do you have some one to cover for you if you're sick?

whelan1

am dying with a flu, dragged myself out of bed , my dad would cover for me but its not fair asking him ... do you have someone that would do the work for you in an instant? Think i will take it easy today:mad:

LostCovey

whelan1 wrote: »

am dying with a flu, dragged myself out of bed , my dad would cover for me but its not fair asking him ... do you have someone that would do the work for you in an instant? Think i will take it easy today:mad:

Commiserations W1.

One of the realities of how rural life has developed is the way we have become more independent of our neighbours.

As a kid work like hay operations, or saving oats/ turf, or picking spuds on our holding used to get done in a day, because a load of neighbours would chip in - of course the downside was that you then spent a week saving their hay & turf! There was one chainsaw in the townland, one rotavator, and so on.

Does the 'meitheal' system survive at all now, even for situations like whelan1's?

People are far busier now, and very wrapped up in their own world, in a glass box on a tractor with headphones on....or on the mobile. i would be very dependent on family if I was sick, and would be slow to call in a neighbour.

Times have changed.

LC

reilig

whelan1 wrote: »

am dying with a flu, dragged myself out of bed , my dad would cover for me but its not fair asking him ... do you have someone that would do the work for you in an instant? Think i will take it easy today:mad:

I think that we have one of the few areas left in the country where you could ask a neighbour to help you out. 3 or 4 of us would always help each other with bales or for cattle tests. If we had a cow calving while I was at work, there would usually be someone around to help my Dad. Similarly, we would always be there with neighbours with cows calving.

I suppose its different when you're milking. There is a certain amount of work that has to be done every day regardless of your health. At least with suckling, you can put much of the work on the back boiler if you are not up to it.

We are planning a team building day at work. I work with 6 women who were all born and raised in towns and cities. We have to have our suggestions in today. Mine is a day on the bog - hopefully it will be approved and see all my turf lifted. I'll let them take mucky spins in the quad and the jeep if it seals the deal

5live

Nope. Depend on FRS with milking and that has had mixed results. With sheep, its all mine, whether i'm sick or not, it has to be done by me:(.

Most around me would have brothers/sons to pick up if they were off but there are a few i can depend on to move cattle/spread fert/do a bit of yard work if i'm off. At the minute i have a lad after finishing the leaving doing the milking as he is going doing ag science and wants a bit of experience at milking.

The meitheal is almost gone except for emergencies. A neighbour had a bad accident a few years ago and while he was off everone did a bit. But most have fairly full days between milking/silage/slurry/fert/school and there isnt any spare labour around most yards till winter.

And mind yourself Whelan1. A day off now can save a week off next week

whelan1

i have a couple of lads that would do the milkings but they wouldnt notice a cow bulling if she stood on top of them... no one does the work like yourself... my da would do it in an emergency ... thats part of the reason i was back out working 9 days after my last c-section:rolleyes:

Tipp Man

I think nowaday time is the biggest problem - farms are bigger with less hands around so more often than not 1 man (or woman) is doing all the work which means they have very little time to be helping out neighbours - unless it is an emergency

We have been flat out since the first week in Feb until this week - it has been practically non stop - will be taking it easy for the next couple of weeks to recharge

bob charles

yip I have a few guys I could call on and one of them will do the job better than myself regarding watching stock etc. As I get a little older I realise that you can do everything yourself, thats not to say we still dont work crazy hours. I find that if you give a few guys a weeks work here and there on the farm you can get them used to your ways. I was away for 10 days recently and the guy I had looking after the place didnt even want me to call him. Fair dues as he had a good few cases of pneumonia and all animals still standing

mattthetrasher

i have a lad that was a student here he comes back every year and milks on sun evenings and covers me for going to stuff for kids i might not need him every week but to keep him on hand.i get him over anyway. my wife had three sections and really bad morning sickness where she would be in hospital up to 18 wks only for the guy we have i dont know what we would have done

Muckit

reilig wrote: »

We are planning a team building day at work. I work with 6 women who were all born and raised in towns and cities. We have to have our suggestions in today. Mine is a day on the bog - hopefully it will be approved and see all my turf lifted. I'll let them take mucky spins in the quad and the jeep if it seals the deal

Nice try Reilig! But I don't think it really qualifies as team building! Firstly all team members have to have a 'buy-in' to the task.... where's the benefit to them? it's only going to be warming your ass not theirs next winter:p

Let us know if it gets approved!

johngalway

If I was just sick? No.

