Monday, 1 February 2016

Walking In To The Wind.


Not much to report on the smallholding front.  We seem to be getting nothing but storm after storm and rain at the moment.  Today it's the turn of Storm Henry.  That's the eighth letter in the storm alphabet this winter.  

 Walked the fields the other day and looked at my footprints in the turf behind me.  It's awful squelchy and the rushes are appearing from nowhere.  Think it's only St Brigid who ever made a use for them properly.  Yes we know there are other uses for rushes like rush lights and bedding for the cattle. 

 Still no chance of mowing. weeding or preparing ye olde veg plot for spring.  The weather is everything in the countryside.  There's not a lot you can do outside when it's blowing a gale and not drying out.

 We decided to go for a two mile walk into the wind today.  It felt like we had walked six miles when we got home.  
 Two windswept donkeys grazing and posing for their photographs.  
 The sea (Bantry Bay) looked very violent and I wouldn't like to have been on a boat today.  
 An old windswept farm stead ruin.  My late father remembered when people lived in the thatched roof cottage.  The farmer was also a fisherman.  One stormy night the man's sister went outside and was swept into the bay and never seen again.  Nature is beautiful but also very cruel.


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16 comments:

  1. John Going Gently1 February 2016 at 13:18

    I dont know about you old friend but this weather ( wet front after wet front after wet front) is getting me down somewhat....oh for some sun and dry paths

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 02:05

      It's getting me down also John. Wish we could hibernate or the sun started to play out for a month or six.

      Delete
  2. Sol1 February 2016 at 14:41

    It is windy as heck. It is battering the house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 02:06

      Hope you're OK Sol. Dry here today for a change.

      Delete
    2. Sol3 February 2016 at 10:51

      We bought a house on a hill. lol

      Delete
    3. northsider 3 February 2016 at 11:15

      That sounds very sensible Sol. I have read that houses at the bottom of the hill get a lot more water and this can cause damp problems, especially in older houses.

      Delete
    4. Sol3 February 2016 at 14:30

      and houses on the top wear windier!

      Delete
    5. northsider 4 February 2016 at 03:18

      Terraced houses are warmer than detached houses and big houses mean big bills. No where is perfect is it?

      Delete
  3. angryparsnip1 February 2016 at 17:28

    I am not so sure about you but I think your next post will be you slogging through the field up to your knees. Is your home sinking ?
    Hope the sun comes out soon for you.

    cheers, parsnip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 02:09

      Hi Parsnip. We are OK because we live on a peninsula and most of the rain drains into Bantry Bay and Dunmanus Bay. Hope the sun come out for you. We have lots of farm and gardening work to do like replacing fence posts, mowing grass and digging and weeding and painting and..? Thanks!

      Delete
  4. Bedford Gypsy2 February 2016 at 06:34

    Think you had worse winds than us, you were brave to go out in it really.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 12:06

      Hi Bedford Gypsy. We only went out into the wind in the afternoon before it got seriously rough. We live on the Western seaboard of Ireland/edge of Europe. The next place is Boston in America.

      Delete
  5. Gwil W2 February 2016 at 06:48

    I went to Ireland for 2 weeks and it only rained once. From when I arrived until I left.
    No, that's a joke. It rained one day out of the 14 in reality. It was one of the best holidays I ever had. I rented a car in Dublin and drove to Galway, Connemara, and down the coast to places like Kerry, Cork, and Hook, then up to Dublin. Sunshine all the way. Don't panic. The rain and wind will stop and the sun will come back and the flowers will bloom and the sea will sparkle and the dolphins will be leaping and before you know it you'll be wondering why you ever thought of leaving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 12:09

      Very good Gwil. Summer is warm rain and winter is cold rain.

      It is very mild compared to northern England and we get very early springs - sometimes. I dream of sitting outside looking at the bay and saying:

      "Is it hot or is it me?"

      Thanks!

      Delete
  6. A Heron's View2 February 2016 at 11:55

    The worst thing the Met folk have ever done was to name the storms because it has brought them to peoples attention and incidentally there have 9 storms because they omitted to name one of them.

    During a normal Irish winter we get storms lots of them and people get on with their lives as best as they can. This year has not been very cold, the frosts have been few and certainly not enough for my farmer friends who are complaining that there will be a multitude of bugs come summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 2 February 2016 at 12:14

      Hi Heron. Didn't know there had been 9 storms. We get to the gales living next to the sea. It's been incredibly wet since 2008. Wet weather records have been broken and it never seems to dry out to graze the cattle or weed and dig the flower and vegetable gardens or mow the lawns. The flying insect pests and nasty worms like Liver fluke don't get killed off with no frosts. I use to dig my allotment in England over rough in winter to let the frosts break it into friable soil and kill off any nasties.

      Delete

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