Kevan Cummins's activity

Just thought i posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared...sorry for moving off discussion thread - have to admit I didn't real all replies but saw discussion of ticks and other beasties so thought it had already gone a bit off topcic...anyway back to hornets There's some really good advice and info about hornets on wikipedia and I've copeid a snippet below

Alarm escalation

Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees.[5] It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack.

Sorry if I got off subject - back to hornets...there's some really interesting info on wikipedia about differences between European hornets and yellow jackets and hornets attacking people which I've copied below - which looks like sound advice. I usually run a mile at the site of a wasp so you won't get me killing a hornet in the first place, let alone doing it near a nest.

Alarm escalation

Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees.[5] It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack

I used to have regular dreams that seemed to end with a wasp either getting in my hair or down the back of my shirt and then it would sting and I would wake up.... not a bad nightmare compared to what others might have but still not a nice way to wake up in the night.

When I went to live on a small island near Hong Kong this came to an abrupt end. I got stung by one of these beasts while sleeping in bed.... then again while sleeping in bed....then again while sitting on the coach watching TV. That was the end of the wasp nightmares....only to be replaced by ... I think you can guess.

I lived in that house for 4 months before deciding to move somewhere that wasn't infested with centipedes - I still got a few more nasty bites (in some places where only a man could ever be bitten) over the following years but I'm no longer that worried about wasps and coming to Italy seems to have cured me of the centipede nightmares.

I did see a small scorpion on my bedroom wall last night, and one in my wellington boot...I hope that I haven't found a new beastie to fear.

Kevan

I've added the z's to the list of food and cuts of meat etc http://www.italymag.co.uk/community/wiki/italian-culinary-terminology so we can move up the alphabet as well as down and meet in the middle.... and becuase the Z's are easy and they include my favourite word of all zuppa inglese which is how to describe trifle in Italian :-)Kevan

I worked with a friend las year to help our local butcher by translating the list of cuts that he had on his wall - I've searched and searched on my computer but can't find the document - i think it was on one of my two laptops that someone stole from my hotel room in Rome in December (still waiting and waiting for the hotel insurance to pay up for them...but that's another story). I'll see if my friend still has a hard copy of it and post it here if I get a result.Kevan

I guess I need to add this description to the page as it's not that clear from the map - I use google maps and know how to mark the course but not how to add notes - I'll try and work this out so that maps are clearer.Kevan

Hi AnnecIf you look at the satellite map at the bottom of the Piano Grande walk (just below the video) - it shows Castelluccio at one end of the Piano Grande and the start of the walk at the opposite end of the plain. It's an incredibly straight road and right at the end of the road, just before it hits the bend and starts climbing out of the valley, there is a turn off onto the track at the start of the walk. You will also see the pylons for the electricity running in the direction of the walk and a clear track to follow. You can park here (just at the start of the track) and the walk starts and ends here. We took blankets and had a picnic not far from the car - the kids played on the track as we didn't want them trampling too many of the wild flowers.

Hi Gala PlacidiaGreat work on setting up the wiki and especially for making it an open group and easy to join immediately (phew thank goodness someone is catching on about how to get the community going )I've added some words and made a suggestion in the comments www.italymag.co.uk/community/wiki/italian-culinary-terminology#comment-2418 about adding articles to words - this helps show learners (us) whether the noun is masculine or feminine and helps with all those tricky words ending in -e - it also makes it easier to learn and rememberKevan

"I'm still a little confused and it looks as if your'e the man to explain this to me.  Okay I have a public group, Vita Urbana.  I have members and  I only want members to post.  That is possible isn't it???" QUOTE FROM SEMPRE ITALIAHi Sempre Italia I just visitied your group and thought it might help explain if I gave feedback about your group. If I log out and visit your group as an anonymous user then I see just your welcome message and that there are 9 comments. But I can't read the comments. I can't really make a decision on whether or not to join your group just by reading the welcome message alone. I register on ItalyMag and visit your group. I can only see a welcom message but I can read the 9 comments - looks interesting but nobody has posted anything in your group that I can see. I can't really make a decision on whether to join your group. However, your group could be really lively with lots of postings and lots of discussion. But if everyone chooses to not make posts public then I can't see what's going on in the group which is a real shame if it is in fact full of great discussion. In fact I did want to join your group but couldn't see the 'join group' button - must be somewhere but I gave up looking after 20 seconds and moved on.... I will return in a moment and try again because I do want to join your group. I hope it's not like the other groups I joined where I had to wait until the group admin approved my request ... better if the setting is automatic membership...see you in the group is you will have me as a member... Kevan 

I disagree actually Kevin.  What happened in my opening welcome post was that non members posted,  which defeats surely the purpose of having members.  regards, sempre_italiaThere is something wrong with the group settings - there are lots of options in Drupal Groups and it's a bit of a nightmare for a website admin to set it up. Also the groups are very powerful when you give a group to a new group manager then you need to make sure that group is set up the way they want it to work.