The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: RUSTYME on January 12, 2010, 06:01:16 pm
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Today was another rough day , well at least after 3pm it was anyway .
Up untill then it was just very windy , and a bit colder than it had been yesterday . Just after 3 I was just sorting things out before coming home from the land , after feeding the horses .
Well the wind picked up even more , could hardly stand at times ..., and then the snow started . Inside 15 minutes it was almost a white out . I could hardly see a thing . I spent 5 minutes waiting in the woods with the dogs , just in case it was going to get any worse , I was contemplating staying in the little caravan , it really was that bad.
However it eased and the snow became much less , so I thought "that's it , make a break for home ". So I did . It was about as bad as it has been .
Very VERY heavy snow at times and the wind actually stopped me in my tracks at times , I just could not move against it !!
After about 25 minutes or so of this, it eased again , and I was able to get a march on, to cover as much ground as possible before the next wave. As it turned out the worst had passed and it was just very windy with a good fall of snow dropping , but at times it started to get a bit scary out there.
The funny thing is that apart from a runny nose , I was a warm as toast , my hands were litterally steaming as the snow landed on them .
The dogs took it on themselves ...well Millie actually , to be a pain in the bum and try to pull me off my feet , but we got home without any problems . Then I had to walk the other two .....they just blasted up and down the hill a few times and I thought that will do ...so back in we went ...fed the dogs ....then sat down with a mug of soup , followed by a coffee.....and the world was all ok again ...
I got mail today, for the first time in over a week . In it were a couple of knee supports , the elastic stretchy type . So I had popped one of those on to my knee before I left . Oh it was heaven ...I could feel the support from the word go ...All the way to the land it made a huge difference , but it was while carrying the bags of haylage the 300 yards along the track that it really came into play . It gave so much support as I was slipping and tripping all over the place , I only had one very slight twinge throughout the whole trip.
I really hope we are near the end of this weather now , I need a break from it , as I am sure everyone else does too. I NEED NORMAL ...... well my normal at least ..... 7+ miles a day in this is hard going , bad enough in good weather, but in this it is purgatory !!!
I hope everyone else is ok and not getting hit too hard by this latest bout of bad weather ....it will get better ... but saying that doesn't make it any easier to cope with what we have now !!! ::) ;D
cheers
Russ
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I so admire you, Russ. What a soldier you are. I do hope you are warm and cosy now with the dogs.
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cheers Annie ...lol... most would say what a nutter....yes I am warm enough in here now , and the dogs are all curled up fast asleep . All my aches have eased now and I can sit in a bit of comfort . I try not to think about what tomorrow will bring , but I hope it is better than today . At least the wind is set to ease ... that makes a huge difference.
The soldier bit is apt really ... as it is a bit like yomping , as they say in the army nowdays . Head down and just stick one foot in front of the other , and don't think of anything .... just walk ...it really works too . I must have that sort of mentality , as my dad was a soldier for 16 years , and I was bought up like a squadie...dad was a drill Sgt , and an absolute b*stard of one at that .
If I am still here next year , I will fit a woodburner just in case we get another winter like this ...
Keep warm and well Annie ..
cheers
Russ
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You are brilliant Russ! Thank goodness the knee support has helped. I think you of you everyday when I'm out and about. Since work has been slow I've been helping a friend muck out her 5 horses and feed her deer. She hasn't left the house for over a week as her car is parked at the house and she can't drive down the lane should have parked at the bottom of the lane really, but maybe she wanted to be snowed in!!
Hope you get on OK tomorrow. Make sure you don't start skipping up the lane now that your knee is feeling better!!!!! ;D
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May I ask where you are Russ?? if your not far from me Ill come and give you a hand!
Maddox
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keep on truckin russ, thought youd of made an igloo by now........................neil
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hello Neil,...lol...not deep enough for that here YET !! some bloke up in Birmingham made one though .... hope you are keeping well mate...
cheers for the offer Maddox...I am near Llandysul in Wales ...I only really hate doing it as I am actually walking .... and for a short time when I get home ...but then I warm up and have a coffee or 3 and it is all ok again ...till tomorrow !! ::) spring will be here sometime soon ?? fingers crossed.. then it will be digging the veggie plot ready for sowing . Along with the main veg plot I am hoping to get the grain growing plot dug too this year , for the wheat, barley , oats and rye...that will be fun 60'x40' of undug ground . Anyway ... thanks again for the offer...
