Category: The Mundane
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The joys of flexibility
This morning I’m exulting in multiple uses for the same thing. A few years ago we decided to tidy an awkward wedge of space behind our house. The idea was to store wood for the bakery oven, so it would be conveniently accessible, and dry. The first incarnation of the roof was not felicitous; too…
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Washing-up service . . .
The joys of humble service have been a part of my life ever since my first detail attending to the outside pit toilets at summer camp. Talk about mundanity, but at the other end of the food cycle, I quite enjoy a spot of washing-up, or doing the dishes as folks might say on the…
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Clearances . . .
I’ve spent the past afternoon and again this morning clearing up my laptop’s desktop. Not only does the struggling machine, uncluttered, work much faster now that all the accumulated images are whisked away, but the space is neat, tidy, and restful for my busy mind. The extended display is open for new material, while a…
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Measurement, a never-ending joy
I made a little investment, a year or so ago, in a small measuring wheel. Its first use was, finally, to measure within a meter or so how long our track is from the road. Turns out to be 495 meters, half a kilometer in other words, which makes us quite happily isolated from any…
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Fresh water, the most crucial joy of all . . .
We tend to discount one of the most wonderful benefits of deep rural life, most of the time. Our water system has improved dramatically over the past thirty years, and today it’s really state-of-the-art for a private water supply. Requiring minimal attention, and just pumping away, our water usage is below the national average anyway,…
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But umm, now what?
Ah yes, there’s a reason why all that stuff was up in the loft, out of sight and out of mind. Apparently, there’s nowhere else to put it! But up there, it was more than just out of mind; it was also inaccessible. With a little perseverance, and diligence, we can sort things out and…
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The joy of clearing
Today I shall extract the remaining bits and pieces from the loft room that you enter as you climb the steps. Our hedgerow wine bottles will be slowly consumed, or divested, thereafter. Although I don’t really have any idea where the last of this first stuff will go, when it all comes down, I can…
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Indolence, indulgence and/or perseverance
Sometimes Kali cat is happy to rest on our laps, of an evening, when she’s fully fed and replete, warm and cosy with the fire blazing, and we’re quiet ourselves. She still hunts for small creatures, and gobbles them whole, all except the guts. But mostly she perseveres with her importunings: feed me; feed me…
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A morning tizz . . .
It’s been a little bit frenzied, this morning, as I had to make sure the access to the woodsheds was clear, that the woodsheds themselves were clear, and that all was ready for the dumpster truck to lift and deposit the load of hardwood within easy grasping distance for stacking. It took an hour and…
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Half-way joys . . .
It was a challenging day, but this morning, with any luck, will see the final finessing of the cluttered office into a place to display with pride. Imagine a home office with such a view of the valley beyond! Well, the reflection plays havoc with the view, and the internal bounce-backs are interfering with the…
Roads to Joy 