88D

On 28/09/2021 at 09:38, tigerburnie said:

Dip your toes in gently with something like Highland Park, Ledaig or possibly a Caol Isla, get a taste of the islands before diving in at the deep end with something from the south coast of Islay.

The first two are in the queue, along with an English whisky: Cotswolds

5 hours ago, Black 5 Bear said:

For me it's the heavily peated/smokey and sharp taste that I personally favour. Still, each to their own, personal preference and all that ! 

Perhaps one day…..

1 hour ago, tigerburnie said:

Many folk have said over the years that they don't like the taste of whisky, what I am providing is a sample of the fact that just like beer and other drinks, that taste can indeed vary greatly. The Benriach would be one to try if you are thinking you don't like whisky, when in fact there are possibly many that you may actually like, if get my drift.

I agree with you. I like the light creamy feel of Speyside whiskies, but I don’t like the peaty, smoky whiskies from the islands.

54 minutes ago, 2750Papyrus said:

Sitting in the Devon garden last weekend about 12' from the feeders and 15' from a tall hedge.  Sudden heavy rustling from the hedge, thought a number of sparrows had entered together.  About a minute later another commotion as 4 or 5 sparrows entered the hedge together and a SparrowHawk exited it across the garden, empty beaked and clawed. 

 

We've had them swoop across the garden to take prey from the feeder before but never previously had them using cover like this.

Classic Sparrowhawk ploy. A colleague of mine crashed his company car into a ditch when a Sparrowhawk swooped over the hedge amd nearly hit him.

Just back from a break in sunny Dorset. Ales were from Dartmoor, Exmoor, Otter and Lyme Regis breweries. I was not disappointed by any of them - a good break!

Saw my first Hen Harrier the other day. Don’t tell anybody else, I want it to be around!

18 hours ago, hmrspaul said:

Two things affect the numbers of birds in urban gardens at this time of year. One is, as you correctly suggest, there is a lot of natural food available so they use that. They go on their holidays. The other is that many species go into moult after the months of bringing up their families. As they are very vulnerable when moulting, being only able to fly poorly, they hide away. 

 

Having said that we have masses of sparrows, a few Goldfinch (still not up to the numbers before the couple of hard winters a few years ago) some starlings and a good number of tits - this year the blues seem to have done very well, and all of the numerous Wood Pigeons. There have been lots of juveniles this year in their very scruffy down giving way to their first proper feathers. 

 

Paul

Yes, Blue Tits have done well this year, as have Coal Tits. Goldfinches seem to be all over the place (great), more than previously. But I’m from the other side if Yorkshire!

Saw my first-ever Hen Harrier the other day, though not in my garden.

15 minutes ago, martinT said:

- but that's not Severn Tunnel Junction - more like Tiverton Junction, which would explain the Thompson Bk 3rd!

That explains my conundrum. Thanks. I wonder if Tintern and Tiverton have got confused?

The coach in the bottom photo looks like a Thompson (ex LNER) brake third to me! Or are my eyes going? If so, I wonder if this then moved to the Culm branch to take over from the Barry Rly Coaches?

On 08/08/2021 at 09:42, rockershovel said:

In a lot of ways, I thought it was RWC and 6N all over again. Boks had superior execution of a simple game plan. Refs wasted far too much time with TMO; its high time for some sort of restrictions on this, I think. Indiscipline at key moments from usual England suspects resulting in loss of momentum in attack, and kick able penalties when defending. Usual Welsh habit of persevering with kicks to the corner instead of taking three points; the first one may work, but if the second one doesn't then the third is pretty unlikely.  England FINALLY learnt not to do this in 2015, of course. Margins are very small at this level. 

The Welsh habit of kicking to the corner , I think, is a Gatland tactic. He generally has a ploy following, eg the 15 man drive against NZ a few years ago. But what really annoys me is the slavish persistence in it when there are easy points available from the kicks. If I were captain in this match(guffaw, guffaw), I would have disobeyed orders and behaved as a ‘see what’s in front of you’ captain. I think AWJ made some bad decisions there.

on a general front, this was not a strong Lions team/squad, so 2-1 defeat could have been worse. As a rugby spectacle, it was generally pathetic; and I probably haven’t got enough years in me to see a resurrection of a much more free-flowing style. It’s getting boring.

2 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

The Lions should win 3-0, they need to select a few different players to completely change their approach. I expect the Boks to come out fighting and pick a big slow side, I'd go for pace and run them off the park as they are clearly nowhere near match fit, both wings need changing and I'd change the full back as well, if Biggar is injured I'd start with Smith at 10. The pack if uninjured could start as before as they more than held their own in the set piece and in the loose, having Lawes at the back of the lineout paid off too.

I can’t see Gats ever changing his approach. The closest we got to a change in Wales during his tenure was when he was hospitalised in NZ and Howley took over for the season. To be fair to Gats, he realises that the Lions aren’t the Barbarians, so he keeps his game plan very simple and easy to follow. After all, the Lions don’t get a huge amount of time together to develop a more complex and free-ranging game. The next game will be much tougher: there’s a few dented egos in the SA team right now.

