Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

As with ODD further along the coast at Babbacombe, we in sunny Teignmouth are bathed in sunshine today. A large amount of long tailed tits are flitting through the bushes and a smaller number of blue tits are out using next doors feeders. Must get into the garden and do some work if I can muster up any energy. Anyone know how to stop cats defecating on my garden? I have used packeted Lion pooh, green crystal stuff and just last week I put some spiky rose bush cuttings down. Cat just apparently ignores the cuttings and poohs straight on top of one. Wife is reluctant for me to act more strongly.

You could always get a cat.  Its presence might not necessarily put off feline interlopers but you can find a sort of satisfaction in the knowledge that it will be doing in their human servants' garden what they are doing in yours.

 

(It is a known fact that cats don't carp in their own servant's garden - trouble is one of ours was never told that by his mum, his brother however fully understood and pops across the road to use a neighbour's garden.)

Edited October 25, 2015 by The Stationmaster

[Jock67B]

As with ODD further along the coast at Babbacombe, we in sunny Teignmouth are bathed in sunshine today. A large amount of long tailed tits are flitting through the bushes and a smaller number of blue tits are out using next doors feeders. Must get into the garden and do some work if I can muster up any energy. Anyone know how to stop cats defecating on my garden? I have used packeted Lion pooh, green crystal stuff and just last week I put some spiky rose bush cuttings down. Cat just apparently ignores the cuttings and poohs straight on top of one. Wife is reluctant for me to act more strongly.

We (the Royal we of course!) bought a Westie almost nine years ago, haven't seen a cat in the garden since,

Kind regards,

Jock..

[Tony_S]

Foxes seem less likely to use the garden for defecation if one has a dog. The dog also seems to deter squirrels from ground level too. They used to bury nuts on our lawn. Robbie would dig them up and wee on them. Squirrels use next door's lawn now. They don't mind, they like the squirrels!

[PhilJ W]

Foxes seem less likely to use the garden for defecation if one has a dog. The dog also seems to deter squirrels from ground level too. They used to bury nuts on our lawn. Robbie would dig them up and wee on them. Squirrels use next door's lawn now. They don't mind, they like the squirrels!

You mean tree rats don't you?

[Tony_S]

You mean tree rats don't you?

I quite like the grey squirrels.

[Happy Hippo]

 Anyone know how to stop cats defecating on my garden? 

The cure to such problems is called a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

 

Our garden(s) have remained cat free since the arrival of our first SBT way back in 1985.

 

Current guardian of the garden, Elsa, in her watch tower (aka the conservatory).

 

[Tony_S]

Earlier this year the new cat on the block seemed to be tempting fate with Robbie, ignoring hints to move on. One day the cat was stuck in one of our pear trees. Robbie was sitting quietly but attentively observing. I tried to help the cat but it hissed and tried to claw me. At which point Robbie ran at full speed and leapt upwards! At this point the cat seemed to manage to free herself and made a rather impressive leap onto the shed roof and next door. Dogs have a funny triumphalist walk when they have seen off an intruder. Robbie is completely uninterested in cats unless they invade his territory while he is awake.

[Gwiwer]

 

 

Brought up in a stable

Soon be Christmas.

There's always one isn't there?

 

 

[Gwiwer]

 Anyone know how to stop cats defecating on my garden? 

 

Plant lavender.  Most cats hate the stuff and will go anywhere but where it grows.

 

They also learn to poo elsewhere if you sprinkle freshly ground black pepper around their "patch" as apart from the smell they'll pick some up on their paws which inevitably get licked ......... 

[Jock67B]

Afternoon all,

Rick, sorry to hear of your problem with the commute to work, hard enough to do a full day without adding an hour each end of the day!

Neil, I regret that age might have something to do with the inability to absorb the hour change? Hope you have a good day on Groudle and don't overdo things.

Tony_S, as I mentioned earlier, good service from all departments of a garage is possibly the most important aspect of the trade, and it can easily retain or lose clients accordingly. Especially important now that modern vehicles are so complex that the days of lying under our own cars to effect repairs are long gone. John (Killybegs)'s post illustrates this well. The Ford dealership in Clacton was a very successful family run business for many years until the owner retired and leased the site to a national group, it closed within eighteen months with several horror stories from clients who felt constrained to switch to us! The site is now re-developed with three businesses on it, and now loyal Ford customers have to travel over sixteen miles to a dealer.

