The Mess That Is Windows 8

Just before Christmas my wife had need to buy a new laptop, unfortunately she had little option but to get Windows 8, since I hadn't seen it before I wasn't in a position to advise her against it.  I wonder if anyone else things Windows 8 is an abomination placed over the top of something that nearly worked which in turn is operating something that worked as well as it could.  I have seen little or no progress in windows as an operating system since Windows 95 and I consider Windows 8 to be a total abomination.  It appears that Microsoft, in desperation, have tried to produce something that might feel like Android, if only to someone who had never used an Android device.  To the casual user, such as myself and my wife, Windows 8 appears to consist of a layer which can be operated by a touch screen over the top of Windows 7.  The whole effect has been to make the thing nearly unusable on any device that doesn't have a touch screen, which is the majority of Windows devices.  To add insult to injury they even had the stupidity to remove the start button.  If the designers had any sense the whole top layer would be optional and the user should be able to turn it all off leaving Windows 7 visible and working.  I don't particularly like Windows 7 but it is far better than the mess that is Windows 8.  If anyone from MS reads this and would like to make the whole thing user friendly again please produce an update which allows the user to turn off the Windows 8 front including the irritating side bars and reinstate the proper start button.  After that stop messing about trying to update Windows it really isn't worth it, when you have done that START THINKING AGAIN AND WRITE A COMPLETELY NEW OPERATING SYSTEM.  STOP TRYING TO PATCH UP CRAP! IT DOESN'T WORK AND IT NEVER WILL.  

26/02/14

It's taken me till now to comment on yesterday. Yes it really was that bad, by the time I had diminished and clocked off I was irritable, itchy and tired. I got home took a shower had something to eat and fell asleep In my chair while my wife marked school work.  It was ten when I woke and my wife was just packing her work away.  At that point I gave up and went to bed, hence no comments about work.
Yesterday I was back to seed dressing, seventeen tonnes at four farms. Not too bad except that the first two were North of Easingwold and the third was in East Yorkshire near Pocklington. At least the final one wasn't far from the third and it was on the way back to base. The first job involved oats as did the last. Oats may be a great food but they are full of itchy dust and the dresser hates them more than I do. Suffice to say they can be problematic. Really all went we'll it just took a long time due to the travelling distances. After a shower, a sleep in my chair and a night's sleep I still felt rough. It took half of the day to feel normal again, but eventually I did come round.  See you later.

Wind Power

Many people hate wind farm with a passion. I have never understood why. Though they may not be as picturesque as the traditional story book windmill, I still find them quite elegant. I realise that wind power alone cannot be the complete answer to our power problems, but I do think that it can be part of the answer.  I would rather the whole of the UK was covered with wind turbines than have a single nuclear power station.  Until we have a way to render any waste or leakage harmless in less than six months there should be no more nuclear power plants.  

Tawny owl in distress.

One very windy night about two years ago we heard something scrabbling about in the chimney.  I presumed it was one of the jackdaws from next door prospecting for a new nesting site.  If they get in they usually get out the same way, the only trouble is that if they like it they start dropping sticks down the chimney until they wedge into a platform that they can build a nest on.  I usually manage to dissuade them by lighting the fire for a couple of days only the very persistent birds continue after this treatment.  I forgot the bird making the noise and went up to bed.  When my wife came up she said she thought it was an owl, my reply was a little sceptical and I think went something like this "don't be daft, owls are far too sensible to get stuck in a chimney."  Still thinking it was a jackdaw I settled down and had a good nights sleep forgetting the problem.  Next morning I went into the room to collect my glasses before going to work and heard a very pathetic and sorrowful hoot coming from the direction of the stove that is connected to the chimney.  I didn't have time to investigate and asked my son to check when he got up.  He was unable to get into the stove but rang me to say that he was sure it was an owl.  I happened to be back in the yard at lunch time and since I only live about five miles from work I went home.  I had to dismantle the stove but when I finally got into it so that I could see the entrance to the flue I could see a pair of talons hanging down, I managed to get my hands past the talons and around the birds wings and slide it out of the flue.  Sure enough it was a very bedraggled, sad looking tawny owl.  I let it sit on the grate and took a couple of pictures while the poor bird was coming round from its ordeal.

 

I picked the owl up, being careful to avoid the talons and carried it out side.  While I was carrying it the bird did one of those owl tricks and swivelled its head round at a seemingly impossible angle and stared directly at me.  The look it gave me seemed to suggest that it was holding me directly responsible for its predicament and no matter what it would remember me.  I released the bird outside and after a little hesitation it flew away apparently unharmed.  We have a lot of tawny owls living in the immediate area and we hear them almost every night but so far as I know I have never seen that particular owl again.

Pigs and hares.

Met this pig today, isn't she great? Also saw two hares in a roadside field today. Hares are normally nocturnal but at this time of year they start to move about in daylight. The urge to procreate comes upon them and they suddenly become visible.  I do enjoy watching them, I have seen as many as ten chasing each other around and fighting. Two hares stood on their back legs boxing is a very amusing sight. The trouble is that the beasts seem to leave all sense behind at this time of year and become very vulnerable to road kill.  The Mistle thrushes are now in full song and are being joined by other birds as the dawn chorus gradually strengthens. I do enjoy spring.

