black slugs and mud

two things about the effects of winter on my small patch of the planet.

1# the black slugs disappear.

2# most everything turns to mud.

truth to tell...i can survive without the black slug. i have some vague interest as to exactly where said slugs disappear. nothing too deep mind, nowhere near enough interest/concern for me to open a book or google "black slugs ayrshire". i accept their absence as a serendipitous gift from the universe.

the mud, now that is a whole different story. we have 'the farm" we have 'the road" and come wintertime we have 'the mud".
the farm is beautiful, the road is not, it was obviously engineered to keep people out! when the weather is good, the road is rocky ... in more ways than one. it has hairpin bends, steep inclines, cattle grids and potholes...plenty of potholes.
when there is rain there is mud, in the slightly warmer season this would be, lesser summer mud. not the greater winter mud, deep,glutinous, the end product of the rain ridden winter months. the cattle churn the road up, the tractors bringing winter feed, churn the road up. and then... we needed a fuel delivery







This is a picture of a mud churning, road ripping...destroyer of an oil delivery truck!
see the blue sky...ah i remember that...photo lifted from the son's web site...photo obviously taken at a more clement time of the year.

fact...
fuel truck is too big and too heavy for small farm road. never the less, when fuel is ordered...the truck arrives. in summer the damage to the road is minimal, in winter we have a whole different story.
oil delivery on thursday.
friday i have to make the journey from farm to A77...twice. interesting...
the mud is the reason i have my 4x4, we sometimes need to leave, sometimes we feel called to return. so... i drive slowly and carefully, in a low gear, just keep going...very important, don't stop. How come nobody entrusted the sheep with this small nugget of wisdom? the local sheep, love the middle of the road. an approaching car means panic! run from one side of the road to the other, try never to leave the road until the over excited human and their transporter have had to come to a dead stop. he he ba ba see the vehicle slip and slide. i always thought sheep were kinda dumb, i am now beginning to wonder...