Boots wrote:Don't give up totally on the neighbours... am sure they will surprise you some day. Most country areas have at least a two year initiatiion where they just watch you a lot... and laugh
Don't get me wrong, we do have some good neighbours and have found a lot of acceptance from many locals because we're doing something they respect. However, most of this group are elderly and/or retired.
A couple of retired farmers have said that if it was 10-20 years ago, they would have been over in a flash to help because that's what you do (or rather did). We're also lucky in that the blacksmith, agricultural mechanic, butcher and vet haven't yet retired as they're all fantastic country characters. When they do retire, though....
I was determined to have that particular job sorted and had several 4 legged mowers lined up. Haven't had to start the mower since.
We get sheep in later in the year, but the field needs to be topped now to stop the weeds flowering and going to seed. We have to get the timing right as we want the less invasive wildflowers (and some weeds!) to survive while stopping the dock, bracken, dandelions, nettles and ragwort from taking over.
We leave the field margins pretty wild, but that does mean weed seeds blowing into the field and that means more mowing than if we went for the modern nuked landscape!
You know the whole 'working together thing'... I dunno, I think it is better to just strive for self sufficiency. Our country areas are no different... the townie tradesmen love filling their diaries and getting the jump on whatever jobs are up for grabs. Out here it is different too... they are slow, slack and generally not interested. Just leaves folks generally frustrated and we don't even try ringing them now. I just do what I can, and if I can't do it or find a different way to do it, I just don't have it.
We're pretty self-sufficient, but also believe that no man is an island - which is what some of the people around us definitely believe. I firmly believe in offering help without thought of reward, because it's the right thing to do.
I appreciate not everyone thinks like that, so don't expect it back. What I do find irritating though, is when people say they want a financial reward for their services (which is fine) but then still can't be bothered to get off their butts while whinging about the lack of money and work.
Went without the hot water system for about a week once... thought it had had its day and knew no-one would rush out to look at it. And was scared that it would mean a replacement. When I actually got around to looking at it... it just needed a push on the reset button
Problem was I had no idea it had a reset button
Oops.
My Grandad always told me you never pay someone for something you can do yourself. That is a real hard ethic to live by, but a good one, because it kinda keeps propelling your into having a go at new things. We don't know what we can do until we have a go...
We're a lot like that, but sometimes there just isn't the time, resources or skills to get a critical job done.
I've done most of the pumbing repairs here myself (including installing a borehole pump with Italian instructions and no wiring diagram), but I want to make sure the UV filtration is set up properly because clean drinking water is critical to our health. (It's more complicated than just plumbing in a filter as we have to merge water from half a dozen different sources, at varying heights and pressures, and with different pumps.)
I 'd take more of a chance if our boys were older or it was just me and the OH, but I'm not going to risk it. So we're now into our fifth month of carting in drinking water...
It's the same with mowing the field. Yes, we can do it ourselves (and will), but it takes me a day to scythe half an acre. Six acres is 12 days and that's a lot to take away from other jobs.
I think I would consider it a major life accomplishment if I could slowly divert the majority of our appliances to simpler means.
Well, I've just bought a 1950s Lister LD diesel engine and water pump, so we can pump water using vegetable oil as fuel and I'm refurbishing a 1950s Lister CS Start-O-Matic generating plant to produce our own electricity using vegetable oil as fuel. Longer term, I want to fuel them using methane from pig muck!
You know they used to run teams of 20 or 30 men to cut crops that size?
Yeah, but I'm an Aussie so no probs, just get my blue singlet on, push my hat to the back of my head and do it with a tinnie in one hand!
Stonehead
) and found a couple more the other day. Managed to score the old safe doors from the bank in Australia's oldest town, so got a kick out of that... I love a bit of history.