A load of rubbish

Maybe it's because it's November, but the weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse. At the beginning of the week it was very heavy rain and for the past two days we've woken up to frost. Not quite below zero, but cold enough to know it's winter.

Now that the cows are inside, it's time to get organised for the rest of the stock. All the young stock (apart from young calves) and dry cows are still out and room has to be made for them. We've been clearing out the barn and putting up pens and moving groups of calves around.

Over the summer we tend to dump stuff in the barn that we haven't quite got round to throwing away. Perhaps it will still come in useful? But what use is an old mattress? Discarded in the barn when we got a new state of the art one in September. So thick that by the time it's on our high wooden bed frame I almost need a step ladder to get into bed. The old one has been bounced on by Robert and Chris but it was time to take it to the tip. Henry loaded it into the back of the Land Rover, along with some newspapers and magazines and set off into town. Twenty minutes later he was back - still with a fully loaded Land Rover. Unless you have a Permit - applied for at least the day before - you can only take rubbish into the tip in a car. And "car" does not include Land Rover of any body shape. (Ours is a twin cab - with children's seats on the back seat). So he drove home, got the Discovery, put the seats down, moved the mattress and paper into the back and went back down to the tip. How un-green is that? Apparently, you're not allowed to walk in on foot carrying rubbish. Even if you live next door. I have heard of another authority's tip which is near some allotments. And no, you can't take in your garden waste in a wheelbarrow.

The one good thing that came out of all this - I found a hat I lost last winter. My old very-lived-in rain hat was squashed under the back seats and revealed when we made space in the back. All well and good, but having given up looking for it, I bought a new one two weeks ago.