If I was hurt, maybe but I'd be worried.

Muckit

LostCovey wrote: »

Commiserations W1.

One of the realities of how rural life has developed is the way we have become more independent of our neighbours.

As a kid work like hay operations, or saving oats/ turf, or picking spuds on our holding used to get done in a day, because a load of neighbours would chip in - of course the downside was that you then spent a week saving their hay & turf! There was one chainsaw in the townland, one rotavator, and so on.

Does the 'meitheal' system survive at all now, even for situations like whelan1's?

People are far busier now, and very wrapped up in their own world, in a glass box on a tractor with headphones on....or on the mobile. i would be very dependent on family if I was sick, and would be slow to call in a neighbour.

Times have changed.

LC

Agreed.

Families were bigger too, you had your own 'home grown' labour force. As a child you knew that if you didn't pick the spuds, you didn't get fed, if the turf wasn't saved it'd be damn cold winter Work or get a boot in the h*le or a clip across the ear. Twas a great lesson in 'actions' and 'consequences.'

I seen a mother loading her shopping into her car outside TESCO the other evening. She had a child with her that was screaming the place down because she didn't get the sweets she wanted. The mother feebly tried to reason with her that their were 'loads of sweets at home', but the child was having none of it. So back in the mother goes and gets them for her. Actions...... consequences :rolleyes:

I think that if instead of us selfishly asking ourselves the question who could I get to help me out?, we asked ourselves when was the last time I stopped to help out my neighbour? we mightn't have as much trouble finding someone. I have to admit it's something I need to work on myself.... And saying we're too busy isn't an answer, our neighbours could equally say the same....

johngalway

There are a handful of people in my area I'd go out of my way to help. The others I could do the same for, but I know from experience if I did it'd be repaid by me turning invisible when I have a job on. I don't know when that all started but it used not to be the way when I was growing up, people would always stop and lend a hand.

whelan1

Muckit wrote: »

Agreed.

Families were bigger too, you had your own 'home grown' labour force. As a child you knew that if you didn't pick the spuds, you didn't get fed, if the turf wasn't saved it'd be damn cold winter Work or get a boot in the h*le or a clip across the ear. Twas a great lesson in 'actions' and 'consequences.'

I seen a mother loading her shopping into her car outside TESCO the other evening. She had a child with her that was screaming the place down because she didn't get the sweets she wanted. The mother feebly tried to reason with her that their were 'loads of sweets at home', but the child was having none of it. So back in the mother goes and gets them for her. Actions...... consequences :rolleyes:

I think that if instead of us selfishly asking ourselves the question who could I get to help me out?, we asked ourselves when was the last time I stopped to help out my neighbour? we mightn't have as much trouble finding someone. I have to admit it's something I need to work on myself.... And saying we're too busy isn't an answer, our neighbours could equally say the same....

yup little problems can brew in to big ones very quickly if they get their way...... i often help out my neighbours but there would be very few that could actually milk the cows etc ,would be easier to get someone to look after the kids than to do the farmwork....that said we are going away for 2 nights-with the kids - next week and i have 3 fellas covering:rolleyes: have bull with the cows and all calves more or less reared , but normally when i go away there is a drama.We are only going 10 miles down the road so can come home if needs be. Its nice to be away and know you are not restricted in having to be back for milking

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

We are only going 10 miles down the road so can come home if needs be. Its nice to be away and know you are not restricted in having to be back for milking

Only that far away from home you are only asking for trouble. I usually prefer to be 3 or 4 hrs by plane away, then you wont be getting stupid phone calls

5live

Muckit wrote: »

Agreed.

