and bury a fourth one in the back garden just to be really sure

I've got a Freecom 250Gb toughdrive, had it about 2 years I'm sure you can get higher cap ones now. Has a laptop size disk inside, nice compact tough little unit, goes in a shirt pocket, built in lead and powered by the USB so there's no brick to carry round with it. Lights up a really cool blue colour when its working too.

I'd rather carry two of these than one of the bigger ones

Self employed tree man. Long hours, but I choose them. Sole trader so no directors, no line managers and, best of all, no employees. Some days I can't believe I get paid for it, some days are awful, but I'd still never go back to a proper job.

One day I'll work out how to spell arboriculturalist.

You're carrying on an honourable tradition.

There was an old sea captain from about Nelson's time who used to go round with pockets full of acorns and plant them in likely spots.

I throw apple cores out of the car if there's a nice verge, I can't be the only one, its surprising how many apple trees you see growing on motorway banks.

Been great round here, bit dusty but lovely easy riding, flew round my usual circuit round St Albans on Sunday – all the walkers and horsey people were in good moods too.

Full moon just rising, think I'll put the lights on and go for a blast.

Time to check out a local ROW that follows stream bed as well.

Interesting prog last night about separated twins backs some of this up, seems there is a big genetic component.

With one pair of brothers the one in England who liked a pint or three, smoked heavily and liked his five fruit and veg a day fermented in bottles had a major heart attack in his fifties. The identical twin had emigrated to NZ and did all sorts of energetic outdoor stuff, didn't smoke and watched his diet. After his brother's attack he went for a check and it turned out he was heading for the same problem they got him into the theatre just in time.

Some of it obviously is just luck.

Calories are a perfectly good scientific unit – the problem is the way the diet industry uses them to push its products.

That is Grifola frondosa, previously known as Polyporus frondosus, the only common name that I know of for it is oak polypore. I've only ever seen it on oaks. The thing I think you mean by cauliflower fungus is Sparassis crispa, usually smaller and found almost exclusively on pines.

Lickey End near Bromsgrove.

Then there are Pratts Bottom and Badgers Mount in Kent.

Wasps nest – shortly before breaking the 100m sprint record.

I wore one out, though it was 12+ yrs old and had a hard-ish life. Not difficult to or expensive to replace, the worst bit was getting it out of the frame, needed a 2 foot breaker bar to start it turning. If the cranks haven't been off for a while they might be hard to shift, especially if the extractor threads have gone. A three leg puller can be useful for that.

Putting it back – copper grease on the BB and square tapers, locktite on the crank bolts and do them up to the right torque. First time out take a box / socket spanner in case they come loose.

Credit cards always worked for me over there, even in the ATMs in filling stations in the back end of Montana – never tried one in a pump though.

It might sound like I'm complaining, but in fairness they are the best spd pedals I've used, I really like them. I didn't find a lot of grease inside either so did add more. I didn't pack them full, but there isn't much free space in there, I wonder if the difficulty getting the nut done up all the way is hydraulic lock.

Sorted now, thanks for the advice guys. Nut 2 gets very tight pushing the sleeve back in to the pedal and you have to use an open end spanner, not helped by the corners being made rounded. Would be easier if the flare at the crank end of the spindle was small enough to get a ring spanner or deep drive hex socket over it.

Many thanks, found it – that looks pretty straightforward, was a bit confused by the lack of an obvious nut or bolt head at the outboard end of the pedal. Looks like it doesn't need the expensive adjusting tool either [or a small socket through a box spanner]

Sounds like its a case of an initial cutting back followed by regular trimming. A bow saw with a good blade will cut stuff up to 70 – 80mm like a razor with no real difficulty – much cheaper than a chainsaw which you might never use again after the first time. Put the money you save into a better hedge trimmer for the long term maintenance.

Or get someone with a chainsaw to do the first bit. If they are a professional they will do it way quicker and safer than you could.

Not up to previous ones. IT crowd which followed it was much funnier.

They are quite good at getting aloft but flap their wings so fast it always looks like a huge effort. They probably work far better underwater.

I don't know how they burn, but they taste OK, you can get them in Icelandic supermarkets – meat is dark, fine textured and quite strong tasting, but not really fishy.

Always on my own these days, partly because I don't know any other MTBers round here, but also because I work for myself and tend to head off at a moment's notice when it suits me. I quite often run into another guy who rides the easier local trials on a road bike, we usually stop for a chat.

I like being able to go at my own pace and vary the route according to how I feel, but don't have anything against riding in groups, can be really good fun.

Also used to like solo mountaineering and still go walking / scrambling on my own.

The phantom Francophile who goes round here with a roll of black tape changing signs from Barnet to Barnét. Makes me grin every time I see another has been done.

Proper sounds ok but perhaps the answer is stick with "swimming" and refer to swimming in pools etc. as "artificial swimming"

BTW there is a firm that will build you a natural swimming pool if you have enough space. Its basically a pond with a selection of vegetation that keeps it all clean. IIRC it doesn't even need a circulation pump.

Joe – I'll concede to you on downstream in the Thames but have swum way upstream at Lechlade, where its not much more than a big brook.

"Wild swimming" is what I grew up calling swimming too, I don't know where all these self proclaimed wild swimmers are though, Swamp girl and I are pretty enthusiastic and its extremely rare to meet anyone else doing it.

