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Original poster

Come and talk to me about living rurally...

213 replies

LittleGinBigGin · 09/09/2019 21:00

Well dh, dc x 2 and I have moved to the country, I think I may have drunk too much gin when I agreed to this Grin

We now live in the middle of no where...literally 10 other houses and 4 of these are second homes so only ever occupied at weekends.

Our nearest neighbors are over 300m away (probably more I’m rubbish with distance)

I’m having a massive head wobble and have no idea how planned we have to be for the winter etc

Obviously heating oil is the first thing on my list and finding a supplier of wood for the fire!

I have also ordered a chest freezer!

I have just found out that during the winter the electricity goes off quite a bit, so lots of candles needed.

The house is definitely cooler tonight (weather app says it’s going as low as 6 Shock) so have put extra blankets on the kids bed and mine.

What else do I have to do?? I’m totally in over my head

OP posts:
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7
beingchampion · 09/09/2019 22:29

Fill up with fuel when you dip lower than half. Start watching the Space Station whizz over your head, go round the whole world and back over your head again about 1hr40mins later. (google Nasa spot the station)

Scrowy · 09/09/2019 22:29

So if the emergency services needed to reach you in adverse weather conditions, how would that work? I'm incredulous that you'd move to such a cut off location with 2 DC

Round here it would be mountain rescue or air ambulance.

Luckily us farmers decide to take the risk otherwise you wouldn't have any food to eat Grin.

Blinkingblimey · 09/09/2019 22:34

If no one has mentioned it yet a double ring camping gas hob is a saviour in a power cut if you don’t have an aga!

Aya611 · 09/09/2019 22:35

Have oven chips, pizzas, naan breads etc in the freezer for when your having a crap day all you want is a takeaway and you can't get one as they don't exist and you end up crying while eating cold baked beans out of the can... Not that this has even happened to me WinkGrin

elastamum · 09/09/2019 22:51

Bags of salt for your drive. I always grit our track when snow is forecast. I also have grabbers, which are farmers tyres on my volvo xc90. It will go up pretty much anything in the snow and they last years as the tread is so thick.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 09/09/2019 22:55

Your 4x4 should be Japanese. If it looks like you might have to drive through floods in winter, make sure all the holes are plugged. If you don't, the smell will linger for weeks.

daisychain01 · 09/09/2019 22:58

I'd prefer our village allotment @Scrowy in any case not all farms have to be 25 miles from the amenities. It's a big risk with a young family.

Stompythedinosaur · 09/09/2019 23:00

Definitely get a well stocked freezer - we are often snowed in for a week or so at a time. Do you have any source of heat if the electricity goes off? We have been known to sleep around the stove if necessary. Camping stove is handy for emergencies. Have a well stocked first aid kit and spare of any medication used in the family.

Mainly get to know your neighbours. They will have the best advice and will be your only help if there is a problem. I find that people do help each other in these situations though.

Last one - have you thought about fire safety? Our fire brigade did a home visit, because we are not inside range of a fire engine reaching us in a reasonable period of time. They advised on fire alarm placement, and also advised us to be able to access a ladder, and to keep a bag and rope upstairs when we had a baby in case we needed to lower them from a window.

missmouse101 · 09/09/2019 23:04

We always have loads of UHT milk, tinned fruit, lentils, custard, beans. Yes to head torches and electric blankets. I have a trangia stove for power cuts. I have a secret chocolate stash! I also have a fair bit of cash and change in the house at all times. Plenty of matches!

leaserspottedmummybird · 09/09/2019 23:05

Hi @LittleGinBigGin I think you're brave to jump sticks and move to the boonies. I grew up in the boondocks and you couldn't pay me to go back there- lack of jobs, education and things to do in general. I love living in a nice town now.

leaserspottedmummybird · 09/09/2019 23:07

On another note @LittleGinBigGin are you in Britain? I didn't think it's gets THAT rural in Britain BlushBlush

BertrandRussell · 09/09/2019 23:10

I live rurally. It was wonderful when the children were little. Once they were secondary age it was a bloody nightmare- unless I just accepted in a zen like way that I was a 24 hour taxi service. Once I did that everything was fine.

Honeyroar · 09/09/2019 23:16

Your initial plan is good - get stocked up on oil and logs.

Winter tyres on your car from Oct if you’re in an area that will see much snow or ice.

A few tubs of long life milk in the larder, bread in the freezer. A good few emergency tins of soup or stew.

Little camping lanterns are great (have a few upstairs and downstairs so they’re easy to find. Aldi ones are cheap and good. Candles too.

If your electric is prone to going off, a generator or camping stove is worth it’s weight in gold. If you have well water have a few big bottles of water for emergencies too, as the pump won’t work. Nothing beats a hot water bottle in bed either.

You’ll be fine.

Skidamarinkadoo · 09/09/2019 23:17

@leaserspottedmummybird of course it does! Although a friend of mine went to uni in a big city and met someone who didn’t believe that he’d grown up in a village because they thought villages were from ‘the olden days’ and you don’t get them any more! Grin

Scrowy · 09/09/2019 23:21

OP didn't say she was 25 miles from amenities she said that she was 25 miles from the nearest town to do a big shop, that's two different things.

I'm about 20 miles from the nearest town and supermarket, but there's several villages of varying sizes in between, the nearest is 6 miles away from us and has a well stocked spar, a hairdressers, newsagents, a school and a chip shop.

It's about 12 miles to a fuel station. 35miles to the nearest A&E but there's minor injuries units closer in the town.

