Druidic exploits of a various nature!!

[v8druid]

How goes the diagnosis of this peculiar fault Graham, not heard from you in a few days ?

I must get this updated Andrew ..... Photobucket has been a PITFA recently and struggle to get at some of my stuff some evenings!!

been down completely now for well over 24 hrs, which is almost unheard of !!

Soon as I can get at me pix, I'll have a big update

[v8druid]

right then .... let's see how up to date I can get this .....

A lot of the time you could hear that the pump was down stroking as it 'lost it'.


the only circuit that doesn't have LS is the slew .. which has it's own pump P1 and the ability to take additional flow from the main pump P2, as required!


Each individual LS line sensor in the block is linked and ultimately feeds the LS upstroke circuit through the LS port on the block which has the throttle orifices fitted in the LS port.


click on the pic. below, then 'magnify', in 'Bucket', then right click-open in new tab, then magnify for a huge image!!





the throttle in the small red circle is machined in the block at the bottom of the port and's also 3mm, same as the exit throttle in the hex bodied assembly.


I had it out and another masterful piece of Rexroth engineering it was too.


this was what I had out of it with a back blow of 150 PSI air.....





before stripping it ....





1.2mm followed by 0.6 mm all housed in an M10 assembly with a 3 mm exit throttle.
all the LSs feed the pump's upstroke circuit through this unit.


I also had a damned good 'fish about' in the port it lives in with a fine probe ....... and had a rubber crumb out ........ which I promptly dropped, 'fore I could get a pic .... wasn't much, maybe a mil an' a half max.!!


I also blew the LS line from the LS port/throttle assembly to pump's LS port at X , through with the air line ..... obviously disconnected both ends into a catch .....





and got sod all other than Plantohyd in the catch.


needless to say it was all surgically clean when it went back together.


this fiddly shit took some time, especially jammed in the bowels of the old girl, being ultra careful not to lose/have anything unforeseen escape!!!!


Anyway .............

Got it all back together and ran her up .... left her warm up for five whilst I crawled all over looking for leaks/drips/etc. .... now't !!


so .... gave it a go ..... picked her up from park, wrapped her up and swung her round so's I could get under her/at the arse end, to clean up all the oil in the 'pit', under the MV block .... carefully as I'd left her running to warm up.





Things were better but a little erratic to start, which I put down to the copious amount of air I'd introduced into the LS circuit by completely draining it and those throttles weren't exactly huge to deal with it, even with all the pressure in the system.


Stuck a bucket on her and worked her 'light' to start with ..... she was getting better !!


to the point that I had to give her something to challenge her ..... enter some dirt and a few boulders ...





dug well, ripped this out ... no sweat ......





and slung it about, with ease.





pretty fair lump and was ripping beds off the top, as per 'normal'


I'd say ..... very cautiously ..... the beast was back!!


Travel is also now, as was, harsh/sharp, aggressive even ..... as she was !!


Remained to be seen how things were the following morning ..... hopefully it was going be dry enough to get her up the ramp and do a 'bit more damage' to a few more boulders and 'shite' !!


She really felt like the m/c I've gotten used to these last 2+ years and handled roughly would leap about as she always has. Handled smoothly ... some tool !!


If she does it again ........ I know the first place to look next time!!!!
I'd be surprised if it doesn't .... where there's a crumb ......... there's probably more ..... having said that .....
the amount I had out of the old return filter, wasn't huge and the amount I had out the new return, a few weeks ago was minimal really.


We shall see !!!!!!!


It was gonna be a case of watch this space !!!!!

[AndrewMawson]

Great to have an update, and even greater to hear it's good progress

[v8druid]

Well as that other known Welshman Vinny'd say ......"It's been ............ emotional"

I'd learnt a hell of a lot ... hopefully others have benefited too ..... could've done without the OMG moments and stress of it all and would've been even better if she'd decided to have a wobbly on the patch, instead of elsewhere, as in up the drive and after I'd finished doing what I was about at the time.

Ground up there was still and had the job to finish!!

