[doganjo]

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.

[RUSTYME]

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 !!!  , 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 ...

cheers

Russ

[Roxy]

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!

[MiriMaran]

Well said Roxy!

[doganjo]

Russ wouldn't want them there girls    I can just imagine what he'd say to them.

[Sylvia]

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.

[RUSTYME]

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 ... just catching them is hard enough !!!
   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
 

[sandy]

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!!

[RUSTYME]

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

[sandy]

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)

[doganjo]

Come on, SAndy - you'd never survive in a tent in the woods - where would you put that huge make up bag 

[RUSTYME]

yes .. I have the same problem Annie ...and where do you put the mirror ?....


cheers

Russ

[sandy]

All those branches are ideal for me make up bag....

[doganjo]

You'd have soggy lipstick and gooey mascara

[sandy]

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