reshroomED

Check out what I recently received as a gift. Sounds that good, I haven't had the balls to open it. I'm more of an ouzo drinker than anything, but adore a good scotch/bourbon. Anyone else a fan of fine spirits? ed

8 sultanas Juice of 2 lemons 1 tsp lemon pulp 4 tsp sugar 2 tsp ginger 2 cups cold water Mix ingredients and place in jar on windowsill/warm place until fermentation begins, then feed 2 tsp ginger and 4 tsp sugar each day for one week. Strain (and put aside residue) and add to 4 cups sugar dissolved in 4 cups boiling water and the juice of four lemons. Add 28 cups water, bottle, and leave stand for 2 weeks. Take half of the residue from straining, add 2 cups water, and feed as above for one week. Repeat process. Ha ha, and all these years I thought it wasn't alcoholic. I'll post her Rhubarb wine recipe tonight. cheers ed

I'd suspect ultra-low EMF's (as in your case) to be ineffectual and high levels to be variable in effects. But kudos for experimenting, and hope that you turn up something interesting. If you're gonna start messing with higher voltage sources be *very* careful, that stuff is *lethal* (it's invisible and it BITES). Electric stoves, heaters, even wall-mounted light-switches generate significant EMF fields (do a google) so you can do this experiment quite easily and *safely* ed

Thanks people. been under-the-weather for the last week or so and this thread was quite uplifting to read (I'd actually forgotten my b'day until reading) ed

Thank you sir. I've got those camps (albeit a few years older than edition 6) as GPS waypoints too If you (or anyone else) could use such, drop me a pm with an e-mail addy. I usually camp in remote spots so don't use them as they're intended, but find them great to find a spot to sleep for a few hours/stop for lunch/ do a repair etc on an extended drive. ed

Sally, what sort of accuracy are you after and what ph range will it see (min/max you'd expect to measure)? I'm an instrument engineer, so can probably offer some sound advice, but need to know what it has to do first. ed

Chop-chop is readily available all round Melbourne at around $75/lb. Nearly all I've seen has been very 'Virginian' in appearance/texture/aroma/taste, although every now and then a strong dark tobacco would be offered as an alternative when the other was not around. I smoked it for years before giving up the ciggies, and found it a *much* 'cleaner' smoke then any tailor-mades, to the point where the tailors ended up tasting very 'chemically'. Worth noting that I rolled in papers, not tubes, so no filter for the hand-rolled. I was told many times that what I purchased was all imported but cannot verify this (and penalties would make that too risky I'd think) Once whilst out hunting just Nth of the central VIC?N.S.W border I came upon old shearing sheds packed full of curing baccy. Took the old man back for a look (Ihad no idea what it was) but new little of it's worth back then so hadn't thought about it since. Re growing/using, I was under the impression that it was a tax-avoidance issue, so whilst growing small-scale for pesticide with evidence that bug-killing was it's sole purpose *might* be acceptable, curing would prove intent to smoke and, hence, guilt. ed

As shruman mentions (good memory mate) I've had the same occurrence, as has Salvi. From memory Ordine of Urban Tribes had similar happen the same year. That Christmas (03/04) cactii all across the country went crazy flowering for some reason or other, and I'd always attributed it to whatever caused this. I think the pup I had (one of two/three that "pine-appled" but it showed signs most of it's length whereas the other two reverted to general bridgesoid growth within a few inches from their base) went to rev, so it should still be growing. The following link has pictures of the most pine-appled pup at approx two years when they were removed. http://www.shaman-au...h=1 ed

Generally a sign of over-watering. ed

Your best bet would be to seek advice from an "Armature Winder". If google/etc don't help, ask a local small-motor repairer ed

Just doing some Christmas shopping when I came across these and immediately thought of the good folk who frequent the fora here. Opinel have had an excellent reputation world-wide for quality steel for longer than I can remember. They make variations of a very basic wood-handled folding-knife, with the emphasis on practical simplicity and quality steel. I've had probably half-a-dozen or more of these in various forms over the years and not one has failed to significantly impress me on more than one occasion. It seems they've widened their range these days. This is their "Mushroom Knife" Opinel Mushroom Knife with Genuine Boar's Hair brush. Created by Opinel to make it easier to cut and prepare mushrooms, this tool has a thin, curved blade with a serrated back, for easy removal of the cuticle Its natural varnished beech handle incorporates a genuine boar hair brush for easy removal of soil. Pierced handle. Handle: Beechwood Blade: 12C27 MOD Sandvik Stainless Steel Size closed: 4. 3/8" Blade: 3. 1/2" Weight: 2 oz A quick look on ebay showed them available delivered for just shy of $30 in their most basic form (I think handle-materials and sheath are options). which is an absolute bargain in my book. Looks beautifully designed for shrooms, although I should probably mention that it's a bit tricky honing frowning blades like this. ed