Was going to give her a further work out and if she behaved, then go see what could be done to finish the original job ....... it waa gonna be messy though ....... 'less I could find summat a bit harder to stand on, under the sludge/cheesecake topping that it was then



Basically ..... the LS hadn't been allowing it to get up to pressure most of the time as the LS was down-stroking the pump, before it got going even !!

my reasoning for eventually ruling out the MRV was that if the LS was down-stroking the pump, it had to be losing pressure, which faded, as opposed to an abrupt loss. Plus, it wasn't up-stroking, to the point of being the old girl's 'brute' self!!
With the orifices being soooooo small, it wasn't going to need much in the way of debris to cause the symptoms, by them being blocked by a 'random floater' in a gallery.

it would've been highly desirable to find the source of the rubber crumbs ..... but there's a lorra pipes on her ... all getting long in the tooth ... could spend a hell of a lot of bucks and time changing 'em all ....... and still have it happen again !!

Having worked her hard that afternoon she'd performed like a trojan and dug as well as she ever had. Having ripped out those few more boulders ..... and picked 'em out too .... one of which was a beast of a lump ..... wheels in the air jobby and barely on the bucket; ...... picked and handled it like her old self and loading the pump well .... she even sounded right ... Hard to describe .... but after 2+ years I have my ears fine tuned to her every grunt and noise. Can tell instantly if something isn't right........ and now I had an even better understanding of all those lil' noises she loves to make.

the boulder slayer was back ..... for now, anyway

It was a learning experience I'd rather have had at a less inopportune moment and it has been an immensely steep curve, but I now had an infinitely better understanding of how it all worked ..... at least most of it anyway.

The possibility of her 'letting me down' is now not such a daunting prospect and I have a far greater idea of just where to look, when/if she does again

I also have a seriously good grasp of just how these 'magic pumps' function and what controls them.
I'd strip one if I had to and not be phased by having to do it ..... couldn't have said that a week or two ago, before all this 'kicked off' ! .

Hopefully she'll be a good girl for another 2+ years She's been an awesomely good girl that day

[v8druid]

Just for thos with a bit of a 'rock fetish' ..... a few pebbles from the day





once I'd gotten it on the bucket ... it took some doing anything with ...and keeping both axles on the floor !!





It was a toss up which was the heavier one....







picked the one FOW, cross chassis out the hole and was relatively stable .... 'til I came round over the arse end, downhill

Then it was leg time

the next one was gonna be exciting!

It appeared to be LARGE!! from what I could see of it .... and didn't want to budge

[v8druid]

in the shit the following day......





can see now why a lot of duck lads don't like legs





oh for a set of floaties ..





Looked reasonable in the half light when I'd finished and gotten back out ....





The cold light of the next day would possibly prove otherwise !!!!!
just had to cover me 'exit' tracks, square up the verge a bit ..... and clean up a bit from the twins !!!!!!


Dug like a Trojan .... all from virtually one stand ... good ol' VA-r ..... would've been some serious effort and mess, with out the capability it gives .... can really see why folk spend BIG bucks with/for/on 'the competition's' offerings !!!!!!
Got to build me a long toed tilty grader though!!

didn't get a chance to eyeball the results the next morning ...... 'twas barely light when I went past it, on me way out and dark by the time I got back that night !!


out digging some more footings for me mate in Ross ..... sort of!!


The day's ride .....








Dash 4, 1500kg Kub .... can't say I'd rush out an' buy one ... sort of did the job, but real skittish, and leapt about like a cat with a bee on its nose !!


Should be called a mini scraper, not a mini-digger .... get hold of anything and it needed bolting down to the planet ...... but 'spose I am a bit spoilt in the stability stakes, usually.






And I didn't add anything to the custom paint job on the arse!! Animals!!!

[v8druid]

It was a "thank **** I got my bum in on the tank site that Friday" .....


Rain was biblical again here on the Sunday evening/night .... the lake was back !!!!





good job I'd got the ditches re-dug up at the tank site .. it'd have been everywhere otherwise !!


Had a look at it on the Monday morning ... cold light of day, etc. ..... wasn't too bad ... couple of bits could've been a bit flatter, but had been running out of light rapid, on the Friday I did it.











the rectangular 'bed' on the left was a ton of 3/4 to dust, in a pit, for a base for the tanks ..... then a sand bed to go on top of that.


Neighbour on the dog an' bone first thing Monday morning, wanting to know if I was up for shifting the sand in there and digging the pipe trench !!




reverse dug the bulk of the trench for the pipe routing





all ready for a full day re-positioning the tanks and re-routing all the pipework the following week ... he was busy the rest of that one





then it pee-ed down !!


