Following up to sarah

Oh I dunno. I lived in Enfield for a while.
Almost 6 months of winter and 3 months of continuous snow cover... it all
adds up. Yuck.

Connecticut? I was in Alberta. Further north, longer winter, still would
prefer it to six damp grey months that smell of rotting leaves :-))

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:28:38 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"sarah" wrote in message
...

[snip]

As far
as it goes, I tend to take small-o 'organic' to mean any producer
avoiding the use of chemicals they think are harmful.

In that case I have been an organic gardener all my life. And yet,
I
still do not go along with much of the strictures of the cult.

Are you referring to the self flagellation on the midden bit?

No. The piddling on the compost heap. It's too cold in winter.
{:-))

Franz

The message
from Martin contains these words:

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

It's getting up all those Dutch hills when the roads are icy...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 17:11:14 +0100, The Reids
wrote:

Following up to sarah

Oh I dunno. I lived in Enfield for a while.
Almost 6 months of winter and 3 months of continuous snow cover... it all
adds up. Yuck.

Connecticut? I was in Alberta. Further north, longer winter, still would
prefer it to six damp grey months that smell of rotting leaves :-))

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

In my mind's eye I see a single perfect snowflake drifting gently to the
ground from a perfect pale grey sky. The driver of a car sees it and
screeches to a halt, pointing. The car in the next lane stops, too, and
before you know it the entire M1 is sitting gently in the lowering dusk.
For no reason whatsoever :-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 16:53:48 +0100, (sarah)
wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:28:38 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"sarah" wrote in message
...

[snip]

As far
as it goes, I tend to take small-o 'organic' to mean any producer
avoiding the use of chemicals they think are harmful.

In that case I have been an organic gardener all my life. And yet, I
still do not go along with much of the strictures of the cult.

Are you referring to the self flagellation on the midden bit?

There's a lot I didn't know. Perhaps that explains the plague of
caterpillars...

... and frogs?

Haven't had a plague of frogs. I guess the regular sacrifices of slugs
was satisfactory. Must start a midden for next year.

regards
sarah

--
Think of it as evolution in action.

In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Martin contains these words:

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

It's getting up all those Dutch hills when the roads are icy...

Yes. We have the same issue here in West Holland (a.k.a. East
Anglia). The local technique is to drive incredibly slowly up any
slope you find, stop for no apparent reason half way up, put the
handbrake on, release the clutch until the front wheels spin, and
then release the handbrake. After a few cars have done that, even
drivers from other parts of the country can't get through.

God alone knows what the technique was back in the days when knights
were bold, men were men, and cars had rear-wheel drive. They may
well have tried reversing up.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Martin contains these words:

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not
really
something specific to UK.

It's getting up all those Dutch hills when the roads are icy...

Yes. We have the same issue here in West Holland (a.k.a. East
Anglia). The local technique is to drive incredibly slowly up any
slope you find, stop for no apparent reason half way up, put the
handbrake on, release the clutch until the front wheels spin, and
then release the handbrake. After a few cars have done that, even
drivers from other parts of the country can't get through.

God alone knows what the technique was back in the days when knights
were bold, men were men, and cars had rear-wheel drive. They may
well have tried reversing up.

My father always reversed his model T ford up steep mountain passes in
South Africa. It was a lower gear than the starting gear. The model
T only had a starting, a cruising and a reverse gear.

Franz

Following up to sarah

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

In my mind's eye I see a single perfect snowflake drifting gently to the
ground from a perfect pale grey sky. The driver of a car sees it and
screeches to a halt, pointing. The car in the next lane stops, too, and
before you know it the entire M1 is sitting gently in the lowering dusk.
For no reason whatsoever :-)

Sarah, you are poet rather than AA man, and the better for it.
sorry AA woman.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 16:53:48 +0100, sarah wrote:

No -- is it worse than our backyard in Edmonton the first year we had a
dog?

Oh I dunno. I lived in Enfield for a while.
Almost 6 months of winter and 3 months of continuous snow cover... it all
adds up. Yuck.

Connecticut?

We were talking about Edmonton. I assumed the real one, in London, I meant
the real Enfield, next door to Edmonton, London, GB.
--
Tim C.

