Certainly not quite the same here today
-8 C light snow covering but sunny, just been out to give remains of my porridge to birds, b*****y cold in Lincs.
Looking in your general direction with envy.
Merry Christmas(apologies to anyone this may offend, joiner!)
Brian

Does anyone have recommendations for personal insulation? Just been out with dogs, difficult to balance need to stay warm ,maintain mobility and avoid being michelin man. Any ideas please?
Rgds
Brian

S.T- Many thanks but unfortunately being much older than you it raises the additional consideration of need to gain access to vital parts at short notice and with minimum exposure in freezing conditions . Envy you your youth and any thought of lust at -8C.
Worried about joiner, has he neglected his medication for christmas? I learned a long time ago avoid politics and religion , any opinion brings aggro. Personally deep enough in doodoo with biomass lobby.
Rgds
Brian

Joiner wrote
Oh, don't worry Brian, it's just another name for the festival the christians hijacked. Any excuse for a piss up.

Personally I think I would prefer any of the previous "owners" to the commercial marketing machines that have currently stolen the festival
Peter

The reference to religious influence does raise questions on approach to disposal of our bodies. The proposal for funeral pyres in UK causes special "particulate" concerns. I note serious efforts are being made to reduce pollution from crematoria with heavy metals and fine particles being a special problem.
Outwith religious strictures what is the greenest/ most environmentally friendly method of disposal. Had considered green burial with tree planted on top was best but would someone come along later chop down the tree stick it in a woodburner and produce particulates. Any suggestions?
Take care with the falling over medicine Joiner but must confess over the years since serious accident damage have found it was the the only real painkiller if it had not come with hangeover consequences.Painkillers, a serious misnomer, a subject for discussion in another place?
Rgds
Brian

Oh and Brian you were seeking personal insulation ideas - I can suggest lots of mince pies washed down with plenty or real ale, mulled wine, whiskey, turkey, brandy, roast spuds, cake, sauces, hams etc - takes a while for the insulation to build up but it is dead easy to keep on after that.

Another place, Brian? Sounds ominous. If you said another life I'd have been seriously concerned!

In Aden, there was a rocky place where families built wooden platforms on stilts, rather like some Native American tribes did. The corpse was laid on top and the Kite hawks and crows used to pick the flesh off, leaving just the bones which were left a little longer to dry out in the sun. The bones were then collected and crushed and scattered. Now THAT'S recycling.

But for a much more GBF-friendly method, offering scope for endless discussion, how about...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-409503/Cremation-replaced-eco-friendly-freeze-drying-corpses.html

Without buying the book we can only get the back COVER. Give us a clue.

Sorry folks- no wish to be morbid, just reading a crime novel that includes the technology of crematoria, body decomposition and history of disposal but it did raise thoughts on our approach to this subject and energy/impact.Apologies for built in need to question our actions/impact.just relying on you clever people to provide hope for a cleaner future.
Reference choice of tree, I understand there is a tradition of burying a donkey under grape vines to ensure bumper harvest my current thought unless you know better?
Thanks for suggestions on personal insulation, needed today -10 C when walking dogs earlier , on the way to freeze-drying solution for disposal in this part of world . (tried to add smiley but sadly failed!)
Rgds
Brian

Not much energy content in a human body (relative to what went in), but probably some useful minerals: main thing would be to avoid taking up too much space or energy in disposing of it.

Rgds

Damon

The ash figure I saw at 3-3.6 kg appears to agrees with 3.5%. We have a new facility in the County capable of accommodating the more obese client.
The energy input, pollution output does raise concern with increasing use due to stated limited land availability for alternative disposal.
Returning to biomass combustion, I note Tyneside/Teesside projects now propose import of millions of tonnes of eucalyptus from Brazil for feedstock not Europe/Nth America as stated in application. With knowledge that Canadian suppliers detail 46% parasitic power use in processing and transport of biomass to Europe the extended route poses further concerns on energy waste and GHG creation before burning in low efficiency powerplants.
Rgds
Brian

Just to lighten things a little- ST as designated resident Archers expert can you give us a clue on the great event due next week in the prog.
I saw a report in press today that men think about sex much more frequently than women with 1in 20 thinking about it every minute and 36% fantasising every half hour. Women apparently think about food, not sex. Any comment.
I am still finding it difficult to comprehend how the biomass plant MD in S T featured report can claim emissions out is cleaner than air into plant when very aware pollution content 240 times higher than fossil fuel. The plant incorporates diesel burners of equal power to feedstock input. The press print story but no-one in Authority or media challenges the statement.Is it a sad sign of the times we live in?
Rgds
Brian

Posted By: BrianwilsonJust to lighten things a little- ST as designated resident Archers expert can you give us a clue on the great event due next week in the prog.

Harry (probably gay as he has a hair dryer) is stealing credit card details, Will/Ed/Emma/Nick will all fall out, Jack will get better, Rory will loose his Irish accent, Susan will moan (as usual) Nigel and Lizzy will not get their kids in the posh school, Lillian will find out that Mat has all the money, Cathy will be more miserable than ever, Helen will find out the ethnicity of her baby (could be 'insert colour here'), Falon and Jazza will sing (Jazza is blind in real life, a good man), Jolene will stay in the pub, Kate will stay in SA, Roy and Hayley will get back to normal life (the 'old' Hayley was Jasper Carrot's daughter till she got in the Office, backward step that one), Chris Carter and Alice will become swingers, Nelson Gabriel will reappear as a dog, Joe Grundy will steal the 'finest vegetables' for a show, Linda will make us all laugh as usual and 'save the environment' by not allowing some energy plant to be built, Tom will tend pigs, Jennifer will get more snobbish, and as I cannot be bothered to write any more Brian and Kenton will ride to the rescue as always (I like Brian, says it as it is, also very funny on Just a Minute).

Posted By: BrianwilsonI saw a report in press today that men think about sex much more frequently than women with 1in 20 thinking about it every minute and 36% fantasising every half hour. Women apparently think about food, not sex. Any comment.

87% of statistics are made up on the spot, including this one. Heard once that the average American man has sex with 12 women, who are these 12 women and when do I get to meet them.

Posted By: BrianwilsonS T featured report

Just passed the article on, still think that burning biomass is not the way to go at the moment, grid greening is my preferred choice.

Ambridge to be new site for an EDF Nuclear Power Station on BL Land with a High Speed railways line nearby. 10,000 Affordable homes build on the outskirts. Watch it develop on Google Earth

Help! Hoping the better brains on this forum can explain the logic behind this biomass energy report
http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/60808 (High food prices cloud UK grass-for-energy plans)

Rgds
Brian

Nothing of value was lost. (Though we had nice holiday just to the right of the red square last year.)

Rgds

Damon

PS. I vote for Yorkshire to be next, particularly the rather narrow-minded area where I grew up...