Simple living in the country - back to basics

beanielou

I worry about driving lots of short distances but it is what it is as they say.
I am a rampant recycler & did get a badge at one point!
I do the little I can.

As long as everyone does something I think that helps 

Bluegreen143

I constantly fret about driving but have realised that this season of having small kids and also working is not one when I have the luxury of walking everywhere. I didn’t learn to drive until 28, after DS was born, so at least that’s 10 years less driving than I might have done. I also hope to have future seasons of driving less.

I do think the ideal would have been to have school and nursery within walking distance to walk every day and teach the children those good habits, but we’ve chosen to sacrifice that to send DS (and DD when she’s older) to Gaelic immersion school so they’ll grow up bilingual, so he doesn’t go to the local school (he gets the school bus but I still need to drive to the stop!). We’ve also chosen not to use before or after school care as I work part time which means I need to squeeze out every moment of working while they are at school and preschool rather than having the luxury of walking home. So I think I need to stop feeling guilty about it as really, I can’t easily change it! And flats near the school cost double what my 3 bed house with large garden costs so it’s not an option to move close by.

And I think that applies to you too Cheery - realistically when you live in the country you will need to drive further to work, town etc, it’s a necessary part of the lifestyle so no point beating yourself up about it. 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks all. Don't worry - I'm not agonising too much, just pondering whether there's more I can do given life generally at the minute. 

Just had a chat with the energy firm - they've said they don't think they can do it, but I said "an engineer from another firm said they'd probably be able to" (er, that's your other half, bluegreen 😂😂) and they've let me send over a picture to check.

In reality they'll probably just ignore it and say no again, especially as I've now noticed there's a water pipe running right down the other side of the meter which i hadn't realised was there before 😂

Might get an energy owl instead, we'll see.

For now - gardening!

edwink

Another here Cheery whose consumer unit is next to the smart meter.  Actually, the smart meter is almost sitting on top of the consumer unit in a small homemade cupboard.  There are probably a few inches that separate them.

HTH

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

That's useful to know edwink, thank you. This is the picture I've sent them - they replied to say thank you but are obviously still scratching their chins about whether it will work... 🙄😂

South_coast

Ah, well I did have the advantage of a bit of empty wall to fit mine to 🤣!

Cheery_Daff

Yes, it is rather a messy jumble of wires and water pipes in there, and not a straight bit of wall to be seen 😂😂 I have no idea how big a smart meter is, or what fitting one requires, but the more I look at it, the more I think it's probably best left alone 🙄😂

South_coast

Here's mine, blurriness is because it's in the back of a cupboard and I was stretching 🤣

badmemory

The problem with smart meters is that they are usually harder to read than old meters when the distance reading fails.  One companys smart meters couldn't be read for 2 months at all earlier this year.  The IHD which I think you are hoping to use is only guaranteed for a year if you are lucky & replacing them is pot luck.

Cheery_Daff

I'm impressed at how clean the inside of your meter cupboard is SC! 😂😂 As you can see, I can't say the same for our cellarhead 😂😂

Badmemory - at the rate I'm going I won't even be getting one in the first place anyway 🙄😂

Anyway, I have had a lovely day with my chum, pottering about in town, cafe and garden, playing with the chickens, and finally making a start on some novelty Christmas gin 😂 Raining now, so hopefully that will nicely water all the new plants we've put in today and over the last few days. 

Right, best go to bed I suppose...