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Oak's an interesting choice for indoor plant!

Didn't Thatcher and Major go to normal schools? Although Thatcher went to Oxford after. Major left school at 16.

This is why I haven't started yet ..

Wow, so even if you test positive, if you feel well enough it's back to work?

Fair enough. You've inspired me to go out and flip the mushy nasturtium mess from all over the path to back onto the beds.

I'd suggest not cutting back anything - if it's perennial, cutting now risks frost damaging whatever it is. The messy stuff might be hiding little creatures over winter or hold seeds or other edibles.

They're bare wood. They're all British Gypsum so probably been used for transporting plasterboard or similar. But we're going to treat them with fire retardant after sanding anyway.

Right. Thanks. A couple packs each of 80 and 120 picked up on the way to work. I would've gone for hand sanding, but workshop lead suggests palm sanders. (No need for hiring.)

Probably a how long is a piece of string thing, but I'm in charge of making some structures out of pallet wood. Not the slats on top, the chunkier 'ribs' underneath bigger pallets, they're roughly 45x70mm in cross section. They're in variable condition from having been out in the rain, and are a bit rough. They're also quite lightweight softwood. We need to sand them, as lightly as possible, but to provide a less splintery, more hand-friendly finish. No paint/varnish will be applied.

What grit would you recommend and can it be done in one pass? 80? 120? (There is unskilled labour involved so the easier the better.)

Yup those are the ones. They're cheaper for everything else I need too so all good (washers, nuts etc).

Brilliant thanks all - orbital look just the ticket!

I need to buy a few hundred 100mm long M8 bolts. Any suggestions where from that will deliver by the end of the week?

Screwfix have them, partially threaded about the last 20mm (according to reviews). This should be enough but only just, so I'd rather find some others that have a bit more thread. (Ideally comparable price ~23p each or less.)

Aren't the big companies all about showing off their ESG these days?
(I haven't read the article yet)

Really nice. Travel chess?

Are you sure this should be in DIY?

My Cult Pens order came with a small roll of lovehearts and a paperclip with a smiley face

You "just" need someone very persuasive to lead -
https://www.power.film/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/18/power-to-the-people-the-neighbours-turning-their-london-street-into-a-solar-power-station
They haven't got the whole street on board though:

“Some people just shut the door before we started speaking,” says Dan. “Then there were people who were dying or divorcing or moving. Or having a loft conversion.”

There is a lot of work going on in estate retrofit for housing associations and councils - would be great to make an exemplar of conservation area and mixed/private tenure - show what can be done!

I think it does reduce how manky the compost caddy gets (frequent introduction of warm into moist environment = happy bacteria, mould etc)

At least they're not straight on the draining board or worse, the countertop. But you wouldn't wash up your plate/saucer after every cup of tea would you? Seems unnecessary and wasteful.

I hear pavatex recommended but not sure if it's the best for your purpose. Generally, natural building materials suppliers are knowledgeable and give advice, so calling a few might be your best option.
Noticed this place has free online courses, including on internal wall insulation - https://woodfibreinsulation.co.uk/courses/

Suppliers you could try: Back to Earth, Ecomerchant, Unity lime, Mike Wye, Ty Mawr

Think I have posted this before, but the free PDF download has been reinstated. Can be a useful thing to push local council / conservation officer with - https://www.architectscan.org/conservation-area-toolkit-retrofit-homes

Civic Square are Birmingham based and trying to facilitate shared, street-scale retrofit - https://civicsquare.cc/

Your block could make a great demonstration/exemplar, but of course would require a lot of human energy and tenacity to lead...

Subsidies can maintain artificially high margins

Fossil fuel industry is supported by such an insane level of subsidy, anything for alternatives is insignificant. And yes as @Soul said, higher earners generally = higher consumers (of energy, and everything else). It's regulation or incentive if you want people to change how they do things.

We picked up an old hand fork in some stately home garden shop, it seems to be made of thick cast aluminium and works well with the addition of some string wrapped round the handle. At some point I'm anticipating it snapping. But until then all good.

The ones made from gently shaped sheet steel! So pointless!