Selfsufficientish.com

After a ludicrously long and potentially suicide-inducing period of time, we've finally moved from an isolated holding to an old house in the local market town.It wasn't a choice freely made,there was no point living on a holding when you don't farm it,and in all honesty I'll never be well enough to do that again(I'm not totally crippled but not well enough to keep stock and do the several Part Time jobs you have to do to make ends meet.)...

.Big Deal.....and luckily in this town there is still an excellent Green grocer,fishmonger,2 butchers doctors surgery NHSdentistetc etc all within 5 mins walk of here,so maybe we've won the lottery(and there's a stonking walled garden).

But here's the point of this mini-blog(from the blog-hater!).... My petrol bill (and I'm sad enough to keep records) is for the last 2 weeks less than a quarter of what it used to be.

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

Good luck OJ you've paid your due's, done your bit and it's now time for you to do your thing.
"What ever that is "


Oldfella

Good luck with the new house, and the walled garden sounds promising.

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

Town wins the majority of the time over country for carbon footprint, being able to walk to the essential facilities and better access to public transport.

Other variables tend to be building-specific rather than town/country - how insulated the house is, access to fuels, etc.

Hope your walled garden keeps out noise OJ, otherwise best of luck in your new home.

As for fuel consumption, mine has dropped dramatically, even though we're 100 miles from Inverness. I go once a month, no extras and because I don't go out to work or just nip out for the odd forgotten item (so my shopping bills have dropped too!) That is pretty much all I use these days.

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

That's a very tricky question, and almost impossible to answer definitively...

We're a bit like GA, although town for us is only 5kms away, we still only drive in once a week, and make sure we get all we need then. We've budgeted €40 per month for petrol, and if we've used up the allowance before the month is out then we either do without or cycle into town.

Jerry, stop worrying about your carbon footprint, be happy, and enjoy!

boboff wrote:Jerry, stop worrying about your carbon footprint, be happy, and enjoy!

Good Point!!! ( Intruth I'm probably just musing to avoid starting in the bloody ''idyllic'' garden!!)

Interesting points all round,thanks for the good wishes,I think when we were actually farming we used a lot of petrol etc just getting back and forth to Suppliers,abattoirs,markets etc,and fitted shopping etc around this,when the animals left,it was a hard habit to break.It is a bit more noisy,but it's much easier to sneak off to the pub,so swings and roundabouts innit!!!

Love it!

Thanks,.....not sure about 'freedom', still got the trouble and 3 kids!......let's say a slight loosening of the leash.....

You've got a walled garden !!
You lucky old sod, I've always lusted after a walled garden.
I think I might even be tempted to live in a town if I had a walled garden.

Enjoy your new less stressful life OJ

Odsox wrote:You've got a walled garden !!
You lucky old sod, I've always lusted after a walled garden.

Me too. Enjoy your new home.

With regard to the question you posed, I'm not sure it's possible to say. It depends on the individual's lifestyle, how well organised they are and so on. When I lived in a village, I was never organised enough to only go shopping say once a week. I used to end up getting the car out several times to buy the bits and pieces I'd forgotten.

Now that I'm back in town, I can walk along to my local co-op whenever I need to. The same with other journeys. I rarely take the car into town for any reason, I can walk, cycle or take the bus. When I lived in the country, I was terrified of cycling or walking along the country lanes because of the cars. In town, it's much easier with slower traffic and proper pavements. So I guess it depends on where and how you live.

Zoe

Thomzo wrote:
Now that I'm back in town, I can walk along to my local co-op whenever I need to. The same with other journeys. I rarely take the car into town for any reason, I can walk, cycle or take the bus. When I lived in the country, I was terrified of cycling or walking along the country lanes because of the cars. In town, it's much easier with slower traffic and proper pavements. So I guess it depends on where and how you live.

Zoe

That's very much my experience too.It seems counter-intuitive to me,but in many ways the kids are safer here than they were,sure there is more traffic(a lot more) but it's going a lot more slowly..

.(I miss our Buzzards though!)

Slight departure from topic (who me? ) but we did the monthly shop yesterday and on the way back from Inverness we saw a buzzard lift off from a fence post further up the road. The wind was quite strong and it took an age for it to get up and going - it was just sort of hanging there flapping. It looked so weighed down I thought it was carrying my bags for me.

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.