The isolation and the cool/cold/wet weather, are 2 brilliant reasons to live rural anywhere in my opinion lol, i must ask, you seem to have a fair bit of land, please consider giving the chickens a bit more freedom, they are feeding you and deserve a bit more space than that cage they are locked in at the moment.
I had that problem. But chickens do need space. I bought a polytunnel and instead of plastic cover put chicken wire over it, also put a tarpaulin roof on the run It shelters them from rain and wild bird poo.❤
I live in rural Scotland, have done for over 20 years. Then I started to keep ducks this year, hatching them from eggs. You soon realise you 'must' keep them penned very close to the house or caged - because Buzzards and Red Kites hover overhead (and the birds soon see them), plus there are lots of foxes, stoats and weasels running about (even in the day time). Added to that, you have neighbours, hunters and ramblers leaving their dogs to run about, plus there are a few feral cats as well as the occasional big cat (they do exist). A few times, neighbours of mine lost entire flocks of chickens to predation, because they left them to run about roaming free. That soon makes it more expensive to keep poultry than it is to just buy eggs from a supermarket. So, if you're sensible, you keep your birds in a cage when you don't have time to stay beside them all the time. They are not creatures that demand constant mental stimulation. A pond and some dense shade will do for ducks. Chickens like chicken swings apparently. My ducks were first raised indoors. When they became too messy, they were moved to the security of a 2x1 metre back porch, given the run of a narrow shady alley beside the house, a low, small gauge cage in the front garden, a bathtub for swimming (while their pond awaits further construction) and their larger cage awaits finishing. You just build new things over time for them.
@@Debbie-henri Thank you. We spoke to our neighbours before getting our 4 hens and they all said the same thing as you about predators. And they were usually speaking from experience having lost animals themselves. Our hens have this run plus an extension we built ourselves which gives over 8m of space. It's also on wheels and they get moved to fresh ground everyday. We do let them out to run around when we're able to supervise and make sure they're safe. Of course I would love for them to free range but I'm doing what is best to keep them safe.
I don't have so much of an issue with isolation, because I have my family with me. However, I had the advantage of a rural upbringing and deal with isolation very easily. In fact, I can feel the presence of a family as 'too much' and will go for walks of 4-6 hours endurance just so I can 'gey away from it all.' Presently, you are still feeling the need for people. What you need is a slight mind adjustment to 'what' you see as companionable. I, for example, will see companionship in a bitd singing nearby, a squirrel watching from a tree, even beetles and butterflies sharing my space. Just open up away from that limited 'city mindset' of people being the only creature to commune with, and you will find yourself really enjoying encounters with wild animals. One day, for instance, a Red Deer stag walked casually right in front of me, a fox walked up beside me and sat down when I was taking a lunch break in the woods. A red squirrel sat on a tree stump and watched me for quite some time, after I'd had an argument with my husband. Wild birds can get so used to you, if you let them, they will wait for you to put out some crumbs for their breakfast. I would have 2 pheasants and 3 Siskins learn to knock for breakfast. So, don't forget, they may not talk English, but there are many creatures who would not say no to a treat or two, and let you have a moment to say hello in exchange. It gives you a chance to record species and help wildlife charities by logging your sightings with them. I don't know if you're already doing this, but dedicate a corner of your garden to wildlife - where the mower won't go, you plant berries and seed producing plants/trees, and bring new friends to you. Dealing with household maintenance. We have learned that the best way is to learn to do your own DIY. Plenty of practical books and, of course, TH-cam videos. Keep things simple. People overcomplicate their lives, adding things to their home until they become overly reliant on specialists. Resist doing that as much as possible, and try to become your own expert. Yes, the Highlands and Islands peoples have to pay extra for everything to be delivered. It is unfair, and I think there ought to be an adjustment to wages, benefits and pensions to cover that. But it is what it is, and you have to make the best of it. (I live in Southern Scotland, but in a rural area, so I don't have the postage problem; but yes, I do have to drive a ways to get anywhere to buy things. If we have to endure this pay per mile thing the government wants to enforce, that will be an added cost). One way to get around the handyman problem is to think of skilled people you know in your home city, and offer them a free camping holiday in your garden, plus meals, in exchange for the workmanship to solve a problem you're having. I've taken up the offer of a free holiday in exchange for relandscaping a garden. I didn't find it a cheeky request at all, and I was given ample time to enjoy the holiday at the same time. This gets over the problem of a local handyman slapping on an extra bonus just because you're English, and therefore must be rich (I've had this problem with getting a chimney liner. We were so disgusted with a quote for £1400 from one man, it encouraged us to buy a £200 kit and fit the thing ourselves). Rot and rust. Yep, I'm just deliberating selling my entire antiquarian book collection, because damp has got to some of them. 2 more years of this damp, and some will be beyond hope. Debumidifiers make a world of difference (this is the first time I've seen your channel, so I don't know your electrics situation, if you have solar or what). Cover work tools with a thin layer of mineral oil after use. A little goes a long way. Add a proof paint on the underside of your car to better protect it from winter wet and salt. We do this every time we get a new car after losing the first car to rust (and it was a really good car, was sorry to lose it).
