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Miftan posted:I can't believe I'm finding ration packs meals appealing. They've really upped their game on those. I have always wanted to try the french ones and so far I'm really quite impressed apart from the futile little folding spoon they give out, it's loving terrible. They taste far better out in the wild too   Put the office into work mode  Here's the project  I'm attaching these bits of wood for strength    Approximately 60 holes drilled and screwed  So it's time for coffee, a non ration pack one for now, will use the french one/french hot choc powder to make a mocha later on. More soon!
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May 25, 2020 15:57
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DesperateDan posted:I have always wanted to try the french ones and so far I'm really quite impressed apart from the futile little folding spoon they give out, it's loving terrible. The ones I had to eat were 90% bread and salami/cheese/hotsauce, sweetcorn and halva. They definitely taste better outdoors though. Project looking good! Can't wait to see how it turns out.
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May 25, 2020 16:22
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Miftan posted:The ones I had to eat were 90% bread and salami/cheese/hotsauce, sweetcorn and halva. They definitely taste better outdoors though. Some bread and salami would actually go down a treat right now   It's been really nice here    I reinforced each end of the legs and added more structural supports  You think it might flip over okay?  Hell yeah it does  With the big seat cushions from the caravan and a tarp strung up, we got ourselves a cosy little rest area  Which is good, because the light just went behind the treeline and that means it's low light for a bit then very loving dark indeed  I'm having a lay down in my new bed/bench/platform and considering my options for food- More soon!
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May 25, 2020 19:46
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DesperateDan posted:Absent of instructions, I went and did the rounds I feel like we need more details to provide instructions. Is this a solo adventure? Please provide pictures of your sleeping arrangements when complete. What equipment do you have for night-time wildlife spotting? Are critters still eating your plants? What I'm saying is you need to do a stakeout E: whoops there was a new page
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May 25, 2020 20:35
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Maugrim posted:I feel like we need more details to provide instructions. Is this a solo adventure? Please provide pictures of your sleeping arrangements when complete. What equipment do you have for night-time wildlife spotting? Are critters still eating your plants? You are indeed right, and in the pursuit of perfection I will simply have to repeat this exercise at some point soon, with pre planned potential tasks and prenotification of activities and not spending 4 hours at the start building a thing -Right now I have my favourite binoculars and an SD card/batteries for the trailcam- hoping to do some astronomy, already seen a few deer and a grass snake -poo poo has been eaten/broken a bit etc but daytime tomorrow will be better for such investigation - sleeping arrangements are I'm putting on more clothes and will probably just lay on the cushions, I have blankets and sleeping bags etc in the caravan if it gets too cold -I'm flying solo   While I waited for the main to cook, I ate some slightly stale tasting cereal biscuits. I think they are meant to taste like this. Meh.  Soup and mint tea. What soup? oh it's probably veg don't even look just make it fish soup and it's alright if you like stinky fish I guess and I don't. Tea is fine  11/10, sausage and duck cassoulet, new champion, holy loving poo poo this was good, I meant to get pics of the during but I wolfed down the loving lot and licked the tray More soon
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May 25, 2020 21:05
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Observed- Bats hunting, foxes playing and I think a badger Also, lots of stars Laying in bed and might get a few hours then more stars or sleep though More soon
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May 26, 2020 00:19
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Yeah the night sky must be great out there. Jealous. I used to be really into astronomy but moving to London really put a crimp in that
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May 26, 2020 07:27
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Maugrim posted:Yeah the night sky must be great out there. Jealous. I used to be really into astronomy but moving to London really put a crimp in that Way back when, in the long long ago, before the tories came back, I was halfway through a degree in astronomy and planetary science, it was totally rad but then tories came  from dusk till dawn  As it always does here, it got dark quick.       I had left my phone on the mini tripod while I went back to camp for something and as a result I didn't get pictures of the best ISS pass I have seen in ages- very bright and chunky- but it was a treat regardless, as was finding out this phone does some pretty impressive star shots.  Slept quite well despite all the animal noise but wish I had enclosed the sleeping area a bit more, as the wind picked up later on and I got a bit chilly at times- never enough to actually make me get up and walk a few metres to get some more insulation but enough to annoy a bit.   Got up around half 4 because it was light and I was chilly again, had some hot drinks and a wander round then climbed back into bed when it was a bit warmer and got another hour or two, interrupted by foxes running past   About to cook and coffee and tidy the area and decide how to spend my morning
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May 26, 2020 08:37
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finale  Another lovely day   The pasta is from a MoD pack and scored 8/10, quite nice indeed, especially with a pinch of salt and pepper   The jam on crackers was mediocre at best  Caravan dead car battery now very dead, so swapped it out with a new dead battery till I can roll some appropriate ones in  Cleaned and leaned the solar panels  Electrical systems back to strength for now  The breath mints tasted rancid bit waste not want not   The deer pate and salt crackers took my mind right off it though, 10/10 sorry bambi  All packed up and headed home now, wanted to do more but it wouldn't be sensible on ~4 hours sleep so I have been sat just appreciating, chilling and feeling very lucky. More soon!
