Frozen / Selling stuff / Writers block - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Monday 6 January, 2025

by Rosemary at 8:42am in Smallholding No comments Add your own

Monday 30th December

Breezy and dry – not as wet or windy as forecast, although the wind was strong overnight and there had been a wee bit rain. We seem to be missing the worst of the weather at the moment.

Read late into the night last night; so tired this morning, so had a wee lie in until 10am. What a treat!. I was reading the Scottish Independence Convention’s Transitions Papers. They probably need a bit of an update (and a decent proof reader) – most were written in 2020/21– but they are very good.

Murdo and Anne popped round for tea and cake. I meant to go up to The Hub, but I forgot it was Monday. Still Sunday in my head.

After lunch, the wind dropped but we had some heavy rain showers.

Tuesday 31^st December

Did you know Christmas was banned in Scotland until 1958? It was still celebrated quietly, but mainly for the weans. That’s why Hogmanay was such a big deal here. It’s a wee bit sad that the old Scottish Hogmanay traditions are being lost.

Dan trimmed the holly. It was quite a big haircut, actually, but it looks better for it.

Haircut for the holly.

And the sun got out a bit.

Blue skies.

We welcomed the New Year at 9pm, in support of Ukraine. Please let 2025 bring an end to this awful war. All wars, in fact.

Wednesday 1^st January

New year, new me. Or probably not. Really miserable here – bitterly cold, windy and wet. My hands got wet while I was mucking out the ponies and I thought my fingers were going to freeze off. They didn’t, of course.

I’ve kept the ponies in the barn today. It’s quite wet underfoot and it’s miserable, and I don’t want Mickey to be wet and cold. I don’t think he’s as hardy as Smokey. They have hay, fresh water, a salt lick, a scratching brush, room to move around and each other. Not too bad a situation for them. They’ll get out tomorrow – it’s forecast to be cold, dry and sunny.

Dan was going to plant out some beech hedging but I persuaded him (without TOO much difficulty) to leave it until tomorrow.

Ordered a wee Lego set – a tractor, trailer and sheep - and a new milk pan. Last of the big spenders, haha.

However, we also sorted out the order for trees for the Spinney. We’ve gone for Silver Birch, Alder, Rowan, Holly, and Crab Apple. We have some Hawthorn, Hazel and Elder left over from the Home hedge and we’ll be able to use some of the decorative Willow that we already have. Added some dogwood; common, black, red and yellow stemmed. We’ll take three of the 25 common, plus the three each of black, red and yellow stemmed, to create a grove in the front garden. And finally, 150 mixed heathers for the new heather bed. I plan to add a few other shrubs – probably hebes, to give more winter interest. How exciting!

Six eggs from six hens today. Not THAT unusual, either, and not had a day with fewer than three all winter. Clever girls!

Thursday 2^nd January

Full sun, but very cold. Water frozen in the barn; the ponies drink very little – until the pipes freeze then suddenly they empty the trough.

I was going to clean the polytunnel cover, but I was worried about it being too cold and it getting damaged. But maybe it was just an excuse.

Friday 3^rd January

Still cold, but very little wind and the sun is warm. Lorna and I had our usual Friday walk along the front at Arbroath. All the dog poop was frozen so that’s another bonus. Filthy people.

Arbroath beach.

Sold the meat slicer. No interest in the trailer or bottles. Dan’s listing Lego and it’s selling steadily. I am building a pile of stuff for the charity shop on Monday.

Saturday 4^th January

No change in the weather. Everything is frozen solid. We’re still selling stuff to clear out the byre. I suspect Much Fiddling may end up in there. But not today. Yesterday, I decided to change the layout of Much Fiddling – I never liked where the railway station ended up, so now it’s in total disarray and I can’t decide where to put anything. Some sets coming out completely, until I get a third board.

Sold the Bradley smoke generator and ordered meat chicks for April collection.

Sunday 5^th January

No change in the weather this morning – still frozen solid. But no snow and none forecast. By dusk, things had loosened up a bit and we had some light precipitation. It’s to loosen off a bit over the next week or so. Murdo is scheduled to be working on Tuesday but I think Dan’s struggling a bit to see what they can do, given the frozen nature of the ground – pruning apple trees, planning hedging and any fencing work is pretty much eliminated.

I made a start on my speech for ORFC on Friday. I have writer's block.