Families were bigger too, you had your own 'home grown' labour force. As a child you knew that if you didn't pick the spuds, you didn't get fed, if the turf wasn't saved it'd be damn cold winter Work or get a boot in the h*le or a clip across the ear. Twas a great lesson in 'actions' and 'consequences.'

I seen a mother loading her shopping into her car outside TESCO the other evening. She had a child with her that was screaming the place down because she didn't get the sweets she wanted. The mother feebly tried to reason with her that their were 'loads of sweets at home', but the child was having none of it. So back in the mother goes and gets them for her. Actions...... consequences :rolleyes:

I think that if instead of us selfishly asking ourselves the question who could I get to help me out?, we asked ourselves when was the last time I stopped to help out my neighbour? we mightn't have as much trouble finding someone. I have to admit it's something I need to work on myself.... And saying we're too busy isn't an answer, our neighbours could equally say the same....

Food for thought there muckit. Guilty as charged:o. Ask not what your neighbours can do for you, ask what you can do for your neighbours.

The ones i do call on are the guys i help with formfilling or talking to the bank or going to kick the tires when they are buying a tractor. I also go to IFA meetings and tell them about changes coming like the IFA credit union and co-ops lending for banks and deducting from milk checks for repayments. I might not go onto their farms to help often but i help in other ways like school collections and matches/training.

whelan1

bob charles wrote: »

Only that far away from home you are only asking for trouble. I usually prefer to be 3 or 4 hrs by plane away, then you wont be getting stupid phone calls

we got a verygood offer in a hotel...:) might turn off my phone:cool:

Tora Bora

I'd have no bother in getting a back up from a few differnt neighbours in a situation. We would give each other a hand with bales and cows calving if the need arose, etc,.
Even if I wasn't around, they all know where to find the key of the tractor, and bring it away if the needed it for a job. No bother.
We would have an auld house party in someone's house once or twice a year, for some excuse or other:D Usually 5am whan the last stragglers crawl out the door. There would be plenty home grown music, few songs, no shortage of liquor ................ and no shortage of lies told just to spice it up:cool::cool:
Thank God, the auld spirit around us is still alive.

Muckit

Tora Bora wrote: »

I'd have no bother in getting a back up from a few differnt neighbours in a situation. We would give each other a hand with bales and cows calving if the need arose, etc,.
Even if I wasn't around, they all know where to find the key of the tractor, and bring it away if the needed it for a job. No bother.
We would have an auld house party in someone's house once or twice a year, for some excuse or other:D Usually 5am whan the last stragglers crawl out the door. There would be plenty home grown music, few songs, no shortage of liquor ................ and no shortage of lies told just to spice it up:cool::cool:
Thank God, the auld spirit around us is still alive.

Sounds good.... when's the next 'hooley'?

You've hit the nail on the head Tora, there has to be give and take and an effort made to create a bit of community spirit. A party is a great idea and a discreet way of saying 'Thank you' to neighbours for helping out or just being there through the year.

whelan1

well i answered my own question:rolleyes: dd age 7 arrived home from school with a rash that wouldnt go away when rubbed. brought her to doc and was then sent to local hospital:eek: my parents where gone to a funeral in wexford and my husband was away on a run.... i asked was it ok to do the milking first and then bring her to casualty but was told no... so i rang a neighbour who milked for me this evening and another neighbour took the other kids... anyways just home now and after blood tests etc its viral- thank god

LostCovey

reilig wrote: »

We are planning a team building day at work. I work with 6 women who were all born and raised in towns and cities. We have to have our suggestions in today. Mine is a day on the bog - hopefully it will be approved and see all my turf lifted. I'll let them take mucky spins in the quad and the jeep if it seals the deal

Sounds brilliant.

Very like the type of thing FÁS were doing before they were rumbled.

LC

pakalasa

It's true that things were different in the old days. People killed a pig and everyone in the area got their little share. They returned the favour then when the time came. I notice that the older people are much quicker to ask for help or borrow something. I've neighbours that take things out of my shed when I'm not there and I do the same to them. It's great of have thet level of trust.
No doubt peopple are much busier now, doing what I don't know! If I have to ask someone in the immediate family, I'd want to book them a few days in advance. :rolleyes: