Rural Quietness!
|
♥Aug. 18th, 2013 // 08:05 pm♥
|
So, we figured out the cause of Psycho GB the other night: the Woman Who Owns The Valley had moved her two mares from the nearby-but-out-of-sight field to the field immediately behind our stables, and both GB and the Gelding Over the Road were both being nutters because of this. He was a bit of an arse the following morning, but seems to be settling down now.
Drinkies with the neighbours went pretty well: they were here for a lot longer than I expected, the WWOTV is a very cheap date and the other neighbours made snarky comments about her when she wasn't in the room, which was quite amusing: it seems that they have the same 'you don't own the place, well, ok, only mostly' issues that we do, with added 'but we do rent our flat from you'.
Here, have some photos:
Our new dining table is pretty huge to start off with, and has two extra leaves to make it even huger. As far as I can tell, no one makes table cloths for expanding tables: I guess you're just supposed to have three different (and all hard to get hold of) ones. So I made my own. This is it in the non-expanded position, and it's got (imo) cunning folded up bits at the ends that mean that you can make the table cloth longer but still the same length of drop around the edge when you put the leaves in. I'm very slightly unhappy that you can see the raw edges if you look closely in the open corner, but I'm generally pleased with it as first attempt. The sewing machine's been getting a lot of use this last week, and there's more still to go: the inevitable slight gap where the bottom of one of last week's sets of curtains meets the windows sill is crying out for some sort of bolster affair to block the light properly, and we have a couple of bench seats for extra seating when the table's opened right out, and I got enough table cloth fabric to make cushions for them. The foam pads are sitting accusingly in the dining room, but I used pretty much all of a 100m reel of cotton on the cloth, so that will have to wait until I next get to Dunelm Mill (depressingly, the only conveniently visitable place for this sort of thing. God lord, they sell some hideous tat).
We had another explore of the local woods today. There are woods on both sides of the valley, but one side looks to have much better riding than the other. Unfortunately, getting out of the valley either involves a long flat road or a short steep one, and the latter is sufficiently steep that it's only viable to ride up it. When you do get up to the top of the hill, you can turn off onto this thoroughly strange bit of bridleway, right through the middle of a field of beans. It's a little like being in the middle of the ocean.
The road does, however, have remarkably little traffic. Grass is quite common in the middle of it, but I thought I'd stop and take a picture of the brave little flowers. Then I had to restrain GB, who assumed that they were there for his own delight....
Today, I also attempted cherry cordial, with some very-nearly-on-the-turn cherries bought at the roadside. I thought I'd just halve them and leave the stones in, as I'd heard that they add a nice almondy note, but unfortunately that was the only particular taste there was, although it is a lovely colour. I think that the next try will involve mashing up the fruit more thoroughly.
This evening, the boys had carrot tops, courtesy of our first veg box delivery. Even Jonny, who his not known for his love of carrots, seemed impressed and scoffed them down along with a few extras that Mike has over-eagerly chopped for dinner before looking at the size of the roasting tray. Apparently, veg box carrots are tastier than 5kg-for-£1.50 carrots from Tesco: who'd have thought?
I believe that there are currently only two remaining pieces of flat pack furniture to be assembled!
Yesterday, I placed another Ikea order.... |
|
|