I appreciate your video. If people don't talk about these issues, others won't know. And really, if you live in the city you are unlikely to know, same as rural people won't know city things. You sound like you need to connect with people there. Get into local events. Connect more if you can. It is okay to have a bit of a 'culture shock' to a place when you first get there. On the bright side, beautiful land, your own place, a car that is rust proofed. Thanks for telling it how it is. I'm moving from Au to NI countryside, and it will be a total opposite of anything I know as I grew up here! Fairly normal emotions I think you are going through. Give yourself time.
I live alone, enjoying life through many hobbies and passions, but in a city ; I have been tempted to chase a Walden pond/Therouxian dream I've had, but wonder about how Id go being isolated. In a city, you cant help not having contact through out your day, , but also there's noise, not nature. :( Surely, being rural, connection online through the internet, can help, and as some have suggested, and dear pet. I would probably find a regular commitment to go to once a month, if there's a town that provides such. Thnks for your thoughts.
As a Scot living in the central belt we don’t get much snow normally but we do get bitter cold damp winters with lots of rain that do scunner you but it’s part of living in Scotland hopefully as we’ve not had much of a summer winter will be better but I won’t hold my breath 😉
Its quite laughable the use of Scotland and England, England has countryside too, it has weather and rust. I think you will find the issue is living outside of a city not living in Scotland. PS try living within a couple of miles of the coast, it has rust too. Scotland isn't another part of the planet to England and Wales....... or even the Island of Ireland.....
David, I agree with a lot of what you say, but latitude does make a difference to the winter day-length which can have a marked effect on mood in some people. It also affects the number of salt applications on the roads. The number of freeze/thaw cycles is higher and the frost season is longer - it is quite common for local roads to be pre-gritted in the evening then gritted again the following morning. Also the gritting rate tends to be higher - where 20-30g per square metre is common in England it is often 80-120 in Scotland. The car trade recognises the rust risk, too and one trader I spoke to in Cheshire will no longer take any trade-ins from north of Newcastle. Additional delivery charges are much rarer in rural England and there is a growing list of suppliers who won't even quote for delivery to my Highland address - I recently had one where the exceptions list said: "Highlands of Scotland, Somalia and Yemen"!
@@rb9580 Rust is an interesting topic, if a bit mundane. Our newest car is thankfully from the south of England. I'll never buy a car from north of Newcastle (or even Hull) again.
You have been honest about your choice of home and I can relate. I love the isolation where I am in Wales. Not so much the constant wet and the resulting rot and rust. The cold I experienced in Edinburgh years ago made me decide Scotland would not be on my agenda. Also, are the midges bad there? It is very difficult to find competant trades people. Also, I had to pay a taxi £90 to rush my Jack Russel to the vets just 4 miles away, 9 years ago. I will never forgive that. People are unkind everywhere.
@@LifeOnTheCroftI think midges are attracted to different people at different rates, possibly due to diet. When my family first moved to Scotland, my husband and son were constantly attacked. I was left quite alone. However, I eat a lot of citrus fruit, and they didn't touch it. Once I started pushing my son to eat more of it, he was left alone.
That's a mean taxi driver to make you pay that much. It's 8 miles from the hospital to my home, and when I called a taxi to take me home from there around midnight, I paid about £15. That's no more than I would pay during the day. There are some very mean people in the country, and I have had some anti-English encounters, one quite frightening, but mostly everyone is well meaning and nice.
Just a thought, have you watched the videos of someone else who has just moved to a similar location? You could maybe link up online at least to talk through the various aspects of living the rural lifestyle. Not sure if I can add a link but 'Rewilding Jude' ahould find it.
When you moved from the city did you really think about where you were going. Rural Scots know all these things and we accept our circumstances. I think you may have been living in a sort of dream!
@@LifeOnTheCroft it is improtwnt to have a realistic view of this way of living, as it tends to be romanticised a lot, which is not realistic. Isolation one really hit me
Not sure that the salt used in Scotland is stronger probably more snowy freezing days in Scotland than England so more gritting of roads
The isolation and the cool/cold/wet weather, are 2 brilliant reasons to live rural anywhere in my opinion lol, i must ask, you seem to have a fair bit of land, please consider giving the chickens a bit more freedom, they are feeding you and deserve a bit more space than that cage they are locked in at the moment.
