Archive for November 2010

F.A.K.

Posted by on November 29th 2010 in Health, or lack thereof, Rambling on...
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Just hopping onto the bandwagon that started out as Maz's "My First Aid Kit" blog-post...

 

So, what's in the totally-waterproof 1litre Soup 'n Sauce bag?

  • 1 x adhesive dressing 6.5 x 8 cm
  • 8 x Ibuprofen 200mg liquid capsules
  • 1 x sheet various peel & stick foam pads
  • 1 x Care Plus tick-remover
  • 1 x Witch Stick 10g
  • 2 x packs Spenco 2nd Skin
  • 1 x sheet Scholl Pressure Point foam padding
  • 1 x finger bandage
  • 6 x Paracetamol 500mg tablets
  • 1 x Brix toothpick (should be 5 x)
  • 1 x precision tweezers
  • 1 x tube Cetrimide Cream 15g
  • 1 x SPF15 chap-stick
  • 1 x sheet Scholl Sore Spot peel & stick thin moleskin 7.5 x 10 cm
  • 1 x surgical scissors
  • 2 x spare CR2032 batteries
  • 1 x gauze bandage 6 x 500 cm
  • 1 x sachet BurnAid burn gel
  • 1 x roll zinc oxide strapping 5 x 500 cm
  • 1 x tube cold-sore cream 2g
  • 4 x antiseptic wipes (should be 10 x)
  • 1 x roll Micropore tape 10mm wide (almost used up, needs replacing)
  • 4 x insect-repellant wipes (should be 10 x)
  • 1 x box 45 waterproof safety matches
  • 3 x Melolin dry dressings 5 x 5 cm
  • 1 x quick-fix eye-pad
  • 10 x various standard fabric plasters
  • 10 x various waterproof plasters
  • 1 x crepe bandage 5 x 400 cm
  • 1 x strip uncut standard fabric plaster 6 x 50 cm
  • 1 x patch peel & stick thick moleskin
  • 1 x double-sided non-adherent wound pad 5 x 5 cm

And what's missing that's usually there but isn't?

  • 1 x tube Superglue (for suturing)
  • 1 x sterile scalpel blade
  • 1 x tube temporary dental filling
  • 2 x kirby grips (bobby pins)

Total weight when fully-stocked, including the bag, is 360g. Ok, so it's a bit heavy when compared to some of the lightweight versions out there, but bear in mind that I carry this kit whether I'm walking solo or in a group. Some of the tiny kits are obviously for solo use only, mine has to cope with the demands of a family with kids.

 

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Two wrongs don’t make a Right of Way

Posted by on November 28th 2010 in Car stuff, LMAO!

What is it about sub-zero conditions that turns drivers into feckwits? Shortly after reading Mike's post about driving in snow and ice, I went out for a short but eventful walk into town to purchase some goodies from Tesco. We've had hardly any snow here, the roads are fairly clear but that which has fallen is now iced. Slippage wasn't a problem for me - the AKU Crodas with traction control coped with ease. For others, it was a different matter...

The fun began while I attempted the traverse of the North Face of Tesco car-park, heading for the safety of the col at the cash-machine. There are clearly-marked direction arrows and give-way marks painted on the ground, and adequate signage, to let drivers know that it's a one-way system. This system serves several purposes - for starters it eases of the flow of vehicles along the narrow lanes between the parked vehicles, furthermore it makes the place safer for pedestrians (after all, the car-park is a pedestrian area).

So, there I was crossing the tarmac when a car turns the corner, contrary to the one-way system, and heads directly towards me. I wasn't too chuffed. I waved at the driver and pointed to the arrows on the road. His response was a two-fingered greeting. As I passed his window, I said "It's a one-way system, Sir." The response was  "F*ck off!" so I did - on Sundays I can do without the hassle. He drove off, clipping my shopping-bag and scattering pedestrians in his wake.

Not 20 yards further on, the same thing happened again, this time with a wannabe rally-driver in a Scooby. Same set of responses. This time, I didn't "F*ck off", I told the bloke that he was in a pedestrian area and that, driving like he was and in such conditions, an accident was on the cards. He called me a c*nt and put his foot down, I turned and headed on my way.

Seconds later I heard the bang, the crunch and the cursing. He'd run into another car. I couldn't see which one from where I was, but I remember laughing rather too loudly and hoping that he'd ran into the first feckwit that I'd encountered. "Who's the c*nt now?", I thought.

Sweet justice.

