thefarsideofthefield
Well-Known Member
When I was young I had an elderly aunt who told me that whilst she was doing her housework she would pretend that she was expecting the Queen to come round for tea . As a messy child I thought this was hysterical , but then later in life , although I never took it to my aunts level , I discovered that the thought of having important guests was quite a good motivator ( The bedroom needs doing but can't be bothered ? Brad's on his way round . Quick , where's the clean bedding .... ) . But now , suddenly , it's dawned on me that maybe it's become much more ingrained than I'd realised .
My two ponies live out 24/7 with free access from their field to the yard and two stables - pretty low maintenance really , but today , on a horrible , wet , foggy morning I have left them with beds that look like they have been checked with a spirit level , precision banking , an immaculate yard , the hoof picks hung up ( one at each end of the yard for convenience ) , the grooming brushes ( rarely used ) lined up neatly . The yard tools are lined up like soldiers , the wheel barrows ranked in order of size . The barn is gleaming and I swept the stray strands of hay that had dropped on the grass between the barn and the yard - even though Mr F pointed out that we are expecting a delivery tomorrow and it will all need doing again . Nobody's going to see it except Mr F and the ponies - and they certainly don't care . So why do I do it ? It's not like I haven't got anything else to do . It is way above and beyond tidy for the sake of health and safety and , if I think about it , it's not like I'm OCD about cleanliness . No - what it is , is ' Visitor Ready ' . It is how I want it to look to other people . And yet the chances of us having a ' yard ' visitor , even before Covid , are practically zero . So why do I feel that I have to be in this permanent state of readiness ? Maybe I should relax standards a bit . But then you just never know , do you ? It's those unexpected ones , dropping in unannounced , that might catch you out . What if Charlotte of the Garden or King Mary broke down on their way to who knows where and needed somewhere to stay for the night ? Or just if my friend Jenny needed to pop in for an emergency bale ?
And the weirdest thing of all is that I don't do this in the house where , let's face it , we a far more likely to have visitors . 'Take me as you find me ' I say boldly ' I don't care what you think of my house' ….... but my yard , oh that's a different matter entirely .
My two ponies live out 24/7 with free access from their field to the yard and two stables - pretty low maintenance really , but today , on a horrible , wet , foggy morning I have left them with beds that look like they have been checked with a spirit level , precision banking , an immaculate yard , the hoof picks hung up ( one at each end of the yard for convenience ) , the grooming brushes ( rarely used ) lined up neatly . The yard tools are lined up like soldiers , the wheel barrows ranked in order of size . The barn is gleaming and I swept the stray strands of hay that had dropped on the grass between the barn and the yard - even though Mr F pointed out that we are expecting a delivery tomorrow and it will all need doing again . Nobody's going to see it except Mr F and the ponies - and they certainly don't care . So why do I do it ? It's not like I haven't got anything else to do . It is way above and beyond tidy for the sake of health and safety and , if I think about it , it's not like I'm OCD about cleanliness . No - what it is , is ' Visitor Ready ' . It is how I want it to look to other people . And yet the chances of us having a ' yard ' visitor , even before Covid , are practically zero . So why do I feel that I have to be in this permanent state of readiness ? Maybe I should relax standards a bit . But then you just never know , do you ? It's those unexpected ones , dropping in unannounced , that might catch you out . What if Charlotte of the Garden or King Mary broke down on their way to who knows where and needed somewhere to stay for the night ? Or just if my friend Jenny needed to pop in for an emergency bale ?
And the weirdest thing of all is that I don't do this in the house where , let's face it , we a far more likely to have visitors . 'Take me as you find me ' I say boldly ' I don't care what you think of my house' ….... but my yard , oh that's a different matter entirely .
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