Canny lass

We Girls must have something to pass the time while the lads are getting their tattoos.

Nice to have met a few of you on my all too short visit. I did wave at the camera everytime I passed that way so I hope I 'met' a few more. even if not personally. Maybe we should have a sign to be able to recognise each other - secret handshake, lapel pin (bedlington terrier, market cross, B for bedders)? The possibilities are endless.

I'm well impressed Foxy! Not only do you remember the date but even the time! Your lass is lucky! Nice to have bumped into you, by the way.

Well, that explains Everything. Still on Windows 7 here so no charms. As for the charmers i Think most of them are on this site!

Thanks 3g. I think I'll give it a go. Foxy, what's a 'charm'?

3g, I'm getting loads of 'pop-ups' telling me to upgrade to Windows 10 'for free'. Should I Believe it?

Quite right Symptoms! Carbide it was. Just me having another 'senior moment' I'm afraid.

Carbine! Now there's a memory HPW. I remember going to the 'store' at Netherton to buy it. They weighed it up in thick, blue paper bags. It smelled awful - as did the cupboard where it was kept at home.

What a grim Picture of Life and poverty. We've come a long way. Thanks Eggy

Good thinking, Maggie!

On the subject of names - anybody know why it's a rag and 'bone' man. The rag bit is self explanatory but where did bones come into the Picture?

I love the colour and style of those flower tubs etc. Gives a nice 'country village' feel to the place. I hope they keep developing Bedlington along those lines. It really is Beautiful. Well done to whoever came up with the idea of including the railings in the scheme.

We certainly don't HPW!

I can report that the computer cleaning was definitely the easier of the two and with less problems in it's Wake.

It's Amazing isn't it, Maggie. When I've thought about coal-mining I've never given a thought to anything other than taking the coal from underground to the Surface. The whys and wherefores of how they got to the coal in the first Place or the logistics of getting people and coal in and out have never entered my head until HPW started sharing his experience and knowledge with us. Coal mining chould be a science in it's own right! Keep posting HPW!

The knife grinder was called the "tinker" in Netherton. He also mended holes in pots and pans . Not really sure how he did it. The repair looked something like a washer had been used but I don't remember any screws being involved.

Strange thing is this computer, even if it's 6 yo hasn't been connected to internet for more than 8-9 months - since I sold the business. It belonged to the Company and then i tried to keep it only for work that didn't require internet - book keeping, letters, office work and the likes. Thanks for the tip about monthly cleaning, Symptoms. I'll give it a try.

Great joy!! It's working again. I couldn't get it going with the system restore and didn't dare go too far back in case I lost anything important. Hubby thought he'd uninstalled Java but it was still here this morning. Maybe he hadn't completed the job? However, now it is definitely uninstalled and we'll take your advice about all things to do with Java, 3g. Hubby found something called "C-Cleaner" which he downloaded and used with apparent success. Everything seems to be working again - and at great speed - and the CPU is going at about 5% instead of 100%. If it happens again we'll try your remedy 3g. Thanks for your help. My sanity is now restored.

Thanks 3g! I haven't had time to try any of these solutions today as I've been moving my 93 year old mother in law into sheltered accomodation. I promise to get round to it tomorrow and report back.

Thanks Mercuryg. I'll get on to it right away and let you know how I get on.

Calling all computer competent members: I am having problems with my computer (an Acer aspire 6 yo) and have now reached the Point where I feel like smashing it a gainst the wall in sheer frustration. It started a couple of Days ago. Every command to the computer takes at least 2 minutes to produce any result - even typing a letter of the alphabet.Something called "Java Web Start Launcher" starts up. I now have it installed on the computer several thousand times!Hubby Thinks this is causing the slow response problem as the "processor (CPU) is going at 100%Hubby doesn't know what triggers all these Java whotsits so he's uninstalled Java (and even Google Chrome). This hasn't helped.Any ideas?

Sorry to hear that Christine.

