Dealing with depression - suicidal thoughts - Join the conversation (including helpline details)

Good morning ollie,

read your post the other day but didn't reply; I had anticipated others doing so. Getting out and doing a bit is certainly good for the spirit and quite liberating; unfortunately, if 'work is liberating' is translated into German it may read as 'Arbeit Macht Frei'! :eek:

Having now been in almost complete isolation for two weeks I, like many others, was feeling the need for some exercise. I did walk the half mile down to the post office the other week and was knackerd when I got back home. After having given my disabled wife her breakfast this morning I took a one mile stroll and back at 0800hrs. Outbound mile took me 22m 30s but the return mile journey took only 20m 30s; Chris Chattaway, Roger Banister, Moh Farah, and Hussein Bolt certainly have no fears of losing their records to me! :)

Tomorrow will see the outbound walk slowed down a wee bit and the return mile speeded up just a fraction. Don't worry though, I will not be overdoing it; too many jobs to get through when I return. Despite Margaret being registered disabled, we tend to work as a team; she often tells me what to do and sometimes I do it! :rolleyes:

Take care with those machines Ollie, we don't want you going anywhere near a hospital.
Stay safe, stay well, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Chris (y):)(y)
 
Good morning ollie,

read your post the other day but didn't reply; I had anticipated others doing so. Getting out and doing a bit is certainly good for the spirit and quite liberating; unfortunately, if 'work is liberating' is translated into German it may read as 'Arbeit Macht Frei'! :eek:

Having now been in almost complete isolation for two weeks I, like many others, was feeling the need for some exercise. I did walk the half mile down to the post office the other week and was knackerd when I got back home. After having given my disabled wife her breakfast this morning I took a one mile stroll and back at 0800hrs. Outbound mile took me 22m 30s but the return mile journey took only 20m 30s; Chris Chattaway, Roger Banister, Moh Farah, and Hussein Bolt certainly have no fears of losing their records to me! :)

Tomorrow will see the outbound walk slowed down a wee bit and the return mile speeded up just a fraction. Don't worry though, I will not be overdoing it; too many jobs to get through when I return. Despite Margaret being registered disabled, we tend to work as a team; she often tells me what to do and sometimes I do it! :rolleyes:

Take care with those machines Ollie, we don't want you going anywhere near a hospital.
Stay safe, stay well, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Chris (y):)(y)

Thank you, that is very kind.

I did think long and hard about whether I should be using a chainsaw in the circumstances, but it was only crosscutting and I judged the risk to be as low as it practically gets.

I generally do not leave the boundaries of our garden nor do I let the kids except for a brief foray up and down the lane on their balance bikes.

No more cross sawing at the minute anyway as I need a part for my saw.
 
I am going to be controversial ( not like Robt I hear you say ?) I am starting to struggle these last few days. For the last 15 ish years I’ve been away 1-2 nights a week every week. Some weeks up to 5 nights. My job is a very social one. Being at home is very hard. I go for a walk once a day where I see lots ( well maybe 4-6 other people ) out walking . Without this walk I dread to think what I would be like to live with. If you are the average male ( sorry to be sexist but I fear I’m right) farmer or farm worker. Has the Covid -19 actually affected your daily life that much? I then see you all on twitter saying how everyone should be banned from YOUR foot paths and how dare they go out walking..... I fear the mental health issues we are soon going to be experiencing. I now need to go for a walk twice a day just to get out of the intensity of my house. I need a reason of only as to walk the dogs... my whole life has been about work for years... my family are the most important thing but work is a close second... there must be thousand of others like me. So when you see them out walking on YOUR footpaths.... just smile and turn the other cheek!

I think that is massively honest of you and actually shows that you are thinking carefully about your situation and understanding what is happening to you. When I worked in the civil service, half a life time ago, they were very good employers who trained people in the year before they retired to be ready for retirement. A lot of people thought it was a joke and a waste of time but I'm sure some of those people were grateful in the end. As @holwellcourtfarm says, massive changes in your life come with consequences even when they are planned. If you are walking from home then I think even the crossest of us get it - we would be the same. Even with the small holding here, we have started taking time to walk up out onto the mountain. (In Wales it's illegal to be doing a lot of the things people are doing in England so people can't drive to your field and let their dogs out to kill the lambs etc etc and yet still we have people treating us like a playground.) Keep walking while you can. You are going to have many stages of "grief" to go through and there are people who will help DPJ Foundation are fantastic - only full service in Wales (Welsh charity because they never expected to get so big) but if you call their help line they will help you get the help you need in England and they are way, way faster than through doctors etc even at the best of time. People are there to help you. Ask, please.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
I think that is massively honest of you and actually shows that you are thinking carefully about your situation and understanding what is happening to you. When I worked in the civil service, half a life time ago, they were very good employers who trained people in the year before they retired to be ready for retirement. A lot of people thought it was a joke and a waste of time but I'm sure some of those people were grateful in the end. As @holwellcourtfarm says, massive changes in your life come with consequences even when they are planned. If you are walking from home then I think even the crossest of us get it - we would be the same. Even with the small holding here, we have started taking time to walk up out onto the mountain. (In Wales it's illegal to be doing a lot of the things people are doing in England so people can't drive to your field and let their dogs out to kill the lambs etc etc and yet still we have people treating us like a playground.) Keep walking while you can. You are going to have many stages of "grief" to go through and there are people who will help DPJ Foundation are fantastic - only full service in Wales (Welsh charity because they never expected to get so big) but if you call their help line they will help you get the help you need in England and they are way, way faster than through doctors etc even at the best of time. People are there to help you. Ask, please.
About 3 weeks ago, just before the restrictions set in, a young (well, young to me anyway) woman drove into our yard unannounced. She explained that her seriously autistic son was mad about cows and they were the only thing that really calmed him down. She'd just collected him from his special school after a meeting whereas he's usually transported by a specialist taxi service.

