The plan for the day was to do five or six runs with the Land Rover bowser, providing enough water to fill all the water butts.
Instead, weather and the Wee ‘Un collaborated to reduce that to just one run.
First, all the chores were slowed down by a heavy frost overnight that saw temperatures drop to -8C. The result was frozen water troughs, rock hard ground and frozen locks, latches and hinges, while with the temperature remaining well below freezing all morning everything was refreezing almost as quickly as it was thawed.
Still, I got there in the end with the pigs and chickens enjoying a thick layer of fresh straw over the frozen ground, with enough fresh and thawed water to keep them going, and all the gates and doors fully operational.
But before I could start the water runs, I had to find out what was wrong with the Wee ‘Un. He’d been grizzly all morning and jobs had to be interrupted to comfort him, but he’d not been able to explain what was bothering him.
Finally, a lot of cuddling, some bribery and lots of cajoling got a response. “My mouth’s sore,” he wailed. A quick inspection revealed a huge ulcer and, despite being painful to apply, some teething gel sorted it for the short-term.
Then it was off to Norman’s daughter’s house to collect the water and the next round of problems began.
First, while she’d turned off the outside tap’s stopcock inside the house, she hadn’t left the tap on and so it had frozen solid. Nothing that a kettle of hot water couldn’t fix.
Next up, attach the hose that I’d brought with me but no water came through. It was also frozen despite having been inside the workshop all night. There was very little water in it, but it was still enough to prevent Norman and I getting any water through.
After a rummage in his daughter’s garage, Norman found an old length of hose and attached some fittings to it. It too proved to be partially frozen and had split, a problem easily solved by cutting off the frozen and split end.
Finally, we managed to get some water into the butts on the Land Rover and set off home in time to meet the Big Lad off the school bus.
But now the Wee ‘Un’s mouth was sore again and we had another fit of tears, followed by more cuddling until the gel worked again. Then the Big Lad needed some attention and then finally it was out to the Land Rover to pump the water out.
Now a new problem reared its head - the pump had frozen solid despite being wrapped in hessian and left in the workshop. Thawing it with a blow torch didn’t work as the gas ran out on the small one and Norman’s big one would have melted many of the fittings.
So, it was out with the buckets to the back of the Landie and time to hand water the pigs and chickens. The pigs’ water was straightforward, just smash the inch of ice that had formed since the morning and pour in the fresh water.
The chicken’s water was a different matter. Between 11am and 3pm, it had frozen hard all the way through. Yes, you guessed it, this was definitely a job for the big blow torch and it was fortunate that I’d gone for a metal water trough!
With the watering out of the way, it was time to do the feeding, check the pig fence, tidy up the tools, get the boys inside and occupied, and then start preparing dinner.
So how do I find time to update the blog? Easy, there are always spare minutes here and there, all you have to do is find them and make the most of them…
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