It's a perfectly normal way of life in this and many rural parts of the UK. I find it incredible that people think it's some kind of alternative or dangerous lifestyle.

The village allotment is a nice idea but it's not going to keep you in wheat for bread and pasta for very long, rape for cooking oil or provide enough grass to keep enough dairy cows on to provide each household with a pint of milk, butter for their toast and cheese for their sandwiches everyday.

Skidamarinkadoo · 09/09/2019 23:24

My advice is decent waterproofs, thick socks, and warm, waterproof boots with good grip. It gets muddy.

A wool blanket between mattress and sheet makes a surprising amount of difference in bed warmth.

I grew up in a small village, no car, an hours walk to the nearest supermarket. I remember the excitement when they built our (tiny, volunteer run) village shop so it was only a mile to walk to buy milk instead of five.

Callingallbutterflies · 09/09/2019 23:25

Loads of sensible ideas here. I suggest getting rubber mats for the car. Winter weather destroys carpet car mats. I have cross climate tyres not winter tyres...cheaper.

NannaNoodleman · 09/09/2019 23:27

Once people get to know you, you will find random gifts like a brace of pheasants, or random veg on your doorstep!

This!! When we first moved into our house we kept finding stuff on our front door and one day a neighbour turned up with a brace of pheasants asking if I knew how to pluck Confused We're now 'locals' so the stuff turns up in the kitchen!!

Bunnyfuller · 09/09/2019 23:48

Also live rurally and love it. The village barter system keeps us all well-stocked in fruit, veg, the odd pheasant and eggs. Also lots of lovely home made preserves etc from same! And our nearest neighbour makes cider from willing contributions of apples.

The quiet, clean (stinky tonight, silage time) air truly does give you joy just walking outside.

I’m looking after someone’s chickens this week and had a lovely dusk walk with the dog when we went to lock them in the coop for the night, with a barn owl auditioning for a Disney film!

Keep a good eye on your oil levels. The companies do really try hard to get to you if you run out, especially if you have kids but it’s no fun getting caught short!

Watch for DCs dropping sweets/food in the car. The mice are little buggers and will happily set up home in your engine. Get a humane trap and when you catch one take it on a very long walk or you’ll have him back the next morning!

Enjoy!

CherryPavlova · 10/09/2019 07:59

We have an automatic device on the gas tank that notifies the supplier when we need topping up. We never have to worry about running out because we’ve forgotten but we can always ask for an additional top up.
Yes, the local exchange and gift system is good. We tend to have it on the kitchen table rather than the doorstep but everything from fruit and vegetables to eggs, fudge and jams/chutneys and fish. We get lamb from, literally, 500yds away and freeze it so we know the source and good carbon footprint. We grow village pigs and have half shares in a pig each year.
We get shares in roadkill venison too.

Original poster
LittleGinBigGin · 10/09/2019 08:09

Thank you all so much - I have written a list and will hopefully by the end of the week be on top of everything.

@daisychain01 - when I lived 5 miles from the nearest a&e in the bad weather I had to drive my dc who was having an asthma attack to the hospital as they couldn’t get an ambulance to us, we now have a home nebuliser!

To the posters which asked why we have done this - We decided that we wanted a massive change, we have had a really few bad years and both needed something new and different.

So far we have been really happy here, the kids love it, our dog loves the super long walks.

Luckily as long as I have internet I can work from anywhere so my job isn’t affected, dh is being made redundant so will put up with the commute until he is.

OP posts:
CherryPavlova · 10/09/2019 08:14

So if the emergency services needed to reach you in adverse weather conditions, how would that work? I'm incredulous that you'd move to such a cut off location with 2 DC
Children grow up very happily and very healthily in rural villages. Probably safer than in cities.
Round here if an emergency happened on the rare days we are cut off, the farmers would help. I went to have radiotherapy a few times on a tractor. Anything treatable at home we have lots of consultants locally ranging from an obstetrician and paediatrician to an emergency department consultant. They’d just pop in and advise.

Collect kindling now whilst there are plenty of fir cones about. Bending and lifting whilst out walking the dog keeps you fit. Pop into big sacks in an outhouse to keep it dry.

Make wine and other drinks from the produce so there’s something nice to drink on those cold dark evenings - elderflower wine, rose hip syrup for cocktails, quince brandy, sloe gin etc.

mumonthehill · 10/09/2019 08:18

Re oil find out if neighbors are also on oil as it can be cheaper to buy as a group of houses. Buy logs early as they may need to dry out before you use them so have a dry place to store them. If the farm is a dairy farm you will have access to milk if you get snowed in. Foster good relationships as you never know when you might need help!!!

scaryteacher · 10/09/2019 09:05

Oil lamps, and peversely, a gas BBQ so you can cook, even if you have to send dh out into the snow to do it (as I have done!).

I have lots of the reversible fleecy blankets for beds and on the sofa. Make sure you have a good stock of pet food. I agree with bread, milk etc in the freezer and have a good supply of your favourite tinned soup that can be heated up on the woodburner. Ditto baked beans and spaghetti hoops.Batch cooking in the freezer as well. If it gets really cold, then milk can be left outside!

Having a gravity fed Rayburn helps, as that doesn't go off with a power cut, ditto some Agas. A 4WD with general grabbers for tyres is good - got us through some Belgian winters when normal winter tyres on cars wouldn't cut it.

Honeyroar · 10/09/2019 09:05

Our mountain rescue is a back up for the ambulance in snowy weather and you often see shout outs from the hospital for people with 4x4s to take staff in.