As they'd approached he kept on about our cows but she'd never even noticed we had a farm here. As he was so agitated she followed his directions and drove in on a whim. We had a long chat about Covid 19, her family situation, her son's condition and life in general while he trotted around our cowsheds making strange noises. When she collected him and strapped him back in she was so appreciative and said "he'll be calm for a few days now, I don't know what I'll do if they restrict us completely". His school had closed down. I gave her my number and said to call then come back if she needed to. She's been back twice.

I cannot imagine the stress she and her husband are facing being forced to keep him and his 2 (non autistic) siblings at home for many weeks now. So long as we all maintain sensible distancing letting them bring him here occasionally is the least we can do.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Thank you for bringing a bit of loving kindness and sanity to a once in anyone's lifetime feckup.
My (now adult) daughter has mild Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. At one stage it looked like she might be moderately autistic. I can't imagine the hardship and stress of raising a fully autistic child and have nothing but admiration for those who do. Doing so under the current restrictions must be 10 times harder. The little bit of respite that his visits to us offer is truly the least I can do.
 
My (now adult) daughter has mild Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. At one stage it looked like she might be moderately autistic. I can't imagine the hardship and stress of raising a fully autistic child and have nothing but admiration for those who do. Doing so under the current restrictions must be 10 times harder. The little bit of respite that his visits to us offer is truly the least I can do.

They are all unsung heroes mate, unsung heroes, those who have and care for disabled children, young adults, and adults. I once spent only a week looking after an adult paraplegic Christian preacher from Nottingham and by the end of the week and the mission in which he was participating I was totally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained.
 

Gong Farmer

Member
BASIS
Location
S E Glos
About 3 weeks ago, just before the restrictions set in, a young (well, young to me anyway) woman drove into our yard unannounced. She explained that her seriously autistic son was mad about cows and they were the only thing that really calmed him down. She'd just collected him from his special school after a meeting whereas he's usually transported by a specialist taxi service.

As they'd approached he kept on about our cows but she'd never even noticed we had a farm here. As he was so agitated she followed his directions and drove in on a whim. We had a long chat about Covid 19, her family situation, her son's condition and life in general while he trotted around our cowsheds making strange noises. When she collected him and strapped him back in she was so appreciative and said "he'll be calm for a few days now, I don't know what I'll do if they restrict us completely". His school had closed down. I gave her my number and said to call then come back if she needed to. She's been back twice.

I cannot imagine the stress she and her husband are facing being forced to keep him and his 2 (non autistic) siblings at home for many weeks now. So long as we all maintain sensible distancing letting them bring him here occasionally is the least we can do.
Fantastic. This is the sort of thing that needs to be out there, to counter the image of farmers waving sticks and shouting 'gert orf moi land!' that many of the public will have these days (if you read this forum, anyway).

Well done.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Fantastic. This is the sort of thing that needs to be out there, to counter the image of farmers waving sticks and shouting 'gert orf moi land!' that many of the public will have these days (if you read this forum, anyway).

Well done.
In the middle of the farm sits an old manor house, now converted into 13 private flats. There are also 3 old lodge houses. We have always allowed the residents to walk their dogs around the farm (on agreed areas and subject to us revoking the permission any time we need). It costs us nothing and adds immeasurably to their enjoyment and quality of life. Why not?

A stark contrast to all the TFF "can we close the footpaths now" comments.

It's all part of being sociable.
 
Third week in now and up to my elbows prepping the teatime meal; pork steaks in herbs, sausages, sprouts, broccoli, and home made gravy. Ambulance just rocketed past with blue lights flashing and Margaret has picked up a report that a jumper has gone over one of our local road bridges across the east west rail line.

Don't know if the jumper was male, female, adult, or child.

Time to get the prayer mat out, I think! :nailbiting:
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 78 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.5%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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