Our 1 in 4 hill has confined us to quarters except on foot or by quad – here’s a quick summary of the good and bad of life in a rural village in a freeze
Good Things 
It’s so pretty – and when the sun shines it literally sparkles
The sledging on the hills is fabulous and the pull back up is brilliant for getting rid of those Christmas calories
The endless acts of kindness that villagers show to each other (and passing strangers) – a spade left in some grit at a danger point, those near the main road shopping for everyone else, those with quads ferrying said shopping up and down the hills
The wonderful Dai from James and Powell who drove through the snow to deliver us a quad because my trusty buggy was in for service and awaiting parts (talk about bad timing!)
The chickens deciding it was time to start laying again – it seems even the hens in our village have got the community spirit!
Bad Things
The anxiety about animal feed running out – 52 mouths are dependent on us and the alpacas, dogs and chickens were all down to 2 days feed – we got in on Saturday and came back with a laden car – thank you Ross Feeds for your fantastic service!
The frozen water – thankfully our spring is fine but our poor neighbours have no water at all and have had to decamp to relatives. Luckily almost all our fields have stream access so we only have to carry a couple of buckets a day – but it is a major problem for the dairy farmers;
The sledging on the hills is fabulous and the pull back up is brilliant for getting rid of those Christmas calories
The endless acts of kindness that villagers show to each other (and passing strangers) – a spade left in some grit at a danger point, those near the main road shopping for everyone else, those with quads ferrying said shopping up and down the hills
The wonderful Dai from James and Powell who drove through the snow to deliver us a quad because my trusty buggy was in for service and awaiting parts (talk about bad timing!)
The chickens deciding it was time to start laying again – it seems even the hens in our village have got the community spirit!
Bad Things
The anxiety about animal feed running out – 52 mouths are dependent on us and the alpacas, dogs and chickens were all down to 2 days feed – we got in on Saturday and came back with a laden car – thank you Ross Feeds for your fantastic service!
The frozen water – thankfully our spring is fine but our poor neighbours have no water at all and have had to decamp to relatives. Luckily almost all our fields have stream access so we only have to carry a couple of buckets a day – but it is a major problem for the dairy farmers;
Finding enough logs to feed the Rayburn and the woodburning stove - we've gone through all the seasoned logs and now have to go out and chainsaw the ash which will at least burn green;
The lousy design of our condensing boiler which means the pipe freezes up and shuts the boiler down – just when you need it!
And finally, the timing of taking the pledge to have an alcohol free January just when the car is grounded and everyone is meeting for mulled wine.
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