It is something which we're wanting to do but we have a lot of red kites and buzzards in the area so must be careful
@@LifeOnTheCroft I understand :)
I had that problem. But chickens do need space. I bought a polytunnel and instead of plastic cover put chicken wire over it, also put a tarpaulin roof on the run It shelters them from rain and wild bird poo.❤
I live in rural Scotland, have done for over 20 years. Then I started to keep ducks this year, hatching them from eggs.
You soon realise you 'must' keep them penned very close to the house or caged - because Buzzards and Red Kites hover overhead (and the birds soon see them), plus there are lots of foxes, stoats and weasels running about (even in the day time). Added to that, you have neighbours, hunters and ramblers leaving their dogs to run about, plus there are a few feral cats as well as the occasional big cat (they do exist).
A few times, neighbours of mine lost entire flocks of chickens to predation, because they left them to run about roaming free. That soon makes it more expensive to keep poultry than it is to just buy eggs from a supermarket.
So, if you're sensible, you keep your birds in a cage when you don't have time to stay beside them all the time.
They are not creatures that demand constant mental stimulation. A pond and some dense shade will do for ducks. Chickens like chicken swings apparently.
My ducks were first raised indoors. When they became too messy, they were moved to the security of a 2x1 metre back porch, given the run of a narrow shady alley beside the house, a low, small gauge cage in the front garden, a bathtub for swimming (while their pond awaits further construction) and their larger cage awaits finishing. You just build new things over time for them.
@@Debbie-henri Thank you. We spoke to our neighbours before getting our 4 hens and they all said the same thing as you about predators. And they were usually speaking from experience having lost animals themselves.
Our hens have this run plus an extension we built ourselves which gives over 8m of space. It's also on wheels and they get moved to fresh ground everyday. We do let them out to run around when we're able to supervise and make sure they're safe. Of course I would love for them to free range but I'm doing what is best to keep them safe.
If you don't like the weather there, don't move to Alaska, especially South East....
If you think things are expensive there, don't move to Alaska....
I don't have so much of an issue with isolation, because I have my family with me. However, I had the advantage of a rural upbringing and deal with isolation very easily. In fact, I can feel the presence of a family as 'too much' and will go for walks of 4-6 hours endurance just so I can 'gey away from it all.'
Presently, you are still feeling the need for people.
What you need is a slight mind adjustment to 'what' you see as companionable.
I, for example, will see companionship in a bitd singing nearby, a squirrel watching from a tree, even beetles and butterflies sharing my space.
Just open up away from that limited 'city mindset' of people being the only creature to commune with, and you will find yourself really enjoying encounters with wild animals.
One day, for instance, a Red Deer stag walked casually right in front of me, a fox walked up beside me and sat down when I was taking a lunch break in the woods. A red squirrel sat on a tree stump and watched me for quite some time, after I'd had an argument with my husband. Wild birds can get so used to you, if you let them, they will wait for you to put out some crumbs for their breakfast. I would have 2 pheasants and 3 Siskins learn to knock for breakfast.
So, don't forget, they may not talk English, but there are many creatures who would not say no to a treat or two, and let you have a moment to say hello in exchange. It gives you a chance to record species and help wildlife charities by logging your sightings with them.
I don't know if you're already doing this, but dedicate a corner of your garden to wildlife - where the mower won't go, you plant berries and seed producing plants/trees, and bring new friends to you.
Dealing with household maintenance.
We have learned that the best way is to learn to do your own DIY. Plenty of practical books and, of course, TH-cam videos.
Keep things simple.
People overcomplicate their lives, adding things to their home until they become overly reliant on specialists. Resist doing that as much as possible, and try to become your own expert.
Yes, the Highlands and Islands peoples have to pay extra for everything to be delivered. It is unfair, and I think there ought to be an adjustment to wages, benefits and pensions to cover that. But it is what it is, and you have to make the best of it.
(I live in Southern Scotland, but in a rural area, so I don't have the postage problem; but yes, I do have to drive a ways to get anywhere to buy things. If we have to endure this pay per mile thing the government wants to enforce, that will be an added cost).
One way to get around the handyman problem is to think of skilled people you know in your home city, and offer them a free camping holiday in your garden, plus meals, in exchange for the workmanship to solve a problem you're having.
I've taken up the offer of a free holiday in exchange for relandscaping a garden. I didn't find it a cheeky request at all, and I was given ample time to enjoy the holiday at the same time.
This gets over the problem of a local handyman slapping on an extra bonus just because you're English, and therefore must be rich (I've had this problem with getting a chimney liner. We were so disgusted with a quote for £1400 from one man, it encouraged us to buy a £200 kit and fit the thing ourselves).
Rot and rust.
Yep, I'm just deliberating selling my entire antiquarian book collection, because damp has got to some of them. 2 more years of this damp, and some will be beyond hope.
Debumidifiers make a world of difference (this is the first time I've seen your channel, so I don't know your electrics situation, if you have solar or what).
Cover work tools with a thin layer of mineral oil after use. A little goes a long way.
