Well Danny boy, your pipes may be calling you but mine are freezing! And not just any time and place freezing, occurring in the byre and while the Crofter is away. So, while giving the Mini Crofter a lesson in physics, our lab experiment involves trips down to the byre with a kettle. No, I do not serve our cows cups of tea while they have no running water. I merely lean into the byre via the locking barrier to empty said kettle over the metal join that is the last exposed point before water decants into the trough. And hence, the freezing spot. This is not the first time this has occurred, but as it didn’t happen while other half was home, no measure was put in place to alleviate the cows needing to share the kettle with me.
So, if anyone has sheep fleece that they never got up-lifted by the wool board and is currently lying in the corner of your shed/byre/home/pick up because, as a farmer, you are not going to throw something away, it may be useful one day; I can put it to use (as pipe insulation).
And before anyone checks their BBC weather forecast station and points out that it is currently 2 degrees, how could my pipes possibly freeze?!? I know, the cows got their singing kettle at the new year when it was cold, yesterday I was stuffing straw around the exposed pipe but the forecast for the weekend is another drop so hence the ‘begging you for sheep fleece’.
Birchwood Croft, Inverness-shire 