As Torsten said above.shrooms can be a positive treatment for this ailment. I've found about .5g fresh lasts me about 12months (zero headaches). Well worth trying. ed

I was very prone to bronchitis as a child, constants colds etc I'm told. I wore a bag of camphor around my neck (recommended by ?) which apparenttly was very effective. This was up until I was three or four, so ave few recollections myself. just FWIW ed

Ta mate, ed

Ta *very* much people. Sorry for so tardy a response, been ill for a while and only just getting back to things. ed

G'day Gerb, been a while mate. I prefer the wood handles myself bar for anything used in salt-water. They're shaped rough and larger than the tang, as many meat-workers prefer to shape the knife to their hand (so quality control seems lax). Where they excel is the quality of the blade.They're high-carbon blades, so rust/tarnish easily if not cared for appropriately, but take an excellent edge. We're talking work-knives here, so they won't take an edge as a $500 sushi knife would (or even look vaguely similar), but will shit all over the sushi-knife in a stamina contest. A tad large for skinning bunnies though. Actually, I've only used a cleaver/tommy etc on bunnies for years now. Make an across-the-body cut of the back skin around middle of spine. Insert fingers of both hands into cut and tear towards head and feet. When skin is only held to flesh around head and feet, chop each with cleaver. This will give you indication of how to cook as well, with young rabbits being the easiest to skin. I pro-shot vermin of all discriptions for years on and off. One bloke I used to hit the foxes with had a compressor in the back of his cruiser and would make a small incision in one fetlock and then stick the nozzle in and give it a 'puff-up', This would seperate all of the skin from the flesh and then he'd chop the head and feet. A sneaky here, that an old fellow taught me when I was a kid, is that if you take a rectangular piece of skin ( the length of the rectangle being at ninety degrees to the animal's nose-tail axis) from just behind and just in front of the ears, make two small slices in each, then put clothes-pegs on one side of both cuts. When dried you get three sets of ears/critter. Bounties on foxes and bunnies are paid per pair-of-ears, so it can treble your income. Don't know what pigs are worth these days, but was getting about $1.5/kg for whole animals (gutted) years ago. don't know what they're like now. What do you use on deer? I hunted sambar and wild dogs in the Vic high-country for years, so if they're your quarry pm me , I can probably offer some good advice, topo maps, etc. ed

Happy Birthday to two lovely people. Hoping you both have an enjoyable day (and more thereof). ed

Thanks for the advice, and sorry for the tardy reply. I was ill and missed the opputunity, but it was offered by an elderly Japanese fellow who is a well-respected blacksmith and kenjutsu sensei. There is no doubt at all that I missed an impressive sword. FWIW in one of his last e-mails to me he mentioned a colleague of his son's now forging quite acceptable (price-wise) blades for tameshi-giri (a cutting test of the blade , traditionally upon a bamboo bundle, etc to simulate flesh-and-bone). If anyone is interested enough, pm me and I'll chase up the contact details for him. What reminded me of this thread was spotting some excellent cheap butchering knives on eBay. Seller wnun5791 at WAZMART has some very cheap Dexter Russell's (Green River 6" & 8" skinners have been my go-to butchering knives for nearly 30 yrs - they take an edge easily and hold it very well) and have never seen the quality matched for anywhere *near* the price. I have no affiliation with the seller, just noted the cheap pricing and thought I'd share. ed

$40 for a print seems a bit steep. Are any of the free spore rings still going? Received many a print for $1 - $2 a few years back, with no hassles from the importation authorities. Next suggestion would be to frequent a decent mushroom forum and do a trade/purchase via same. A tip here is to get the print made on cardboard/stiff paper and send in that format. As stated, I've never had an issue with importing spores on foil, but fealt suspect each time. Gave all mine away a few years back, so this is as much help as I can offer. cheers ed

Very sorry to hear of your illness. Your posts here have *always* been outstanding, and your absence had lowered the quality of inormation on these fora. Great to hear your back on your feet. cheers ed

As a few of you know, I'm *eventually* getting around to re-locating Northwards. This being my last season in Colac, I'll be doing my best to avail myself of local produce. We've had a few forum camping trips out this way, none of which have been a success due to poor attendance. So thought I'd try a different approach this time, as prior efforts have involved a fair bit of work for me, to little avail. I'll be heading out into the hills (for at least a weekend) in early May. If anyone's interested in a guided tour of Otways shroom-spots, they're more than welcome to come along. Things to consider before committing yourself are that it's a fair hike from Melbourne (about 3hrs drive all-up, taking it easy), and it'll be f***ing cold and wet (so don't roll up in nylon tracky-dacks and whinge about the cold - hey, it did happen), and you'll need your own camping gear. Up-sides are fungii of all descriptions *everywhere*, fantastic scenery, and I can probably gift you an Eileen cutting (unless fifty people roll up, but feel it's a pretty safe bet that I'll be on my Pat). Maps with specific directions will be made available to anyone interested. Please don't reply unless you're serious about the venture. cheers ed