This irritation only happens if it has been consistently wet for days and the ground gets so saturated that walking, even the few hundred yards around the field becomes a real chore (especially when there is a hole in your wellies.
Rain in the countryside means :-
- muddy paw prints on EVERYTHING including tablecloths,duvet,clothes and god forbid my best Laura Ashley floral print cushions
- slugs through the cat flap
- at least two or three embarrassing slips a week especially when cocking my leg over the Boris' fencing (doing the splits whilst holding a couple of buckets of water is no joke at nearly 50
- Cleaning out the Ghost hens daily as their huge feet drag in the mud to their hen house like shovels and wet shavings mean only one thing......sore bottoms
After half an hour of scrubbing the kitchen floor YET AGAIN, its time to "fabrese" the cottage from top to bottom, then the dettol has to be dug out yet again so that the kitchen tops can be disinfected free of cat prints (one or two can even be seen on top of the oranges pilled up on the kitchen table)
 |
| George steaming nicely in the living room |
Rainy days when we lived in the city always meant hiding away in the warmth and the dry. It meant a trip to Weston Park Museum or the shiny Millennium Galleries.and if the weather was atrocious you could always lose yourself in the aseptic Meadowhall shopping centre or John Lewis' in town.(their cafe staff were always lovely)
Even when it was bucketing down....you could always keep dry and clean and cossetted away from the elements......whereas here........constant bad weather means trenchfoot, damp underpants and chilblains.
see everything in the county isn't always like watching Little House on the Prairie!
Blah!
Working nights again tonight so will miss my weekly fix of Mr Cardle on x factor............bugger!
>my weekly fix of Mr Cardle on x factor
ReplyDeleteOh no, SO bland. I'm not really watching X-Factor this year, but I would like to see "Wagner" win :-o
Nx
wagner looks like kirsty Ally
ReplyDeleteOh man, I know about rain in the country. I feel your pain!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that chickens got trench-arse, John. That's the trouble with being a country boy - much much elements.
ReplyDeleteHere in New York we have the fall leaves tracking in with the mud too! Oh joy, says my lady. She has a hole in her Wellies. She found out during a rain storm when it was very cold. She said a naughty word! You know what's nice about a lot of rain? The smell of the forest! Maybe you can wander out into a forest and sniff....ahhhhh. That will cheer you up!
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say that - its peeing it down here and we are wondering what to do with our day! The galleries have been debated, Meadowhell (not mispelt!) is a nono, I have a free family ticket to "Magna", so after my morning on the sofa with the cuddly James Martin, and my umpteenth coffee, I shall be off.
ReplyDeletePS X Factor - I really loved the Diva Fever boys. I don't even get the point of Wagner, att Cardle is so lovely, but the scouse girl is my fave at the moment. xxxx
Oh gosh. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteIn Louisiana, where our retirement property is, they would love some mud right about now.
It's so dry there, they have a state wide burn ban in effect.
I do feel for you, and I agree, it's no fun doing the splits no matter if you have buckets in your hands or not.
Hope you get some respite, soon!
And I'd like to add to that - in my house, at least - using every one of my bath towels to put down on the kitchen floor to avoid muddy paw prints throughout the rest of the house. And when you go to get a clean towel from the linen closet, there are NONE to be found as they're all lying on the kitchen floor! GRRRR!!!
ReplyDeleteNo rain here - in too long! I do know about the muddy foot prints, but it's been a while.
ReplyDeleteI bet if you compiled a list of pros and cons, the country would win by a landslide!!
ReplyDeleteJim
YOu know you live in a nation know for its rain, right? :) Hope things dry out soon. Muddy steaming dogs do not a clean house make!
ReplyDeleteRight now, we would love to have our wellies taking on water LOL... We need rain bad!
ReplyDeleteThough agreed all the muddy floors are no fun!
Send us your rain, I will send you our dry and then we will both be happy!
RAIN is very annoying when it's ALL the time as it seems to be in your neck of the woods. Jim and I used to live in Vancouver and it rained all the time there as well. However, when the sun came it out, everyone forgot about the rain as if it had never existed.
ReplyDeleteoh jim
ReplyDeleteon balance the country wins EVERY time.....its just...well, very inconsiderate to be raining ALL the time!
dreary rain does wear on a person...don't let it win..bake something deliciously decadent. It helps!
ReplyDeleteIf you've got a bathtub - get in it and soak for a while in something that smells good. Sitting in warm suds and dreaming of "Mr. Cordle" might let you forget the rain, and all wet crap that comes with it, for a while!
