Wandering in Wiltshire...

[funkylyn]

Well, I finally managed to take a week off, packed dogs and bike into the m/home and set off first for the Savernake Forest site at Malborough.
Had a lovely two days cycling the many forest trails and its an easy walk down into Marlborough...OK I cheated and got the bus back up....its a steep hill, Id been walking around the many shops for hours and it was hot !
It was my first visit to Marlborough and I was really impressed, the campsite is lovely too, and not too busy even though it was August.

I then moved on to Sells End near Devizes to a campsite at the Three Magpies pub.....and only 200 yds from the Avon and Kennet canal.....it was absolutely FANTASTIC cycling along the tow paths,even saw a recumbent trike on top of a narrowboat, I couldnt get enough of it,tried to dodge the heavy showers but the first day I got back covered in mud, nettled, scratched and wet....looked like the wreck of the Hesperus....but still smiling lol

I then went into....."Oooh....what if I bought a narrow boat and went to live on the canals" mode.....so downloaded various books of canal boat living onto my kindle and spent the nights dreaming and wondering......however, after finding out about the midgies and horror of horrors....the SPIDER problem, coupled with trying to keep four Pomeranians from drowning, Ive reluctantly decided its not for me lol.......for now !

After a wonderful few days of really really interesting cycling.....those Caen hill locks......amazing.....and saw lots of herons...love them.....signed up both the Caen hill locks tearoom and the three magpies pub as Cyclecharge chargepoints......will be putting them online this weekend.....so now theres no excuse for anyone wanting to do a longer stint along the canal.....you can now charge your battery en route, the girl with the tea rooms is lovely, young, enthusiastic and just been renting the place for 6 months...please try to support her when in the area, she was very enthusiastic about Cyclecharge and put the sticker in her window before I had even finished my coffee and carrot cake lol
One thing.....careful with the towpath heading east past Devizes.....it gets very narrow, in fact its not really part of the cycle route there but I just had to explore as much as I could, but can imagine if anyone isnt too steady it would be easy to take an unwanted dip !

I then reluctantly dragged myself away from the canal and set off for a farm site at Cheddar ( ok, I know, Im now wandering in Somerset ! )
The Strawberry way....what can I say....it was wonderful, a real gem of a traffic free ride, about 24 miles return, glorious countryside, stopped at the cafe at Yatton before heading back, hopefully will confirm after this weekend that they are now a Chargepoint too.
Very impressed with the centre of Axbridge and its medieval village centre, lovely little place that I had previously always by passed.

I was going to go to the Willow and Wetlands centre on the way home to do the cycle path there but as I was getting so close to home I decided to do that one on a day out.

So, the end of a lovely week cycling.....bike is still great, never faltered, it gets me where I want to go with the minimum of fuss,range is good, after say a 25 mile ride I still had two lights showing, mind you thats on medium assist with very little throttle, I still love my TONARO

Lynda

 

[funkylyn]

Pics to follow very soon, courtesy of Muckymits, as I seem to be completely unable to download pics from my phone to here

Lynda

 

[Cyclezee]

Pics to follow very soon, courtesy of Muckymits, as I seem to be completely unable to download pics from my phone to here

Lynda

Hi Lynda,

You need to use an app called KIES which should already be on your SG2, I guess you haven't got the SG3 yet

First install the software to your PC from here http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/usefulsoftware/KIES/JSP there is also a tutorial to show how to use it

 

[muckymits]

 

[funkylyn]

Thanks John, I will give that a go cos I have lots more interesting pics on my phone ...Im always snapping away and posts are always better with pics added I know.
Will get back to you when I encounter the first problem.....notice I said 'when' not 'if' lol

Lynda

 

[Cyclezee]

spent the nights dreaming and wondering......however, after finding out about the midgies and horror of horrors....the SPIDER problem, coupled with trying to keep four Pomeranians from drowning, Ive reluctantly decided its not for me lol.......for now

Lynda

You forgot to add the rats and Viles disease

 

[funkylyn]

