Wednesday 28 January 2015

The hole in the wall.....


June 2014,
and the food storage area is starting to sprawl across the back wall of the temporary kitchen.


And this is what I have been doing the last few days....
getting all the stored jars of food over to one side,
so the wall at the end is now clear,
and emptying two of the three freezers out so they could be shifted to better positions.


And then this has now happened.....


A hole!
Yes, and what a grand hole it is!
And how much flipping colder the house has got!
Not to worry,
the hole is temporary,
and I can always climb into bed for a warm up with the electric blanket,
or I can go sit on the loo for ages, 
(a heater is kept on in the bathroom all the time
because I refuse to  let my necessarily exposed skin shiver when I am on the loo)
and as a last resort I can always 'borrow' my husband's longjohns.

But hey! Why has this hole thus been made?
To beat back the mud from the farm, that is why,
my thoughts being, 
( and the hole was my idea in the first place)
that if there was a longer trek coming inside from outside, 
then more of the mud would be left outside the house,
rather than being deposited in clumps around the house.

Now I must say that Lester is very good about not adding to the indoor mud,
all he does is leave his boots / shoes / slippers at various doorways,
which I tend to trip over as I scurry hither and thither,
with my boots on,
inside or out,
because I have flat feet,
and multi task,
so it is not always possible to keep taking my laced up boots on and off
off and on,
all the day long,
as I scamper about my work.
And then there are the three dogs with their twelve feet,
which can leave quite a trail of mud,
especially when the rottweiller girls have been digging holes.
They do have big feet.

And so in my head a plan was hatched,
and that was to have a door put in the end wall of the larder area,
which would give us access into the middle barn,
and from there, the outside,
thus giving us a back door,
which should keep the mud, shoes, boots, etc,... all in one place
and keep the front door and hallway clear of mud and boot clutter.
Well that's the plan.

And so the hole is done....


And this is what we were left with this evening,
the wind it doth blow
with a fearsome cold that chills the bone,
and I dare not think of any nighttime visitors 
that might scurry through such a lovely big hole.
And it is just as well that we don't have any heating on,
because it would be wasted in this draft.

About the Rayburn Project:
Lester and our builder are going to do the pipework themselves.
They start next week.
Meanwhile, we are already sitting beside it,
as if it is lit  and oozing warmth already.....

A bit about the cows:
They are doing well,
but do not like being indoors so much.
Lissie is with calf.
Bonny is as well, we think.

....and the sheep:
three lambs have now arrived,
black and white twins,
and a little black one. 
More on their way.

..... and the holy terrors, the piglets?
After their recent bust out, they are confined to their smaller electrified pen,
until Lester has time to repair the fencing on the big paddocks again.
Mum pig and Max are doing well.

...oh, and the goats?
There aren't any.
Zero.
We had our reasons, which were valid to us.

And so January dances itself onwards,
the end of this month possibly being a bit on the wet side,
as the soup mix of rain and higher temperatures,
so favoured by nature at this time of the year here,
create excess amounts of ground water,
and cracks the snow into avalanches.
some of which goes away to the sea,
via the river,
which runs past our house.

In other words, 
it is the time of the floods.

But we are dry for the moment,
so all is well.



Lester's mini tractor waiting for spring to arrive, as seen through the new hole in the wall.
I am not sure how he got it into the barn,
and I am even more unsure of how he is going to get it back out again!

Vx

13 comments:

rusty duck said...

Two steps forward, one back. Such is the way of renovating (apart from the dust).

Mizumatte said...

thank you and good morning. I hope everything is well with all of you and you soon get a door in that hole, it' must be a very big door? take care Jaana

Vera said...

Jessica, you are right! Sometimes renovating is a bit of a slog! (But worth it!)

Jaana, the door is in the hole as we speak, but not properly fixed in place, but nearly there!

The Squirrel Family said...

Well done on a great idea , keeping mud down is key in rural locations.

I often wish our kitchen door wasn't quite so close to the main door into the house, as I have to walk barefoot or slippered across the doormat/trail of mud left by others :(

ps hope nothing with a long tail sneaked in whilst the defenses were down :)

Tim said...

Your idea will work, Vera....
We had a firedoor placed between the house and the barn...
but both barn doors secured from the outside.

This year I found which box I'd put my round tuit into....
and put a bolt on the inside of barn door that opens into the hangar...
hey presto, we had a route similar to your almost ready one.
No more really muddy floors!!

Yes, mud still gets indoors...
but it tends to be much drier mud and can be swept up...
the only drawback...
that firedoor has an extremely strong spring!!

Jean said...

A cold icy draught is not nice when one is on the loo, or at any other time!
Having a back door is a good idea, as mud is miserable stuff to deal with. I hope you "get t'wood in t'hole" soon so that all can be cosy again.

(We also have plans for a back door chez nous, so we can keep more of the mud outside instead of it getting trailed through the whole house. We are going to put an external door into the utility room, where the dog can be towelled off and de muddied, the cat can have her cat flap, the wet and muddy boots and clothes can be discarded and the tiled foor can be wiped over. That's the theory, anyway!)

Ohiofarmgirl said...

what a great idea! we drag so much mud and dirt into the house. there is no "mud room" here. between me and the dogs it's always a big disaster. so i just love this! yesterday the goats were in such a fuss that i began thinking for "zero" goats as well. they are going to be the death of me.

The Broad said...

In Vermont where my sister lives and where there is lots of snow and lots of muddy melts, every new house seems to have a 'mud' room that links to the kitchen on the other side. A very good idea for your farm, methinks.

Meanwhile, do stay warm and cozy and snuggle up a lot!!;-)

Vera said...

The Squirrel Family: Don't know if a 'long tailed' creature visited through the hole last night because I kept my distance from it all night!

Tim; What is a 'tuit'? And thanks for the encouragement in regards to thinking that the mud problem might be reduced indoors!

Jean; the door is now in the hole so the draft is much reduced, which is a blessing today because we have very high winds forecasted tonight! Hope you get your back door sorted out soon.

OhioFarmGirl; Our goats drove Lester nuts on lots of occasions as well, and is a relief that we are now goat free!

Vera said...

The Broad; Mud is bad enough but
mud laced with snow? Crikey, now that would be just too much!

northsider said...

A curtain or a temporary piece of plastic will soon get rid of the draughts Vera. We tiled most (carpeted bedrooms)of our smallholding dwelling because we tramp mud in from the farm.

Tim said...

A "round tuit" is what is needed to solve all those jobs that are left aside because you said you'd do...

"when you got around tuit!"

:-)

Vera said...

Northsider Dave, carpets and mud do not go well together, that we have already learnt! Farms and mud, now that is something which go easily hand in hand, that is something which we have learnt as well.

Tim, oh so that is what ' round tuit' means! I've got lots of those as well. Thanks for the chuckle you gave us!