Daydream fund challenge part 4

Davesnave

Like you, alfie, we've yet to see any real snow. The schools are closed up in coastal North Devon, and there's a similar situation down in deepest Cornwall, but....well, see for yourselves....

This was the scene at around 10am as the local crows homed-in on a neighbouring farmer's latest bit of dung spreading.....



Like something out of 'The Birds'.... :eek:

As you say, the wind is bitter, so I wimped-out this morning did indoor stuff and sharpened a chain. By this afternoon I was stir crazy, so found an almost calm, sunny corner behind the barn and sawed-up logs for a couple of hours. Think it was about 2c there, so not too bad!

Looks like we shall get snow soon, but it won't last. It'll all be over by Saturday. Anyway, as lucielle says, plenty of essentials in stock...:)

DaftyDuck

Red warning just issued for you folk on the Riviera... Stay safe, stay warm.

Animals all fine, but it is danm cold. Did a 3am check, and wind chill was -18°C! Horrid. I had caught my shin on something, and just not noticed. It was only when I took off my one grey and one red boot that I noticed, and feeling took 15 min to return... It is perishing - literally, if you don't take care.

Still cut off, but water running... so should be fine for the upstream neighbours. I will go and do my "just passing anyway" check late morning. There'd be nothing worse than raking an oldie out of bed to see if they are ok.

Good luck Westerners, and hope the word is over for the haggis-eaters... mmmm. .... haggis and whisky.....

Edit to add... I was going to post some piccies...but I suspect you'll have better/worse yourselves by now!

Davesnave

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Red warning just issued for you folk on the Riviera... Stay safe, stay warm.

Edit to add... I was going to post some piccies...but I suspect you'll have better/worse yourselves by now!

It's snowing and wind is forecast to be bad later, but right now it feels somewhat 'warmer' than yesterday pm, although the Met Office says about -6c, so probably just less wind chill?

Well, I still went down and let the hens out in my PJs and a jumper, but I did wear two beanies and I didn't hang around long!

Testing out the conservatory, as it's a day without sunshine. DW has been sewing in there, so I've opened up the double doors to see if the woodburner can cope. She's in there and not complaining....so far! :rotfl:

EDIT: Just had this when I asked for details of the Weather Warnings:

We are experiencing issues retrieving weather warning information

Please try again later

Useless lot! :mad:

DaftyDuck

See if these piccies work...


view down to the river and the woods. Those fields are normally full of sheep... maybe they still are, just camouflaged sheep!


... access down the drive is a little difficult...


... good shot and catch with snowball, right in the gob... but it vanished, try another one, and again, and again (... idiot can't be doing with his coat, as it slows him down, so he just hooks it onto something and reverses out of it!


... elderly neighbour checking that younger residents were OK...


....and the river is beginning to freeze over.

The buckets of water I have stored in the barn are now almost solid, having frozen from sides, top and bottom! At least they are an emergency store, if the pipes freeze!

Edit to add.... It's bin day, and so I put my bin out... No sign of a collection :rotfl::D:rotfl:

lucielle

My bin has been waiting since Tuesday.....


OH has sorted of mended the cooker, yay.


DD1 is struggling with the lambing as they're losing loads. We have an 8ft drift down the road so not going anywhere.
L

lucielle

Phoned my friends who have the dairy farm to check they were coping ok. Not much I could do if they weren't except moral support. They haven't been able to get the milk collected as the tanker hasn't been able to get through to them and another farm. They've had to throw all the milk away..........it really makes you think, up at the crack of dawn milk, feed check livestock etc milk again, repeat. Then to throw it all away, literally money down the drain.


L

Davesnave

The snow arrived, as predicted, and it turned very cold before it came in, but the wood burner carried the extra load of a 3.3 x 7.8m conservatory just fine and DW continued working in there all day. No back-up from the CH till 4pm.

As soon as it started snowing properly, the temperature rose, so I even went for a bit of a wander around at around 5pm. It's still blowing a hooley out there, but the amounts of snow are modest, as yet.....Maybe we'll miss the worst, as we're right on the edge of the red area.

Think Pete has finished most of his lambing. It's a tough job in conditions like this. All respect to your DD1 lucille (and Dafty of course!) :A My DD2 rang half an hour ago from Bristol to say they're in the garden, having a barbecue! Mad pair! :rotfl:

DaftyDuck

No credit here, Dave. We only deal in single-digit numbers when lambing, I have a vet on-hand 24/7, and it is always a hobby, so doesn't need to pay its way!

It does bring home with harsh bluntness how difficult it is for those who rely on it for income, and have to do it.

Oh, and Norfolk doesn't exactly often suffer like this, so it's fun! (mostly!)

Just done evening check, and all is well, just bloody cold! And windy!!!

Lucielle's friends have real reason to cry over spilt milk, and don't get that much for it when it does sell!

(There's obviously an offer on exclamation marks, 3 for two, or something!!!! Seldom use that many!! Think my index finger is froz straight, and likes the repetitive!!!!! )

Davesnave

Dafty, you were kidding last week, and although under shelter, you were still out there in the cold, in the middle of the night. I know it's worse when it's sheep and they haven't been found and brought in in time because of lack of space etc.

We have friends with dairy cows too. Not sure how this will have affected them; probably just this morning, and looking at how it's going, the tankers may get through later today. It's much 'warmer' this morning and we've had some rain. We've also had a power cut, but unlike others nearby, ours was only for about a minute.

Off to see our only animals here at present, the hens....

alfie_1

hiya all


well the heavens opened Thursday morning and hasn't stopped snowing. the harsh winds seem to be at night so at least easier to battle the fields during the day...
had NO internet since yesterday morning , just come back on..
had a big round of hay delivered Thursday morning just in the nick of time for truck to get across the field !! the horses have been tucking in ever since ...
tilly and Kingston are doing great ... considering that foal has experienced rain,mud,freezing wind and now snow ! she has been amazing, she sure is a tough cookie [even tucking into her mums feed !!]
breaking the ice on troughs 3 times a day !
my wild bird feed station is like a m25 service station ! getting through 20 fat balls, 2 rings of nuts and 2 big seed feeders per day ! plus what I chuck on the floor for the ground feeders..


went into my "junk" shed this morning [have to leave the door ajar because it was a pool boiler room and still has a flu that birds sometimes fall down !] and had forty fits when I spotted a big pair of eyes staring at me from amongst a pile of blankets... it was one of the feral cats, obviously found it a lot cosier in there , probably both in there but I retreated and left them to it ...


the roads around here are skating rinks ! lethal ... looks like a light dusting of snow but compacted ice under it ...
in the garden we have drifts up to 2 ft in places ....
im going no where ...


keep safe y'all
anyone heard from choille ? hope they are not under too much pressure with this weather !