I dont mind rats John, at least, Im not scared of them, and you can innoculate against weills....but SPIDERS I am TERRIFIED of.....and I mean crying shaking terrified phobia....had a really really ENORMOUS one in my bedroom 3 nights ago, so had to spend the night fully dressed on my settee and now I cant find it.
I am considering putting wide double sided sticky tape on the carpet all around my bed and up over the headboard to stop it from....oh god.....getting IN BED with me......does anyone know if that might do the trick ??
Its times like this when I realise how useful a man....or even a cat...around the house would be lol

( It was so big it could have EATEN the dogs ! )

Lynda

 

[morphix]

Good post Lyn, I enjoyed reading about your excursions and nice pics too! Well done for getting us the new charge points

I think the canal barge lifestyle looks very appealling..I've often thought about that myself and heard it's gaining more interest. Besides all the benefits of being able to move around and enjoy all the beauty spots this country has to offer it makes a lot of economic sense too as an alternative to buying a house. I wonder if you still have to pay Council tax?! The TV licence man would have fun tracking you down!

As for spiders..this will send shivers down your spine... I regularly receive shipments from India for my biz had just opened one big box last week and was doing some stock checking when I noticed the strangest looking spider I've ever seen on the wall. It was like no house spider I've ever seen, in fact no British spider I've ever seen! It was moving unusually too, like running up and down. It wasn't massive but it had an unusually large round abdomen and it was black and shiny...kinda like a black widow.. I looked at my open box from india and got to thinking....have I got a stowaway here from India!? You never know what could creep into those boxes or what to expect... I remember one shipment some curious insect had got in one shipment and was all busted up, I had legs and bits of wings on everything :S

 

[flecc]

...but SPIDERS I am TERRIFIED of.....and I mean crying shaking terrified phobia....had a really really ENORMOUS one in my bedroom 3 nights ago, so had to spend the night fully dressed on my settee and now I cant find it.

Lynda

It was probably the long legged house spider, Teganaria domestica, seen on this link in my wildlife website.

I know it's little reassurance Lynda, but they are completely harmless and are scared of contact. No need for tape, it will do its best to keep clear and stay hidden as much as it can. This is one of two species of spider which need our help, the one you previously saw in the spider story on my website is the other one, Pholcus Phalangeoides. That one cannot survive under 10 degrees C so needs to share our warm dwellings.

 

[funkylyn]

Thanks Paul.....btw ...have you received my recent email about entering these Chargepoints ?

I really got fired up over the canal boat living idea and have read several interesting books on it, it certainly seems a temptingly slow pace of life, moorings are quite expensive, but no council tax as such and the tv licence thing you would really enjoy lol I know
I could get life jackets for the dogs too and as they hate water they would soon learn.

Mind you, I might have found the locks difficult on my own !

If I thought any packages of mine might hold spiders that would be me out of business very quickly,what happened to your recent stowaway then ?
I have never got over what happened to me 25 years ago, lying face down and hanging over the edge of the bed ( ) only to see a truly ENORMOUS spider appear from under the bed inches from my face carrying...wait for it.....a daddy long legs in its MOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say I have never done that again...far too traumatic.....for both parties concerned

There used to be a spray available in Spain....from Mercadona actually, that killed them on contact which was really reassuring to have it sprayed around all my doors, windows and bed and the effects lasted for 6 months but its not around now, I think the EU must have banned it for being particularly strong chemicals, which I dont normally use and I dont like killing anything including spiders but....needs must as they say. I could kill them 'remotely' by a spray but not in cold blood...hence my problem now knowing this current one is on the loose somewhere !

Lynda

 

[morphix]

It was probably the long legged house spider, Teganaria domestica, seen on this link in my wildlife website.

I know it's little reassurance Lynda, but they are completely harmless and are scared of contact. No need for tape, it will do its best to keep clear and stay hidden as much as it can. This is one of two species of spider which need our help, the one you previously saw in the spider story on my website is the other one, Pholcus Phalangeoides. That one cannot survive under 10 degrees C so needs to share our warm dwellings.