Warning: long post ...... First a clarification regarding my question to threegee, post #5 about threegee's statement "Definite case for banning the burka in public places there!", in post #2. My question arose from a genuine difficulty in the interpretation of the content of the statement in relation to the content of the photograph. For me it was ambiguous: 1. The face is visible, easy to find the person. The burka would make that impossible. 2. The face is barely visible, difficult to find the person. Same problem would arise with the burka. Well aware of the response I might arouse with my question and equally aware that there might just be people of a muslim persuasion reading, I deliberated at length before posting it. However, as a humanist I find myself fascinated by the question of just why the burka should evoke the response it does among the public, not just in the UK but in Europe as a whole. Nobody, as yet, has been able to give me any satisfactory answer. Vic suggested that it may have something to do with it's "link to terrorism". I personally neither know of nor can see any link to terrorism in a piece of women's clothing. Bombs - yes, guns - yes, suicide bombers, yes - four yards of plain-coloured synthetic material - no. Surely, if we are afraid of a simple woman's garment then terrorism has already won and If it is just a symbol then banning it will not remove the terrorism. Over the years I've read and listened to countless reports of bombings. Only once have I heard that a burka-covered woman was involved (that's not to say there haven't been others but they would appear to be a minority). So, why has just this garment been chosen to symbolize terrorism? Why not a pair of trousers, a jacket or a shirt - the more common clothing attributes of terrorist bombers? I'm well aware that many link terrorism to Islam. Can it be that the burka has been singled out to represent Islam and therefore came to represent the terrorism now assosciated with the religion? If that be the case then it is blatant misrepresentation. The burka, as I described earlier in this thread - and despite what we might think about any lack of fashion - is an article of clothing deemed by the wearer to be comfortable and practical in those countries from which it originates, often having a warm climate, a lot of dust and a raised moral awareness. That it also can be used to cover those parts of the body deemed by the Islamic religion to be private is merely a bonus for the Islamic follower. The wearer can, unless dictated to by a male,choose from several degrees of privacy for her body ranging from the minimal 'hijab' to the maximal burka. In terms of 'coverage' that's pretty much the same choice that other European women have for covering that which they deem to be private. Compare the range bikini to dress for covering the female breast. Having said that, lets not forget that the female neck and a flowing head of hair are thought to be very erotic in the muslim countries so obviously the styles must differ. Speaking purely as an immigrant - and let's not either forget that several among us enjoy that status - I can agree with you, Vic, that immigrants should be good citizens in their host country. For me that's a question of 'following' the law and 'respecting' customs and traditions. With "respecting" I mean that although I have no duty to adopt or even like any of their customs and traditions (they are not statutory), I never the less do have a responsibility to accept their existence and the individual's right to have them. I don't live two lifestyles. I am what I am, an English woman living in Sweden. I follow the law of the land and I enjoy traditions and customs from both countries. They don't force their customs on me and I don't force mine on them (except for the annual pea and pie supper in aid of the Red Cross and that's not really forcing. They are queuing for a seat). I fail to see how wearing a burka is in any way showing a lack of respect for British custom or tradition and it's certainly not breaking any law - even if we stretch the imagination to give the burka the religious significance that many already give to it. As recently as October 2000 the Human Rights Act (1998) came into force in the UK thereby incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Article 9 of that Convention gives humanity the right to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion" and the freedom to 'manifest' that religion is limited only by prescribed law.. But, Is there any UK law prohibiting the wearing of four yards of plain-coloured synthetic fabric? The basic right to 'adequate' clothing is recognized under article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. "Adequate" surely must relate not only to protection from the elements but even to protection of ones privacy. Those individuals wishing to wear clothing which is representative of their culture, their homeland or society are further protected by article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which says: "In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in Community with the other members of their Group to enjoy their own Culture, to profess and practice their own religion and their own language". Maybe, Vic, there are immigrants in the minority DEMANDING more than equality but in light of the above I'm obliged to ask what we are doing in DEMANDING the banning of the burka? Aren't we then doing the same thing? Banning the burka is not the way forward. The way forward, as you so rightly say, Vic, is education and understanding and, I would like to add, that it should encompass both parties. To sum it all up, these women are not breaking any laws or violating any of our traditions by wearing a burka. Given the choice between meeting a burka-covered woman or a motorcyclist dressed from head to foot in black leather and wearing a crash helmet half way down a dark Alley, I know who I would choose (sorry HPW)! And, you know what - I could describe both equally well to the police should I need to. It's not the burka we need to be afraid of, it's the big girl's blouse who is afraid of the burka.

Pilgrim I see wild boar almost on a Daily basis in my garden and I've seen Lynx on a couple of occasions in the same place. You don't need to worry about them - except when they have Young. You do, on the other hand, need to be afraid of the idiots in the Woods who are hunting them. Be warned! Of course they can be a problem to farm animals.

Eggy, I Think I might know Lynne. Quite a tall girl for her age if she's who I Think she may be. I certainly remember her grandparents.