The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: luckylady on January 18, 2013, 10:19:03 am
-
With all the doom and gloom reported in the media regarding the cold weather I decided to turn it around and find the positive.
Simple things like the beautiful scenery are a given, but I realised that the outcome of a visit to an elderly neighbour was to call on her more often regardless of weather. Heavy snow still on ground since Monday and frozen solid since then so decided to knock on her door to see if all was well with her due to the weather. Invited in for cuppa and chat. It turns out all was ok with her i.e. she had plenty of food in, her heating was sufficient and her phone was still working. We had a lovely hour together. She now has my mobile number just in case as her family do not live close and I shall call again soon.
Next positive - forecast heavy snow his afternoon so have plans to create snow angels with my grown up daughter. :excited:
-
The girls all having a day off for snow! The cold weather kills the germs.... er can't think of anymore right now...got chilblains ;)
-
plus with frozen ground - no mud! ;D
-
plus with frozen ground - no mud! ;D
definitely a positive :thumbsup:
-
Fewer rats. No mud :thumbsup:
-
Fewer rats. No mud :thumbsup:
Why fewer rats ?
Positives for me yesterday - ground frozen so was able to arrange for 3 small leaning hawthorne to be dropped into next doors arable field and cut up before they decided to fall into a harvestable crop and embarrass me.
I'll let you know if I can think of any more positives, the current negatives are weighing in a bit at present. :gloomy:
-
The :sunshine: is bright and brilliant here this morning buts it flippin' freezin'!
mandy :pig:
-
My OH was able to drive the tractor with a backbox full of gravel up to my polytunnel :thumbsup: - been waiting for that for ages but always been too wet so would have chewed up the pasture. Many more loads to go........ :garden:
The sheep love it when the ground is solid and dry.
I can get to drive my Scoobiedoo in the wintery conditions she loves - always hated snowy roads before on a bike or in a slithery Ford :snowman:
I can see for miles and miles :wave:
-
No big muddy puddles, all frozen here but the :sunshine: is out, it's lovely. Out with the dogs this morning and no hosing the mud off them when I got home :excited:
-
It hopefully will kill off a few flukes, we sooooo need it...(or my sheep do). But no real snow here (yet)... beautiful :sunshine:
-
I go for no mud on the dogs as a postive, good excuse for not working outside any more than I have to. Comfort food like home made soup and stews :innocent: hot chocolate in fact any chocolate.
-
I can get to drive my Scoobiedoo in the wintery conditions she loves - always hated snowy roads before on a bike or in a slithery Ford :snowman:
Oh how I wish I still had mine :-\ This Quashqai doesn't like the snow (or maybe it's me, since I've had a few scary slides with it, usually with a trailer in tow ::))
I like the snow and ice because;
1) It makes the ground solid enough to get out there and do stuff when it was previously impossible due to the mud.
2) The snow covers all the mess and makes everything look clean, tidy and beautiful :thumbsup:
The snow also reflects any sunshine and the whole place seems brighter and lighter - scenery is beautiful too in winter.
3) The kids go out to play and get completely knackered, so when they come in it's cuppas all round and time to snuggle under fleece blankets in front of the fire.
4) If it gets really bad we don't have to go anywhere or do anything (mainly cos we can't) we get to have some quality family/piggy time :excited:
Hope everyone is staying warm and safe and the snow doesn't cause too many problems though :fc:
-
It looks sooo pretty and the sheep don't seem to mind. Chickens aren't keen though.
The dog was ok until the snow clung to the fur on his legs and then he couldn't lift his feet. OH had to carry him back from his walk and I stood him in some luke warm water to melt it. He couldn't understand what was happening.
Hopefully it is killing lots of nasty bugs though :)
I live on a quiet lane but no one has ventured up it today.
-
It's funny isn't it. In some ways this weather does make life more difficult but then in other cases so much easier.
I love the fact that
1. I can get to the pig arks to bundle in straw without sinking down in the mud.
2. My snorkels can actually see their food on the ground and easily access it. I know pigs love mud but I hate putting their feed down on it.
3. In snow..... I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE DOG POOP IN THE GARDEN BEFORE I'VE STEPPED IN IT!!! :thumbsup: and it's frozen and easy to pick. ;D
4. In heavy snow there's always a chance that Mr Snoodles will be forced to work from home. Inevitably nothing gets done, we all end up sledging and having snowball fights and thinking about what we can cook.
-
What bloody positives ? eventually this will have to melt and turn everything back to mud and floods, Hateful stuff. :rant:
-
What bloody positives ? eventually this will have to melt and turn everything back to mud and floods, Hateful stuff. :rant:
Baaaahhhhh humbug!
-
:roflanim: :roflanim: you just wrote exactly what the voice in my head has said :innocent:
-
The peace and quiet!!! :)
-
Fewer rats. No mud :thumbsup:
Why fewer rats ?
our rats just move inside the haylage, which then heats up as it goes bad so its like a big cosy den.