........ for half an hour .... gathered up me gear and headed back down to the patch .... 'Drema behaved well


Click any pic for a link to several more ..... for them as is interested !!

Had an hour, after a bite to eat, tidying up some of the boulder collection from the other day's 'Drema exercising .... stuck the Cranab on and put a few of the smaller ones away in the heap, then .......


'twere time for a challenge





Cranab was not having any of it ..... could get an end at a time up, so put some timbers under 'em and dropped the grab off in favour of the forks





....... for the 'little un' .... t'other one was gonna get a set of chains and the VA-r dropped off for max. cap. .... it was bloody heavy !!





Then a case of ....find a home for 'em, ..... if it was dry, the following day.

[v8druid]

Fast forward a week.
Spent a bit of time prepping the new/extra tank with some fittings and sorting out gear, on the Tuesday, for an onslaught on the Wednesday (and Thursday) sorting out the tanks' new home and plumbing !!










Transferred half the contents from one original, to the new one, once in spot, before having to let go the other half to get it out and cleaned out, ready to relocated it ......








before doing the same again with the third one and to allow the first one to refill, as that's our only storage for our place.........
was a bit of a juggling act, through the day .......
and I was like a greased eel in and out of the tanks cleaning out years of settlement and installing new ports/plugging old, defunct ones!!
I'm the only one here with narrow enough hips to wriggle into the apertures.


Jeez did I need a shower by the end of the day !!!

Eventually ended up with all three in their new homes .......





and filling happily, with the new lines roughly positioned, ready for a more permanent positioning job the next day


Interestingly ..... although the original two are marked up 1520 ltrs..... they're 3" shorter and 4" smaller diameter than the new one, which is also marked up at 1520 ltrs ?????? Figure that one out !!?


anyway ..... by late afternoon on the Thursday we had them somewhere near how we wanted them and needed to let them fill for fine tuning on levels, etc.


I had a few hours tidying stuff away on the patch and managed to re-locate the BIG lump of a rock, onto the top of t'other big lumper, with the forks ..... just ....





and had everything as I wanted it, to leave unattended for a few days. Pam was dragging me off to her Son's place in Plymouth, for the weekend .
Pam's daughter was going to come up from the village and take care of the mogs, a few times a day and spend time here too, so not 'unoccupied' as such .... plus the neighbours'd keep a weather eye too.


Checked the tank situation, at dusk Thursday and all filling well ..... found one leak, where we'd pulled a line securing it and sorted that, otherwise all looked good.





Friday morning, getting ready to head out and the neighbour who I'd been doing it with, is on the horn, to say we had a leak ...... went through what I'd found the night before, asked if it was that and he says ...."Nope" ....

Bugger!!!


We were gonna have to relocate the overflow level as we'd been about an inch too ambitious with it and it was pissing out the lids ..... which was annoying!!


So ....... overalls on, gear together and go sort it ...... plus fine tune the outlet (for now) to the barn while we are at it, as that didn't want to play, either and no water in there for the nags !!


He says to me when we'd just about sorted it all ... "what time you off to Plymouth? This evening or the morning?"


"Soon as I get these overalls off" was the reply !!
"Oh ... you may be in trouble then !!"
"Possibly, if not probably!!" an' I was !!!!


sorted though and didn't have to worry about it whilst gone!





still a little 'refining' to do here and there, but think we have it 'cracked'.


'Fore anyone chimes in about exposed plumbing ..... it's the way it's always been here ...... it's a continuous flow and never freezes .... even in the -14C we had here for two weeks in 2010 .... as long as it flows it stays liquid. and at a gallon a minute ....... it's running well !!


Just had to get up there and finish tidying off the earthworks, etc., at the front edge .... !!

[v8druid]

Plymouth was ...... um ..... er ...... different!!
We live in such a beautiful spot, I rarely go from here .... and although an interesting change of scenery ... 'twere for too crowded for my liking .... must be becoming a bit of a recluse !!

the Tuesday morning, after we'd gotten back on the Monday night ..... (2hrs 20 home ...... four and half ****ing hours going down) didn't go quite as I'd planned ....
Had to go shopping, as we'd not managed it the day before, as we had planned!!
My fortnightly 'pilgrimage' ..... prefer to do it on me own.
Fill trolley with supplies for at least two weeks ... job done ... if it's a joint expedition, it's "we don't need all that for the week" .... "We're here .... it's coming home now ..... I really do not want to be doing this again in seven days"

Anyway .... got back lunch time and Pam said, the neighbour'd been up, to see if I was up for standing up his pole goal post as he'd gotten it together.'Trolled down his place for a shufty and sure enough he was ready for a lift.


