The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Rosemary on December 23, 2012, 02:28:29 am
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I feel so sorry for all the folk badly affected by the heavy rain and floods.
It's still raining here and it's driving me mad. I can't sleep at all - hence the 2.26am post.
At least 1/3 of our grazing is under water; one hen house must be close to flooding (no idea what I'm going to do with the chooks :-\ and it's just BLOODY MISERABLE.
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Couldn't agree with you more, I too can't sleep because of the noise on velux windows. However I am up high so squelchy ground rather that flooding
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It must be devasting for those flooded out and so near christmas too.
We have been mopping out the garage but the rest of the place is ok. We live on a fairly steep slope, for which I often complain, but now I am grateful as the rain just runs on down. But its sooo b*&^%y miserable out there.
Is it ever going to stop? :gloomy:
Sally
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It's awful, absolutely torrential again with added gales today. Bought gravel yesterday to try and help with chook run drainage. Even the covered area is wet :-\
Really feel for you folk who have livestock. I imagine the grazing areas must be a nightmare. Then the worry with outbuildings in these gales. :bouquet:
Hope that people's homes are not flooded :fc:
Bionic, cross posted :eyelashes: sorry to hear about your garage :hug:
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It's wild here - never seen it like this. Mud all over the car park bit behind the house - no idea where it came from (water is gone now). And now muddy paw prints all over my desk and keyboard - thanks to cat having been outside this morning! This is getting a bit too close for my liking...
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We've wet in places we've never seen it sit before, but thankfully live in an area that can cope with a lot of wet. There are fields where you worry about livestock getting stranded though, and I'm nearly out of dryish ground to put hay out for the ponies - who are needing it as all their grass is either under water or sodden, yellow and unnutritious.
I know how lucky we are to just have wet sodden fields and quite a few lakes on the roads, and feel for those who are far worse off :bouquet:
Today the forecast for us is not more rain but quite a bit of wind, which is great, as the wind will help to dry the ground.
Gales started around 5am, by 7:20am the porkers were squealing like it was the end of the world. (If they'd done that yesterday I'd have been proper spooked! :D) Not used to having a draught playing across them, let alone buckets flying around inside the byre, they said, crossly. ::) Then thought they may as well carry on screaming, even though I'd battened the hatches, in case I was going to give them their breakfast. ::)
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I know how lucky we are to just have wet sodden fields and quite a few lakes on the roads, and feel for those who are far worse off :bouquet:
Today the forecast for us is not more rain but quite a bit of wind, which is great, as the wind will help to dry the ground.
You are so right...
I can hear the sea roaring from the house - never had that before, either! Might take a walk down there when there's a bit more light.
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Torrential rain, sodden fields, driveway is just a river of slurry, wind trying to rip us off the hill, just seen a chicken blown off it's feet , all the other animals are inside now . Total missery, so sorry for the folk with flooded houses for Christmas.
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Just come back from some "recon"...
Neighbours are all out cleaning the street - covered in red mud. (This soil has come from an area behind our street, which used to be a gentle hill, and has been flattened on top to build more houses - which of course leaves a steep rise, just waiting for erosion... When will planners learn?) I've shovelled soil off my end of the street; but the others have got hoses out and are washing it all down the drains - Argh! I didn't want to say anything - after all, I'm still the new girl on the block - but I really, really don't think it's a good idea to clog up the drains with even more soil than has gone down there already, with more rain forecast... Ah well. Maybe they'll do more street washing tomorrow. :-\
Fire engine has gone out - Stonehaven (just up the road from here) is on the national news again, houses evacuated etc. River (normally a little burn) is deep red with soil. Lots of people out with cameras to take photos of flooded industrial area; they say last time it was flooded 11 years ago. And I've never seen the sea so angry here.
But personally I've got nothing to complain about. I consider myself lucky.
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serious flooding down here, shelterbox are helping out in st austell. must be bad.
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Isn't it unusual that it's so wide spread this time? The entire UK seems to be hit!
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It's windy here but the sun's peeping through. The fields are awash and the ditches are full almost to the top so there's nowhere for it to run to. Not much rain forecast for the next five days though, :fc:
Real sympathy for those getting it bad; :fc: for a quick improvement.
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It has been horrid :-\ I was awake part of the night too from the noise of the wind wuthering round the corner of the house where my bedroom is.
I really feel for the folk who have been flooded - and got to be thankful, for all my whinging about mud, that that's all I'm having to deal with.
Today is just mizzling and less windy, so that's better.
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paddocks under water, its hard getting the ponies out even for a short time. Feel so much for all those poor people who have their houses flooded.
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I can't imagine how you guys in the badly hit areas are coping. Big :hug: to you. We've had our share of rain here in East Anglia but nothing compared to elsewhere. It is windy but bright and sunny today and I have taken the opportunity to extend the paddocks to let the pigs have some new grazing and give the weaners the option of a non mud/puddle zone.
I am truly thanking my lucky stars that we have the opportunity to do so.
Watching Countryfile the other day and seeing how one farmer was coping the floods was a real eye opener, absolutely desperate.
