[RUSTYME]

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 !!!


cheers

Russ

[doganjo]

I so admire you, Russ.  What a soldier you are.  I do hope you are warm and cosy now with the dogs.

[RUSTYME]

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

[MiriMaran]

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!!!!!

[Maddox]

May I ask where you are Russ?? if your not far from me Ill come and give you a hand!

Maddox

[garden cottage]

keep on truckin russ, thought youd of made an igloo by now........................neil

[RUSTYME]

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

[juliag]

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!

[MiriMaran]

It sounds very beautiful - I like bleak lanscapes and the cor of crows - very Gormenghast!

[sandy]

Put's my walk up the icy path to the chickens a doddle, that's enough for me!!!!

[Roxy]

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.

[doganjo]

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. 

[sheila]

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

[sabrina]

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 

[MiriMaran]

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!!