I think these spiders are the ones people fear the most, because they have such thick hairy legs and can get so big and run so fast. I must confess they give me the shivers and if I see one, I absolutely have to catch it and relocate it somewhere in the building.. You're right about these spiders avoiding contact and preferring to hide away in nooks and crannies.. it's very rare I see them. I had a cat once that used to spot or hear these spiders and catch them! Suddenly it would just sit bolt upright, stare all excited, run over and start pawing at it and next thing it would be eating the spider!

Flecc as you're knowledgeable about spiders perhaps you can identify a species that is in my flat which as you can see from the photos I took earlier has thin long legs and a tiny body.. these seem to be people-friendly spiders and don't seem to mind making a web by my pillow and I don't mind them either..I often rescue them when I'm vacuuming and let them walk on my hand

They have a curious defence mechanism if you get too close to their web, they shake somehow on the web and make it oscillate very rapidly so the spider becomes invisible. Very neat! I will have to film one of them doing it as I know you're interested in insects. It might even be a tactic to catch prey if they sense movement rather than defensive, I'm not sure.

It's strange but, at my old house less than a mile away I never saw one of these thin spiders ever in the 29 years I lived there, but in this flat, even from the first day they've been a permanent fixture and seem to be prolific and very visible..I can go around and probably count 30 spiders easily.. another odd thing too about these thin spiders is that they seem to be "hunters" for want of a better word...they don't passively wait around for flies to get caught on their web they will actively go after insects like flies or moths if one even goes close to a web, I've seen some of them run, leap and attack an insect and then cover it in web..it's an impressive sight! Another curious thing too, there seems to be a long standing "territorial war" between the thin spiders and the Teganaria domestica, and the thin spiders seem to be winning. I occasionally see the Teganaria domestica spiders dead all covered in web so perhaps the thin spiders have killed them and eat them!

 

[funkylyn]

It was probably the long legged house spider, Teganaria domestica, seen on this link in my wildlife website.

I know it's little reassurance Lynda, but they are completely harmless and are scared of contact. No need for tape, it will do its best to keep clear and stay hidden as much as it can. This is one of two species of spider which need our help, the one you previously saw in the spider story on my website is the other one, Pholcus Phalangeoides. That one cannot survive under 10 degrees C so needs to share our warm dwellings.

I know Flecc, but its a totally irrational fear that I have, I have got better in that I can now deal with money spiders and slightly larger ones but these big ones reduce me to hysterics, I wish I could get over it because it makes life very difficult and I have heard that they will run across you whilst you are sleeping, which does nothing for my equilibrium when trying to go to sleep. At the moment I am sleeping with the light on so that every time I wake up I can immediately scan the walls !
Also, I react badly to bites and some of them DO bite, I have to carry an epi pen with me at all times.

Lynda

OMG...Flecc....Ive just clicked on your link.....you might have warned me the picture was THAT big.....I have just set all the dogs off barking when I screamed.........................

 

[morphix]

Lynda don't click my link above if you're gonna be freaked out! Or perhaps like me, the thin spiders don't bother you? I too have heard those big house spiders can bite...I'm the same as you, if I see one in bedroom, there is NO WAY I would sleep in that room until it's caught.

 

[funkylyn]

SMALL thin ones are ok !......sort of.....

Im working on the assumption that if it was still in there it would have come out again at night ??
God...it was SOOOOOO BIG.......at least 3 inches.....
I opened my velux window all day hoping it had gone out and havent seen it for the last 3 nights, the trouble is I am too scared to catch it if seen, hence sleeping on the settee and those 'spider catchers' have too short a handle,I need to be a few metres away from them, so now I am wondering if a long pole fishing net would work ?
Otherwise I am going to have to get another cat, but thats a problem when I go away in the m/home........oh why is life never easy........but Im sure a cat would still be less bother than a resident 'spider brave' man lol

Lynda

Oh NO Paul........thats too big.....please tell me you arent happily sharing your house with THIRTY of THEM ?????????

 

[morphix]

SMALL thin ones are ok !......sort of.....

