Kept in the dark and cold.

Once upon a time, there was a farm without a fire. Now, the fire was ordered in Autumn last year and lo! it finally arrived.
The fire installer was also contacted in Autumn last year and verily he agreed to install the fire.

The fire installer lived in a house technically next door to the temporary house which the family without a fire at their farm were renting. I say technically due to the distances in remote places but he was a neighbour albeit a new one.

The fire installer was asked to install the fire once it arrived and yet again he agreed, but did not turn up. They are like hen's teeth in this area, fire installers.

Yesterday, The Farmer phoned Mr Fire Installer up, only to be told that the fire would not be installed due to the Farmer's Wife sabotaging a shoot!

The Farmer was shocked but not half as shocked as the Farmer's Wife.

The Farmer's Wife phoned up the fire installer to find out what the hell was going on and yes, he curtly told her that a shoot outside her temporary home in which he was party to as guest of the laird and his family, was ruined by the Farmer's Wife.

The Farmer's Wife explained to the fire fitter that no warning of the shoot had been given, no note, phone call or even a knock on the door. Had she known, she would have taken her children out for the duration of the shoot.
As it was, she did not see the cars arrive as they parked to the west of her house - the side with no windows.
Her children were terrified as the shooting began *very close to the house*. Her daughter, like many other children with the same condition, had sensitive hearing to certain sounds and could not be consoled. The little four year old boy was screaming too.

The Farmer's Wife went outside to ask the gamekeeper to move the guns which were within the legal shooting distance from the house. Much like this one in the photograph..

Her next door neighbour was also out to ask the gamekeeper why he had not been given warning and why the guns were shooting so close to his house. His wife was in tears from the shock of several guns being discharged all at once.

The Farmer's Wife and her neighbour were ignored. The guns continued, one even firing across the road.
The police were called.

Being a remote and rural area, the police arrived surprisingly quickly and took statements from the Farmer's Wife and her neighbour. Everyone was visibly shaken, the shoot had moved on.

The Farmer's Wife told the police that there was never notice given and one year, a shooter's dog killed all her poultry. No charges were made and it took a long time and money to replenish the stock out of her own pocket.

All the Farmer's Wife wanted was written notice of the shoots so she could remove her children and animals from the area. She was not a hunt sabateur, just a mother concerned about her children (and a responsibility to her dogs).

Nothing came of the complaint although the policeman said he would talk to a fellow policeman who shot and see what he could sort out.....

Nothing came of the cat who was poisoned by alpha chloralose even although it was the vet who reported the poison used and *not* the owner of the cat. Red kites flew here although not so many these days.

So, there we have it.

No 'and they all lived happily ever after' rather 'they had to go to a different county to find a fire installer and meanwhile felt pretty damned cold until one turned up so lit fires outside to keep warm'.

The woman felt so hurt at the allegations and felt furious that not one person from the shoot thought to ask her to her face why she wanted the guns further from the house or some warning.

It is only common sense or courtesy.

Sadly, a lack of, prevails.