Sort of.
There weren't many Octopussys up on Rombalds Moor's farms though.
Gross?????
You seem to be using a few too many Americanisms in your dotage, Mr Manthorp. Cease and desist, please, for you are part of the last bastion of correct usage of the English language here.
I believe they were/are. And I'm sure that one of them is now trying to be a celeb chef with that Ramsay feller.
Fame, eh?
excellent work (again)
probally stupid question, but are knots like that one one the bell/stairs a real pain?
The discolourations don't bother me too much - except when they cut across an important line. There's no predicting them, they're like a mild practical joke played by wood.
Proper knots and shakes are a different matter and an irritation. But like hurricanes and diarrhoea, they're a natural and largely unpredictable force of nature, and there's not much to be gained from fretting over them. Hard beeswax can work wonders.