Mike(SM), I always used to hire the best staff I could get in the area, but I preferred to train the sales and customer facing staff myself so that they didn't introduce 'bad habits' learned elsewhere. I also didn't pay commission as I feel this tempts salesmen to cheat to supplement their income, giving them a profit related bonus twice annually, one in the Summer, one just before Christmas. It's also helped to retain them as one of our biggest problems was poaching by the bigger dealers in Colchester and Ipswich, although I used to highlight the stress of commuting to either town each end of a working day!

Tony_S, Archie's breed were trained for hundreds of years to dispatch vermin such as stoats, weasels and the like, thus protecting the ground nesting game birds so that they could be grown and then shot! He seems to classify squirrels with them as he hates them with a vengeance. I dare not let him run off the lead because, although normally good at obedience, he has blinkers and ear muffs on when he sees one as a target and I think he would run right under a car chasing one. He gets so angry that he has even tried to scale trees a couple of times whilst in hot pursuit, sometimes getting a couple of strides up the trunk before realising he can't climb! I really must try and catch it on video one day.

Enjoy the rest of Sunday folks, especially the 'petrol heads' if they manage to have a US Grand Prix, and of course the rugby fans.

In case I don't post later, I'd like to wish Mal all the very best with his chemo experience - I hope the specialist nurses who care for you are as good as the 'Angels' who care for me. Please keep us posted, Joanna and I will be thinking of you and Gabe tomorrow. Good luck also to our other sufferers. Apparently I've been lax in terms of scooping up Archies 'poos' for a couple of days, so guess what my next chore is!

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Gwiwer]

 

 

Rick, sorry to hear of your problem with the commute to work, hard enough to do a full day without adding an hour each end of the day!

 

Thanks Jock.  For what it's worth at least this was a planned blockade with (patchy) advance information being available.  It's part of what will be almost a total rebuild of our line and the associated removal of three level crossings, plus at least eight more at a planning / feasibility stage, so it'll be worse before it's better.

 

I'd rather know how much longer it might take me than the occasional unplanned interruptions caused by (typically) motorists failing to comply with red lights / boom gates and deciding they needed to be somewhere a bit soonish.  Or someone who for what ever reason has decided they have had enough of this life.  Those cause hours-worth of delay and there aren't any buses pre-booked at all.  We try to whistle up what we can in those situations but at peak hours and late at night it can be virtually impossible to get anything.

 

I took advantage of the unrestricted parking which many places offer on Sundays when for the rest of the week you may only park for 2 hours.  I drove well beyond the blockage some 30 miles towards the city and only used the train for the last 7 miles or so.  With clear freeways I was able to leave home later than, and arrive home earlier than, I normally would by using the train on a normal Sunday without bustitution taking place.  I might do that again!

[The Stationmaster]

Plant lavender.  Most cats hate the stuff and will go anywhere but where it grows.

 

They also learn to poo elsewhere if you sprinkle freshly ground black pepper around their "patch" as apart from the smell they'll pick some up on their paws which inevitably get licked ......... 

We are now on our second & third cat who like to sleep by the lavender - in fact the previous one used to sleep right in the middle of it!  I suspect what might put them off is picking up the scent of it which could be disadvantageous when hunting so it might depend on their hunting habits?

[Tony_S]

Jock, when I am out with Robbie it isn't wildlife that gets chased, I am more concerned about Robbie investigating someone having a picnic in the park. He goes selectively deaf if he sees one. I was talking to someone in the park yesterday. She said her Labrador has similar tendencies. Once she was walking them on the lead near Hadleigh Castle. She noticed that a family had set up a formal meal including candelabras on a table. So she went as far away as possible and didn't let the Lab off until the next field. The dog ran back ignoring all commands. The owner heard the screams before she managed to get there. The dog was on the table eating sausage rolls.