I also get irritated by the people who feel the need to use the term because its fashionable. Having to go to Wales to do it is a laugh too, nice scenery, but there are plenty of nice gravel pits etc. round here in the Home Counties. Not to miss out the Thames, lowest point swum in so far is Hampton Court. [If you live on Thames Ditton Island and pulled back the curtains in the morning to find a bum print on the picture window, it wasn't me, honest]

Its nearly as bad as using "extreme" for anything vaguely beyond main stream sport just because it gives a [usually] safe buzz to people who have no real excitement in their over regulated lives. Some of it does seem to be about marketing, how long will it be before Berghaus, Karrimor et al start marketing a range of lifestyle products for wild swimmers? [Corroded – beat me to it]

ducks do seem to have a good time, at least the males do, sometimes the females look as if they're going to drown

IIRC badgers and quite few related mammals are at it all the time, in some cases mating brings on ovulation, but the fertilised egg doesn't implant and start developing for some time. From that I'd guess they enjoy it.

Yep that's a ferret. Looks well groomed, probably a pet that took itself walkies.

Most of the wear on an engine is while its warming up. The number of cold starts has more to do with it than the total mileage. I'd far rather buy a high mileage fleet car that has been well maintained than Mrs Dither's little runabout that only ever did trips to the shops.

Big drawback with a lot of low mileage cars is that they have stood a long time without running or moving. Rubber degrades with time, so the tyres can be shot even if they have plenty of tread, plus if the car hasn't moved all the weight has been on one side of the tyre, that's not good either. If the engine hasn't run for a long time the oil sits in the sump and the seals get dried out, first time it restarts and runs it leaks like a sieve. You could be looking at a set of tyres and a lot of work on the engine.

I agree with CHB & the others, see which one looks better maintained. Does the service book have all the stamps. 120k isn't a lot for a well maintained car, equally if you try hard enough you can fubar an engine in less then ten miles.

Don't count on saving money by buying the cheapo – big repairs won't some cheap, even on an old car.

My car is 12 years old with 208,000 miles on the clock and its not a make renowned for reliability, I just make sure it gets serviced. Every so often I get a high ish service bill for wear and tear items but its still cheaper than replacing it.

They are extremely hard but you only need to get the screw heads off to shift the cleat. If all else fails careful application of a small angle grinder will do the job. Once both heads are off you can get the back plate out of the shoe and the screw stubs will usually shift with mole grips.

I'd echo the comments about Halfords pro stuff – well made and they do honour the guarantee. They replaced a ratchet for me because the chrome started peeling, not mechanical problems with it.

They do a very nice quarter inch drive socket set that includes hex drive sockets up to 13mm, allen key and torx bits in common sizes – I use it a lot for work on the bikes.

Some of these posts are like the Father Ted episode where the salesman tries to sell Mrs Doyle a teasmade:

Salesman "but you won't have to go through all that suffering any more"

Mrs D "But I LIKE the suffering"

I've had a screw in one ankle since 1978 with no problems, but it isn't near any major joints. Also have three large screws in my right wrist and a metal replacement end on the ulna that side. They went in about 2½ years ago and the idea is that they stay in, though the surgeon said they might take the replacement end off the ulna in the very long term if it starts to give problems. I can set off some security arches just by putting my bare arm through, which is mildly amusing at times.

Nice ideas there. I have section of railway line about 250mm long that makes an excellent anvil. I can't claim to have made it, but it got bl**dy heavy after carrying it for about half a mile, so I put some effort into getting it. Don't use it a lot for bike stuff, but it is useful for shaping things.

BTW its definitely an offcut – before anyone goes blaming me for any train accidents.

I shifted one that had been in for about quite few years by standing astride the bike facing backwards to stop it moving then twisting the post with a big pipe wrench [24" Stillsons]. If you just have the stripped frame putting it in something like a workmate might help but you'll need to stop that moving. Once it starts to twist you can work it upwards. Mine took some heaving and grunting but it went in the end and the Stillsons didn't crush it, which had been a worry

If you can get some fine penetrating oil down between the post and the frame tube it will help.

I thought it went a bit sugary at the end, but it was good and WAY better than just about anything else on the box at the moment. Liked the one with Bob Hoskins [had Frances Barber too] but he does seem out of place in the north.

Steven Graham was really good in This is England as well, well worth seeing if you get the chance.

I do nearly all mine. Most of it is pretty easy bit I'm not too keen in wheel building, like someone above said you have to be in the frame of mind. I don't tackle brazing / welding.

I've never been too fussy about torque settings except with crank bolts, after having a crank work loose out on a long ride.

How can you tell?

Perhaps a pond guard is the next project – judging by the bike and the collection of garden gnomes and statuettes it will be interesting.

Yes hp, I think the rear brake pads are rubbing on the tyre – more friction that way – he might be on to something there I'll have to give it a try. 🙄

If the spacer doesn't take up the slack it is possible to hacksaw the pins holding the old cassette together and use one of the nylon spacers from between the cogs between the back of the new cassette and the wheel. Its a bodge, but it has worked for me.

Sounds like you're pretty fit for your age, its probably not too much to worry about but probably worth seeing the doc even if only for peace of mind. If its localised like that it sounds like sit ups would tone up the muscles there and pull it all in a bit.

I try to see mine as a fitness aid – the more weight I carry the fitter my legs get. I'm 53, 5'10" and about 14 stone, but its fairly evenly spread. Waist is 36", was 34" since being teenage until about five years ago.

Was working in Bristol for a couple of days mid week and went past the museum, big queues at 8.30, some of them must have been waiting there for ages. Swamp girl got in, was actually more taken with the regular museum exhibits, the Banksy stuff was interspersed among them, probably to make it seem a bit more spontaneous.

Nice to be in Bristol again, had forgotten what a nice friendly town it is.

BTW front tyre on the ice cream van in pic above is back to front.

Hydraulic drive is interesting even if it needs loads of development before its practical – it opens up the possibility of infinitely variable drive to both wheels.

Pulp fiction