RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 A half-brick, carefully aimed to just miss, is effective on unwanted cats here. After one or two examples they steer clear. (Works on most things actually). No recent visits from J Witnesses or Pollsters. On a practical note I don't really fancy hurling half bricks around our kitchen or utility room ( a slipper isn't too bad but far from successful judging by continuing visitations). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 Coffee here is from capsules - Nespresso's system, which forces the water through at 19 bar. Implausibly, I am now paying about half the price for capsules that I paid in the UK in 2003, and in real terms it's no doubt even less than that. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 All this talk about coffee inspired me to make some. I usually drink tea at home. I drink coffee if I am somewhere that tea isn't something like PG tips made with freshly boiled water. Aditi likes coffee except for the first drink of the day when she likes tea. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 A half-brick, carefully aimed to just miss, is effective on unwanted cats here. After one or two examples they steer clear. (Works on most things actually). No recent visits from J Witnesses or Pollsters. I use a water pistol, shaped and actioned, like a bike pump. Annoyingly it has a bright orange circular end where the water jets out from. The rogue cat detects this appearing at the opened window and departs rapidly now. It also has exceptional hearing. I made a faint noise opening the backdoor yesterday and the cat, which was about 6 metres away, moved off like a missile. Water works! And even the threat of water works. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2015 "Instaneity", thank you Mr Chambers. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Aaaand breathe... After taking Julie to and from the Health Centre, then shopping, then home, got a call from #1 son who had found that IKEA had the bunk-bed-over-desk that Blondie has wanted for her room for over a year in stock (finally), so he had gone and bought one, and some other stuff, and now needed a second car to get it home. So, a trip to IKEA, much movement of flat packs and then to his, now just waiting a moment before giving the pigs a lift back home... And just why are there container lorries going through Wallington? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Coffee here is from capsules - Nespresso's system, which forces the water through at 19 bar. Implausibly, I am now paying about half the price for capsules that I paid in the UK in 2003, and in real terms it's no doubt even less than that. A benefit of living abroad Ian. Our Senseo machine produces non headache provoking coffee but the pack of pads cost 3 times the price in Belgium. We buy from the Red supermarket in Belgium, one of those places where you check items in the basket with a hand held gadget. And bring a supply back. Even mail order here the pads are expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 A benefit of living abroad Ian. Our Senseo machine produces non headache provoking coffee but the pack of pads cost 3 times the price in Belgium. We buy from the Red supermarket in Belgium, one of those places where you check items in the basket with a hand held gadget. And bring a supply back. Even mail order here the pads are expensive. We buy ours in France, where the cost is less (same Euros as pounds in UK and bigger packs) and the choice better. In fact a local Sainsbury's has stopped stocking Senseo, because the manager had a row with Douwe Egberts' rep... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 And just why are there container lorries going through Wallington? If they're anything like the couple we've had up our road they might be something to do with a house move. That apart they could well be very non-local drivers doing what they think the satnav is telling them to do, that definitely produces some very unexpected vehicles on side roads in our neck of the woods. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We buy ours in France, where the cost is less (same Euros as pounds in UK and bigger packs) and the choice better. In fact a local Sainsbury's has stopped stocking Senseo, because the manager had a row with Douwe Egberts' rep... By mail order or booze cruise? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Another vote for water pistols. Harmless and good fun if you buy a good gun (Super Soaker were good). Nowadays 1 Alsation=0 cats. Coffee-I reckon McDonalds is as good as anything Costa, and I can sit in the van listening to Radio 4 whilst drinking it. Ed 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) I think we have had over the years examples of most types of coffee devices except for the pod type machines. We now have assorted cafetieres and a bean to coffee espresso machine. Edited February 23, 2015 by Tony_S 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 lightengine, on 23 Feb 2015 - 12:44, said:By mail order or booze cruise? Previous correspondence here suggests Smiffy has a pad in France. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 ahh coffee. Second only to beer for me. No pods allowed due to their nasty environmental impact. Instant is the creation of Satan himself. Whole bean only. Ground into a steel mesh filter for the drip machine. (1.5l) Bean to cup with the espresso machine. The latter is faster than boiling the kettle for instant, so there. All the grounds end up in the wormery and composted. No mess or land fill rubbish created. Beans usually sourced from the Algerian Coffee Company in Soho or online from a company called Death Wish Coffee. Believe it or not Rotten Ronnie's and KFP (Kentucky Fried Pigeon) have respectable coffee. