On 10/8/06 16:15, in article
, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:


Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
[...]
You would use the same technique as a coffin, but could walk it sideways
in the sling, so wouldn't need a third person.

I can't lift a 3 by 2 right off the ground by myself but John can. As
we're unmatched lifters, we've found it's much easier to push really
heavy stones round the garden on HD rollers (scaffolding pipes are
ideal). When positioning one in a hole, we just dig the hole with one
end of it sloping like a ramp slide (to guide the bottom end down).

If it's only across grass, I've found that I can move quite big stones
single-handed by levering them onto a big heavy-duty plastic bag and
pulling. (I moved a Jotul "Easter Island Statue" wood burner from one
end of the house to the other in the same way, so it works on carpet,
too.) If trying this technique, don't continue if you feel any sort of
twinge in the crutch region!

I've just gone back from the chiropractor and you've made my neck and back
ache again!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 10/8/06 16:15, in article
, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:


Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
[...]
You would use the same technique as a coffin, but could walk it
sideways
in the sling, so wouldn't need a third person.

I can't lift a 3 by 2 right off the ground by myself but John can. As
we're unmatched lifters, we've found it's much easier to push really
heavy stones round the garden on HD rollers (scaffolding pipes are
ideal). When positioning one in a hole, we just dig the hole with one
end of it sloping like a ramp slide (to guide the bottom end down).

If it's only across grass, I've found that I can move quite big stones
single-handed by levering them onto a big heavy-duty plastic bag and
pulling. (I moved a Jotul "Easter Island Statue" wood burner from one
end of the house to the other in the same way, so it works on carpet,
too.) If trying this technique, don't continue if you feel any sort of
twinge in the crutch region!

I've just gone back from the chiropractor and you've made my neck and
back
ache again!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Can't really work out whether you are coming or going but it sounds like you
need to do both. No twinge in the crutch region? Not fair is it?

"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" wrote in message
...


Can't really work out whether you are coming or going but it sounds like
you
need to do both. No twinge in the crutch region? Not fair is it?



Wash your mouth out. How could you say such a thing???????

Disgusting :-(((

Mike


--
------------------------------------------------
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com

On 10/8/06 17:31, in article , "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
snip

I've just gone back from the chiropractor and you've made my neck and
back
ache again!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Can't really work out whether you are coming or going but it sounds like you
need to do both. No twinge in the crutch region? Not fair is it?


Well, it is to me! (substitute got for gone but you knew that, didn't you?)
;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Mike" wrote in message
news

I've just gone back from the chiropractor and you've made my neck and
back
ache again!
--
Sacha
South Devon



Would you like me to come and massage them for you?

I shouldn't think there is the remotest hope!

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

"Mike" wrote in message
news

I've just gone back from the chiropractor and you've made my neck and
back
ache again!
--
Sacha
South Devon



Would you like me to come and massage them for you?

I shouldn't think there is the remotest hope!



Not talking to you, keep your shonk out of other people's business

Mike


--
------------------------------------------------
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com

"Malcolm" wrote in message
Farm1 writes
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message


Eh? That is a third of the effort of digging a standard grave.
It
is only shifting a tonne up by under a metre. Even I could do that
in
a day.

Well I dips me lid to you, you clearly don't spend all your time
behind a computer.

I've planted quite few apple trees over the years (both bare rooted
and potted) and a hole of that size is big. I can't imagine
digging
down another yard below the level of the roots of the tree.

There are several places in my garden where I couldn't do that
without a
pneumatic drill (or dynamite). And I don't think the drainage is
very
good in bedrock, either.....

Yes. I have very,very shallow topsoil (about 2 inches if I'm lucky)
so I know just what you mean

And what does a 3' x 2.5' slab weigh, do you suppose?

Given that I've just spent the last few days dragging quite small
rocks around to try to shore up and effectively provide damming to
trap water in a hard, hungry and scorchingly dry bed, and these stones
were only about 2 ft by 1 ft, I'd say they weigh the earth. Give me a
day or two to recover and I may revise that verdict. But I still
would need to get Himself onto such a big stone.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
Malcolm writes:
|
| And what does a 3' x 2.5' slab weigh, do you suppose?

Of the order of 2 cwt. Even for navvies, getting one of those to
the
bottom of a 3' hole is a two-man job.

Wow! That much?

At least with digging a hole (in SOFT ground), you can adjust the
amount you dig to your strength.