cheers Miri, yes the support certainly did the trick today , it made life soooooo much easier , and less painfull too !! When I am out and about walking to the land , I don't think of anything apart from the next step ...lol....and then every now and then ..." oh, stand dogs ...car coming ....ok, walk on " back to the next step ...and the next .. it is the only way I can do it ..just switch off completely , unless it is a nice sunny day .. then I can look about and enjoy the view. I walk past an old Mott and Bailey castle mound everyday , and everyday I look up at it and think what it would have been like in 1140 ish when it was built , how hard their life would have been . It is always bleak at that point in bad weather ... very windy , and very cold ... they must have had it tuff . It can be very eerie and strange there when there are no cars about . The only sounds are the wind , the creek of a tree , and the sound of the snipe and the wild duck in the field below, and the cry of the redtailed kites above . The crows give out their cor to make it even spookier and bleaker ...
cheers
Russ
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hi russ, spring is only weeks away now, there IS light at the end of the tunnel......if i say it often enough i will start to believe it! the problem is , do we want the ground to stay frozen as i can drive on it to take haylage, water etc across the fields, if it thaws then we are back to mud. i really must get a track put down next summer to make life easier for the following winter. i can see you problem in trying to walk to and from your land though....... but keep smiling, come the summer this will be a dim and distant memory!
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It sounds very beautiful - I like bleak lanscapes and the cor of crows - very Gormenghast!
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Put's my walk up the icy path to the chickens a doddle, that's enough for me!!!!
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I was feeling a bit sorry for myself with all this snow, until I started reading about you, and your long walk. Before I moved here, I quite often walked the 8 miles to my animals, the 8 miles there were ok, it was coming back, all uphill!!! Thank goodness my animals are all just within a few minutes walk now, except 5 ponies 4 miles away.
I am fed up of the snow now......19th December we got snowed in, and here we are, nearly 4 weeks later, still trudging over fields because we cannot get the car anywhere near the house. Seemed to be thawing yesterday, but not much change as yet. A good 10ins or so on the ground. Been snowing most of today, and the wind has got up, so drifting snow a problem. Quite a few of our major routes are closed, and I have heard there are 10ft drifts on one high level road. Got a snow blower up there trying to sort it.
I just wish the temperature would rise above freezing, and we could see the grass again, I am sure we would all feel better. With all the walking through the deep snow, my arthritic knees are swollen, and I am hobbling. I can sympathise with you on this.....I have a knee support, and find that helps.
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The soldier bit is apt really Head down and just stick one foot in front of the other , and don't think of anything .... just walk ...it really works too . I must have that sort of mentality , as my dad was a soldier for 16 years , and I was bought up like a squadie...dad was a drill Sgt , and an absolute b*stard of one at that .
My(second) late husband was a mountaineer (he met his demise on Lochnagar) - when I went with him and found some bits hard he would say " just do the Alpine Plod, my Bird"
My Dad(I loved him to bits) was a Pipe Major in the Cameronians and every Sunday afternoon he had my sister and I marching ahead of him and Mum, I can still hear him "Anne, Pull your choulders back, don't slouch, pick your feet up and MARCH"
Keep marching Russ, we'll all march into Spring together - fitter and slimmer! I've just been to agility with one of my little girls. ;D
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You'll be ok Russ. Theres always a light at the end of the tunnel. it will soon be spring.As for me i'm in the outback in Australia and have just been swimming in a billabong along with Emu's, kangaroos,wild goats and wild cattle. The temperature was 34.degrees. Best wishes to you all.
sheila
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Sounds like hard work Russ and you could do with a sledge to carry things. I am lucky that all our animals are now on the doorstep so to speak but I have done what you are doing in the past and know just how dangerous being out in a snoe storm can be. Hope you have a mobile phone with you just in case you fall and cannot get up. Snow has been up to my knees over the past few weeks and just trying to feed the ponies on the hill field is hard going. Yesterday is the first day my outside taps have been working what a blessing that is. Roll on the Spring :)
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Annie, my Grandfather was a Cameronian. When my aunt was a child he used to make her walk around outside with a broom behind her back to teach her to keep her shoulders back!! She did have very beautiful deportment, b ut is the humiliation really worth it?!
How are you getting on today Russ? I was helping my friend muck out her horses and feed her deer. I was pushing a barrow full of pooh and went A over T and now have a very achey knee. Gave my friend a good laugh though!!
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Annie, my Grandfather was a Cameronian.
I wonder if they would have known each other? Then it really would be a small world. My Dad was born in 1901, married late at 42, I was born soon after, and my sister 4 years later.
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yep ... still marching Annie. The walking bit is fine really ,I think I am reasonably fit, it was the knee that made things things a tad difficult...but it is healing now , and the support makes a huge difference.
I think I do better in the cold Sheila... that heat would cripple me. I hope you are having a nice time though , although Oz never grabbed me at all ... too many beasties that can zap you for my liking ...
