Making a virtue out of a necessity..?

[oldjerry]

I'd far rather talk about Buzzards.We had 2 pairs nest yearly in the Scots Pine.First couple of weeks of August ,presumably when the young are fledging,there were 7 or 8 of them circling all day squawking for hours so loud you could hear it it indoors with the windows shut.I've seen loads of Bill Oddie type programmes,but never heard mention of this strange ritual,but every year at the same time it's the same.When I was a kid they were as rare as rocking horse poo,so it goes to show what can be done with a few conservation measures.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

So which is your nearest pub?

Nothing wrong with making a virtue out of a necessity - that's simply being in the mindset to find the positive in whatever situation presents itself. The world might be a happier place if more people did it. That's what I think.

[oldjerry]

Thanks Jon.

[yvette]

I hope you settle happily in your new home - its bound to take a bit of getting used to, though the proximity of a good pub may help!
I live in London, but grew up in Gloucestershire, for part of the time in an isolated village with no shop, pub, buses etc. I do miss the quiet but I also enjoy being able to walk to everything I need - doctors, dentists, primary school,library, local shops, local shopping centre and now the mighty Westfield! Bus, tube and train services are good, if not cheap. Downside for me is having a small garden - its not tiny for London, but I'd like more space for growing, and allotments are few and far between and waiting lists long. So my carbon footprint is smaller because I walk everywhere but greater because of the food miles of the food I cannot grow for myself.
I agree that it also depends on what you like to do. I like people, and I like museums and galleries (luckily mostly free) and looking at old buildings, and can access these things easily from here.

[Flo]

It takes year to make virtue out of necessity. Changing lifestyle is no easy thing. I've had a number of goes since mid 1993 in downsizing and am still not sure that the present abode is exactly neutral on the carbon footprint front. The last place nearly was but the rent doubled and I didn't have the money at the time to stay. Carbon neutral here? Nah. You can only do what you can do and take time to improve the lifestyle you have. But if you can be happy where you are then you can probably adapt the lifestyle somewhat to suit your conscience.

[boboff]

I am 100% behind Jon, on his sentiment, I just need to make more of an effort to believe it myself!

[Stonehead]

So, if you've got this far,..... town vs. rural what's the relative Carbon-Footprint situation? (Genuine question,I'm unsure).

Diabolical if you have children. We have only one car, I walk/bike as much as possible and the Other Half car shares. But the nearest town with a swimming pool (we want both our boys to be able to swim) is a 30-mile round trip. Our boys play rugby, so training and playing with the nearest club requires the same trip. Then there are the away matches, which can involve round trips of 60 miles. (In the older age groups, the distances jump to 400 miles plus but most of these are by hired coach.) Then there are the school rugby matches that require collection of our oldest as they’re held after school. And more away matches.

We try to combine trips, doing the fortnightly shopping, doing the recycling run, doing the animal feed run etc at the same time, but it’s not always possible. There are trains from the village but the times are odd and infrequent. Similarly with the bus service.

It would be slightly better if the boys could take part in activities held in the village, but neither Cubs nor football proved receptive to our oldest as he has Aspergers. So we travel to activities where he’s welcome and/or ones that we feel are necessary.