NEEPS

Sassinak · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:51 pm Post subject: Thursday 20th November

Floods, Rain and Snow

I've spent the afternoon rescuing my neighbours.
They came looking for help because they were flooded. I went to help and their driveway has almost gone as the water has washed away most of the tarmac. The worst news and the reason for the panic was the stables. The water just lapped at the top of my wellies !! He is 80 years old and his wife is over 70 so I had to do most of the digging

I had to dig a channel from the stables down the yard to the fence and try and let the water out. After an afternooon of digging I have lowered the level by over a foot and at least the ponies are not stood knee deep in water any more.
Since we picked up a bucketful of potatoes off the lane, I think we can safely assume that the problems have stemmed from the fact that the fields above the lane were plowed from top to bottom and so the water has just run straight down the furrows and onto the lane. The council have been along and dug some drainage ditches and the water level seems to be dropping.
It has not let up all day - rain, snow, sleet and more torrential rain, so even if the snow does arrive I think that everything is so wet that it won't stick - sorry Kimmie

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wildgarlic · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:58 pm Post subject:

Blimey Sass... that sounds terrible. Good on you for helping them out. Times like this we need a Neeps hotline so that you can text and see if anyone of us is nearby and able to help at a moments notice.

No snow here so far, just rain.
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kimmie · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

we had the same without the flooding...although we did have a small covering of snow for 10 mins....but it soon disapeared

........and the Hail stung when it hit....I went out to feed goats just as it started to hail....never seen the dog move so fast to get in the barn....he normally waits by the chooks...didnt even want to know them this time!

I hope your neighbour is ok...I know I am not much use at the mo, but if we can help in any way...please let us know Sue

as for the snow not sticking....well i am not so sure, am going to keep my fingers crossed, along with my toes, legs and anything else i can think off

snowing here at the moment (although sleety snow

)
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Sassinak · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject:

I just felt so sorry for them. Patrick arrived - he'd been trying to ring me but of course no phone in the house, just in the caravan. He said can you come and help because she is hysterical about her ponies and I can't do a thing with her !! I thought it was just exaggeration until I got there. They had been doing their best to cope, but it was just beyond them. Actually my back at the moment thinks it might have been beyond me as well lol
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Maria · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:32 pm Post subject:

Hope you've not done too much Sass

you'll be no good to your neighbours or yourself if you over do it. I'd have done the same though - can't stand the idea of someone in that kind of need with no-one around.

Stonehead · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:32 pm Post subject:

On the subject of weather, we've getting one heck of a wind all day. To give some idea of how strong it's been, I was trying to roll an 8in diameter, 8ft long strainer post down the hill at the back of the croft. I was able to leave 45 degrees into the wind and not fall over, while the blasted post kept blowing back up the hill!!

I found the best way of getting out of the wind was lying flat on the ground with my chest and head down a three-feet deep hole (for said strainer post) levelling the bottom. (Not mine, the hole's.) The downside of lying half in the hole was that the sleet and rain kept blowing up the back of my oilskins.

I'm daft.

Stonehead · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject:

As a further example of how strong the wind was yesterday, we have a nine-feet high mesh fence around the large chicken run. The posts are concreted three feet into the ground and have withstood gales for four years, plus heavy snow deposits on the netting stretched over the top.

The wind yesterday was sufficiently strong to push several of the most exposed posts 12 inches away from the vertical. The large hen house has also been pushed to one side. It's so heavy you need a front loader to lift it and it was bolted to its foundation posts. The M10 bolts have bent out of true—although they did hold the house in place (just).

wildgarlic · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject:

Blimey Stoney - that was wild! I've seen your hen house and chicken run and am amazed that they've been shifted in such a way.
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