No mobile signal round here Sabrina....well in the odd spot here and there there is , but 99% of the place has none. Not had that much snow here ... just about 6"+ some more on top . But it the ice that made it difficult to walk . Sheet ice on the road to the village 1/2 a mile away , murder to try and stay upright !!
I tried the wheelbarrow , but it was no use at all . To many ruts and ice , and I couldn't push it with my knee . I could walk sort of ok , but absolutely no pushing or bending it. The same with pulling anything like a sled , you only realize how much pressure you put on your knees when one goes POP !!!! I went A over T loads of times , luckily no one around to laugh and T the P !!! ;D , mind you the dogs and the horses did seem to have a slight smirk on their faces at times ::).
Did the normal 7 mile trip today , the weather was good though . But then tonight had to do a couple of trips to the village for food etc ...so another 2 miles in all . I am now as fit as a fiddle .. but only 3 feet tall ... ::) ;D ;D
cheers
Russ
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I do like the way you keep cheerful, Russ. I wish some of the townies round here were made to change places with you for a week. They are wingeing to the council that their cul de sac has not been cleared with snow - the snow ploughs are out 24-7 battling against the worst snow for some years to keep the main routes open. The moaners are within yards of a high street and shops if they got off their bottoms and used their legs instead of wanting their car.
I really would like to put them where you - it may make them realise how fortunate they are. But, I think I would definitely prefer your lifestyle to theirs!
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Well said Roxy!
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Russ wouldn't want them there girls ;) I can just imagine what he'd say to them. ;) ;D
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And I thought I had it rough!!Driving along a well gritted road, stopping at the nearest point to our fields and walking two miles (probably less) over frozen fields with feed in a bag on my back and stopping every so often to admire the view. Coming back I had an almost irresistable urge to sit on a feed sack and sledge down over the fields. Dull old age and a fear of broken bones stopped me!
Hope the weather is picking up now where you are.
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well the snow has cleared altogether now . The rain and the rise in temp has done the trick . Now I am slipping in the mud ::) ::) !!! I hope that the next batch of haylage can be dropped off along the track at the gate in the next day or so . That alone will save over an hour of walking and carrying bags filled with haylage along a rough old track .
The knee is holding up very well at the moment , what with the support , and I am more or less back to normal as far as walking goes. Bending the knee and movements other than walking have to be carried out with thought still , but I am fully mobile without pain !!!!
All my trials and tribulations are brought into context very sharply though , when you look at all those poor people in Haiti !!! How on earth do they cope ? I do what I do because I want to !! the same can't be said for them !! Everytime I watch the news , it makes me realize how lucky I am , and thank God or whoever or whatever , that I am not in their position . My thoughts are with them .
The water began to flow again yesterday , just as I was down to my last pint of water . Mad rush washing up then . Got to catch up with the washing as well now ...huge pile to get through ...if there is one thing I hate it is washing by hand , so it will just be a few extra bits here and there , I can't face hours stood there washing festering clothes ... :o ;D just catching them is hard enough !!! ::) ;D
Looks like we have a few days of this warmer weather , till the middle of the week when we may get some wintry weather again !!!! I hope they have got that bit wrong !!!!
I hope you all are getting things sorted and back to normal too ..
cheers
Russ
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Hi Rusty...I am sure you would hate being in an estate somewhere with a back garden and neighbours!!!! Life is far richer when you take a different path!!
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Hello Sandy,
I grew up on just such an estate. Although I liked it there well enough at the time , I could never go back to that way of life now .
I moan about the mud and the rain and all the down sides of this way of life , but the upsides far outweigh any bad points.
I am very lucky to have the life I do , and wouldn't swap it for anything .
Cheers
Russ
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No way would I want to live on estate, a tent in the woods would be OK, well, maybe not with my joints (or lack of them) ;)
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Come on, SAndy - you'd never survive in a tent in the woods - where would you put that huge make up bag ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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yes .. I have the same problem Annie ...and where do you put the mirror ?.... ::) ;D ;D ;D
cheers
Russ
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All those branches are ideal for me make up bag....
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You'd have soggy lipstick and gooey mascara ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The light is what I would miss, I would end up like the bearded women without my tweezers and magnifying mirror...well I would blend in with the forest creatures
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no one would notice naked wood running then.... ;D
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If you look very closely, you may be able to spot me on !!one of my off days http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVv0F1mPntQ
Whops, wrong photo of my cousin...found mine, those new wellies were way too big for me, had to stop around for ages to get them comfy, never did find that key I lost in the woods, so here I am in my overcoat with the extra large boots....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu9qHQO_FKA&feature=related
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;D ;D