With the Wee ‘Un dispatched to nursery in a taxi organised by Insch School, I’d just started on the housework when there was a knock at the door. Diana, a regular on both the Selfsufficientish and NEEPS forums, had come to lend a hand. She took over the housework, vacuumed and swept the kitchen, did some washing up and then bottled five gallons of spicy potato wine (40 bottles in all).
Diana then picked all the remaining tomatoes in the sun porch, cut down the plants and took them out to the compost, then cleaned up the scunge and dirt left by the plants. After lunch, Diana made a large batch of tomato sauce from the red tomatoes and fed the chickens before heading off into a snowstorm on her way home. Another brilliant helper who made a vast difference to my job list. Thanks Diana especially for the ginger cake, which the Other Half greatly appreciated with a whisky-laced coffee when she got in from doing the evening chores in the snow.
The number of wonderful people in the world sure make up for the minority of morons. Well done Diana! You are definitely one of the wonderful ones!!!
Stoney, this morning I have had time to go through and read all the comments on your blog. I cannot believe that you have to live with this kind of attitude. Happen your skin was a different colour then this kind of racism would be taken seriously, for racism it most certainly is. If we were closer we would be to your Landy to help like a shot, cannibalising ours in the process. Unfortunately East Anglia is a way away! (and I’d be a wuss with the cockrell culling, but I could feed a pig. Probably. I can dig though.)
I am stunned by the way that clearly you leapt off of your bike into the path of the poor unfortunate van driver, just so you could get a farm subsidy. Obviously, you broke your own collarbone because as a colonial you don’t have the brains of a true Scot to be able to do the paperwork. It’s the only logical answer………
…….. if the person reading your blog is a vicious, evil minded, brain defunct Scottish Nazi. Hmmmm. And not diluting the bloodline has done so much for NE Scotland? TBH, it’s about time there was a mix up in that area of the gene pool. Shame it’s too late for village mummy to benefit. (I know, that was nasty - We Rest-Of-The-World people are just not as nice as the true Scots from that area y’see!)
As for using real names in a blog, any numpty knows that that is a no-no. However, I have come up with a suggestion. Of sorts
IT’s GENIUS!
I suggest you start wearing a helmet with a camera and a direct feed to SKY tv. Stoney-cam, or S-CAM for short will enable people to see you thanking people, to see the extent of your injuries and to watch you at your daily work, whilst staying safe warm and smug in their own glass houses. You could have a daily phone in on what job you do next, how much to feed the animals, what jam to make, ect, for viewers to vote, thus enabling you to rake in the cash and employ someone else to be “Stunt-Stoney”! The second part of the plan would be that eventually you would train “Stunt-Stoney” to take over the croft completely, thus enabling you to go and live in a 3 bed Barrett house in suburbia, with a Papillion dog or a poodle, a nice Volvo, and your boys can eat proper McD’s food instead of all that healthy homegrown stuff. Goodness me man, you’re exposing them to dirt and real life! This way you could stop all that!
I’m sure you can see just how sensible and logical this idea is, so my donation to your fund (In all seriousness, sorry I missed that) is to grant you the ideas and creative rights to “Stoney-TV”
*hugs* (from a distance so they don’t hurt)
Sarah
Oh, and I was upset enough when the Adorable CHild and I were victims of a hit and run.
He was in the pushchair, and we were side swiped by a mobility buggy thing, driven by Captain Birdseyes stunt double. Child was frightened, Mummy was shocked, shopping was broken, pushchair battered, driver off up the road.
I wish I was on the wind up with this one like I was in the previous post. Even the elderly “We fought for your freedom” brigade have their moments.
Sounds like an angel!
Sarah, what can I say except…
“It hurts when I laugh!”
You wicked woman.
Maybe we should get the Stig in as my double…
Oh, and it’s not necessarily the Scots leaving the comments and sending emails. We get on well with most of the long-established villagers and farmers. A certain type of English incomer, on the other hand, has something of a bad reputation locally.
Erm, I’d like to point out I did have some help - you make it sound like I did it all while you popped your feet up (which is what you should have been doing)
Stoney-cam could also note down the registration number of cars which overtake you as jump out and try to knock them off the road
It’s great to hear that people are helping you out! I didn’t realise there were such people anymore…
Diana sounds like a star!
I’ve not read any bad posts on here, do you get them a lot? Are they from locals?
All bad posts are my responsibility!
I do get a fair amount of vitriol, mostly from vegans who despise people like me because we can’t be re-educated to the vegan way. Your bog standard consumer on the other hand can be converted. Apparently.
I also get a kicking now and again from people who think I’m a fraud, that I’m sort some of undeserving sponger, that I should go back whence I came and the like.
I delete the more foul-mouthed and vicious comments, I also delete ones that are totally irrelevant to the original post. But, I don’t have too much of a problem publishing the comments where they are in context - it shows there are different views, even if I think they are lurid, over the top and bigoted.
To finish on a positive note, people like Diana, Andy, Adib, Andhar the Wheel and Cassie know of me via various forums, as well as this blog, and popped over to help out. More importantly, they provided great company.
As well, a lot of readers of the blog have chipped in cash to help cover the costs of repairing the bike, replacing safety equipment and upgrading safety equipment. Several people were amazingly generous, but it was all the people who kicked in a fiver that said most to us because it showed a lot of people from all around the world want to make a difference.
And ultimately, that’s what this blog is about - making a difference. And all those people who’ve helped have made a difference for us.
There are def ‘Stoney Cams’ available - - bike helmet mounted video cams about £80 or £90 - if the contribs run to it I reckon the CTC would think you should have one rather than sending them any extra excess- that way next time (god forbid) there will be video proof and the roads will be safer for all of the vulnerable road users by taking the B(&*^^$ off the road- worth considering!
Thanks for helping Stoney and his mob folks! As for him sitting down and putting his feet up Diana, well that is like believing that pigs fly; it just won’t happen.
Thanks for a good laugh Sarah.
If you folk are like me then you would enjoy the results of his cooking too.
I ‘ve had a few similar comments about the forum i’ve started.
I could do with your kind of writing appearing once in a blue moon. You know in between writing this blog, feeding clothing and running the kids about, fixing your body, looking after the animals etc etc etc etc LOL
Apparently wanting to get into crofting isn’t good enough, you have to be a crofter to offer something to the wider crofting community. I thought I was doing something a little different that would show people how serious we are, but it seems there are always a few that want to spoil things for everyone else.
I don’t think people realise how much hard work goes into creating and running something online.
Your honesty and open comments make this blog.
Your articles are also very informative, and easy to read. It’s a nice place. So when are you going to join the forum stoney LOL
PS. I like Angelas last post too, that could make some rather interesting viewing! I used to drive a white van and leave plenty of room for bikes and motorbikes etc ( I used to ride both a lot and know how it feels.) The thing that always got to me was the vehicles miles infront flashing their lights at you to get out of their lane! you can’t win LOL
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