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:28:07 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 17:11:14 +0100, The Reids
wrote:

Following up to sarah

Oh I dunno. I lived in Enfield for a while.
Almost 6 months of winter and 3 months of continuous snow cover... it all
adds up. Yuck.

Connecticut? I was in Alberta. Further north, longer winter, still would
prefer it to six damp grey months that smell of rotting leaves :-))

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

You should see Austria when it first snows. Talk about a disaster.
--
Tim C.

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 21:39:29 +0000 (UTC), Franz Heymann wrote:

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Martin contains these words:

No, near Barnet, last winter it snowed all evening once. Whole
place ground to a halt.

Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not
really
something specific to UK.

It's getting up all those Dutch hills when the roads are icy...

Yes. We have the same issue here in West Holland (a.k.a. East
Anglia). The local technique is to drive incredibly slowly up any
slope you find, stop for no apparent reason half way up, put the
handbrake on, release the clutch until the front wheels spin, and
then release the handbrake. After a few cars have done that, even
drivers from other parts of the country can't get through.

God alone knows what the technique was back in the days when knights
were bold, men were men, and cars had rear-wheel drive. They may
well have tried reversing up.

My father always reversed his model T ford up steep mountain passes in
South Africa. It was a lower gear than the starting gear. The model
T only had a starting, a cruising and a reverse gear.

That's a good technique for front-wheel drive cars as well. Not because of
the gearing (in general you want to aim to be in a higher gear), but
because the weight of the car is mostly on the downhill axle and it gives
you more traction.

--
Tim C.

Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
[-]
Grinding to a halt at the sign of the first snow flake is not really
something specific to UK.

It's getting up all those Dutch hills when the roads are icy...

Yes. We have the same issue here in West Holland (a.k.a. East
Anglia). The local technique is to drive incredibly slowly up any
slope you find, stop for no apparent reason half way up, put the
handbrake on, release the clutch until the front wheels spin, and
then release the handbrake. After a few cars have done that, even
drivers from other parts of the country can't get through.

God alone knows what the technique was back in the days when knights
were bold, men were men, and cars had rear-wheel drive. They may
well have tried reversing up.

We lived at the top of a hill just north of Edmonton. My mother (who
learned to drive in England) regularly had to reverse her Mini up to our
drive when the roads were icy, which was most of the winter; she told us
it was standard practice in such circumstances. I think she kept a sack
of sand or something to put in the boot in the winter to increase
traction.

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 20:51:23 +0100, (sarah)
wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 16:53:48 +0100, (sarah)
wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:28:38 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:
[-]
In that case I have been an organic gardener all my life. And yet, I
still do not go along with much of the strictures of the cult.

Are you referring to the self flagellation on the midden bit?

There's a lot I didn't know. Perhaps that explains the plague of
caterpillars...

... and frogs?

Haven't had a plague of frogs. I guess the regular sacrifices of slugs
was satisfactory. Must start a midden for next year.

We have a plague of frogs.

Ah, well. You know what to do :-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 09:56:12 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 08:25:01 +0200, Tim Challenger
wrote:

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 21:39:29 +0000 (UTC), Franz Heymann wrote:

My father always reversed his model T ford up steep mountain passes in
South Africa. It was a lower gear than the starting gear. The model
T only had a starting, a cruising and a reverse gear.

That's a good technique for front-wheel drive cars as well. Not because of
the gearing (in general you want to aim to be in a higher gear), but
because the weight of the car is mostly on the downhill axle and it gives
you more traction.

So you reverse up hills?

Up steep hills covered in snow and ice(or loose gravel), when you can't get
up forwards because the chains don't grip, it normally works.
It's a bit scary though.

--
Tim C.

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 08:40:48 +0100, sarah wrote:

We lived at the top of a hill just north of Edmonton. My mother (who
learned to drive in England) regularly had to reverse her Mini up to our
drive when the roads were icy, which was most of the winter; she told us
it was standard practice in such circumstances. I think she kept a sack
of sand or something to put in the boot in the winter to increase
traction.

A sack of sand on the bonnet would have been even more effective
Reversing up would have had a similar effect.

--
Tim C.