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Author Topic: Will I ever be able to relax here……...  (Read 9499 times)

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« on: July 29, 2014, 10:13:26 am »
High class problem I know but…… much as I love our smallholding, I find I can't really relax here.

Sitting out on our lovely south-east facing back patio having my morning coffee should be an oasis of calm and serenity…… but I just can't relax.

My mind just won't sit still:
  • …...have I got a red mite infestation in the main chicken house?
  • …...the polytunnel needs watering
  • …...need to tie that label back on
  • …...must chop more onions for the freezer
  • …...remember to book train ticket for York on Friday
  • ……string up the shallots
  • ……where's the dog?
  • ……what am I doing sitting here when there is so much to do………..
Am I alone in this???
« Last Edit: July 29, 2014, 10:33:36 am by suziequeue »
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Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 11:01:37 am »
Definitely not alone. I certainly recognise the 'where is the dog?'
When the weather is nice  I try to sit outside to do some of my crafts but am always looking round to - count the sheep, check the chickens haven't gone on the road, watch out that squirrels aren't pinching the chicken food, make sure the ducklings haven't drowned. I can't properly relax but I'm not sure I would want it any other way.  ;D
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Louise Gaunt

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2014, 11:07:16 am »
I used to be like that, but I have learnt to live in the moment, and give myself permission to enjoy a bit of down time. I find I can get through much more when I get going again, and the pressing jobs don't seem so
urgent after all!

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 11:12:36 am »
I am like that too.  I find writing a list very helpful, it sort of gets it out of my head on to a piece of paper, and helps me to decide what is urgent and what needs doing but isn't pressing.

Somewhere_by_the_river

  • Joined Dec 2013
  • Near Llandeilo
    • Angela French Graphite Artist
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2014, 11:13:05 am »
Nope, not alone - my idea of relaxing is getting out and digging over the new veggie beds (winter veg soon to go in), scything or mowing the lawn... We often say we've forgotten how to relax, but then, that's the way we like it. Nearest we get is an excursion somewhere... but that's usually armed with cameras and a 'reference gathering' trip for our artwork, so work really.  ;D ...Planting seeds is my most relaxed moment I think and I do get carried away somewhat as a result... then have a million seedlings to transplant!!

...If the alternative is the regular 9-5 with nothing so wonderful to come home to would we really have it any other way?! Often poor, frequently exhausted, but oh so happy to have it so!  :excited:

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2014, 11:21:38 am »
Definitely not alone .... a to do list which not only gets longer daily but alters daily depending on the weather .... the best way I've discovered to relax is to invite another countryside/smallholder over for coffee ... doesn't happen often but so very relaxing when it happens..... especially when they bring cake (where are you SBTR?!!!)

... now where is the dog ????
Linda

Don't wrestle with pigs, they will love it and you will just get all muddy.

Let go of who you are and become who you are meant to be.

http://nantygroes.blogspot.co.uk/
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doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2014, 11:48:11 am »
Write a to do list while you are supposedly relaxing - but include some things that you have either completed, almost completed, or won't take long.  Then score them off when done.  Gives a tremendous boost and you can then reward your self with a couple of minutes emptying your mind of the other jobs!
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2014, 01:18:42 pm »

I used to be like that but have calmed down a bit since we 'downsized'  We realised that we actually did have too much to do and, neither of us being in the best of health, we cut back on the variety of stock we keep.  We got rid of the ducks altogether, reduced our sheep breeds to one (although another seemed to sneak in there), we keep sheep numbers right down and we are strict with ourselves over that. We didn't get more pigs, or goats as we would love to do, and I haven't set up my fleece flock again. 
We stopped making hay for some of our neighbours, as that was far more stressful than just doing our own, and was way too much work for no return (and they usually managed to be somewhere else at baling/carting/stacking time)
We grassed over a good half of the veg garden and work the rest with machinery where we can.  We improved our fencing so stock and dogs can't get out, so no need to worry there.  We did have a seep hose for watering the polytunnel but it silted up so we're back to watering with a hose, and that does take up a lot of time.  I am learning that I don't have to preserve every single veg and piece of fruit, and I now work out how much we will use, add a bit on for the boys and their families, and once those are made I make no more.  Some fruit is wasted, but in fact the birds and hens have a happy feast, and I don't have to chuck out so much unused stuff after a couple of years spoiling in the freezer.