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Feel sorry for people flooded out of their houses. The village where i live is just reachable with care and my Koi pond is now covering large area of my garden :o
The day before the rain started i had a builders sack of woodchip delivered as the old stuff in the chicken run was needing to be changed so now i am waiting for the rain to stop long enough for me to bag up all the old stuff put down some disinfectant then new stuff :fc:
The forecast for tomorrow looks hopeful so i think my first day of my holidays is going to be very busy and looking forward to a small glass of red wine :innocent: as a reward later on
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Are the Koi also now covering large areas of the garden :o
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dry today, but we have more heavy rain forecast for the next 3 days. We're OK for the moment, as we're on the side of a hill, so unless it washes the whole house away,we shouldn't flood. The ground is totally saturated tho, it's like walking on a bog.
My mum's in Oz for xmas, and apparently our weather has made the news over there!!!
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So far the Koi are staying in the pond ;D weather due to improve tomorrow so hopefully will get woodchip changed but not looking forward to bagging up all the old stuff :(
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Jools.... wouldn't bother bagging the old stuff. Just disinfect and lay on new. Surely the old stuff can act like an absorber and keep your new top layer less sodden ... Less work too ;)
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Hope this rain drys up soon, we are not effected at all but I feel for those who are, instead of Christmas prep I bet they are watching the flooding and worrying!! We are certainly getting a good dose of water!!
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I feel sorry for all those who have suffered in these floods.
Not only is the rain getting me down so is all the mud, at least today is dry however the ground under foot is like walking on a sponge.
All said and done the livestock need to be seen to so managed to move two of our arks today on to fresh grass but no doubt these will be churned up in no time but at least it keep the pigs happy. Although the land will take its time to recover.
But with more rain forecast let us all pray for a speedy end to it all and let us hope that the New Year will bring better weather.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
From a Wet and soggy Cornwall
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We aren't as bad as some here in Worcestershire and I really feel for those who are affected so close to Christmas by homes flooding or who can't get home to see loved ones. Parts of the village have been cut off since Friday and we had a long and very nerve wracking journey between here and Watford yesterday :o
Just telling OH we have a new 'stream' in our orchard. We are nowhere near brooks etc and the Avon is a mile DOWNhill so its not off that ;D wondering if we are now classed as a Fluke area as we never were before? all this wet weather really changes the dynamics of what we get used to with our animals etc.
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:fc:We get some prolonged dry spells after Christmas to help the water levels subside. Came back from smallholding sit in Wales to find my hallway sodden. Soaked carpet rolled back, underlay propped up on wire racks from greenhouse to let floorboards dry out. Radiator on close by to try and dry underlay and carpet - impossible to ring them out of course but anticipating it will take a long time for them to dry, especially if we get more heavy rain which comes under door sill - never happened before.
Did a one day smallholding sit in North Shropshire for a lovely couple with a great mixture of livestock, all lovingly tended and apparently hale and hearty, last week on my way back from Wales, but the fields, lanes and ditches were all awash. Pigs and weaners and the Labrador dogs seemed happy enough splashing through the mud and puddles, but chooks looked somewhat bedragled, though they had dry sheds and huts on stilts to go in if they wanted to. Goats had the best deal with a raised area of rubble covered in soil, grass and shrubbery like a mini mountain where they could keep their feet out of the mud whilst surveying their surroundings and scan for someone heading their way with breakfast or supper - but since it poured for most of the daythey spent most of the time in their shed munching haylage. It was my first time looking after Dexter cattle - they came over a few times to sniff me and set to with gusto when I topped up their feed, but otherwise spent the whole day making serious inroads into their supply of haylage; all appeared to be coping stoically with the awful weather.
Drove through numerous floods to get home - 1 hour journey took me 1.5 hours. Fortunately my little Suzuki Alto is not low slung so she gamely coped with water part way up her wheels and inconsiderate drivers coming the other way driving through floods at speed, drenching us - over bonnet, windscreen and roof - in muddy tidal waves!
Sun actually came out today so pruned the rose bushes to make the most of it and get some fresh air too. Left the guinea pigs pottering round the kitchen diner playing with a selection of cardboard boxes and paper carrier bags which they use as 'tents' for an hour. Saw them peering hopefully through the patio doors at the green lawn but too cold and sodden to put them out to graze - they had to make do with some curly kale picked from the raised bed - what is left after the slugs have had their feast whilst I was away!
Happy Christmas folks.
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Living, as we do, on the top of a gorge, we are safe from flooding but do catch the wind when it blows. I thought I was going over yesterday when a gust caught me.
Can't imagine what it must be like for those who are flooded out of their houses.
And for those of you with livestock, again my goats are yarded and, although I usually wish they had a nice paddock to go in, I'm glad they have a yard so they can get out a bit if it stops raining for a short while. I feel for those of you who are running out of places to put their animals. :hug: :hug:
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Well yesterday after 3 hours of hard work - the last hour in pouring rain - the chicken run old woodchip is bagged the ground disinfected and new woodchip down :relief:
The girls loved their xmas present and i enjoyed a large glass of red wine as a reward ;D
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:thumbsup:
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Well done, Jools.