[Tony_S]

We are now on our second & third cat who like to sleep by the lavender - in fact the previous one used to sleep right in the middle of it!  I suspect what might put them off is picking up the scent of it which could be disadvantageous when hunting so it might depend on their hunting habits?

If Robbie disguised his scent rolling in lavender I wouldn't mind. His favourite is anything dead closely followed by fresh cow poo! Fortunately he doesn't mind being hosed down.

[edcayton]

Jock, you are correct about the complexity of modern cars. However, the upside of this is that they are so reliable, and the service intervals are massive. I'd rather mine is seen at least once a year, irrespective of mileage, but as I'm unlikely to get another new car then it will be, at MOT.

 

Ed

[The Stationmaster]

Jock, you are correct about the complexity of modern cars. However, the upside of this is that they are so reliable, and the service intervals are massive. I'd rather mine is seen at least once a year, irrespective of mileage, but as I'm unlikely to get another new car then it will be, at MOT.

 

Ed

Mine gets similar treatment too Ed - but my mileage is fairly low anyway.

 

Mind you what I do find with all this computerised diagnostic stuff is that mechanics have had to acquire a new skill of understanding what lies behind various readings instead of just taking them at face value and it doesn't diagnose everything (such as fuel contamination which the dealer couldn't find in two days of looking and a diesel specialist found the instant they moved on from computer readouts to practical tests on the injection system).

[Steve Williams]

I suppose it is too early for Aditi to decide how she is feeling about retirement. It will sink in at some point, probably when she is doing something she enjoys that is totally disconnected with her old work. She will realise that she is 'free' to do that whenever she wants without the thought of work lingering in the background (or more often than not, large in the foreground).

 

Funnily enough I felt guilty the other day. I was reading the paper, having an extra cup of coffee and thinking about doing the things that I enjoy doing and when I want to do them. I thought, this is not right, not fair, I shouldn't be able to do this and feel so good about it. That has happened a few times recently.

 

Enjoy your weekend whatever you are up to.

 

My wife retired from teaching in the Summer and was somewhat apprehensive as to how she would find it, teaching having been so much of her life for so many years. She has taken to it like a duck to water. The first week of term she went in with some biscuits for the staff s she has promised to supply them with 'biccies' at the start of each term for a year, s part of her thank you to them. She has also arranged for an orchard to be planted in the school grounds. After we had visited and were on the way back to the car, she told me that she wasn't missing it, which must mean it was the right time for her to have gone. Now, if only I could get her from under my feet............!!

 

Steve

[andyram]

Afternoon all. I hope the sickness has passed off Jock.

The extra hour in bed was most welcome after the last week. I managed to catch up a little bit on the lost sleep. This morning started with five a side football, but true to recent events that was not straight forward. Having struggled to put a team together for this morning's game I received two calls from players who decided to pull out. One had been called into work, whilst the other was ill. This left us with four players and no recognised goalkeeper. Naturally we were playing the league leaders!

We managed to grab a couple of "ringers" from other teams, including a goalie. We even started well, matching our opponents for the first few minutes before going 1-0 down to a defensive error! Then it happened. A powerful shot from their main man, took a slight deflection and deceived our goalie. The shot whacked him clean in the face, knocking his head back and leaving him spark out on the floor. He really did not know what day it was! Not a nice thing to see, and definitely not nice for him. The result was a 45 minute delay whilst paramedics were called and he was carefully placed in a neck brace and onto a spinal board before being whisked away.

Thankfully the sports centre has just called me to say that he has reappeared at the centre after being discharged with nothing more than concussion. Apparently he had dad in tow to drive his car home. Very relieved he is ok.

[shortliner]

.

 it doesn't diagnose everything (such as fuel contamination which the dealer couldn't find in two days of looking and a diesel specialist found the instant they moved on from computer readouts to practical tests on the injection system).

The proof of the saying  "Garbage in = Garbage out " !

[DDolfelin]

A 'good' car story.

The driver's window on the Volvo got stuck askew somehow yesterday.

Estimates to deal with the issue ranged upwards into the £OO's.

A friend came with a can of WD40 and gave the rubber 'gutters' a little squirt.

The window now opens and shuts very smoothly.