-
We have no snow but freezing here
I love
1. cleaner floors as the dogs do not come in filthy
2. The mountains look amazing and the light is beautiful
3. The ponies have dry backs and feel warm, even though there is a biting wind here today
4. I love seeing pigs all snuggled up in big straw beds and not all covered in mud
........but can we have some snow please - I want to sledge and make a snowman :excited: :excited:
-
Freezing weather positives , discuss .
No , no no no no no no no no no no , NO !
-
a today, feet numb allday, not good BUT id rather cold weather than the 45degrees in sydney at moment!
-
Oh well, that'll happen for sure, but that's why it's worth finding some positives to it while it lasts :thumbsup:
-
I love the cold and snow and I shout at the tv when the weather report uses the phrase "bad weather".
1) It makes everything look beautiful.
2) It makes it much more quiet.
3) It brings out the little kid in me as I spend ages staring out of the window with big eyes, dreaming of getting snowed in.
4) It makes the hillwalking much better.
5) It makes ice climbing a viable pastime.
6) It justifies all the money I spent on a 4x4 for getting along the mile of dirt track to get into the croft.
7) It makes me want to go outside and play
8) It means I can't do many of the hundreds of jobs about the croft that I should be doing so can have a break without feeling guilty.
9) life feels just a little bit more like an adventure and you have to be a little bit more self reliant which is refreshing in a society where everyone demands a very safe life dependent on comfort all the time.
Sadly I am on an oil rig for the next 2 weeks and so can't enjoy this snow.....hoping it will last another 5 weeks so it is around when I am home too!!!!
-
It is very pretty, 'specially when Jack Frost has been out decorating everything. Even chicken wire looks pretty with frost needles on it. Ok, the water troughs are all iced over which makes for lots of smashing through with heavy implements but the sheep like eating snow. ALOT! Our tip of a field looks neater (Have to remember where the patches of deep water are though or there's a big cracking sound!! Had one of my daft dogs walking across one. I was so willing her to get a move on 'cause I could hear that cracking.... :o )
-
Fantastic weather for hanging 4 halves of pig in the barn overnight earlier in the week so we could butcher cold firm flesh.
-13 last night and water frozein pipes to the house BUT we kept the heat off in the utility/prep room and had it a lovely 10 degrees to make the sausages today. Glad we had hats on.
Other advatage is that the wasps that seem to be living inside the logs that were at the bottom of the pile do not seem to wake up when I bring the logs in the house ( or there are no more wasps in the logs we are burning). :D
-
There's something very satisfying about cracking ice (even if it is a thankless task as it's frozen again within half and hour). And the crunch of boots on snow as a lovely sound.
Piling on the layers and planning your route and tasks before you go makes going outside a big event every time.
-
we have mud under slushy snow, ploughed up by sixteen hooves for the last three months, if it freezes it will be a death trap for them and me. Would rather have mud than that i'm afraid. Next year, if i have a barn and concrete and some salt, i wont care one bit :D
-
3. In snow..... I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE DOG POOP IN THE GARDEN BEFORE I'VE STEPPED IN IT!!! :thumbsup: and it's frozen and easy to pick. ;D
I can't see it in ours as it is totally covered.
What bloody positives ? eventually this will have to melt and turn everything back to mud and floods, Hateful stuff. :rant:
I'm with you there, Tiz. I now can't even go out into the garden so am totally house bound. OH has to go and fetch Pom in for milking.
-
Its MUCH better than winter rain.....and soooooo lovely to look at.
Round us weve had low cloud that sort of snowed with tiny weeny snowflakes. Every branch on all the trees are covered in white.
-
I love the snow. I love the cold clear cleanliness of it. We don't seem to be having as much of it up here in NE Scotland but we're also used to it, everyone has winter wheels and life just carries on as normal. The horses livig behind my place love to roll in it.
-
Love the snow too (provided it's gone by Mon so I can get to work!).
Love the beauty of it, the lack of mud and much of what has already been said.
Also knid of really like seeing all the tracks of animals I never see but all of a sudden their presence is preserved in the snow.
-
I like that, it's a sort of record of what's being going on overnight ;D
-
I love the snow. I love the cold clear cleanliness of it. We don't seem to be having as much of it up here in NE Scotland but we're also used to it, everyone has winter wheels and life just carries on as normal. The horses livig behind my place love to roll in it.
I'm the same, and I also love the quietness of a fall of snow because it somehow seems to muffle noise. Bliss.
We've hardly got any >:(
Beth
-
Positives -it's the weekend AND it's snowed all night :excited:
Sledging is imminent :snowman:
-
Keeps the cars off the road and we have our farm more-or-less to ourselves :thumbsup: ;D
-
Positives ...my shares in gas & electricity companies have gone up due to expected massive increase profits . So I will sell them all in a weeks time and take the profit :D
Positives ... My lass cuddles upto me much more in bed ;D
Positives I get to eat decent soups & stews instead of rabbit feed & cold slices shop ham . :o
-
Positives: it can't last forever.
Can it?
-
I am now locking this thread as a mark of respect for those who have lost their lives due to the freezing weather.