I am fascinated by the story of Hannah Hauxwell, the women from the High Fell country in North Yorkshire on the border with Durham (the High Pennines) ,who struggled to operate a farm by herself with no money, running water or electricity.
Like my daughter in law, she got her water with a bucket from a stream -first breaking the ice cover in the winter, as the weather up there ( in northern Britain and well above sea level) was like a winter in rural Nova Scotia.
For years she struggled on in dire poverty and all alone, after her parents and uncle died.
I saw the TV documentaries on Hannah back in the 1970s ("Too Long a Winter") and now I want to read all the new books on her - and maybe own the new DVD on her life.
By the by, she is a little bit older than me and still alive and spry - living more comfortable in a small village (Cotherstone) near her farm (Low Birk Hatt Farm) - of which part has become an international wildlife site.
My son, himself an avid blogger, wants me to do a quilt about Hannah Hauxwell ... and I just might !
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