Skylarks and Seed Dressing

I have done my first day's seed dressing of the season.  I drive and operate one of the companies mobile seed dressers and enjoy the change from my usual work routine.  Today's job was sixteen tonnes of spring barley for a regular customer.  Everything went well and I ended up  dressing seventeen tonnes.  The  only problem was that I was inside a large shed, hence I couldn't enjoy one of the few clear cold days we have had this year.  When we stopped for lunch I managed to get outside, while I was standing soaking in the sunshine I heard my first Skylark of the year.  These shy little brown birds start singing about this time of year and what a song it is, sung from high above the ground. I find a real joy in the sound of their song. Sadly skylarks are one of the birds that have declined in population over my lifetime.  I suspect but cannot prove that their decline can possibly be attributed to changing farming practice.  Though I remember finding owl pellets as a child and taking them to pieces to try to discover what the owl had been feeding on and it seemed that one of the resident owls specialised in hunting skylarks.  A large number of the owl pellets contained skylark rear claws, these claws are easily recognised by their length.  I have opened many owl pellets over the years since but I have never found skylark claws in owl pellets again.  I suspect that it was a single owl that had learned the knack of catching these little birds and made the most of its particular niche.

To change the subject I spent most of Sunday completing my battle with the ivy infesting my hedge, I have finally cut the last of the ivy away from it's roots so now I have to wait for the infestation in the hedge to realise that it's dead and loosed its hold on the poor hawthorn.  I suspect that I'll have to wait for next winter before that happy event occurs but at that point I will be able to decide how much of the hedge is alive and work out how to regenerate it.  The only good thing about having to wait for next winter is that it gives me the whole of the summer to kill off the ivy roots and ensure any new hedge plants have the best possible start hopefully free from the strangling grasp.  

First Snowdrops

The first Snowdrops, at last they are appearing, it's taken along time this year. Though I don't blame them, the weather is horrible today.

Ivy Damage

As promised here are some pictures of the hedge showing the extent of the ivy infestation.  Please note it is winter at the moment, or as near to winter as we usually get.  There are no leaves on the trees or hedges but this poor hedge looks to be in full leaf.  Don't be fooled it isn't hawthorn leaf it's all ivy.

Just look at the thickness of the ivy stems that I have cut away.  I suspect that over half of the hawthorn is either dead or dying and my attempt at help has come far too late.  The only consolation I have is that my efforts will result in the ivy slowly dying.  I'm sure it's good for bugs and birds to nest in but it is proving fatal for this poor hedge.  I intend to cut away a section on each hawthorn that is infected, let the ivy die and see how many of the old hedging plants are still alive.  I will spray off the vegetation in the bottom of the hedge several times this spring and summer to keep the hedge bottom clear of further infestation and weeds to give the old hedging plants a chance.  Once I have established how much is alive I will trim the hedge further and if practical lay the hedge to start to fill the gaps.  If laying isn't possible to regenerate the hedge this way I will lop the remaining plants to around six feet and plant the gaps with new hedging plants or small trees.  My aim is to create a healthy hedge of about seven feet tall creating a screen and a wind break in one.  I expect it to take at least five years to establish and a further five years before I have a reasonable result.  At this stage a fence sounds much easier but I like the idea of a new strong hedge.  Here's to the fun of it!

If there is anyone out there who thinks ivy doesn't do harm to hedges take a good look at the pictures below and please explain how this isn't harmful to the hedge.

Ivy and Hedges.

I know others who know about these things say ivy doesn't harm the tree or hedge it is growing on and the fact that the tree or hedge plant it is growing on dies is just old age, I don't believe a word of it.  I hate ivy with a passion, I have seen too many healthy trees die when they have become covered with the hideous creeping stuff.  I have just spent the greater part of the day cutting through the stuff before it manages to kill the whole of the hedge that runs alongside of my orchard.  The hedge is large and overgrown due to over twenty years neglect, there is a drainage ditch on the other side between our plot and our neighbour.  In England if the hedge is on my side the ditch is mine and it is my responsibility to keep it clear and running.  Last weekend there was water running down the orchard and onto our patio, the top of the ditch was blocked.  I cleared the ditch enough to stop the water running over the side but looking at the task of cleaning it out I quickly came to the conclusion that I had to tidy the hedge first before I could start ditching.  So today I started siding the hedge and cutting the ivy clear.  I decided that if I trim both sides of the hedge and kill the ivy that is overgrowing the hedge in places then keep the hedge bottom clean during the summer months I will get a better idea of how much of the old hedge is still living.  Once I have established how much is still alive despite the best efforts of the ivy I will have a better idea of how to proceed.  My aim is to establish a good hedge of about seven feet tall between us and our neighbour.  The hedge must be trimmed every year and not allowed to overgrow the ditch.  A good hedge at this height will maintain privacy for both of us and if I keep it back off the ditch I will be able to keep it clear easily enough.  Once everything is in order it should only take me four or five hours a year with a shovel to keep the ditch in good order.
 I hope to dig a pond at the top of the orchard, in front of the oak tree in the corner and divert the ditch through the pond, it should attract a lot of wildlife if I do it correctly.  We already have a number of frogs living it the orchard and I'm sure they will appreciate my efforts, but that's for the future and first I must get the hedge and ditch in good order.  It's dark now but tomorrow I will take some pictures of the ivy and hedge to add to this post so readers will see what I am grumbling about.