Im working on the assumption that if it was still in there it would have come out again at night ??
God...it was SOOOOOO BIG.......at least 3 inches.....
I opened my velux window all day hoping it had gone out and havent seen it for the last 3 nights, the trouble is I am too scared to catch it if seen, hence sleeping on the settee and those 'spider catchers' have too short a handle,I need to be a few metres away from them, so now I am wondering if a long pole fishing net would work ?
Otherwise I am going to have to get another cat, but thats a problem when I go away in the m/home........oh why is life never easy........but Im sure a cat would still be less bother than a resident 'spider brave' man lol

Lynda

Oh NO Paul........thats too big.....please tell me you arent happily sharing your house with THIRTY of THEM ?????????

30 is an underestimate, that's just the ones I can SEE..I imagine there's probably 10 times that number in reality, a whole community of these thin spiders! They seem to breed like rabbits.. Although I have the same irrational fear of spiders like you strangely these thin spiders don't bother me to all, so I don't mind sharing my flat with them and I even quite like them!

I have no problem catching the big ones and don't mind getting close up to them..I use the jam jar and card method...just put the jar over it quickly and slide a postcard or similar underneath, move the card a bit and the spider naturally goes into the jar, then just lift the jar and card together off the wall and your spider is safely housed in the jar, you can put your hand over the card to keep it secured...then when it comes to releasing it, I just upturn the jar and quickly remove the card and give it a shake at arms length somewhere ;-) My technique never fails. But obviously if you're too afraid to get that close you're gonna have to be a bit more creative.. the chances are though, you won't see that spider again. They tend just disappear into cracks don't they and you never see them again.

 

[funkylyn]

the chances are though, you won't see that spider again. They tend just disappear into cracks don't they and you never see them again.

Thanks for the reassurance Paul.....although it would have to be some crack for that one to disappear into ! ........I prefer to pretend that its left the building lol

Lynda

 

[flecc]

Flecc as you're knowledgeable about spiders perhaps you can identify a species that is in my flat which as you can see from the photos I took earlier has thin long legs and a tiny body.. these seem to be people-friendly spiders and don't seem to mind making a web by my pillow and I don't mind them either..I often rescue them when I'm vacuuming and let them walk on my hand

This is the one I mentioned at the end of my above post. It's Pholcus Phalangeoides, completely dependent on our buildings for survival since it dies at under 10 degrees C. They have little difficulty in killing other much larger spiders which cannot get to their tiny bodies before they get snared by Phalangeoides lassoing them with silk lines. The high speed shaking is their normal defence mechanism to put off predators, equivalent to the way some creatures make themselves bigger when threatened. They don't spin orb webs, just rest areas, but they lay long silk lines around rooms, creating the much hated cobweb trails. These lines are trip wires, signalling the spider when something bumps into them so that it can go and hunt it down.

This following link is to a photo story on my website about them, follow it through to find how fascinating they can be:

From 8 legs to 440, a spider story

 

[morphix]

Thanks for the reassurance Paul.....although it would have to be some crack for that one to disappear into ! ........I prefer to pretend that its left the building lol

Lynda

Hehe.. being the entrepreneurial type you've given me an idea now for a spider removal device using a telescopic or folding stick, a bit like my walking stick.. it would have a clear tube at the end wide enough to trap even the biggest beast.. and you would press it against the wall to engage the trap, then pull a lever to open it ;-) Maybe there's a gap in the market for longer-distance spider trappers lol

I've heard it said that spiders and insects in general don't like sound above a certain frequency and you can get those plug-in ultrasonic things which keep spiders out of a room.. I think there's even software online you can try which can make ultrasonic sound, so you could maybe setup your laptop in there with that going at full volume and see if that drives him out..you would have to cover your dogs ears though they can hear sounds much beyond the human hearing range can't they ;-) Saying that, perhaps you're better off just assuming he's gone and forgetting about it

 

[flecc]

Our posts crossed Paul, my reply on your spider is above.

The best way to catch spiders is to give them something to run into in order to hide, even a clear glass tumbler will do. Just hold the tumbler etc in their path, use the other hand or a stick to threaten them from behind and they'll just run into hiding. Then just tip the tumbler outside.

 

[funkylyn]

Get cracking on that device Paul.....sod the studies and website...lets get our priorities right lol
Remember it MUST be a good 2 to 3 metres long and fool proof...ie no way that spider can get loose and run down the pole !

I promise I will do all your market research FOC

Lynda