It isn`t tough for us. We are OS and we COPE

[Deleted User]

Justamum wrote: »

Or a horse and cart?

perhaps we should have thread on keeping a horse and making a cart. Now that would be truly os

zarazara

kittie wrote: »

perhaps we should have thread on keeping a horse and making a cart. Now that would be truly os

yes please! I have 2 horses both yearlings and one is a welsh cob x something with irish draught in him. he should go very well in harness oneday when hes older of course. There is someone in the next village who takes his coloured cob and flat cart to the local town supermarket occasionally. I am all for it, the only issue is vehicular traffic which can be very big [lorries tractors] and go too fast for comfort.

RAS

Hi

Did anyone see the episode in the Edwardian Farm in which the broke in the Dartmoor pony they have just acquired?

They used a house whisperer. Absolutely magic. In three hours, the pony was walking in traces and responding to left and right instructions and would take a man's weight lying across his back. All done very gently.

Justamum

RAS wrote: »

Hi

Did anyone see the episode in the Edwardian Farm in which the broke in the Dartmoor pony they have just acquired?

They used a house whisperer. Absolutely magic. In three hours, the pony was walking in traces and responding to left and right instructions and would take a man's weight lying across his back. All done very gently.

I saw that. It was amazing to watch him. I've been saying for a few years that eventually we'll all need to go back to having a horse and cart. It might mean that local shops will open again as it would mean camping overnight on trips to the huge out of town supermarkets :rotfl:

RAS

The only issue is that horses need a lot of feeding. It used to be reckoned that 30 percent of the land ploughed and managed by heavy horses was needed to feed the team. With improved yields it could still be 15-20 percent. That is on par with the amount of land need to produce bio-fuels to run machinery on a farm.

Howeve rif you have grazing not suitable for arable and only do ligth work, it could be lower.

mardatha

I watched that, I'm not into horses but it was magic to see how he did it. It was like the way you handle a new hawk.

kitschy

On the topic of libraries being off-topic (!), I agree that they are a mainstay for some people wanting to live in a more OS and simple manner. I have a lovely, in fact, truly wonderful Mummy, but she would be the first to admit she isn't that interested in domestic stuff, as she had to work full time when we went to school and as that coincided with the invention of more convenience-based ways of running a household, I can't ask her advice on stuff like that. I rely on t'internet, forums and blogs like this one, and teaching myself skills such as knitting and cooking from books from the library.

I work with people on health benefits, and it can be a real lifeline for them too, as it's often the hub for community groups, and a coffee and a kind word, which in places which don't have a place like my office, can be few and far between for those on their own.

Edited to say, apologies for the appalling sentence construction. It's been a very long day!

ceridwen

Lavandula wrote: »

Not strictly an OS topic though, and I do worry that this thread will go the same way as others, because of off-topic discussions however interesting and useful they are...

Au contraire - I agree that getting information for free (which is what libraries are about) is VERY old style.

No-one said that that odd cookery query in the last couple of pages about the chilli dipping sauce was off-topic (though it was something that should have been put as a thread on its own):cool: - and that WAS off topic accordingly (I bit my tongue hard personally at that point). Libraries are very ON topic.

I think a lot of the reason for "problems" with the previous thread was regular long posts kept happening on "how my (standard level) day went" (ie not "tough times" stuff) and some people didnt do the same as I do with long "daily doings" posts and just skim straight over them.

ChocClare

Yategirl wrote: »

Also, many of ds1's school friends have only ever been to the library on a school visit and his teacher commented to me at parent's evening about how unusual it was now to have a child like ds1 who "gets" books and the enjoyment you get from them. I find that so sad

So do I. And, not wishing to brag (well, not JUST wishing to brag ) I am sure that the reason DD is the only person in her year working at GSCE A* level is because of the exposure to the library she has had since she was a toddler. Reports for her and for her brother going back over the years have always commented on the breadth of their vocabulary, and how they were able to read at x level higher than other kids. And they both went through books like they were going out of fashion - I think at one time DD had read more-or-less EVERYTHING in the children's section at our local library! And at that point, there was the helpful librarian to consult about what she could be reading next that wasn't a children's book, but that was still suitable for a 12-year-old.

Admittedly, what she suggested was the then unheard-of Twilight - which I felt I had to vet for subject matter and ended up reading together with the sequel in two afternoons - as did DD :rotfl:We are, of course, vastly superior and snooty about the Twilight series now, especially now that they've totally destroyed the whole thing with all the films, but we both enjoyed the books at the time - and would certainly not have tried them had we seen them in a bookshop!

Apart from teenage vampire love stories, our library also has knit and natter sessions; story telling for children; craft sessions; the MP holds his surgeries there and of course there is free internet access for all as well as books, cds, audiobooks and dvds, plus all sorts of information about clubs and societies, adult education, benefits and services. And you can read all the papers and a selection of magazines for free.

This is the ultimate OS resource. And if it's tough now, then we need it to be able to cope - getting rid of this will make it that much tougher.

meritaten

RAS wrote: »

Hi

Did anyone see the episode in the Edwardian Farm in which the broke in the Dartmoor pony they have just acquired?

They used a house whisperer. Absolutely magic. In three hours, the pony was walking in traces and responding to left and right instructions and would take a man's weight lying across his back. All done very gently.

just had a look at this thread out of curiosity! and came across RAS's post.

That takes me back to when I first met my OH, and he was into horses in a big way - he had FIFTEEN of them! all bought going cheaply at auction! and he broke them in himself! nothing special you are all thinking...........except that he lived in the south wales valleys and all his family were miners, he lived in a terraced house and before he bought his first horse had had nothing to do with horses at all!
I watched him break in horses - as RAS described, in a couple of hours that horse would be accepting the bridle, saddle and a rider on his back! all done very gently! it was amazing (and I think thats when I fell in love with him). he did have a wide reputation locally as the one to break in your new horse/pony or to retrain a horse (mostly it was the riders who needed the training). today, he probably would be known as a horse whisperer.
sorry - this is supposed to be moneysaving but I couldnt resist the wander down memory lane.
horses would be moneysaving except for the horrendous vet and blacksmith costs! and much more beautiful and fun than cars and vans!