[renee]

And there I was, thinking this place is cold ,wet and misserable,   

It is rarely wet and believe me,unless it goes under -35 it feels warmer than Wales. Then again, I stopped looking at the thermometer when my hotwater bottle was frozen (on the floor) one morning when I got up

[renee]

[i agree.
i dont have any tractors or power tools etc on my croft and its knackering year in year out.. handsawing wood and pruning back trees for 10 yrs has given me repetitive strain in my shoulders. i used to use the ponys for pulling timber and carrying rocks but it is v time-consuming. iv had so many blisters etc from daily manual work but then im  the only one here...... with the morale of others and no council tax / bills to pay etc then it looks a great place to escape from the real world.
[/quote]
I have done a lot of thinking about that recently
I was on the self-sufficiency boom in the 70's. Vegaterian, minimal carbon footprint, etc.
Grew older but not wiser, others found I had a gift for working with socially disturbed children and i have been doing that for 25 years. I have realized that it is the society that is disturbed and reluctantly jumped off the conveyor belt which I could see was going faster and faster. I am very fortunate that I still have a body that can cope with hard work. But I do use mod.cons. I have a chain saw, will soon be changing it for a battery driven one. I have electricity but am very careful to save as much as possible. A car is a necessity. Sometimes used once a month. I have a café where tourists come and admire my romantic life. Is this wrong? They go away happy- I earn a little to put butter on my bread.
 I see modern families, modern children who do not have physical work. The modern child is a child of love, not "needed " until it leaves school and has to find employment. Now I know I am exagerating but it is just to make a point. How can they find their place? They may not have the pains we have in our bones-or do they? But in other respects they are not as healthy as we neither physically and I am sad to say more and more mentally.
Now I think it is time for me to chop wood.

[renee]

.
 The snow would always be my nemesis though , i hate the stuff , and it knows it .

Now, now Russ, surely this cannot be true. Keep smiling at it and it will all melt (until next season)

[goosepimple]

Write a book or publish a journal renee, you have computer skills, get a column in a national newspaper in Britain, you could change people's lives for the better I think.

[RUSTYME]

It is true renee , i hate the stuff !
Can't manage a smile at it , just a grimace and plenty of foul language , works for me .