Come and talk to me about living rurally...

[LittleGinBigGin]

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

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 ) 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

I love this thread - we are country village so not as rural as OP or PP but I recognise a lot of the positive community stories. Hope you continue to enjoy the move OP.

Oil is often cheaper in the summer- try and fill up then.
Tip the oil delivery man well- you might need to beg to be fitted in if you screw up the ordering. I cried down the phone once and they bumped us up the list.....

haven't finished reading, but loads of people have mentioned torches, spare batteries and candles.

Can I suggest that instead of these,m you need LED lanterns and torches? These last for days/weeks without running out and are so much better than candles.
My kids have one each, used on multiple camping trips several years running, still going.
We have a camping lantern, that has done many trips several hours per evening, still going.

Or, a good solid wind up torch. My mum kept one by her back door, so was never without batteries

Sleeping bags are great for extra warmth when you lose power and heating. We're oil-fired, but still need electricity to get things going. The storm in which we ended up with no elect (so no heat, no light), no mobile signal and, finally, no water was fun. I ended up in multiple layers of clothing, in a sleeping bag and under two duvets for a day and a half, with my cat on top for extra warmth.

Butter freezes well.

If you have pets see who delivers in bulk to you. Amazon is great for large sacks of cat, rabbit and guinea pig food, as is Zooplus. You'll get to know the drivers, and they'll put them where you want them (into a shed or wherever).

Hitching is safer than in the town. I've had arguments with drivers who think I need a lift, when I'm perfectly happy to walk. At the same time it's nice that I can get to the nearest town (12 miles away) when I want to rather than waiting for the bus.

The wildlife is amazing! I've been joined on twilight runs by deer, owls and bats. I've also had a hedgehog in the kitchen. I do have the number of the local farmer for when the cattle and sheep appear in the garden, though. But that means a personal episode of One Man and his Dog (much to my cat's displeasure!).

and can I second the idea for long life milk rather than frozen.

See if the heating oil people will deliver monthly or bi monthly so that you don't ever have to worry about running out of oil.

Most oil companies only deliver over a set amount, and wouldn’t do monthly. Better to get used to how much you use and order it (order a good week before you need to). We have a garden cane that gets poked in the tank once a fortnight so we know what we have left. (Hi tech country folk us!)

Adding a sour note. Keep your dogs away from sheep

Another vote for uht milk.

And seconding the acceptance you need to be a 24/7 taxi service from secondary onwards. Even though dsd can drive if she ever wants a drink it isn’t as simple as just getting a taxi. You also need to find friends in other local villages for reciprocal arrangements if you can’t be available 24/7.

Regarding torches you need the head lamp type too. Hand held and lanterns aren’t always practical for daily tasks. However unless you need light for specific tasks, then regarding walking in the dark etc then it’s better to let your eyes adjust when you first leave the light and manage without, you have much better all round vision than a circle of light.

Broadly speaking you just need to think of all the daily things you take for granted and be super organised for any that will no longer be practical. Whether that’s switching on the central heating or nipping out for a loaf of bread

Re being stuck in an unlit house. We have some battery operated motion detector night lights. They can be stuck on a skirting board or inside a gloomy cupboard. They come on when you approach, and switch off after about 10 seconds. Just long enough to avoid stubbed toes! I've got a few dotted along the hallway between bedroom and loo ;-)

@Honeyroar when we lived in a small village 5 years ago, there were two oil companies which offered this service - they did something like 500 litres (?) every two months. All went brilliantly until now ex decided he didn't want to pay the extra £20 it cost so would keep track of the oil level himself with a stick that sounds much like yours - needless to say we ran out of oil very quickly!

Make sure you have a good supply of the following:

Torches and batteries (stock up when on offer)
Blankets/spare duvets
Candles
Canned food/long-life food to make sure you can eat if you're snowed in.
A way to cook food if the electric goes off. We have a woodburner that can be used as a last resort or maybe an open fire so you can at least make hot drinks/soup etc.