I bought the friend a token present in the form of a miniature tool set as thanks.

He refused to accept it and now I have a miniature tool set ideal for modelling purposes.

Lucky? I also got a 'free' Lucky Dip on the Lottery.

[Simon G]

If Robbie disguised his scent rolling in lavender I wouldn't mind. His favourite is anything dead closely followed by fresh cow poo! Fortunately he doesn't mind being hosed down.

If I ever needed to be put off owning a dog, that has done the trick very nicely!

 

We do sometimes "borrow" a dog from a friend for a walk, and she also like to roll in the smelly stuff. The problem then is that she does not like anyone, including her owner, to try to clean her off in any way. Any such attempts are met with savage resistance. She is a Border Collie and came straight to our friend from a local farm with working collies, as a pup.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Simon G

[Tony_S]

If I ever needed to be put off owning a dog, that has done the trick very nicely!

We do sometimes "borrow" a dog from a friend for a walk, and she also like to roll in the smelly stuff. The problem then is that she does not like anyone, including her owner, to try to clean her off in any way. Any such attempts are met with savage resistance. She is a Border Collie and came straight to our friend from a local farm with working collies, as a pup.

Robbie seems to know he is going to be hosed if I bring him into the back garden still on a lead. He is really tolerant unless you splash his face. He isn't keen on having matted fur removed but he is getting better. He has finally realised that cooperation earns biscuits! I want him to look tidy as he is going to kennels tomorrow.

Tony

[Purley Oaks]

Kids learn bad ways.  They learn them from day one.  I don't have a magic answer and am eternally grateful for having been brought up in a stable and loving family environment.  The more people I meet the more I realise that is sadly almost not the norm.  One good friend was for some years the manager of what is commonly called a backpacker's hostel and found it convenient and rewarding to make use of supervised day-release offenders to manage the large area of land attached to the property which, frankly, was beyond the capacity of a substantially-proportioned middle-aged woman to deal with.

 

It all went very well for years until it ended abruptly on the day she discovered the suggestion "F*** OFF" mowed in her lawn right down to the dirt.  It took over year for that to fully grow out meanwhile the offending area was hastily reassigned as camping pitches with tents suitably positioned to spare blushes!

Some years ago on the verges just north of J44 on the M6 at Carlisle (close to the fictional HMP Slade, Mr Mackay) some work party offenders planted some daffodils in the verge. The result, similar to the phrase mown into the grass above, was seen in the spring; didn't last long.

 

Jock, thanks so much for you kind wishes for tomorrow. Hope that you're feeling better after last night.

 

Mal

Edited October 25, 2015 by Purley Oaks

[45156]

Evening Stewart,

Glad to hear you've got a modicum of freedom back!

I'm afraid it was Renault and Citroën at my dealerships, although both Citroën and Peugeot are owned by PSA, and share lots of common running parts, the bodies are not interchangeable. I've just spoken to my old body-shop manager and he can't recall any significant problem with Citroën body parts. I suspect the body shop are spinning you a line, you could put an e-mail in to Peugeot parts at Coventry (contact address should be on their web-site) with an exact description of the offending part, model and age of car. It is just possible that the body shop are actually waiting for a pattern part to increase their profit margin. At Citroën, the dealers had a system whereby they could search any part through the network, and if located, it could be uplifted by the overnight delivery truck and delivered to us! Don't know if Peugeot do the same. The car isn't that old is it?

Best of luck my friend, and try not to overdo things,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Many thanks Jock - I'm pretty sure that the part is manufacturer's original, as I got the same message from the engineer at the insurance company - so I guess it's a wait and see job.

[pH]

I clicked on that and my computer froze, the only way to 'unfreeze' it was to switch off power. It then ran an ad then froze again, I clicked on the 'X' to delete it, still nothing happened so I switched off again and when I switched on it had disappeared. I should not have had the ad as I have Adblock which is only disabled on RMweb and another 'free' site that relies on ads for revenue. I have just checked and the Adblock has disappered completely!

Sorry about that, Phil. I'm surprised that the site is causing problems, since it's CNN. The video did take some time to start when I ran it, but I had no problems after that.