Seems to have missed S. Gloucestershire out! A few rumbles of thunder last night - a few rain bursts - but now it's cloudy - 25C and very high humidity - these elusive thunderstorms are promised again late afternoon.............
Dave
Dave
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Interesting thoughts. I haven't been near the bench while this hot weather has persisted. A few days ago I thought I would power wash the block paved drive and resand it. I thought the hot dry weather would be ideal for the job. It's a large area as we are a corner plot, 5 or 6 cars would fit. Got the job finished yesterday afternoon and it looked brilliant. Yesterday evening we had two hours of thunder, lightning and very heavy rain. Most of the sand is now washed out!!! :angry:
The best laid plans of mice and men.
Stay safe everyone - it should cool down soon.
JimComment
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Hot weather, shmot weather. Try this.
My den is up in the loft of our bungalow, and this last week or two I've been hearing a buzzing on t'other side of the partition, which has been getting progressively louder.
As it's so hot and sticky today, I decided to sort out Mr. Wasp! I wasn't going to have some chancer coming here and slinging a smoke bomb in the loft - "Thanks, that will be £100, please!"
This morning I bought two aerosols and went in to the den and listened to where the buzzing was coming from. Armed with a good sized screw driver, I made a hole through the partition wall, well away from the nest.....Wrong! Straight through the bl**dy thing. Needless to say the very annoyed wasps came at me when I withdrew the screwdriver. A good, quick squirt and I was gone! Luckily, I was only stung once, on my finger.
When things settled down in the den, I ventured back in and emptied a full can through the hole.
Now as I type this, I'm watching hordes of half dead wasps dropping down from the light fittings then landing on the floor, or bashing at the windows trying to get out.
Must be one hell of a nest!
All good fun.....Comment
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You should have done that at night when they were asleep Ron LOL.....
Just had a sower and a couple of peaks of thunder. Now almost bearable.....Comment
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We're having a few days camping in North Yorkshire. We visited Eden Camp yesterday and it was sweltering, I even got a touch of sun burn.
Skip to today and things couldn't have been more different. Our drive up to Whitby was totally fog bound, and once we got there we couldn't see more than a few hundred yards and the air was filled with that fine drizzle that soaks you through.
Blissfully cool though! I was in shorts & t shirt while everyone else seemed to be dressed for Antarctica :smiling5:Comment
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HI Ron terryfiyin to hear about your wasps as when i was young one stung me in the throat as i had been playin football an was thirsty an drank out of a pink lady bottle my mum had been usein an it nearly killed me ever since then i hate the bl**dy things
but the other day i was talkin to my neigbour an he said he has a big wasp nest he just found so i kept well clear of that when goin back indoors but just as i was comin past my shed something flashed past me like a lancaster bombmer as it was big an it looked like it went into my shed where i do a lot of drillin on things for tiger so i thought id have a looksee in the shed an BOY was i glad i did as there in all its horror was the biggest hornet id ever seen an it was brown an black stripes an to my horror it was buildin a nest from the roof of my shed well i just slammed the door an made a run for it
an went indoors an told jen an she said well we cant leave it in there as the nest will get bigger so i geared up with coats an gloves an my ole motor bike fullface crash hat with the glass down an armed with a bug sprayer like you Ron an well i was layin bricks i can tell you as i approched my shed door an thinkin whats gonna happen if there are more in there so pluckin up courage
i gently opened the door an my flamin helmet steamed up an i could not see what was happening by this time i was nr panic so i just turned an ran straight into the bl**dy wall instead of the door well by this time i was panicin but thankfully jen came out an opened the door as she herd the crash an thankfully the misting of my glass was goin so i dived out an jen looked in an thankfully the bleeding great thing had dissapeared but the nest was still there but in my panic it looked a lot bigger but quickly got a plastic container an dropped the nest in to it an got rid of it an ive checked again there an thankfully no new nest so hope its got the message of not wanted (PHEW)
chrisComment
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Well my first day back at work, feck me it's warm, even warmer up a ladder in a marquee fixing stuff a customer just pulled down, finished the day with a splitting head so sports drinks for tomorrow.Comment
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Sounds like a Dad’s army script Chris.....made me smile.Comment
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Very obvious most modelers hate the heat and sun as most are locked up in their shaded cooled den building most of their lives. :smiling6:
Weather here has been crazy dark and hazy...effects from Mount Sentibung in Sumatra erupting and sending clouds of ashes over the straits the next day. It's been cool. Had to close up windows and doors to keep out the dust. Constant drizzling have kept dust to the minimum. Staying indoors.
Ideal building weather...hhmmm.