I seem to recall that you have an African connection ????? so may know
my trick. I've often had to resort to the dig a bit, pour in water,
wait a day, dig a bit, pour in water etc. I've taken about 2 weeks to
dig a 3 ft hole to put in a post on one occasion.. We've just had a
drought here where a plumber I knew said that the soil was bone dry to
a depth of at least 6 ft..

"Sacha" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

Wow! That is a SERIOUS hole. Almost like digging to China. The
old
bloke who dug the holes must have been fit.

I think so! He wasn't old all his life, of course. ;-)

Well we've all been in better shape no doubt :-))

But people who
worked on the land then - and now - usually are and were pretty fit.
They
didn't ride around in cars much 'back then', either and there wasn't
the
sophisticated machinery we'd use now to dig such holes. All the
artificial
lakes one sees at e.g. stately homes were dug out by hand
originally, I
would think.

Yes. No obesity then. I suspect tatht he lakes may have been dug
using horses and a hand guided scoop. I'm sure I've sen pics of this
somewhere. Ocassionally one sees these scoops in old farm yards but
they really only held as much dirt as a good sized brickeys barrow
does today.

My husband is 73 and still does a full day's work on the
nursery or digs in the garden etc. and I doubt he'll ever stop.
He's a lot
fitter than I am! We always have a quiet smile when some stripling
of 65
comes in and tells us he's moving to a house with a smaller garden
now that
he's getting older!

:-)) I'm always amazed at the anchor person for Australia's best
gardening show. This bloke was born in Britain in 1927 and is so fit
that he puts the young people on the show to shame. He's forever
digging beds with gay abandon and talking 90 to the dozen without a
puff or wheeze and only looks about 60. He's been a Communist all his
life and became a gardener because he kept getting sacked from
factories etc but figured out that the gentry needed gardeners. A
truly fascinating man and an inspirationt oa ging gardeners. He has a
garden of over 10 acres plus does this show weekly..

On 10/8/06 23:46, in article , "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I shouldn't scoff - I know about bloody painful back thingies.
I see a Physiotherapist and have never understood the difference between a
Physio and a Chiro.

I could give you the lecture the Chiro gave us but it's a bit OT for urg!
Mine is an ongoing problem partly because my spine is on a slant and partly
because of a couple of slipped discs in the past. It does mean that any
heavy digging is out of the question, though - there are days when emptying
the dishwasher is a challenge!

Apologies for the pain in the crutch comment because I notice it gave "the
pain in the arse" leave to make a post.

That's really very neat, Rupert!

Main thing is you are OK for your Hols.


That is going to be part of the treatment, I promise you!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 11/8/06 06:58, in article
, "Farm1"
please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:
snip

I suspect tatht he lakes may have been dug
using horses and a hand guided scoop. I'm sure I've sen pics of this
somewhere. Ocassionally one sees these scoops in old farm yards but
they really only held as much dirt as a good sized brickeys barrow
does today.

We're going to Knightshayes today if we have enough time, so I'll see what I
can find out!

My husband is 73 and still does a full day's work on the
nursery or digs in the garden etc. and I doubt he'll ever stop.
He's a lot
fitter than I am! We always have a quiet smile when some stripling
of 65
comes in and tells us he's moving to a house with a smaller garden
now that
he's getting older!

:-)) I'm always amazed at the anchor person for Australia's best
gardening show. This bloke was born in Britain in 1927 and is so fit
that he puts the young people on the show to shame. He's forever
digging beds with gay abandon and talking 90 to the dozen without a
puff or wheeze and only looks about 60. He's been a Communist all his
life and became a gardener because he kept getting sacked from
factories etc but figured out that the gentry needed gardeners. A
truly fascinating man and an inspirationt oa ging gardeners. He has a
garden of over 10 acres plus does this show weekly..


Don't approve of the Communist bit. ;-) But he sounds just the sort of
person old Tom was. Often there's also an element of 'just get on with it'
rather than moaning or complaining about life's smaller or larger
difficulties and I'm sure that has something to do with it. I had an
elderly man helping me in the last garden I had and he seemed at first to be
working very slowly and I found myself wondering if he'd ever get half the
work finished on the one day a week that he came. I discovered rapidly
that, having worked on the land all his life, he knew exactly how to pace
himself and got twice or three times as much done as someone who rushes
outside, tears into each new job and then has to go and have a nice lie down
because they're exhausted!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In article ,
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow writes:
|
| I seem to recall that you have an African connection ????? so may know
| my trick. I've often had to resort to the dig a bit, pour in water,
| wait a day, dig a bit, pour in water etc. I've taken about 2 weeks to
| dig a 3 ft hole to put in a post on one occasion.. We've just had a
| drought here where a plumber I knew said that the soil was bone dry to
| a depth of at least 6 ft..