Ground was a tad soft going in ......





... and was glad I'd taken a bucket or two with me (just in case), but didn't need 'em ultimately.


Stood it up and maneouvred it into the holes, but could not see WTF I couldn't get it lined up each side ....... 'til I measured it !! A foot too long !!


So back on the deck and Chris gave it a bit of a trim ...





In fairness to him, measuring it up on his own, over the weekend ..... with a 3m tape probably wasn't an easy task ...... as it's 7m wide !!!!! LOL


an easier proposition with a 10m tape !!


Dropped the forks off in favour of some chains, for a bit more flexibility (and security) and stood it up again ....





...... lot better fit this time ... width wise!!
Had to have it back up in the air once more ..... to take 6" off the bottom of the one leg and 3" off the centre one .... no way was I gonna leave it 6" out of level ... looked terrible from the cab .. and no better from the floor !!!!!


Don't often see me blade down, but the ol' ground was a tad soft under that F/O/S wheel on a reach !!


Gates were handy bracing for keeping the poles 'put', while the concrete went in and off.


He'd originally planned to use 'em as part of the front sides, but tells me now (after I'd suggested it).. he'll put some purlins/clad rails in instead and retain the facility to have the rear half as secure storage, using the lockable gates.
Would certainly been a waste of a good pair of gates and a secure compound, otherwise!!


All stable and solidly fixed, I grabbed me pallet of buckets and headed home,





... trying to make minimal 'tracks' on me way out .... managed to stay in the ones I'd made, on the way in, most of the way!!

[v8druid]

The next day saw a bit of a tidy up, up at the tanks and got a few hours devoted to it, but was hard going .... ground was still as sticky as **** .... was either trying to shake it out the bucket ... or off it .... not an easy proposition getting any sort of finish with the claggy shite I had to work with!!!!!!













t'other end of the pipe .... needed a damned good clean out and would've gone further, but damned near got stuck as it was .... soft or what !!!
Job for a MUCH drier week ..... MUCH!!





Wasn't really happy with it, but didn't have a lot of choice .... needed some drier stuff to get any sort of decent finish and nothing there to 'win', to achieve that with !!


Job for a. n. other day!

The blue pipe is the over-flow and usually just runs to the stream bed, but can be connected to the long run down through all the jungle undergrowth to the neighbour's orchard ...... " waste not, want not " ;)


I knew I could better this ....... with some less sloppy/claggy shite to work with
it was just going to have to wait!!

[v8druid]

Right then..... brain picking time again .


First Q.
can anyone give me a definitive working pressure for a hydraulic QH circuit?


The Miller on the 'Drema has been plumbed into the 'Delta' pressure circuit on her. This is apparently the pressure which the pump first generates on start up & subsequent running and 'balances' the control spring in the main pumps, which down-strokes the pump when there is no load sensed in the LS circuit.


The Miller has never let go of anything I've thrown at it .... and it has had some sort of weights exerted on the clamp by my 'BIG' forks, as they're held by the Miller's clamp.
.... so 50 bar appears to be adequate ......





The 'Delta' pressure never varies !!


second Q
is this normal practice for plumbing in a QH circuit .... i.e. using the 'Delta' circuit?


I understand that 'Delta' circuit pressure is more normally around 25-30 bar and the 'Drema's pressure is quite a high one.


Therefore ..... the QH valve's RV may well be set at 50 bar or possibly even as little as 25-30 bar in order to maintain a flow and not dead end that circuit at full stroke of the hitches cylinder, either open or closed.


Guessing however that it's set at 50 bar, or the delta pressure on the gauge'd be well down as the Miller's QH valve's RV would be dumping it lower, if set below 50 bar?






Now then ..... the reason for the Q.s is .......


after fitting the Hill's QH valve into the VA-r's system, I feel there is a distinct deterioration in it's performance and deffo a poorer holding capacity on the grab, when fitted & plumbed in.


To recap/refresh memories on the VA-r's 'nuances' ......
it's fed by my proportional rotate pedal - one way only and all directional control is achieved by the three Cetop3 valves in its guts, which are fed by a one way proportional P to T circuit ..... at 160 bar (the factory set, rotate circuit's working pressure - going to ask them if I can up this at all??)