ReplyDeleteBut Mr. Cordle? Really? REALLY? Hm.
I've always lived in the country so I guess what you've never had you never miss but even to a seasoned country dweller the mud is a pain as is fumbling around in the dark half way through the afternoon. The bright side is with these hardships comes a better ability to cope when things get tough!
ReplyDeleteI can sympathize about the rain!
ReplyDeleteoh er, I can see it, smell it, it comes in my house, there are wet leaves every where and the dogs stink! my house smells like your house!
ReplyDeleteI read this post as I was sitting here with my second cup of coffee, waiting for the downpour that's supposed to come later today. Rain and poultry are not compatible. I've been putting up plastic, moving feeders back under cover, putting rice hulls in the runs (they're great in places that get muddy if the wind doesn't blow them all away first) and trying to get everything snugged. This time of year is always hard because we never know if there will be floods. If the rain is stretched out over the winter it's fine, but sometimes in all comes in a week. Chickens don't float. I'll fill the woodbox this morning and make some soup in the crockpot, and light a scented candle that pretty much covers the animal smell in the house (no dogs here, just 4 cats and a baby pigeon in the house right now). If it gets too bad, I'll crawl under the covers with all 4 cats on top and a good book on the Kindle and pretend I planned it that way. Stay snug!
ReplyDeleteOh, I know where you are coming from--one round too many slopping through the mud can sure,er, dampen ones mood. I love the little farm and living in the country but it can be exhausting at times. My worst times are winter. By the time I drive in to work in the morning (over 24 miles of slick usually), I've already been up hours, dragging out buckets of water to the stock, feeding, doing extra to keep them alive and well, tending to the wood stove (carrying wood in, ashes out etc) and I'm worn out. Often when I get in, some of the 'city slickers' are all excited because it's suppose to snow again! Oh what fun! (Not). However their idea of a 'snow day' is sitting inside and watching it snow. It's always pretty difficult to work kindly within these two perspectives! ;-)
ReplyDeletePoor John....
ReplyDelete"..I'm just a country boy, money have I none
ReplyDeleteBut I've got silver in the stars and gold in the morning sun, gold in the morning sun." - DON WILLIAMS
He didn't mention the rain, the flies, screaming pigs being castrated, cockerels at 3am in the summer, holes in wellies, accidentally falling into a cesspit or The Women's Institute! Never mind, city life isn't all plain sailing as you well know sir.
Oh John...and you live in Wales! There's a reason it's so green and lush! Pretty messy here today too, unfortunately I don't have animals tracking the mud in...I could quite go for a cuddle with a a smelly wet dog right now.
ReplyDeleteNo sooner have we donned the 'spring gear' of shorts and T-shirts with sandals and a cold front moves in - Brrrrrr! had to find the winter woolies again.
ReplyDeleteWell at least the new gas heater is getting an early(ier) work out than intended. Rhonda reckons we brought the cold on by having the gas heater replaced in spring. LOL!
George doesn't seem to mind the rain.
ReplyDeleteI do admit, sometimes the smell of a wet dog, is overwhelming, especially if it lingers....
The smell, not the dog.
What a cozy and inviting cottage !
Could you please send a bit of rain this way? I don't think you'd miss it, and I really need it. The pastures are turning to dust.
ReplyDeleteIts been raining here today and might snow tomorrow! We have a mud room and wipe the dogs paws as soon as I let them in the door...one at a time. We always take our shoes off at the door too, so rain really doesn't make a big difference. I think it is the shear number of animals that you have that makes things more complicated. I vote to get rid of the slugs!!
ReplyDeleteA Note to Tammy:
ReplyDeleteWhat you said struck a chord with me. The "slicks" don't understand that in the winter one needs to get home before dark. I have come in early (6 or 7) and left by 3 or 4 for years. Our new supervisor wants us all to work the same hours now, from 8 to 5. That just doesn't work for me, I can't feed and water in the dark, and I'd need to change my clothes and/or take a shower if I traipsed around outside in the mornings.
So I didn't say anything and have continued doing what I need to do, but sometimes you have to wonder how the slicks would manage to take care of themselves in a real world.
I loved this post John! It made me laugh, made me realize I'm not the only one who complains sometimes! Nor the only one who runs around trying to clean the mud and muck off everything after crappy weather!! thanks for the smile!
ReplyDelete~Lynn