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 A benefit of living abroad Ian. Dunno about Senseo, but having equipped Sherry with a Nespresso machine, I think she has a UK mail-order supply of capsules. My cheapest capsules are now bought at Lidl and Aldi, and I think the UK Lidl branches carry them, too. I think Nestlé's patent must have expired a few years back, as almost all the French supermarkets now seem to offer alternatives, although at varying prices. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 No pods allowed due to their nasty environmental impact. I think some brands claim to be bio-degradable, while others offer local collection points for recycling. Compared to disposable nappies, an effort is being made.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) Ian, I got one of those [Nespresso machines] last year and it's great. Think the capsules are all in the 29-35p each range here (barring any more expensive limited ones), though you can also buy other make capsules that fit (such as Carte Noir). Edited February 23, 2015 by sixoh8sixoh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I think some brands claim to be bio-degradable, while others offer local collection points for recycling. Compared to disposable nappies, an effort is being made.... We compost the Senseo pods. Or at least Julie does... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2015 Beginning to feel better by now, so a belated generic round of congrats and commies to everyone whom they may concern. Haven't had any coffee yet for obvious reasons and think I'll give it a skip today altogether in favour of cocoa. Our DeLonghi coffee maker is great and a 1 kg (or was it more?) bag of coffee beans lasted almost two months at our rate of consumption. The machine seems to form compacted disks of ground coffee which after brewing are dropped into a reservoir which needs to be emptied every few days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We compost the Senseo pods. Or at least Julie does... Just started the composting. I cant believe Andrew c thinks Senseo pads are environmentally iffy. My leaf litter takes longer to degrade than the mesh of a pad. Especially the bay leaves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Morning all, Many happy returns for your night turn Jim - very clever way of avoiding eating & drinking to excess on your birthday Currently sunny but heavy showers promised although fairly low probability, tomorrow looks better which is just as well as it's a walk down to see Dracula's daughter (ought really not to call her that as I went to school with her cousin, real small town stuff isn't it). Nothing much planned for today as it's promised to 'feel cold' by the seaweed merchants I suspect that gardening will not be on the duty list although Tesco undoubtedly will in order to replenish bacon stocks; what an exciting life we lead . Have a good day one & all It is allways a good idea to be polite about people who stick (sharp) needles in you! Coffee here is from capsules - Nespresso's system, which forces the water through at 19 bar. Implausibly, I am now paying about half the price for capsules that I paid in the UK in 2003, and in real terms it's no doubt even less than that. I have noticed that the price of Tasimo capsules has gone down a lot. I was offered one free a few years ago but turned it down because of the price of feeding it. Now the capsules are about half the price. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 Jamie, to deter cats I'd concur with Light Engine's advice about water. Even if you do hit the cat, it just gets wet so no risk of claims of injury or animal cruelty hanging over your head. Failing that a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. All those I have owned over the years have ensured that any garden we have had has been cat free. Istr regaling the tale of Nat Cat, and his fall from grace, many pages ago in this column. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Oldddudders, on 23 Feb 2015 - 11:55, said:I think some brands claim to be bio-degradable, while others offer local collection points for recycling. Compared to disposable nappies, an effort is being made.... SWMBO is very very green. Some of the research she did when we looked at one last year was frightening. Less than 2% are recycled. In the US alone that is over 8 billion k-cups in landfills just from Green Mountain. Most plastic cups are type 7 and not recyclable. Only the filters on some are biodegradable. Only the more expensive aluminium ones can be mostly recycled. With the amount of coffee we go through that would be around 5-6kg of k-cups plus packaging in the bin each year, compared to about 1/4 of the packaging with whole bean. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Jamie, to deter cats I'd concur with Light Engine's advice about water. Even if you do hit the cat, it just gets wet so no risk of claims of injury or animal cruelty hanging over your head. I am also trying the 1.5 litre plastic bottle, lying down part filled with water and unlidded. Supposed to deter cats. Jury is still out on that one particularly as the garden looks unsightly as I cannot hide the bottles behind our minimal shrubbery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Just started the composting. I cant believe Andrew c thinks Senseo pads are environmentally iffy. My leaf litter takes longer to degrade than the mesh of a pad. Especially the bay leaves. Pads and pods are totally different things. I'm talking about the plastic and metal ones. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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