Yup. One go is enough here, with 60% sand, but heat-hardened clay and
some alkaline soils are right b*gg*rs in that respect. That trick is
well worth remembering.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"Malcolm" wrote in message
Farm1 writes
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message


Eh? That is a third of the effort of digging a standard grave.
It
is only shifting a tonne up by under a metre. Even I could do that
in
a day.

Well I dips me lid to you, you clearly don't spend all your time
behind a computer.

I've planted quite few apple trees over the years (both bare rooted
and potted) and a hole of that size is big. I can't imagine
digging
down another yard below the level of the roots of the tree.

There are several places in my garden where I couldn't do that
without a
pneumatic drill (or dynamite). And I don't think the drainage is
very
good in bedrock, either.....

I have an amateur radio licence, and I had to errect a mast in the garden to
hold the aerials, I had to dig a hole 6 feet deep and 2 feet square, this
needed to have an extension one side two foot wide sections two feet deep,
so the hole went six feet long and varied in depth, two feet, then four
feet, then another two feet, but that was about 30 years ago!

I'd have a job to do anything like that now!

Alan

"Sacha" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

I'd love to hear more about building the lakes if you can find out
something.

:-)) I'm always amazed at the anchor person for Australia's best
gardening show. This bloke was born in Britain in 1927 and is so
fit
that he puts the young people on the show to shame. He's forever
digging beds with gay abandon and talking 90 to the dozen without
a
puff or wheeze and only looks about 60. He's been a Communist all
his
life and became a gardener because he kept getting sacked from
factories etc but figured out that the gentry needed gardeners. A
truly fascinating man and an inspirationt oa ging gardeners. He
has a
garden of over 10 acres plus does this show weekly..


Don't approve of the Communist bit. ;-)

It doesn't show and I'd never have guessed if I hadn't heard him talk
about it :-)) And he received a lot of bad treatment in the UK for
his beliefs, being sacked from factories etc till he figured out that
the toffs'd have him in their gardens.

He's very funy when he talks about it. He apparently became a commie
when very young in Britian. He says he used to go to meetings run by
an old man who spoke very slowly and without any colour in his voice
at all. This old bloke used to address the meetings and drone on
about the "raging Capitalist swine" etc. The anchorperson says that he
was astounded that someone using such intemperate language could be so
dull and boring whilst holding such strong views.

But he sounds just the sort of
person old Tom was. Often there's also an element of 'just get on
with it'
rather than moaning or complaining about life's smaller or larger
difficulties and I'm sure that has something to do with it. I had
an
elderly man helping me in the last garden I had and he seemed at
first to be
working very slowly and I found myself wondering if he'd ever get
half the
work finished on the one day a week that he came. I discovered
rapidly
that, having worked on the land all his life, he knew exactly how to
pace
himself and got twice or three times as much done as someone who
rushes
outside, tears into each new job and then has to go and have a nice
lie down
because they're exhausted!

:-)) Not many people seem to be good at pacing themselves these days.
I know I feel like I need a cup of tea and a good lie down after a
morning in the garden. I usually just go right back out right after
lunch again and potter being ineffective.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow writes:
|
| I seem to recall that you have an African connection ????? so may
know
| my trick. I've often had to resort to the dig a bit, pour in
water,
| wait a day, dig a bit, pour in water etc.

Yup. One go is enough here, with 60% sand, but heat-hardened clay
and
some alkaline soils are right b*gg*rs in that respect. That trick
is
well worth remembering.

I'd love to be able to forget it but each year I seem to need a hole
somewhere in mid summer. Sigh!

My worst task where I had to use this technique (but thankfully not to
any huge depth) was the rose garden here. When we moved here the rose
bed had about 70 roses (in regimental rows - male garden 'designer').
The soil was topped by weed mat and on top of the weed mat was about 6
inches of pine bark. The roses flowered but were nnot healthy. I
started stripping all this crud off (took me years!) and the only
place I found worms was above the weed mat. The ground under the mat
was set like concrete. It made me realise how tough roses truly are
and how their middle eastern origins served them well..