Then I Came Home And Had A Nice Lunch.

[rionaleonhart]

At the weekend I visited my aunt and uncle, who live in the middle of nowhere, or as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get in south-east England.

I looked up at a sky full of stars and picked out Cassiopeia and the Plough.

I saw goldfinches on the bird feeder, and learnt that they annoy my dad because they're not gold; he thinks they should be called red-faced finches.

I wandered the sunlit garden and admired the star magnolia.

I met four sheep, one of whom let me stroke her fleece and pat her horns, although I think she was disappointed that I wasn't offering food.

I went into the woods in search of wild garlic with my cousins, and saw a vast oak that had been blown over in the storms, its torn-up root system taller than I was.

I saw butterflies: two brimstones, a peacock, a comma.

I watched the chickens wreaking havoc on the flowerbeds, having broken into the garden.

I stood among the trees and watched ducks and geese flying overhead.

I cuddled a big black cat, who loves being picked up more than any other cat I've ever met; he was purring cheerfully and trying to nuzzle into my neck.

I love living in London, but I've barely left it since the pandemic hit, and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed seeing other places. It felt really good to be somewhere else for a little while, away from everything. I had a really nice couple of days. I just wanted to record that here.

Comments

[simplecoffee]

💛

[rionaleonhart]

♥!

[wolfy_writing]

That sounds amazing!

[rionaleonhart]

It was! It's such a lovely place to be, and I hadn't visited in so long.

[necrophilia]

Okay, now tell us about the nice lunch.

This entry is lovely.

[rionaleonhart]

My mum and I dropped into a pub garden in Richmond (the White Swan, if anyone reading this happens to find themselves down that way) and each ordered a lamb sandwich, and it was amazing. Easily the best pub sandwich I've ever had.

Thank you!

[nomelon]

That sounds amazing. I am so, so tired of being in the same place. Sigh.

[rionaleonhart]

I hope you get a chance to see somewhere else soon!

[corvidology]

I'm glad you had a lovely time.

Your description is making me homesick for South-West England. :D

[rionaleonhart]

Ah, the southwest! I haven't been often, but I've visited Devon a handful of times, and I was stunned by how pretty Dorset was when we went there a few years ago.

[rionaleonhart]

They were very good sheep! My aunt and uncle had tasked them with keeping the grass under control, and they performed their job with enthusiasm.

[newbie1990]

Aw ❤ Love the night sky without light pollution (imagine the light pollution is even worse in cities than in small rural towns, but when there's nothing at all the sky is just... wow), am extremely jealous of your sheep pets. I have also seen sheep recently, but they all looked up to gaze warily at me & I could think of nothing other than 'there's a low chance of being killed by sheep/but never zero' meme with the grass-chewing mobster sheep, so for the sake of their fear & my life I attempted no pets. & cat 😍

[rionaleonhart]

I definitely asked my aunt whether the sheep were going to do me harm before I approached. I'm very much a city girl and immediately assume any animal larger than a fox might kill me.

[adelate]

That sounds so nice! And I agree, it’s good to go other places, too.

[rionaleonhart]

It was lovely! I'd forgotten how good excursions could be.

[apiphile]

I looked up at a sky full of stars and picked out Cassiopeia and the Plough.

That's close to my limit of astronomy too.

I met four sheep, one of whom let me stroke her fleece and pat her horns, although I think she was disappointed that I wasn't offering food.

That's still a highly tolerant sheep in my experience!

I cuddled a big black cat, who loves being picked up more than any other cat I've ever met; he was purring cheerfully and trying to nuzzle into my neck.

WAH. ENVY.

[rionaleonhart]

That's close to my limit of astronomy too.

Hey, I know Orion as well! And... no, that's it. I looked up at the sky and went 'in theory, I should be able to find the North Star' and then absolutely failed to locate the North Star. If I ever need to navigate by the night sky, I'm doomed.

[apiphile]

Yep, that's the only other constellation I can reliably identify and yep, that's what happens when I try to find the pole star as well. God help us if we're ever lost in the wilds together.

[queenlua]

this weekend sounds so absolutely lovely :D birds! butterflies! adorable lil sheep ahhh

[rionaleonhart]

It was so nice! And, even now that I'm back in London, I've still got blue tits collecting nesting materials outside my window. Birds are so good.

[runicmagitek]

This sounds so peaceful 🥰 what a lovely time! Thanks so much for sharing!

[rionaleonhart]

It really was! It felt so good to set down my responsibilities for a couple of days and spend some time in the countryside.

[trepkos]

That sounds like a lovely time! I love sheep! And all the other things!

[rionaleonhart]

It was! I was so excited that I got to stroke a sheep.

[lassarina]

Those sound like such lovely activities. ♥

[rionaleonhart]

They really were!