Surprised nobody’s mentioned the Lions win yet. I listened to it and saw C4 highlights. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of the SA team yet, so it will be interesting to see whether Gatland makes changes. The Lions’ performance was curate egg-like: superb individual performances mixed with meh performances. Gatland does not normally like tinkering with a side that has won, but he might have to! Your thoughts?

7 hours ago, rockershovel said:

Regarding the 50/22 law change, I'd tend to be in favour of anything which led the game away from the flat, RL style defensive line - both as a players game, and as a spectator sport. That said, I'd rather think that it required a level of tactical nous and kicking accuracy from the hand, not generally available in the modern game, and certainly not in the Prem. Watch the England side; Ford understands tactical kicking for touch and to runners in open space, Farrel has no understanding and lacks accuracy from the hand,  preferring to simply boot it away. Ford has a distinct tendency not to find touch when he should do so, putting up catches for the opposing winger instead. Consistently successful sides, like NZ do none of these things. There is also a lack of ability among NH sides when it comes to short kicks over the defending line to the winger or centre - a well established tactical among SH sides. So my guess is that the new rule won't have much effect at NH club level and if the clubs don't do it, nor will the Internationsl

Sides

Agree totally. I’m not going to expand on that as my blood tends to boil on this matter. Must get a life.

2 hours ago, rockershovel said:

Ireland v Japan was very entertaining, I thought. Some new faces in the Ireland side, some well executed tries from both sides and an 8-point finish, which I thought was fair. Japan are showing themselves to be a running side in the South Seas style, with solid scrummaging and a flair for short kicks. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them. 

 

England v USA next week, followed by Canada the next weekend might be entertaining, with what amounts to a "possibles" XV from England seeking to make a mark during the Lions tour. 

 

 

I don’t think the Canada match will be much of a test, if any, for an England fourths! Not sure what you will learn from it.

18 hours ago, 88D said:

Two new beers for me tonight: Sixpenny Brewery Dorset Gold, and Goddards Wight Squirrel. Shall tell you tomorrow how they went down!

Dorset Gold went down better, more summerly than the other. As for Wight Squirrel, a good pint but too malty for summer drinking: I would have brewed it for autumn and winter.

Two new beers for me tonight: Sixpenny Brewery Dorset Gold, and Goddards Wight Squirrel. Shall tell you tomorrow how they went down!

Newies to me on my Keyhaven marshes ramble: Cetti’s Warbler, Little Tern, otherwise standard fare for this time of year. However, surprisingly some Brent Geese are still here, lovely armada of Shelduck ducklings, and a sizeable murmuration of starlings - about 1000, but I reckon this could grow in the coming decade.

17 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Fair enough - but from down here, given the choice of a Wales (other countries are available) incoming tour or the Lions, I'd prefer the latter!

Fair enough on your side of the world, and I’m sure that many people over here would favour that as well. I’m not wanting to disband the Lions  btw ( insert grumpy of your choice here)

Quins v Exeter - what a cracker. How Quins have salvaged their season!

8 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Playoff final day, no attachment to either side, but I guess it would be nice to see a different name on the trophy, but can't quite bring myself to actually support them lol. Good luck to both sides.

The British and Irish Lions was a side I used to follow on tv, somehow it has lost it's charm for me, though I hear the players still like the idea, it seems to have become a cash cow rather than a sporting event. I could have gone to Murrayfield to watch the game for free, but declined the offer, probably watch it on the tv if it's available free to air.

I’m with you on this. I can’t give any loyalty to the Lions. If given the choice of playing for Wales on a summer tour or the Lions, I would prefer the former. But that is very much a theoretical preference!

I’m sure there’s a few Leicester supporters here, so the news is that Tom Youngs has only got a two week ban for his misdemeanour after the Bristol match. He’s got off lightly, but, in my view, quite rightly because any neutral party would have sympathised with him. 

Had a nice pint of Pattered Ale at the Queen’s Head in Troutbeck the other night. Handpump matched Frank the Dog!

3 hours ago, jonnyuk said:

why would a manufacturer not retain ownership of tooling, its based off their cads is it not? What is the rational behind that?

I’m amazed if they hadn’t done that. Generally under an outsourcing contract, one company has the rights to design, the other to manufacture. Poor contract for the owner of the product to allow its subcontractor to ‘take it over’ at the end of the contract.

3 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Last games of the regular season with a lot still to play for, top 4 are still fighting over a home semi final for the playoffs and a lot of sides looking for a top 8 position to qualify for the European Champions Cup for next year. Been a much more open season this year, still not sure who will end up champions possibly Sale, they seem to have some momentum, whilst Bristol are losing it. Exeter are a solid side, but not as convincing this term and whilst Quins have scored heavily, they seem to gift points away too.

Exeter, you heard it here.