So have a good think about where you could reduce your workload, because being stressed by your smallholding is not what it's all about. Are there areas where you overproduce?  Would your stock be less of a problem with reduced numbers?  We had found that we made no more from our animals having a smaller flock, once time and feed were taken into consideration, but they were so much healthier with a lower stocking density.
 Nowadays, we still have far more to do than we have time for, but it's so much better than sitting in front of the telly bored out of our trees  ;D and nothing like as much as we used to push ourselves to do back before we took the decision to downsize.
We did get our front garden poshified, to give me somewhere to sit and relax, but of course there's always weeding to be done, planting out, cutting back etc.  I've learnt to say 'sod it' and go back to the job when I feel more up to it.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Somewhere_by_the_river

  • Joined Dec 2013
  • Near Llandeilo
    • Angela French Graphite Artist
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2014, 01:29:52 pm »
...Actually, if I can add to my last... I find browsing the TAS site rather relaxing - knowing that there are so many of us mad fools out there helps no end  :roflanim: That's living all right!!

Backinwellies - I hear you... Give me time to finish this pic and we'll see what cake can be rustled up...  ;D

Ideation

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2014, 01:32:10 pm »
NOPE!

That's pretty much the story of my life. My other half and I had 'words' a few months ago, because it was getting to her a bit and she felt we needed to slow things down a little. I would be grafting all day, come in at dark to eat and unwind, and find myself making lists of what needed doing the next day, and talking to her about it. I have an obsessive personality anyway, so it was getting to her a little.

We decided to try to stop with 'new' things and concentrate on consolidtion, and also plan to get less done each day, being practical, rather than optimistic and being left feeling like not enough had been achieved by each days end. We now just run sheep and pigs, a long with a handleful of poultry.

There will always be worries, and if you are like me, there will always be plans and dreams each day of what could be achieved in the future. But taking the time to just sit down, soak it all up and think / remember why you are doing it all, is very important.

Having said that, just when you sit down to relax is usually when you spot something that needs doing, or one of the bloody animals gets itself ill / injured / in trouble!




midtown

  • Joined Oct 2013
  • English Lake District
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2014, 01:57:44 pm »
To quote Ideation;
"NOPE!
That's pretty much the story of my life. "


Just about sums it up! :thumbsup:

Plus, to add another to the list - "Where's the money coming from to pay for that?"
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.  ~Douglas Adams

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2014, 02:18:50 pm »


Backinwellies - I hear you... Give me time to finish this pic and we'll see what cake can be rustled up...  ;D

 :excited:
Linda

Don't wrestle with pigs, they will love it and you will just get all muddy.

Let go of who you are and become who you are meant to be.

http://nantygroes.blogspot.co.uk/
www.nantygroes.co.uk
Nantygroes  facebook page

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2014, 03:06:47 pm »
I find I can handle the busyness of smallholding stuff ok, and I can handle the stress of working full time...... but not both together!  It always feels as though I'm JUST keeping all of the plates spinning, but one wee upset could send the whole lot crashing down!
 
Thanks for raising this Suziequeue - I'm looking forward to hearing more of what people have to say on this, and how they handle the multi-tasking and feeling of NEVER being "finished" no matter what they do!!
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

renee

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • jämtland
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2014, 04:40:28 pm »
Oh, I'm never like that - I never sit down ::)
But seriously, I have learnt to live with being a work addict but do take precautions. If I see I have an overload I am quick to take drastic decisions and cut something out. In the mornings I mentally go through the tasks that need doing,whilst in the evenings I have taught myself to go through the things I have acheived during the day and block out the jobs I didn't get round to

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Will I ever be able to relax here……...
« Reply #14 on: July 29, 2014, 07:47:34 pm »
Yesterday evening I went to check my sheep in the field just down the road, just before sunset.  A smartly-dressed couple had parked their sports car in the field entrance and were photographing the view.
I pulled up in the ancient Landie with the door hanging off, and climbed out, covered in straw, blood, mud and GKWE (God knows what else) ::)
We stood there chatting for a while and eventually she said 'Are you counting those sheep?'.  'Err, yes', I replied.  'I do it all the time'.   That look of pity came my way.
They had driven out from the town for some fresh air.  We watched the sun set together and then she said 'I suppose you see this every evening'. 'Yep' ;D ;D ;D ;D

You pay your money and take your choice ;) .

 

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