the daydream fund challenge thread

Davesnave

choille wrote: »

Great with the sheep. I like having sheep about the place. They actually improve the ground if it isn't very good, but your's looks lush.

Hope your all surviving the gales down there.

Our soil is great, but the grass is mostly coarse, and there's a heavy infestation of creeping buttercup, plantain etc. I'm adopting a 'wait & see' approach atm.

Twenty one sheep and a ram are now with us for the winter. I think they're Sussex 9or maybe Suffolk?) crosses, but it's a bit hard to hear what folk are saying out there today!

'Tis certainly blowing, but I dare say others have it worse. If the old polytunnel survives this, it may be fit to last the winter, but it's touch & go. :eek:

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

Our soil is great, but the grass is mostly coarse, and there's a heavy infestation of creeping buttercup, plantain etc. I'm adopting a 'wait & see' approach atm.

Twenty one sheep and a ram are now with us for the winter. I think they're Sussex crosses, but it's a bit hard to hear out there today!

'Tis certainly blowing, but I dare say others have it worse. If the old polytunnel survives this, it may be fit to last the winter, but it's touch & go. :eek:

sheep people down in this corner, that davesnave and I distantly share, don't seem to worry so much about buttercups which surprises me because they can have significant impact on fertility which obviously is a financial hit.

lostinrates

This weather is exciting. The wind has gone here, it was a still, bright morning, but the cloud just closed in with the speed of a curtain being drawn, despite no wind down here, its got really dark and I guess the heavens are about to open. We already have standing water out there, and the dogs are getting stir crazy...

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

This weather is exciting...

Wettish here, and heading your way. Sorry.:o

Old polytunnel still there. May try to tension it up a bit as it's all we have till next April/May.

Hoping for a gap to do some outside work, but may just peel and freeze more apple slices, peppers etc, ready to make chutney.

Not used to being indoors!

rhiwfield

lostinrates wrote: »

This weather is exciting. The wind has gone here, it was a still, bright morning, but the cloud just closed in with the speed of a curtain being drawn, despite no wind down here, its got really dark and I guess the heavens are about to open. We already have standing water out there, and the dogs are getting stir crazy...

Bit windy last night, with the Wendy house taking a walk with the mop bucket Lots of people had it worse, our gusts were about 60mph and didnt cause any real problems, though the leccy went off and, like a fool, I hadnt prepared the torch and candles. Of course once all the candles were lit the leccy behaved.

Read "Running for the Hills" by horatio clare, about a couple buying a welsh hill farm in the 1960s, told from a childs perspective. Touching, chilling, funny and sad. Another experience showing the hardships of small farms as a way of earning a living.

Also recently tried to read Monty Don's growing out of trouble, gave up half way feeling probably as depressed as Monty



Question: what takes 6 hours and leaves you swearing continuously?
Answer: updating the pc's virus checker and firewall :eek:

Annie_Elisabeth

Hi everyone
*waves*
I'm Annie and I'm new to MSE : )

I was wondering if I could join you too ??
I'm a soon-to-be single mum to a 2yr old and a 5yr old.
We are pretty simple folk and long to move off grid as much as we can.

I am hoping to start University in a year or two (fingers crossed on getting a place), so money will be a little tight but I'm debt free and like I said we're pretty low key.

I just opened an internet savings account this week and deposited my first £5 into it.
It felt really exciting : )

My dream would be to live in something like this:
www dot tumbleweedhouses dot com/houses/fencl/

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

Wettish here, and heading your way. Sorry.:o

Oh. please, keep it....;)

I've got the fun job of looking for someone to do the woodworm/dryrot/ damp survey here.

We've had all sorts of potential news about the house. It seems my instincts were right and our surveyor wrong...the ''false ceiling'' is a couple of hundred years older than the front of the house, as is the back staircase, and they don't think we have subsidence, but rather heave. I'm wondering if, when proven, I can ask the surveyor for something back for him being wrong.

lostinrates

Annie_Elisabeth wrote: »

My dream would be to live in something like this:
www dot tumbleweedhouses dot com/houses/fencl/

welcome annie. It's a very cute house!

troglodyte

Evening all - welcome Annie!

I seem to spend a lot of time reading here (and catching up at the moment!) but don't have anything very exciting to add myself! Love all the animal stories though. I have promised myself that if I can make my work-at-home plan work out I will get some chickens next year, so if I do I may well be asking if any of you want to sell some!

Now I may have asked this before - I have a terrible memory - but the recent rain has brought the subject to the fore again. We recently cleared some grass in our garden to put up a 'new' shed, and found a manhole cover which we think leads to an old septic tank. No longer in use, but not filled in either. We thought before of trying to put some sort of rainwater storage tank somewhere so I thought perhaps we could re-use this as a ready-made storage facility. Do you think this idea would work? Sorry if I already asked about this - too many things to think about and haven't got around to doing anything about it yet!

Davesnave

Good morning everyone, and hello to Annie.

Cute houses those. We'll be looking to buy something to live in when we re-build here, but I'm guessing that a second-hand mobile home will be most cost effective and also provide overflow accommodation later on. We have a site where it could be 'invisible' to other nearby residents and those on roads/footpaths. It would also be out of our eye-line. Unfortunately, we'll have to demolish the old field shelters to get the site, but that's no great loss in the long term, as they'd fall down anyway! We shall be planting this winter to achieve some of the camouflage we'd like there.

Trog, I'm no expert on septic tanks, but I'd imagine that one could have the use you describe, if cleaned out. You would need to think about how to get at the water, as an open top or easily moved cover wouldn't be a good idea. Electric/hand pump? I'm guessing you have planned a collection method, perhaps diverting some of your roof water into the old drain?

Looks like it will be a decentish day here, but at least yesterday made me tighten-up the old polytunnel, a job I'd have skipped if anything better had been on offer.