Hello Farmer-Ed,

                              sorry to read you are now stepping into the unknown,Strange to think when we were younger we would see this as a challenge to be embraced, but as we get older the uncertainty does not seem so rewarding. Hopefully you will get some reassurance from those that have gone before.Meamwhile keep getting out on the farm which is hopefully not quite as wet and bottomless as is the case on my crofts,

keep moving forward,

David

Hello David

Hope you've survived the winds, or been affected by the H5N5 virus outbreak in Ness and are able continue to work your croft. Hard work and the outdoor life enables us to keep cancer at bay. Finishing treatment is great I will not miss the 50 visits a year to the hospital. Also a bit daunting as the immunotherapy treatment has kept me quite well so far, will its effects keep on working? You are right about how we perceive risk and uncertainty as we age. As a carefree young man I worked on the huge wheat / sheep farms in Western Australia then left for a job in Darwin. I hitchhiked all the way not at all perturbed by the Darwin 4100 km sign just outside Perth. The saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, came to mind. Now with less energy to deal with things if they go wrong less risks are taken, I remember my grandfather lamenting the loss of the boundless energy of his youth, I now understand. Doing paperwork today to satisfy HMRC, one of my sons is doing the physical stuff. Ive got a gate to mend tomorrow, (a new poor quality ready made one is £160). We are not waterlogged yet, after the worst drought ever recorded here, there are still patches of soil that are completely dry 10" down. Well be struggling to find enough daylight soon to get tasks done more especially where you live. All the best

Ed

Hello David

Hope you've survived the winds, or been affected by the H5N5 virus outbreak in Ness and are able continue to work your croft. Hard work and the outdoor life enables us to keep cancer at bay. Finishing treatment is great I will not miss the 50 visits a year to the hospital. Also a bit daunting as the immunotherapy treatment has kept me quite well so far, will its effects keep on working? You are right about how we perceive risk and uncertainty as we age. As a carefree young man I worked on the huge wheat / sheep farms in Western Australia then left for a job in Darwin. I hitchhiked all the way not at all perturbed by the Darwin 4100 km sign just outside Perth. The saying, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, came to mind. Now with less energy to deal with things if they go wrong less risks are taken, I remember my grandfather lamenting the loss of the boundless energy of his youth, I now understand. Doing paperwork today to satisfy HMRC, one of my sons is doing the physical stuff. Ive got a gate to mend tomorrow, (a new poor quality ready made one is £160). We are not waterlogged yet, after the worst drought ever recorded here, there are still patches of soil that are completely dry 10" down. Well be struggling to find enough daylight soon to get tasks done more especially where you live. All the best

Ed