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May 26, 2020 12:36
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This sub-24hr outing has been a balm to my soul, Dan. Thanks for sharing it.
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May 26, 2020 14:33
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Great updates from the camping trip! It must be so amazing to have a space like that. The videos you posted awhile back were great too. I had no idea Britain had so much wildlife. My biggest question is, what’s the status of the road to your property? Are you still carrying everything in? Can you rent a machine and clear the path you made for the caravan to have better access? Then you could use that same machine and the new road to really dig that pond out.
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May 26, 2020 18:25
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SimonSays posted:This sub-24hr outing has been a balm to my soul, Dan. Thanks for sharing it. I was down there for over 24hrs thankyou very much  Also thank you very much Arrgytehpirate posted:Great updates from the camping trip! It must be so amazing to have a space like that. Thanks- it's nice to share it and see it appreciated Arrgytehpirate posted:My biggest question is, what’s the status of the road to your property? Are you still carrying everything in? Can you rent a machine and clear the path you made for the caravan to have better access? The road is a private track that we have right of access through, and where I park the car is maybe two hundred metres from my normal entrance and then a few hundred more to where the office is- the path is rough but it's manageable with a loaded wheelbarrow so I'm not literally carrying everything When the caravan was brought in it was negotiated as I had to clear a chunk of the neighbors land/shift some fencework to do it, and much clearance on the acres (with 5 years or so of unchecked growth since)- it would end up being cheaper/easier to install my own access direct from the road and I have plans for that but under the current budget, lol nope, wheelbarrow and sweat. I want a deeper pond? Shovel and sweat. For now at least. loose ends     I took these on the way out     Some nice flowers at home  The peas and beans are doing really well    Flowers starting up all over the place  Still got 20 tomatoes going strong too. More soon! DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 08:04 on May 29, 2020 |
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May 29, 2020 08:00
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h2slow   Very bright but not too hot, with just enough of a slight breeze. Wish I had more time.  Just a very brief trip to water the potted trees and then the remainder on other new trees/thirsty bushes  Plums of some variety, not many but this was planted last year and will need a few more before much of a crop happens    More soon
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May 30, 2020 13:10
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I know you're putting in all the long hours, doing all the hard work, but drat, that looks peaceful.
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May 30, 2020 15:07
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spookygonk posted:I know you're putting in all the long hours, doing all the hard work, but drat, that looks peaceful. It is really peaceful Not really managing much on the hard work side of things right now as tiredness/soreness are kicking my arse pretty bad, going to try for a visit in the next day or two but right now just getting to the end of the garden is a bit of a mission
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Jun 4, 2020 09:30
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random update XIV Dragged myself out because the tomatoes looked like this  And even after some work they don't look all that much neater but it will do the trick. Tied them to the frames too. All 20 still alive, and in one patch there are a few strays coming through from last year's crop   Beans and peas doing great  As are both trays of the chilli peppers and peppers  The lavender seeds got forgotten about and ran very dry but most recovered well DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Jun 4, 2020 |
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Jun 4, 2020 21:45
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I declared an independent people's republic *before* it became fashionable    Yo  predator_theme.mid  Big old supply run    Deer have eaten a fair bit already but there's still currants aplenty growing- cherries won't be too far behind and maybe I will manage to eat some grapes before the wasps do this year  It's the annual funky looking moth orgy/rave. They hid the glowsticks and mdma before the picture, but look in their eyes, mad for it  Had a few dismal days of weather, but also need to trim back some branches to let more light get to the solar panels, and maybe sort some kind of light or timer switch/relay so the fan isn't on 24/7  I love the leaves and fresh growth on this walnut, and hope one day to clone it and have some growing in less overgrown and squirrel infested places      Beeeeeeeeees. Bramble has started to flower, so there were lots.     These are all dog rose flowers from different areas to show some of the variation- the fruits also tend to vary quite widely in structure  These two were sat on my car when I came up the path, but perhaps that they didn't poo poo on it is perhaps some kind of signal of detente   Back home we can have a quick catch-up with the flower project- most pots did throw some flowers but many died out and/or got snailed and such. More, soon. DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Jun 10, 2020 |
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Jun 10, 2020 10:07
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I just got a shiny new bigger, higher res phone and man your pictures look so much better on this screen. We've got a sprawling cherry tree in our garden that's just getting to picking time but the birds are doing their best to beat us to it. Gonna take the ladder out when it stops raining
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Jun 10, 2020 10:47
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Oh, good, I came back just in time for beeeees! Now we need video of bats. Comparing to your first pictures is a treat; you've really built the place up!
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Jun 10, 2020 15:33
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Maugrim posted:I just got a shiny new bigger, higher res phone and man your pictures look so much better on this screen. I was going to net this year but much like last year it didn't happen for various reasons and I consoled myself by planting more cherry trees Last year I managed to eat a fair few just by checking constantly and eating the newly ripe ones, but that only works with some trees, some tend to go all ripe all at once xcheopis posted:Oh, good, I came back just in time for beeeees! Now we need video of bats. Thanks Bats will be a challenge as it's very hard to see them with mk1 eyeballs, but I think if I study their habits I should be able to rig some kind of photo/video ambush- a good excuse for another 24 hour stay department of snail studies  Just a very brief update in briefs (or potentially jockey shorts, I forget the nomenclature)  So the bramble doesn't stop snails, at least not big chungus variety ones- it had multiple spikes in it and seemed unharmed and with zero fucks to give    They don't want to touch the copper strips, but that won't stop them at all, they climb over https://i.imgur.com/uRBiLzm.gifv See? Cunning little bastards. A double strip might help here, provided the central gap allowed little room for manoeuvre  Something must be done, if I am to enjoy some nice peas and beans  Rhubarb seed ready for harvest- the other plant seems at least a week behind on the seed progress despite flowering at the same time- curious given they are same variety and have had same treatment  And some good news- the myrobalan plum I had thought was entirely dead got replanted a few weeks ago with some fresh soil and mycorrhizal fungi and it has not only rooted again, but is putting out some growth More, soon?
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Jun 12, 2020 10:16
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DesperateDan posted:I was going to net this year but much like last year it didn't happen for various reasons and I consoled myself by planting more cherry trees So far we have reached a detente - the tree is about 30ft tall and my stepladder is about 6ft, so the birds are welcome to the ones I can't reach, i.e. most of them. Still getting about 200g a day which will be enough to make jam soon!
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Jun 12, 2020 12:36
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Make a picking tool, I saw a neat one made from a length of pvc pipe with the top end cut and bent to make a 2 finger claw, a bag attached to the bottom, let me see if I can find a pic like this! cakesmith handyman fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Jun 12, 2020 |
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Jun 12, 2020 14:54
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Thanks! I don't have any pvc pipe but that does give me some ideas...