Cheers,
RichardComment
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HI Tim yea thank goodness the outcome was ok an yea me an jen had a good laugh about me running into the wall of the shed afterwards when i had calmed down but at the time i was scared very much so as wasps an even worst still bloomin hornets scare the hell out of me due to what happened when i was young
as this is the second time this yr about a month ago i was in my man cave buildin tiger an all the windows were open as it was warm an out of the corner of my eye i see somethin movin accross the window pane an looked around at it an yea it was one of these brown an black striped hornets but not as big as the one in my shed the other day
an when i see it on the window i just froze for a few seconds as i was lookin around for something to clobber it with
but thankfully again it must have came in one window walked accross the glass an then flew out the other side an i was nr to collaspe in fright but again when i had calmed down i wish i had taken a photo of it as i had the camera to hand but just dint think of it at the time as these big brown hornets are bigger than our yellow an black buggers an due to how warm its gettin here they are comin this way they are ones that come across from ashia an i see a tv program about them an they were sayin these hornets if they sting you the sting is so powerfull it dissovele your skin dont know if this is all hype but i was'nt gonna take any chances with these things as to me they look unearthly uuuurrrgghhh
so now we are keepin our eyes open for any more an gettin ready to run for it
chrisComment
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Chris, I understand the fear. With me it’s spiders.....I’m sure they are alien and not of this earth. It’s the way they move!
From your description it sounds like you had an European Hornet though. The invasive Asian type are smaller than the indigenous species and are black and yellow, not brown. They have yellow legs and look a bit like a wasp on steroids. European hornets are less aggressive than wasps and usually only sting if trodden on or picked up, unless they are defending their nest or a food source.....Comment
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HI Tim well cheers for the info on them but i just wish they would not come here an thats the oppisite to me as i dont mind spiders but jen not to keen on them but you talk about spiders when livein in our old house a few yrs ago to keep the happin short i was one eve gettin ready to go to bed as i had been on my pc talkin to some of the guys on another forum an jen shouted down from the bed room are you comin to bed so swithed all lights of in livein room an put on the upstairs light to go upstairs an as i started goin up i looked to the stairs top an i see all these tiny lights it looked like to me well i thought what is it
well boyo the lights were eyes about nine of them an i just stopped an stared at the spider there an by gum he was a big hairy fred so i just calmy walked back down the stairs back into the livin room an i thought i got to capture him so i grabbed a big pint beer mug the top openin about 4 inches across an i thought right i ll use a beer mat to slip under him when i put the beer mug over him an do you know the beer mug opening was not big enough to put over him without sqaushin his legs so i gently esed the beer mug around him to sqezze his legs in an push the beer mat under him an gently walked him out side down to the bottom of the garden
so i let him out an he walked away an i thought well thats one good deed done today as i hate killin them when they have made it to that size
an went to bed thinkin well we wont see him no more
well nxt morn i was up at 0430 to get ready to go to work an i could not belive my eyes the big bugger had hoffed it up our long garden an sqezzed under our door an was up on the curtain in the livin room well i was flabbergasted an i said to jen he's bl**dy come back an she was havin a look at him from a fair distance as when i told her how big he was i dint think she belived me but there he was in all his glory
SO i thought right mate you have got to go so i again captured him an got in the car an took him a few miles up the rd to work an i again let him go an weve not seen him no more that fixed him an settled his hash but things like this take some belivin dont they but it happend
chrisComment
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In the late 70's, early 80's, we were at anchor off Nacala, Mozambique ( a real one-eyed hole! ), normally being anchored meant that we weren't bothered by the squadrons of mossies etc. It was midsummer, and HOT. The ship was old ( in fact she was sold a few months later ), and was non air-conditioned. Fine, it had big windows ( yes, windows ), and plenty of fans in the bar, where the two fridges were kept topped up with ice-cold beers.
One evening, as we were discussing philosophy over a few cans, one of the guys cocked an ear, and said " What's that?" - It sounded like a light plane on take-off.........................
We turned to look at the window - and in flew the insect from hell! It looked like a wasp, but a wasp about 150mm long!
After a frozen moment later, everybody decided that they didn't like the look of this. 8, healthy big blokes tried to go through one door at the same time. There were contusions & scrapes and large amount of profanities before we were able to get out & close the door.
After minutes of quiet, sober discussion, it was decided that this wasn't acceptable, and the lecky was volunteered to deal with it. He armed himself with a rolled up Sunday Times ( pre tabloid sized days ) and went for it. It took him about 5 minutes, and even then I wasn't sure that it was dead, only stunned, but it was decanted into the sea ( with a shovel ).
Normal service was resumed, but everyone was jumpy listening for approaching hums..............
DaveComment
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When my little brother and I were kids growing up in West Africa he decided it would be a great idea to kick in a hornets' nest.
The result was predictable.
I managed to get on my bike and make a sharp exit, but he ran and consequently got stung several times. Those b*stards will chase you for a couple of hundred metres from the nest. He ended up having to have anti-histamine injections and was really not very well for a couple of days...served him right.Comment
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Two insects give me the shivers:
The giant millipede - about the size of a chipolata sausage & glossy chocolate brown - Can't even watch them on TV!
Cockroaches. Every single ship I was on had them - some far worse than others - one ship was really bad - they infested the flour bins & if cookie wasn't too careful sifting, they ended up being baked in your bread! - and nothing disturbs your sleep more than a cockroach crawling across your face! - Ahhh the good old days!
DaveComment
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