The Hill's QH valve is tee-ed into this P to T circuit and every time the VA-r's circuits are pressurised it (the QH valve) gets 'topped up' with pressure, in parallel with whatever circuit in the VA-r is activated.


Now..... I'm of the opinion .... [and going to have to get the gauge into the QH valve's supply circuit to test it] ..... that the Hill's QH valve's RV is dumping the majority of the 160 bar pressure it's getting fed, at whatever relief pressure it's set at (hence the gauge required to establish this) .... not so much of an issue with the tilt/rotate circuits of the VA-r (although it wasn't too fussed on spinning that BIG rock around the other day) ...... but ..... connect a grab/clamshell to the Aux outlets .... which are also fed by the same P to T circuit and it's a BIG issue especially if the Hill's QH valve is set real low (like 25-30 bar)




Having given this much thought, I have two alternatives, as far as I can see.


1
up the pressure at which the Hill's QH RV dumps ..... if it's possible, to 160 bar and if the hitch'll stand that sort of continuous working pressure? - should do, I'd have thought?


or


2


do what I was originally trying very hard to avoid and lay in a n other separate circuit completely, to the Hill's QH valve, from the 'Delta' circuit, in parallel with the Miller's circuit and set the Hill's QH valve's RV to dump at 50 bar too ..... again, if possible.
A gauge installed in its circuit will soon tell me if it's possible or whether it's already at 50 bar?
If, as I understand, a more normal 'Delta' circuit's pressure is closer to 25-30 bar, I will have to see if the RV in the Hill's QH valve will actually screw down to 50 bar????


hence the first Q above !! ........ anyone have any idea of a QH working pressure and whether the use of a 'Delta' circuit is the norm to power a QH valve's circuit???


Mick, who I had it off, will have taken this valve off his Komie when I had it/he replaced it with the new Geith valve, that arrived with his tilt hitch, but whether he'll remember how it was plumbed, is something I'll have to ask him?


Thoughts/comments, gentlemen please??

[v8druid]

well the following Sunday didn't quite go as planned ..... least not the way I'd planned, anyway and 'twas easier to comply with 'the boss's ideas for the day than get the ear ache!!


Got the rest of the tree's remnants lopped, split and in the baskets ....





.....well most of it anyway ..... need to find a home for this lot too .....





then go get some more, from Pam's farmer cuz,s who've offered a load or two ..... and yer never look a gift horse in the gob !


The morning's 'challenge' had been to finish off the decking's non slip treatment .... as it'd dried out very nicely ......








Blackfriars supposed coverage was a bit of a joke and a second tin'd been required ..... 23 sq. M my arse !! ..... reckon I got about 10 or 11 out the first tin !! ........ anyway, done and it's damned good stuff ..... have used it before, years ago, on a deck at Pam's old place and it lasted very well, so won't be doing it again any time soon.

Grass was next on the agenda/executive decisions list .... I'd been waiting for it to be dry enough to 'exercise the dog' (the Great Dane) on the side of the drive for best part of two weeks ...... with the resultant growth being 'extensive' !!


Anyway, that was after I'd had 'the boss's little Mountfield to bits, to see why it was no longer 'self-propelled' .... belt knackered and amazingly didn't have anything suitable!! Close but not quite !!


So ended up shoving that damned thing around the smaller bits, 'fore stretching the 'dog's' legs !!


Dane performed faultlessly .... those new herring bone pattern tyres make such a difference to traction ...... 'til I'd finished and it threw it's blade belt !!





having chewed the crap out of it first ! .....





Fortunately ....... it'd arrived with a new one, that the previous owner had had the foresight to buy ....... and pass on !!


problem solved ......





.... but not before I'd made damned sure I had a record of its numbers !!





Must get a n other spare ...... and two for the lil' 'un ........ they always give up the ghost on a Sunday !!!!!!

[v8druid]

got in the old girl the following Monday morning, to move her over for a re-fueling session and came nose to nose with a stowaway ......



'bout inch and a half across !!!!!


After evicting said hitch hiker, she got 'an infusion' of 'cherry', before ......




picking up my 4 footer, which'd been full of quite decent (for here) soil, for the last couple of weeks, to empty it into the Thwaites and use it for tidying the verge, up by the tanks. It was bugging me every time I went past it !!!