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Jun 12, 2020 18:37
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^^^ that thing looks ace bitter fruits   Ey up   They weren't quite ripe and so were extra sour but bah gawd I'm not letting the birds have them all    The currants were better but still tart. Some have fallen prey to the deer, but they will spread seeds far and wide for me in prepacked little fertilizer pellets. Biological seed drones.  These cherry plums are awhile off I think- this was only planted last year so seeing fruit is nice though       Bees? Bees. Lots. Lots of bees. All so friendly.       Other things too  It was quite early morning and the battery read 11.4V, which means the low voltage cut out came into play but it's not so low as to be dead just yet. Will temporarily just hook the fan directly to the solar output when the battery dies, thought about doing so today but decided to fully murder the battery first.  Back home and the peas are doing well, was very tempted to scoff some on sight, nothing quite like the taste of super fresh peas  As is the wild garden, full of flowers and bugs. No real desire to eat some though. although...  Rhubarb seeds are ready for a plucking now I think- a few have fallen naturally now and I had intended on picking them today but forgot the envelope and didn't feel like stuffing my pockets with them and oh god they probably all already dropped into a pile of mud or got pigeoned whatever, it's 2020, fuckit  And the early pumpkin is flowering, some snails seem to have hit tray of pumpkin seedlings but I think there were survivors. Had hoped to do more but whatever it is I have decided to kick my arse this last week. More blood tests soon and, More. Soon.
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Jun 16, 2020 16:13
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I think this friendly bee is a little confused about what does and does not qualify as pollen-bearing.
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Jun 17, 2020 22:19
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Speckled Wood Large Skipper Meadow Brown gorgeous!
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Jun 17, 2020 22:31
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AceClown posted:Speckled Wood Nice. Definitely easier to appreciate them when they’re not laying eggs on your Broccoli.
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Jun 19, 2020 11:28
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wooger posted:Nice. Definitely easier to appreciate them when they’re not laying eggs on your Broccoli. That's the whites that do that, the Large White more than others. Thing about butterflies is that they have extremely specific requirements when it comes to egg laying. That Skipper up there is a prime example, it needs exactly the right type of grass stalk that kind of rolls up so it can lay its eggs right in the middle and the grass kind of wraps round it to protect them.
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Jun 22, 2020 06:23
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I really appreciate the education and commentary on butterflies and moths xcheopis posted:I think this friendly bee is a little confused about what does and does not qualify as pollen-bearing. Our little friend found that the water bottle cover/insulation material held a quantity of water from a clumsy filling job- they had a good old drink and chillout. I used to intentionally soak them sometimes in hot weather as the evaporative effect helped keep things cool but stopped as, well, bees and other wonderful things. knocked it right into the tall grass         If I'm going to wake up and feel tired and beat up regardless of what I did the previous day or how well I slept, I might as well go take pictures of pretty things, right?  And if my muscles are gonna feel sore regardless, then gently caress you muscles, you can bring food and water to the needy https://i.imgur.com/nvNv0rh.gifv Particularly the water was very needy for my potted trees  The bird feed stockpile has drawn low- I use maybe a third of a bucket each of balls/seedmix each week right now  Squirrels were lurking the treebound feeders, which means the feeders need moving, and also that I need to devote some time to managing squirrel numbers.    And I can also apparently try and chase butterflies (not running though, that would be against the rules of not dying stupidly), which were numerous but just didn't want to stop and let me take lots of pictures and instead made me take lots of blurry poo poo ones instead  Until one finally did stop for a moment     And then one allowed me a few moments more, which was kind  The battery in the caravan is now dead- merely checking the voltage, a draw of absolutelyfukkentinymicroamps dropped the voltage from a little over 11 volts to about 7V and then below where it stopped reading, then a few seconds of no load would see the battery back up towards 11V- a literal potato would be more use in storing charge.   So I wired the solar directly to the fan- it will allow a few hours a day at least. I had wanted to hook the solar through the mains panel I made but I couldn't quite make it work with the wiring and tools I had to hand- another inch or two and it would have been perfect   Cass, or a daughter of Cass, watched over the whole affair from this awesome web tunnel of Doom     And that's about that for today, I'm really hoping to be able to service and then wield the mighty brush cutter soon, so I can clear the pathways up and clear a small patch for camping. More, soon.