Another one in the pipeline

Posted by on November 22nd 2010 in Great Escapes, Thanks

This multi-family hostelling malarkey is becoming a habit - first it was Windermere YHA, next it was Buttermere YHA. We'll complete the hat-trick during the Easter holidays when we stay at Borrowdale YHA for three nights. Trefor, the Hostel's Management Hero, has agreed to let us pay with Tesco Clubcard Rewards Tokens and that is going to save us a small fortune (family rooms are £66 a night, so we're looking at using £47.50-worth of Vouchers to get £190-worth of Tokens, the remainder we'll pay in cash). Thanks, Trefor!

Just a quick note here - if you've a mind to use your Tesco Clubcard Vouchers for this sort of thing, be aware that the current exchange-rate of 4:1 changes to a less-favourable 3:1 on December 6th 2010 so get your exchanges done pronto. Tokens have a shelf-life of six months so they're worth getting now if you're going to use them during the first bit of next year.

Anyway, we've yet to discuss objectives and we're mindful that a lot will depend on the weather and on the mind-set of the kids in our group, but the environs of Borrowdale offer so much and at so many different levels of ability that we shouldn't be stuck for choice. A couple of options that I'll chuck into the mix are a short bimble up Rosthwaite Fell with a possible extension to Glaramara and maybe even as far as Allen Crags, and a trudge up to Styhead Tarn with the possibility of a pull up to Great Gable. Both of these offer superb adventures for budding young fell-walkers, letting them get into the real mountains and putting some rock beneath their boots. Then there's the knot of lower fells around Watendlath where I've spent many a happy afternoon - I could let the others wander the fine network of paths there for a few hours while I try to tease a few trout out of the tarn.

Hopefully it'll be a bit drier than the last time I stayed at Borrowdale...

 

Over-soxed

Posted by on November 19th 2010 in Just for fun
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There's got to be a suitable collective noun for such an unruly collection of outdoors socks.

This website suggests that it's either "an odd number", "a stink" or "an oddnumber", but none of them fit the bill for my stash.

Other terms suggested to me so far are "a plethora", "a foot-fall" and the one I like best so far - "a march". If you've any others, feel free to let me know.

FWIW, here's my stash after I'd culled the duffers:

Tidying up some loose ends

Posted by on November 17th 2010 in Great Escapes, Rambling on...
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For me, the last two months of every year tend to be a bit fickle when it comes to getting in some hill-time. Factor in a bunch of birthdays, the inevitable Christmas shopping, the trips out to deliver pressies and the staying in to accept them, and there's precious little time left for getting away. It's not as if I can snatch the odd half-day or just bugger off one evening, overnight in the hills and then return the next morning - living in England's rotting industrial heartland means that any decent mountains are many hours of driving away, so any venture has to be long enough to provide a good return on the investment.

This year I'm taking a different approach - I've booked a weekend away, the rest of life will just have to STFU and fit in around it. Coniston beckons, a few of us have answered the call. Hopefully we'll find the right conditions to christen my new snooshows, maybe we'll even tick off a few more Wainwrights, but if we don't it'll be fun all the same.

Of course, while I'm away, somebody else will have the job of tidying up those loose ends. Here's a quick snapshot of the cause of the disorder:

 

 

Even though the two-week claim period hasn't yet expired, we couldn't continue looking after her without giving her a name. That process in itself was an ordeal - we'd made a long-list and couldn't agree, so we whittled it down to a short-list and still couldn't agree.

Eventually we put the names in a hat and Anna drew out the winning entry (which just happened to be the name that she put in... hmm...). Even now, we can't agree - the name is Elvy... or is it LV? Of course, now that the mog's been named it'll be hard if we have to let her go, despite her infuriating habit of chewing through my boot-laces and draw-cords!

Here, have a few more pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad to the Bone

Posted by on November 8th 2010 in In the garden, Rambling on...
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This little furry fiend had been hanging around the Close for at least four days and nights, hiding from fireworks and trying to scrounge titbits. Yesterday we relented, caught it* and took it in for the night. I've never seen a cat so hungry - it had no problems snatching the feeding-fork from my hands in order to glean the last morsels of food from it.

The local cat rescue folk have had a good look at her and have pronounced her to be about 10-weeks old and healthy... the vet considers her to be just over 8-weeks old and full of worms.

Anyway, it looks like we've been adopted by her. If she's not claimed in the next two weeks I suppose we'll be keeping her.

 

 

 

 

 

* We tempted it from a garden by offering it some cat-food, but during the grabbing operation it decided to have a damned good bite of my finger instead. This kitten does look cute and cuddly, but I can vouch for the fact that it has teeth like well-honed daggers - they went in all the way until they were grinding on the bone, and it didn't want to let go. If we keep it, I reckon we'll be giving it the understated name "Nipper".
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