It's been quite some time since I wrote anything here but it has taken all of that time to unravel the tangled web of sites, blogs, forums and social media accounts that have been juggled over the past 3 years. Now, however, I hope to concentrate on this site and blog about all things Frugaldom.
Yesterday saw the third anniversary of the official announcement of the COVID pandemic, at which point almost everything came to a standstill for many. Frugaldom, like many other fledgling establishments, felt the dramatic effects. Volunteers stayed away, foster homes for rescued ponies fell through, support with feed bills dried up and our great plan of opening Frugaldom to the general public was shelved. Blogging and writing contracts were lost, Brexit combined with the pandemic saw off our European exchange students and at the end of the day, people had more important things to worry about than tiny, unfunded projects like ours.
We survived!
Now I'm back and blogging. Those rescued foals are now almost four years old, the rescued goats are well settled into life at Frugaldom and the rest of the ponies are oblivious to the massive impact that the pandemic had on the world. The hens and ducks got moved to the house, where they are kept undercover to protect them from the on-going Avian Flu problems Animals don't notice changes if there are no changes being made. Daily life of feeding, watering, mucking out, hoofcare and other routine stuff continues, with or without extra helping hands, increasing prices and decreasing income.
We survived!
My frugal living challenge continues unabated, hosted on the moneysavingexpert.com forums, no change there. The biggest changes at Frugaldom over the past three years have, however, been quite significant...
We survived!
Animal Welfare legislation changed in September 2021, meaning we were able to become a fully licensed animal welfare establishment. This is now a legal requirement for anyone dealing with rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of animals in Scotland. For the benefit of doubt, our licence (number 040522) was issued by Dumfries and Galloway Council under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. Always check that Scottish organisations dealing with animals are licensed and if not, report to Trading Standards.
Rescuing 2 goats meant more licensing, as we had then to obtain a CPH (County Parish Holding) number, a flock or herd number, animal registrations and movement licensing, plus individual licences for Goatis Redding and Vincent Van Goat to permit us to walk them out for exercise. Unlike equines, ALL farm animals need to be registered and premises licensed, even for a single animal kept in a garden as a pet. I wish they would do likewise for equines! It may lend a hand towards curbing all those unscrupulous breeders and fly grazers.
What else happened? Oh yes, we were approached by the council with a view to opening up some of our land to campervans and motorhomes. The initial inspection and agreement licensed us for three vehicles, as a stopover aire, earning us a 3-star rating from CAMpRA as an unserviced site. From there, a planning permission exemption certificate was awarded after we applied through Motorhome Fun. We have continued with this and just renewed that licence so if any of you have a campervan or motorhome under 7.5m long, you can come and stay overnights at Frugaldom on the basis you bring all you need and leave no trace. Payment is by donation and those donations contribute towards the running of the sanctuary.
For our creative visitors, we have the bowtop wagon available when it is parked up - it makes a great little hideaway that can provide you with plenty of inspiration.
Finally, an update on our long-awaited hutting project.
Planning permission was sought and gained to build the central hut, which was completed late 2021 and has now been in use for over a year. A second planning application was submitted for two more huts and this was also passed by the planning department. These two huts will provide additional accommodation for those with a genuine interest in the project we have here. Building of these huts should begin next month.
I will endeavour to blog here on a regular basis. Just make allowances for my bad typing on a mobile phone and bad internet connection, as Frugaldom isn't exactly a metropolis: it's more of a rural-paradise. 😊