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Jun 23, 2020 17:29
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DesperateDan posted:
Thats a Cinnabar moth. You find them on ragwort and they have really cool orange striped caterpillars! https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/cinnabar
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Jun 23, 2020 22:34
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Catzilla posted:Thats a Cinnabar moth. You find them on ragwort and they have really cool orange striped caterpillars! Sorry don't meant to be "that guy" but that's a Five-Spot Burnet, the Cinnabar has a different pattern on the upper wing. This makes me insanely jealous, it's a female Holly Blue and I haven't seen one up here yet this year, hopefully they'll be heading up this way soon.
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Jun 24, 2020 10:07
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since a lot of people only check bookmarks, you should know that our admin, lowtax, has been credibly accused of abusing his partner. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3928980 please do what you believe to be ethical.
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Jun 24, 2020 11:19
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T-man posted:since a lot of people only check bookmarks, you should know that our admin, lowtax, has been credibly accused of abusing his partner. I saw you doing this on other threads- thankyou and well done. Friends, comrades, forumsposters. There will be more soon, while the blood still runs in my veins there will always be more soon, but it won't appear here unless there's some significant changes in management, and I sadly don't think that is likely. I almost made this same post at the back end of xmas/new years when a bunch of poo poo came to light but never quite managed it. Just spent the last hour or so going back and saving my relevant posts itt for the last few years, about 70,000 words worth. It will go up elsewhere. This thread is special to me almost to the extent it embarrasses me a bit and I don't want to deprive folks of seeing stuff or me from getting the positive feedback I clearly crave but I also can't countenance it funding even in a tiny way someone so clearly toxic, and so contrary to what the forums grew into over time. I'm on blood and roses (once I can sort my login again), and if another clear alternate crops up I will be there too. If those aren't for you, then I hope to be doing better stuff on youtube soon. Stay safe, I love you all. (Yeah, even you.) More. Soon. Elsewhere.
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Jun 24, 2020 14:17
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I've vaguely heard about breadnroses and will now join it because of you 
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Jun 24, 2020 15:46
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DesperateDan posted:I saw you doing this on other threads- thankyou and well done. Please come to the UKMT Discord, Dan, you are a good poster and would be very welcome there.
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Jun 24, 2020 16:51
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AceClown posted:Please come to the UKMT Discord, Dan, you are a good poster and would be very welcome there. That's very kind- I have been there nearly since the start, I just don't get a lot of posting time and often would only lurk occasionally but that changed a bit I guess
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Jun 24, 2020 17:06
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Well, RIP to my favorite thread. Can you post your YouTube and a link to whatever your blood and roses thread is when you make it? I look forward to following your adventure in the new format!
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Jun 24, 2020 18:42
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Arrgytehpirate posted:Well, RIP to my favorite thread. I'm pretty sad too, but without radical change here I can't be here anymore. yoo toob B+R The b+r thread has been running a little while and I'm going to be getting it fully caught up over the next few days, yt stuff has been delayed a lot due to circumstances- with two kids and a small place I don't get a lot of quiet time to sit and edit video right now even when I feel well enough.
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Jun 24, 2020 19:06
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Had to come straight here to find out how to continue to follow along. Keep those birds fed, Dan!
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Jun 25, 2020 15:35
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Bread. Bread and roses. Mentally I associate roses with thorns and hence blood but the site is bread n roses.RedChesterfield posted:Had to come straight here to find out how to continue to follow along. If everything works out with the site being sold I might post updates here again but until all that is fully done I'm not giving it further thoughts The birds remain well fed
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Jul 5, 2020 11:48
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