The top hat bushes and 50mm pins got a bit of exercise to help with the task.
looks a big old bucket under the VA-r !!





.... which it is, at 0.85 cube!


Spent the rest of the day tidying up, up top .. dry enough to get on there .
Won a bit more decent soil, after shifting a few pallet-loads of stone off the top of it and re-locating them to somewhere a bit more accessible from 'the hard', before sticking the 'decent' soil in the dumper, with the 4ft's bucketful, which got dropped off, beside the drive the next morning.


Treatment/Clara day on the tuesday and all she wanted, all day, was 'Grandad' to carry her about, so not a lot done, after she arrived.
Pam is well miffed that she's yet to learn to say 'Granny', but is well capable of yelling Grandad, loudly and repeatedly, 'til she gets the attention she wants !!
Walking well too ... at 11 months, so at least I don't have to lug her about all the time ....
just as well ... the ol' bod' was complaining a bit, as it often does, when in need of a top up on me 'hamster juice'!!! (so called, 'cos the artificial enzyme I get fortnightly is grown on the back of hamster ovary stem cells .. can imagine the flack i got when my friends cottoned on to that fact !!!)

[v8druid]

Fast forward a couple more days ....... ..... summat different today!!

Have a fence down the side of our original driveway ....... which I'd happily relocate to the wood shed !! ..... makes no odds to us, whether it's there or not, but the neighbour seems to like it there, to screen his yard a bit, even though there's a block wall there and a 7ft drop into his place!





Wind saw off a few posts earlier in the year and he's been mythering to 'give me a hand' to fix it for months .... he'd probably be horrified to know I'd rather rip the damned thing out. It's a rapidly rotting piece of crap, that needs regular painting/coating and I'd rather see the back of it !!


Anyway, we'd agreed the previous week, to do it 'today' and he'd gotten a panel off, by the time I'd had me brekky and gotten my head into 'doing' mode.


Said knackered posts are/were set in concrete pockets and I'd had the breaker pack I had off Stestu, (on t'other) a while back, out and fired up, over the weekend.
So hauled it out the box with it's business end, pipes, load of other tools, slung it under the 'Drema's hook, having selected a suitable bucket to clear of some of the back fill and trundled it all down to the old drive.





Sod wheeling that more than a few yards .... it's bloody heavy and awkward!!


Now although he's seen the potential/capability of her over the last few weeks/months, I don't think he quite had the grasp that a few bits of concrete were'nt gonna be any match for a 2ft bucket, suitably attached at the business end of the old girl !!
Cleared the back fill off the tops of 'em all .....





..... ' accidentally ' gave one a 'tug' and out it popped !! ... "shall we give the others a try Chris?"


Five minutes later .......





..... three lumps in't dumper and three post holes 'dug' !!!

So ..... put it back up ..... "How about assembling it all on the floor Chris, then just pick the bugger back into spot, trim the posts, once sussed .... job done"

"You think that's do-able?"

"Hell yeh .... with a bit of thought and cunning"

twenty minutes later ........







Sussed the trimming required on the posts, picked it back out, waved 'charlie' at 'em and back in !!
Propped/braced upright and slotted two bags of post mix into each of the holes ..... time for a coffee, whilst they set !!


Tidied up what had come out ....





...... gonna need some more fill as it's now looking a damned sight better than it did and is all up level, instead of the 'gully' it was !! Not bothered about the bottoms of the boards ... should be in the wood shed anyway !!


Life is so much easier with a VA-r !!



tidied up and put everything away ..... looked like it was going to rain !!!


So stuck the 5 footer on and shot off up the drive to the tanks.


I wanted to sort the pile of decent-(ish) soil I'd dropped there to tidy up with, before it got as wet as what was already there!!








Much happier druid now ..... was really bugging me ..... Pam has now given it the seal of approval and even suggested seeding it !!! ....... Phew !!


Could've done with a bit more s(p)oil really, but will do for now ... 'less I can win a bit more sometime !


The 'banky' bit is just too bloody wet to do anything more with, 'til it dries out .... a lot !!!!! Like trying to shape up Plasticine !!

[v8druid]

One last thing, for tonight ...... has anyone heard what sort of winter the 'pundits' are talking about?


Going on the amount of berries about ATM ..... does not look good!!!





Never seen so many on this plant