Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

Honestly, you can't choose neighbours as great as mine.

There is something on in the village every day of the week, often 3 or four things in a day, I could see people if I wanted to.

Our close neighbours are weirdish, but not any kind of problem. They home educate, which could be hell, but the kids are somewhat fearful of most things and emerge only if the weather is really good. Both parents are ill and on benefits, so can't get out and everything comes by home delivery van. It's all a bit sad, but Mother State sanctions and provides, so who am I to argue that the kids should have a right to see more of the outside world?

On the other side, we have a couple of horses. One is a very old thoroughbred who could "go at any moment," but I don't think it's Shergar. With the horses comes a feisty old woman who's very deaf. She means well, but is probably a bit direct for most of her neighbours in the barn conversions. She is a good source of manure and baler twine.

Our more distant neighbours are a very variable bunch. While many are interesting, very pleasant, or at least innocuous, I'm glad that a few of them are distant. Here I mean distant from the house, not the land, or they wouldn't be neighbours.

Like you, we have stuff going on in the village or the nearby town every day, but being in neither, we are not obliged to participate. DW joins in with things far more than I do, but I show my face occasionally to avoid talk such as, "....just like the bloke that lived there afore....and look what 'appened to ee!" :rotfl:

silvercar

Our close neighbours are weirdish, but not any kind of problem. They home educate, which could be hell, but the kids are somewhat fearful of most things and emerge only if the weather is really good. Both parents are ill and on benefits, so can't get out and everything comes by home delivery van. It's all a bit sad, but Mother State sanctions and provides, so who am I to argue that the kids should have a right to see more of the outside world?

Sounds like the kids are carers, which is very sad.

Davesnave

silvercar wrote: »

Sounds like the kids are carers, which is very sad.

No, one of the parents is well enough to do the caring. He would have that as a full time job now anyway, but when they came here his wife wasn't ill.

It's impossible to know how ill a person like that might be. Some people who are ill manage better than others, and of course the inability to do certain things may be mental as well as physical.

Personally, I think the longer one says inside a house with the curtains drawn, the less likely one is to come out and face difficulties in the outside world, physical or mental. Keeping one's kids in similar circumstances, effectively out of contact with the local environment, is another matter, but in the UK it is a parent's prerogative, apparently.

lostinrates

I don't necessarily think home education is bad. Infact, sometimes I think it could be better. BUT, the huge caveat to that is that the kids are given breadth of experience not normally achieved at school and also given a lot of opportunity for socialisation (and preferably engagement with local community) and activity. It seems a domestic situation where they are all ''trapped'' at home is a narrower scope not a wider one unless the parents are truly exceptional. I hope it works for them .


weather is odd...a will it won't it rain day, grey and heavy again, and the wind has yet again spun and is coming from the north. I have to get out and tie something on lupins to move them. A blue one has popped up in the white border and a white one in the rosegold border. Its like they want to ruin it.

I was gifted a cimicifuga racemosa and have never seen one before. I've come in to esearch where it would like to be and see if it can last this season if I pot it on.

John_Pierpoint

chewmylegoff wrote: »

16 minutes from my desk in the canary wharf tower to the train home from Waterloo. I believe this is a new world record. I hope you are all impressed.

It used to take me 10 minutes from Tower Hill to Waterloo on a push bike to join the little club in the guard's van.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm not. I've no idea how far apart those are.

Goofle has has an "app" (well a bit of software) that allows a jogger (that is about the speed of the Mickey Mouse railway isn't it) to plan their jog.

GDB2222 wrote: »

Thanks FC. I'm not sure what smartprice bags are, but ordinary porridge oats from the supermarket should be okay?

And thanks, John, I didn't realise that they were pre-steamed, although I did know that they were rolled.

I wonder whether one can get the 'proper' oats that need overnight cooking any more? Should do okay in a crock pot, as we don't have peat fires?

I've done a quick Google and turned up this:
http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Stone%20-%20Ground%20Scottish%20Oats.htm

But the picture looks more "tooth breaking" than I remember.

My grandfather, in honour of his so called Scottish roots (My sister is investigating on the genealogy front) used to import a big bag regularly - About the size of a modern bag of cement - and looking like hardwood sawdust.
It might be childhood memories - I was allowed to eat it with honey -
but it tasted completely different from the flaky steel crushed stuff.
He had a morning routine that took about 2 hours and started with putting the porridge into into double saucepan, then setting two fires, getting the vegetables out of store, washing in the scullery sink etc.
before breakfasting on the porridge and then peddling off about 10 miles to work.

It must have been a good routine because he kept it up into his 70's.

Davesnave

I was gifted a cimicifuga racemosa and have never seen one before. I've come in to esearch where it would like to be and see if it can last this season if I pot it on.

Bit of shade & damp soil. Some are better than others. We have 'James Compton,' which is pretty dark. They aren't too hard to keep in pots.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

Bit of shade & damp soil. Some are better than others. We have 'James Compton,' which is pretty dark. They aren't too hard to keep in pots.

wow, that James compton is really dark! Gorgeous!

will the dark leaf take the shade?

Mine couldn't be more different...an almost catulpa green leaf and from the pics of James Compton, the ''flower spikes'' are less dense on this one. Perfect, it can go where I hoped long term, and I'll pot it up into something ropmier this year.

Thank you!

GDB2222

michaels wrote: »

I wonder if the anti-noise headphone magic could be used with a phone speaker or alternatively whether typical speakers support 'mosquito' ultrasonic (to anyone over 20) output?

Assuming your phone could be made to emit 'mosquito' ultrasonic, you would run the risk of having the thing grabbed out of your hand by a yoof and beaten into ... well, beaten into a broken phone. And who could blame them, really?

GDB2222

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I've done a quick Google and turned up this:
http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Stone%20-%20Ground%20Scottish%20Oats.htm

But the picture looks more "tooth breaking" than I remember.

My grandfather, in honour of his so called Scottish roots (My sister is investigating on the genealogy front) used to import a big bag regularly - About the size of a modern bag of cement - and looking like hardwood sawdust.
It might be childhood memories - I was allowed to eat it with honey -
but it tasted completely different from the flaky steel crushed stuff.
He had a morning routine that took about 2 hours and started with putting the porridge into into double saucepan, then setting two fires, getting the vegetables out of store, washing in the scullery sink etc.
before breakfasting on the porridge and then peddling off about 10 miles to work.

It must have been a good routine because he kept it up into his 70's.

The linky for stone ground Scots oats is to a firm in Idaho. This is becoming surreal.

lostinrates

GDB2222 wrote: »

This is becoming surreal.

Don't you mean cereal?