We live pretty rurally and I absolutely love it. It can be a pain in winter when you're snowed in but on those days I make the most of it and take the dog out for a good run in the snow. I'm five minutes from the beach and the mountains - it's quiet, peaceful and such a nice escape!

Don't pick mushrooms unless you're 100% sure of what you're picking. Same with berries. That was bad advice!

I'm not quite as rural as you but I'm still out in the sticks. It all comes down to good planning. Once you've cracked that you're set.

We're quite rural (I call it "countryside for beginners") and it's brilliant.

You find yourself becoming in tune with nature, noting the various patterns, discovering weird insects and other beasties!

The downside is that some of this nature wants to set up home in your home . We've been here 10 months and in that time have discovered a massive disused hornet's nest in the attic (the house is 40 years old), a mouse in the kitchen, wasps (we had to get a wasp guy out), the remains of birds nests on wooden beams outside and we suspect birds in the chimney (I also caught the cat peering up it).

Hand sanitizer, when you have had frozen pipes for five days it’s not just lack of drinking water that’s a problem

Scrowy
I find it incredible that people think it's some kind of alternative or dangerous lifestyle

this ! We live rurally having lived in London for 20 years, it's WAY safer than the City, we leave our doors unlocked and delivery men say how safe it is to leave deliveries on your doorstep, the community spirit is strong and being surrounded by bird song and animal chatter is a wonderful way for children to grow up, instead of sirens and traffic noises (not to mention the fumes), for us rural living is a dream come true.

Wishing you lots of happiness in your lovely country home, OP

It's not 'alternative or dangerous', it's just a pita when the snow or other bad weather hits, or the car dies, or someone is ill. Be prepared and life is fine, be unprepared and it can be a right arse.

Can I suggest an oil watchman and boiler juice?

We've been living rurally for 9 years now and love it!

Yes definitely an oil watchman. Nothing worse than running out of oil and finding that you can't get a delivery for three days.

Along the same lines, a back up electric shower has been very useful.

Kettle to be used on the woodburner.

Corded telephone.

Grit for paths. We always buy about now whilst the prices are not crazy.

Get your chimney swept now (generally a summer job).

Line your curtains and get draught excluders on all doors. Attaching them with hooks onto the bottom of the doors works really well.

Keep an eye on any trees you own since having one come down on your property is not fun.

Caffeine/chocolate stash. When we first moved in here we were snowed in for 8 days. I ran out of caffeine and almost killed the DC.

Ask your neighbours what services they use/how they get things done; for example, you must all be on septic tank. We found out from a neighbour that a local farmer will empty ours for £30 cash in hand, which is far cheaper than any specialist service. Similarly, have a neighbours/village oil order; most providers will trim the cost if they are pooling delivery.

We’ve never had a pheasant on the doorstep, but we did have a family of partridges tapping on the front door.

LOL that it’s irresponsible to live rurally with 2 children! I don’t think my 2 are likely to be attacked, run over or breathe in pollution.

Re: emergency services - when my son nearly died from sepsis, the first responder was here within 10 minutes. He lives in the next village.

The police basically don’t bother with us but I guess they are few and few between in towns also.

Local heartstart courses are very popular (run in all village halls) and I can’t think of a village locally that doesn’t have a defibrillator now.

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

Around here it would be Mountain Rescue or the Air Ambulance.

However I think children are probably much safer living rurally than they are in cities. There's no knife or gun crime here. The occasional episode of underage drinking/vandalism but nothing more than that. The roads are quiet and children can play out until late in the summer months. There's three beaches within ten minutes drive for children to explore.

I'd much rather raise my children here than in a city.

Do you have a local pub?

Nothing beats a hot water bottle in bed either.

So true. I have one every night in the colder months. So much cosier than an electric blanket which gets too hot and feels unsafe

Nothing beats a hot water bottle in bed either.

Central heating does. Hated growing up in a freezing rural household always being told how 'great' it was when I was stranded miles from nowhere, no transportation, no social life etc. Always being told how great I have it

Not great if you are a teen I can tell you.

Bitter or what