The Beast from the East and Storm Emma caused a lot of disruption on the farm last week. Now all the snow has thawed and the water troughs defrosted, I can truly reflect on its impact and what I can only describe as a ‘crazy’ three days.
Wednesday 28th February was the first day of freezing weather. My normal routine of getting the calves fed first thing was hugely delayed as the the water pipes connecting to the pressure washer (heats the water to make the milk) was frozen as well as all the internal pipes in the washer. It soon became evident that most of the water supplying the sheds was frozen. The only running tap was located in the grain store, so I moved all the milk making equipment and called upon Hannah to start boiling the kettle to defrost the pipes.
It was very lucky that Steve had planned to take the week off work to offer his help where needed. Little did he know he’d be spending hours a day getting water troughs running. Without Steve I probably could not have managed as I spent all the daylight hours with the smaller calves at one farm, whilst Steve stayed at the other farm checking the water situation for the larger cattle.
Once all the animals were fed, we set about getting the water running. The water pipes in the calf houses are exposed therefore there was little chance of getting these working as they would almost re-freeze as soon as they were defrosted. Therefore we reverted to traditional ways of manually carrying water buckets to the calves. It was relentless as a bucket would be empty within a few minutes and in need of re-filling! Thursday was the most demanding day I had ever worked on the farm but I went to bed knowing that all the animals were happy and healthy no matter how long it had taken.
As the snow continued to fall throughout Friday afternoon, the thought of Dad not being able to get home became a slight concern. Some flights into Bristol Airport were being cancelled and elsewhere there was major delays. Even if they did land in Bristol, the roads back home were not safe unless you were in a 4x4! I was glad to have David (our worker) at hand and he was happy to do whatever was asked and stayed late to make sure all the cattle were fed and watered. The worst of storm Emma had swept through by Friday evening and things were looking more positive.
Upon their arrival home, Mum and Dad must have wondered what all the fuss was about, but it only takes a fews days like this to appreciate farm life when everything is operating normally. It makes you realise the support network around you as we were constantly being offered help from friends and family and nothing was too much to ask; So thank you to those who checked in on us. I hope we do not witness weather like this anytime soon, but at least we know we can get through it again!