scot/funerals-during-coronavirus/

I’ve often been tempted by an SE razor, but I’ve got probably a lifetimes worth of DE Feather blades knocking about!

Daily shave is an iKON Shavecraft 101 with an Exec Shaving Co Claymore handle. Nice and hefty so it does all the work for you. Also got a few Merkur and Gillette DE’s.

Not sure that I could justify a new razor, and I get a great shave as is, but I’ll probably try at some point.

I’d avoid Pet4Homes too. Is there a breed club for the breed you are thinking of? They are a good point of call for being put in touch with a good breeder. I’m involved with a breed club and I know that none of the well respected breeders use that site. It’s pure word of mouth or the odd post on the club page.

Apart from the usual caveats of seeing the pup with Mum etc I’d fully expect as much questioning of me from the breeder to ensure themselves that the pup was going to a suitable home. If that didn’t happen, I’d walk.
Ask about any testing of the pups for breed prevalent conditions. Also health of parents.

Jaipur is lovely.

Tiny Rebel – Dutty is a nice session IPA. Cloudwater and Vocation do some nice IPA’s too.

I really like Jottnar, but their sizing is all over the place. I’m a standard large in every brand except Jottnar. They have been great accepting returns but I seem to jump between sizes.

Let’s face it, all but a niche minority of outdoor clothing is made in China. Such is life.

Bowie
Bob Dylan
U2
Manics
Led Zep
The Stones
Oasis (not sure if meets critically lauded point)

I’m with Scotroutes on this one. Very little of the UK manufactured clothing appeals to me for a variety of reasons.

I’ll add Hilltrek in Aboyne in the interests of fairness tho.

As mentioned, Dave Clarke was the boss. Jeff Mills is up there too.

Billy Nasty was the man for a good while too. Warmed up for him a couple of times and he was a really nice bloke

Both my girls were done at around 8 y/o. No problems to report.

I got my ear pierced against my will, my Mum insisted I do it to show my sister it wouldn’t hurt!

I used to pretty much exclusively buy Arcteryx. I don’t anymore apart from always having the ever present Atom LT and Gamma softshells. Sure, it’s nicely finished, but I don’t find it lasts any longer or is any more durable than other brands. The warranty isn’t what it used to be going by all accounts.

These days I stick with Mountain Equipment and Jottnar predominantly. Both brands just work and I’ve had great customer service from both.

Rab, I haven’t worn for years after buying one of their higher end hardshells and it leaked like a sieve.

I really like Patagonia and their ethical standpoint, but the fit of their gear is really boxy (for my shape).

All worn in anger predominantly in the Cairngorms year round.

I usually drink (and brew) heavily hopped beers, and that comes at a cost.

I think that hop forward beers degrade less that a similar beer in bottles, due to the cans being purged before sealing. From my own brewing experience, things like NEIPA’s loose their flavour very quickly in bottles, and these styles are the current vogue beers.

I use a stainless hop ball for dry hopping, I think it was from brew UK.

Agree with the comment about Carapils. I use it in most brews for head retention.

The reasons you shouldn’t is that it’s an InBev product that has a limited selection of generally overpriced mass market beer. It will give you a pub quality pour of them though. I’ve also avoided using Beer Hawk since they were bought by InBev and either buy from my local bottle shops or direct from brewers.

This 👍

Unfinished Sympathy & Hymn of the Big Wheel – Massive Attack

Tin Soldier & If I Were a Carpenter (Live) – Small Faces

Controversy – Prince

RIP, flawed genius who won the world cup with a relatively average team around him. He also scored one of the best ever WC goals.

For the boards themselves….. for the most part they’re all the same – as in exactly the same

The 2020 Woodshop thread on the Slap forum is 26 pages long! It’s really important to some skaters just like a “what tyre?” thread on here.

To OP, i’d avoid completes. Even if branded, the decks tend to be of lesser quality than the separates.

I’d be going 8-8 1/2 popsicle of your choice, mid range trucks (Venture are OK, no point in Indy/Thunder if starting out), mini-logo bearings are decent and cheap, as are their wheels (you will eventually upgrade to Spitfire if you stick with it).

Support your local skate shop.

Personally, I would fire the things in to the sea.
Professionally, my work involves them.

Simon_G has it right 👍

Pro Tec pads are decent. Personally, I don’t make my kids wear pads.

I dislocated my left thumb around 15 years ago and it’s never fully recovered. As above, I still get aches if I put any real pressure on it and I don’t have full movement.

Lovely day in Glencoe today.

I lost my Dad to a massive stroke a few years ago. He was only in his 50’s.

Personally, I wouldn’t take offence to “are you having a stroke or something”. To me, it’s not a direct personal insult. It’s just an unfortunate turn of phrase.
On the other hand, if someone was to make fun of the after effects of someone suffering a stroke, I’d say that’s out of order.

As has been said, humour isn’t black and white. Direct insults are a bad thing, but humour/comedy, is always liable to offend someone. I also agree with the earlier comment about gallows humour.

Synthetic you can stick in the washer, down should be hand washed, you’re not even supposed to spin it, don’t know why anyone would disagree with footflaps on the washing bit.

Eh? I’ve got ME, Arcteryx and Jottnar down jackets and every washing instruction tab states machine wash, as does the down care info on the manufacturers websites.

ME:

Down clothing is more difficult than most clothing to wash, but the task can be managed at home. The difficult part is not actually the washing, but the drying. The washing cycle can be done in most large household washing machines but the process of drying, which can take several hours, requires a tumble dryer. Do not dry clean your down clothing.

Jottnar:

Ideally keep to one item per wash.
First remove any loose dirt by giving your jacket a quick brush over. Close zips.
Rinse your detergent drawer clean of old powder or liquid.
Follow the temperature instructions on the garment care label.
You can use any standard non-biological soap to wash your down jacket. Specific down wash detergents from Nikwax, Grangers or Storm are also available.
Once the wash has finished, run a few spin cycles whilst slowly increasing the speed. The jacket will exit the machine looking flat and sorry. Don’t worry, drying will revive it

Down is just a PITA in the UK, hard to wash, doesn’t like getting wet. If you’re doing an Alpine North face where every gram counts, then great, its performance is unbeatable. For bimpling around town, walking the dog, walking in the hills in the UK, synthetic is a much better choice. I only use my down jackets skiing in January in the high alpine resorts where its -20C and dry.

I’d agree with this, apart from the washing bit. Down is great when it’s bone dry and I’ll pack/wear one on a crisp, clear day. For the other 99% of the time (living in Scotland) I’ll use synthetic jackets.

Back to topic, my boss paid £750 (!) for his cairn puppy around 18 months-2 years ago. They’re around 4 times the price now.

£750 has been a steady ballpark price for a Cairn from from a good breeder for a number of years. I paid around that five years ago for one of mine.

The ones I’ve seen asking ridiculous prices online seem to be from folk seeing a quick buck from family pets.
I know a few established breeders who have knocked back folk looking for a lockdown pup without the foggiest about the breed or their characteristics/needs. The decent breeders haven’t hiked up prices and are only selling to existing waiting lists.

(I’m involved in the breed club).

Well in to my third month of being AF. Quite a big change to begin with, but I don’t crave a drink at all now.

Interesting that folk are going for AF beers. I prefer drinking tea.

I just need to decide who is to get all the bottles of AG homebrew I made at the start of lockdown 🤣

Montane Prism or Flux?