Add a proof paint on the underside of your car to better protect it from winter wet and salt. We do this every time we get a new car after losing the first car to rust (and it was a really good car, was sorry to lose it).
I appreciate your video. If people don't talk about these issues, others won't know. And really, if you live in the city you are unlikely to know, same as rural people won't know city things. You sound like you need to connect with people there. Get into local events. Connect more if you can. It is okay to have a bit of a 'culture shock' to a place when you first get there. On the bright side, beautiful land, your own place, a car that is rust proofed. Thanks for telling it how it is. I'm moving from Au to NI countryside, and it will be a total opposite of anything I know as I grew up here! Fairly normal emotions I think you are going through. Give yourself time.
I live alone, enjoying life through many hobbies and passions, but in a city ; I have been tempted to chase a Walden pond/Therouxian dream I've had, but wonder about how Id go being isolated. In a city, you cant help not having contact through out your day, , but also there's noise, not nature. :( Surely, being rural, connection online through the internet, can help, and as some have suggested, and dear pet. I would probably find a regular commitment to go to once a month, if there's a town that provides such. Thnks for your thoughts.
As a Scot living in the central belt we don’t get much snow normally but we do get bitter cold damp winters with lots of rain that do scunner you but it’s part of living in Scotland hopefully as we’ve not had much of a summer winter will be better but I won’t hold my breath 😉
Its quite laughable the use of Scotland and England, England has countryside too, it has weather and rust.
I think you will find the issue is living outside of a city not living in Scotland.
PS try living within a couple of miles of the coast, it has rust too.
Scotland isn't another part of the planet to England and Wales....... or even the Island of Ireland.....
Appreciate the comment
David, I agree with a lot of what you say, but latitude does make a difference to the winter day-length which can have a marked effect on mood in some people. It also affects the number of salt applications on the roads. The number of freeze/thaw cycles is higher and the frost season is longer - it is quite common for local roads to be pre-gritted in the evening then gritted again the following morning. Also the gritting rate tends to be higher - where 20-30g per square metre is common in England it is often 80-120 in Scotland. The car trade recognises the rust risk, too and one trader I spoke to in Cheshire will no longer take any trade-ins from north of Newcastle. Additional delivery charges are much rarer in rural England and there is a growing list of suppliers who won't even quote for delivery to my Highland address - I recently had one where the exceptions list said: "Highlands of Scotland, Somalia and Yemen"!
@@rb9580 Rust is an interesting topic, if a bit mundane. Our newest car is thankfully from the south of England. I'll never buy a car from north of Newcastle (or even Hull) again.
@@LifeOnTheCroft That's the spirit! Last autumn I drove 527 miles south just to buy an 18-year-old car in Cambridgeshire! 🙂
@@rb9580love it! I'm not a huge fan of new cars so fully support 'importing' something classic (2000's) from down south.
You have been honest about your choice of home and I can relate. I love the isolation where I am in Wales. Not so much the constant wet and the resulting rot and rust. The cold I experienced in Edinburgh years ago made me decide Scotland would not be on my agenda. Also, are the midges bad there? It is very difficult to find competant trades people. Also, I had to pay a taxi £90 to rush my Jack Russel to the vets just 4 miles away, 9 years ago. I will never forgive that. People are unkind everywhere.
The midges can be quite bad yes, but for some reason they don't bother me that much.
@@LifeOnTheCroftI think midges are attracted to different people at different rates, possibly due to diet.
When my family first moved to Scotland, my husband and son were constantly attacked. I was left quite alone. However, I eat a lot of citrus fruit, and they didn't touch it. Once I started pushing my son to eat more of it, he was left alone.
That's a mean taxi driver to make you pay that much.
It's 8 miles from the hospital to my home, and when I called a taxi to take me home from there around midnight, I paid about £15. That's no more than I would pay during the day.
There are some very mean people in the country, and I have had some anti-English encounters, one quite frightening, but mostly everyone is well meaning and nice.
Do your research, do your research, do your research.
Absolutely, but some things can only be learnt through experience
Oh dear, how sad.
Get a cat for company 😂
We've got two!
Just a thought, have you watched the videos of someone else who has just moved to a similar location? You could maybe link up online at least to talk through the various aspects of living the rural lifestyle. Not sure if I can add a link but 'Rewilding Jude' ahould find it.
I'm a huge fan of that channel!
This is logic, in central Europe we have different chalenges.
Welcome to Scotland
Thanks! Love your videos
Rain. Midgies. Cold.
When you moved from the city did you really think about where you were going. Rural Scots know all these things and we accept our circumstances. I think you may have been living in a sort of dream!
Appreciate the comment
Very good points. Thank you for sharing it
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
@@LifeOnTheCroft it is improtwnt to have a realistic view of this way of living, as it tends to be romanticised a lot, which is not realistic. Isolation one really hit me