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

[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.