The Coo's News
Bearing up against the snow
7 January 2010
Now don't get me wrong - I like the snow as much as the next person but I think we are probably getting more than our fair share up here. We were extremely lucky and fortunate that the parcel delivery company that we use managed to get all our parcels delivered in the run up to Christmas, despite the adverse weather and are continuing to do so in this New Year.
However we are now nearly three weeks on and at Edinvale, our family farm, we now have some two feet of snow lying. This has been clearly too much for our small shed which crumpled under the snow just after New Year. Fortunately we had fed the inhabitants some barely (which they love) just moments before which takes them just outside of the shed. We only lost one Highland cross but are very grateful that it wasn't more and even more grateful that no one else was under it.
In the spirit of how the farm was started (two cows rustled by my father from my Grandparents), the shed also had a dubious acquisition! When my grandparents bought a farm some 6 years after my father took on Edinvale, the first thing that was to disappear from it was this shed!!
The other shed also has young stock in it and they have made some room for the additional occupants and are all snuggled down out of the inclement weather.
As I write this, more snow is falling, further burying the shed and making life a bit more difficult on the farm - especially for the outside cattle. It is however the reason why we use the hardy native breeds on our farm as you never know when you are going to get weather like this and they are ideally suited to the variable conditions.
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