Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Thank you all - yes, it did feel like a very much needed tonic! 

Nice day today Leisurely morning and breakfast in bed, did a workout, then went out into the field for a bit to shift some more of the piles of soggy grass. Need to get them moved before the new stuff starts growing through them! 

I've ordered a new scythe blade - £66, but the scythe does sterling work around here and that one's lasted nearly 6 years (and would likely have lasted longer if I'd put it away properly...). 

Made a big pan of black bean and lentil soup which has been in the hay box all afternoon - it's just warming up again and then I shall be scoffing it for tea. 

Also ticked a few other things off - did some washing, emptied the compost, put the plantpots that had previously had supermarket basil in back outside, made a batch of snacks. 

And - biggest job - finally got round to sorting out the house insurance! I don't know why I hate it so very much I actually set a timer today, in the spirit of our earlier conversation

I can report it took 1 hour 42 minutes But the vast majority of that, well over an hour, was spent messing about trying to figure out how old our house is. In my head, someone had told me it was 1890, and that's what I've been using. But where does that come from? It's a bit suspicious that it's the exact same age as our old house.... Can't find any evidence on ANY documents anywhere. 

So I dug out every single document I could find in relation to house purchase etc, and the only date I could find anywhere was on the survey, which says 1800. So I've amended everything and gone with that - at least there is some 'evidence' if it gets quibbled. 

Also paranoid about trees - pretty sure I've measured distance before, but there is one that does concern me that it's too tall. So I just answered 'yes' to the 'are there any trees within 5m that are over 10m high'. 

On one comparison site the cheapest was John Lewis at £736 That's more expensive than the £640 renewal quote (although I was willing to accept that given I've changed the age of the house). The other one threw up a cheapest of £309. I've checked and checked, and it has all the right details, so I've gone with that. 

So almost 2 hours, and I still don't know exactly how old the house is, but I've saved us £331

Just got to do the same with the car insurance now - not due til 18th so might give myself a short rest first

Cheery_Daff

Oh, and I went through TCB to the comparison site, so that should be an extra £35 I think, although it's not tracked. I was careful to start a new quote rather than using an old one, as it said it wouldn't track that. I did do quite a bit of editing though as I was playing around with house age, whether the trees made a difference (and therefore whether I could be bothered to go out and measure them!)

Anyway, we'll see. Chance to do it all again with the car insurance soon, hooray!

Cheery_Daff

More things ticked off this evening.  Arranged to go and visit a family memento next weekend,  and I've realised that's the day after my dad's kidney stone operation so I'll probably call in on him too. 

Made a meal plan and we whizzed round a very quiet A1d1. I made us a picnic for tomorrow while Mr Cheery put the shopping away.  We're off to visit his dad - I've not been for a few weeks while I was getting ready for interview etc. We often end up buying garage sandwiches or something on the way home so I've made us a little pack up.

I've had one of those weird visual migraines today 🙄 a bit this morning and again this evening.  I think I've only had them twice before,  no headache, just an arc of triangles out of the corner of my eye that fearlessly gets further away and eventually vanishes. We ended up staying up and watching a film to distract me from it - sounds like an odd distraction from such a thing but it worked. 

But I really must go to sleep now!

themadvix

Hope you’re feeling better today Cheery!

beanielou

Hope today is a better day. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Cheery  Looking at the age of your house this only goes back to  1840s but it should show your house.

Ordnance Survey Maps Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 - Map Images - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)

Sometimes local history sites have old maps on them

Cheery_Daff

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Cheery  Looking at the age of your house this only goes back to  1840s but it should show your house.

Ordnance Survey Maps Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 - Map Images - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)

Sometimes local history sites have old maps on them

Ooh, thank you, that's exactly the type of thing that would have come in handy. Will investigate. We're actually named on the current OS map so it'll be interesting to see the old version. 

Thanks Vix and Beanie. To be fair, I had a lovely day yesterday, and didn't even feel ill, it's just a weird visual illusion for me. 

Physically I'm fine today, but we've come to see Mr Cheery's dad, and the decision has finally been made to have his dog put to sleep 😕 Very sad, we'll all miss him, I know his dad will be heartbroken 😕 They've just left for the vets, I'm meant to be tidying away dog things but am actually just sitting having a little cry first 😕

Never an easy decision, but to be honest this one has been coming for a while. He's been a good companion, and there was a great reluctance to let him go, but the last couple of days have just tipped the balance over.

He's made it to 19 though apparently, a ripe old age for a jack russel 😱

Tescodealqueen

So sorry to read this Cheery it’s something we are going to have to face  for the final time soon for our fourth dog. It’s never easy. Be kind to yourselves for the next few days xxx sending hugs

beanielou

Sorry to read this. 

KajiKita

Awww, poor ol doglet, he has done well. Mr Cheery Senior will be lost without him. 

Sending all of you hugs, appropriately manly ones for Mr C and Mr C Snr.

KK xx