Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

All sofa cushions out, and local Facebook so far hasn't reported storms, so fingers crossed. Got to be an improvement even if they're wet - we discovered last night that our resident mouse has been nibbling an old packet of butter (like you get in a cafe 🙄) down the back of the sofa cushions 🙄😂 Definitely eviction time! 

Not today though. After a flurry of washing, and donating an ice pop to a flagging walker on the footpath that goes up our drive, we have trekked to a little town for an arts festival that our friend is exhibiting at 😊 Always nice to see her, and the place she's in was doing tea and cake in their garden, so it would have been rude not to. Now we're laying around in a lovely shady bit of grass, and about to go in search of a cuppa. Most pleasant way to while away a sunny afternoon 😊 Going to meet friends again after she's finished for chips 😁

KajiKita

Awwww … that is so kind of you re the ice pop for the walker 😊

Sounds like you are having a lovely afternoon 😊

KK

starnac

Love the fact you gave n ice pop to a random walker. As a runner who frequently gets lost and ends up doing more mileage than expected, I would have loved you offering me an ice pop! What a lovely thing to do

Cheery_Daff

I often offer ice pops etc to walkers if there's only one or two of them, sometimes even a cuppa if we get chatting - the footpath runs between two bits of our garden so it always feels like people are IN the garden, so I feel like I should offer hospitality 😂. THey rarely take me up on it 😂 But it was just too hot to say no yesterday! 

I don't usually offer anything to the groups of 20 who go past 😂 I do often go out to say hello though, especially if all 20 of them have stopped right in front of the house to consult the map, change clothes etc. They sometimes react as if I'm going out to tell them off, and start defending themselves - 'we're on the footpath!!' - I know that, but there are still 20 of you outside my front door (which is a little bit weird - why not stop 3 yards along?) and I haven't spoken to anyone all day so I'm going to say hello and see where you're walking to and if you're having a nice day 😂

We had the most lovely day yesterday and didn't get back til gone midnight. Went for chips, ended up having tea with the people our friends were staying with, then to see a band in the town square, and then to a pub,where bizarrely we met some people who live quite close to us 😂

Lovely day, but I confess I don't really feel like spending 6 hours in the car today and not getting back til after midnight again... 🙄

Karmacat

Oh Cheery, is that the plan for today?  After your lovely (but long) day yesterday?  Maybe have a snooze while Mr Cheery's doing his share of the driving!

rtandon27

LOL - oh Cheery - I totally get where you are coming from with the walkers!  We've moved from having sheep for neighbours to living in a small town on a fairly busy (for a town) road.  It can feel as if passersby are almost in the house uninvited even though they are on the sidewalk.  If I'm outside either just before or just after school lets out, I make it a point to say hello to the kiddies who walk past our house, usually misbehaving, they always straighten up some bit of their uniform and start acting like angels.  I'm sure they are all the while thinking - oops, do you know my Mom?

starnac

Our last house was right on the main road. You literally opened our front door right onto the pavement. No front garden or anything. 2 doors down was a doctor's surgery, then the chemist then the local Nisa type shop, then the hairdresser's etc. People would often stop right outside our front window to chat to people they met going the other way. Sometimes they would catch my eye through the window (or the dog's, as she loved looking out of the window to see what was going on) and look guilty. They weren't doing anything wrong but sometimes it did feel like an invasion of privacy. 

Cheery_Daff

Lol RT at you saying hello to the kids 😂 Always a good way of making them behave 😂

And yes starnac, I can see what you mean about it feeling like an invasion of privacy, even when it isn't. I'm just pretty nosey - if a load of people are stopped right outside my house then I'm going to go out and see what they're doing 😂 (quite often they're lost, so I can give useful directional advice!)

We've arrived at the last appointment of the day. Been a nice enough day so far - pub lunch, then ice creams in a garden, then a 2 hour drive to Mr Cheery's band practice. I was promised a 'lounge area' to hang out in - but there are a load of teenagers hanging round in it so I'm just sitting around in a convenient armchair at the end of a corridor. It's surprisingly comfy, I might nod off (although this is a rehearsal for a punk band so perhaps not 😂😂😂)

Setting a max limit of an hour for this work task (and I reserve the right to stop again immediately if necessary, it is Sunday after all 😂), and then on to something more cheerful.

LadyWithAPlan

Just been catching up with all the news - all sounds lovely and glad to see your local cafes are being inhabited

Cheery_Daff

Hello LadyWithAPlan! Local cafes are indeed been frequented - got to support those local businesses after all

Finally I have been able to take over the lounge area (I didn't throw anyone out, they left of their own accord, honest ). I now have four sofas, two pianos, and a pool  table at my disposal And because this is set up as a series of band practice rooms, I can just about hear the punk band, but it's not very loud, so it's actually quite relaxing in here

Got a bit of work done, made £17 on the happy wheel (bringing September's total back into positive figures - grand total of £2 now!) Nothing doing on Prolific, standing at £7.29 with about £5 to clear. Been screened out of another two 1P surveys too. It's hard going this month! 

Didn't manage a nap, although I should have forced myself really, it's already a long day and we're still an hour from home... YAWN. 

I did finally manage to send my brother in law a birthday present though, so that's something ticked off the list at least. 

This week will be a busy one I think. I have a work deadline on Friday at 5pm, although I don't work Fridays, so it's Thursday (this is a funding bid though, so I will make an exception and shift days round if I have to - it's the one thing I'll do it for). Current plan is

Monday - work at home, into town in the evening for a lecture and then meeting friends for a curry
Tues - work at home
Wed - office
Thurs - office, hosting an online event
Friday - off, but may end up finishing funding bid

We currently have no plans for next weekend, and I think I'd quite like to keep it that way. This weekend has been VERY sociable, and I am feeling rather in need of hanging around very quietly in the garden for a bit!