Musings from Midhurst
A neighbor with two dogs has been taking me on the twice daily walks, and tomorrow we’re driving to another location. It’s nice to have the company, and it’s also nice to have the guide: this house is right next to a national park, and the paths wind in and out and up and down. I doubt I could find my way home, if I were on my own. She’s also a sweet woman. She’s German, with excellent English, having lived for several years in South Carolina (her husband works for BMW, in charge of the wood product part of the operation. Who knew?!)
I’m meeting some interesting people on these housesits. My Tavistock host is currently president of the Royal Miniature Society (sponsored by the Prince of Wales): she needed me because she had to travel up to London several times during the September exhibition. My current host runs a crafting center and is at the beach conducting a retreat. She used to be a caterer. Or maybe she still is. I was a little out of it when we met, so I didn't track. J is a non-denominational minister, working at a senior center. She was the Santa Rosa host, and fortunately she and Rudy made it through the recent fires okay, along with their home. Their neighbors were not so lucky.
The world seems to get larger and more wonderful, as I connect with more of it.
Bath bits and pieces
First, my current sitch: I am in Bath, taking care of a fluffy white cat. It’s raining but I have tutoring and a writing project to keep me busy.
This house is tall and skinny: 5 stories and a basement, each level has one function. Guess which level has the guestroom? Yup, it's a long hike up, so I’ll probably be locating most of my stuff on the second floor. Pretty comfy tho, and they bought me lots of great food. First floor is the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen is amazing and the oven has some kind of a steam gadget as part of it. I don't think I'll touch it.
It’s part of a typical Bath street built in the 1700s: white Bath limestone and identical side-by-side facades forming a curving line of street. Inside it’s very modern and white. The owner is a retired architect and they’re doing some major remodeling; it’s very comfortable although there's a slight chemical paint smell.
(I'm just finishing up a tutoring session: literally NO ONE was up at 2 am, EST, looking for a tutor. Go figure! Usually I at least have a few Async sessions - those are the ones where they don't really want a tutor, they just want someone to proofread for them They post the essay and there's no interaction: just read, comment, and summarize).
So, yes, Bath...everything around me is shades of grey/white/beige/pale yellow. That includes the sky! And yet, it's so very Georgian England that I can't help but find it beautiful, in a stately, serene sort of way. Hard to imagine the smells and filth that probably abounded back in Jane Austen's time.
Nagano Nerves
I just read a disconcerting exchange of Trusted Housesitter reviews between my Japan host and her August/Sept sitters. It’s like they lived in alternate universes; or maybe they had the Rashomon experience.
My host-to-be wrote a rambling diatribe about pet abandonment and broken dishes, stolen delicacies and inappropriate behavior in the village. The sitters retaliated with tales of mildew and black mold, rotting food, broken fences, hard tiny beds, and Jekyll/Hyde communication. Both get rave reviews and 5 star ratings from other folks.
I Skyped with my host-to-be back in April and had a reasonable look at the place and she’s the one who alerted me to the exchange; so I’m going forward with that sit. But it does have me feeling a little....tentative. At the worst I’ll have a really interesting story to tell. And I can manage anything for a month. Also, I’m finding that everyone seems to have a horror story. Usually it has to do with cancellations though, and that has happened to me without angst. After all, I’m here in Bath because of a cancellation, and happy as a clam about it. I love Bath.
And the Midhurst house smelled moldy, but the other aspects of that sit far outweighed the potential mold. I think people are just too unreasonable in expectations.
I've had some thoughts about manners and gratitude, in the context of what I'm doing now. I do wonder why some people are so gracious in accepting help, and others are not. I noticed how, as I did little things around my cousin's house (washing a dish here, putting something away there), both of them were always prompt with the thank you, even as they were contending with a sick baby. Just a quick "thank you" and on to the next thing. It literally takes a fraction of a second. So, I don't get it.
Then again, I am not so casually consistent with the thank you, or the helpful act, so I cannot throw stones. Like a cat, I take service as my due. ;)
Speaking of which, Prince Bibi is yowling FOR NO REASON!!! I just got back from a lovely day, roaming about Bath, and I'm signed in to tutor. But, what I really want to do is walk a few doors down the street and have a glass of wine at the local bookstore and listen to a local author talk about her new book. I just might cut my session short. After all, who's going to want a tutor on a Friday night? or even a Friday afternoon, which is what it is in the states. hmmm.
It's really a tough call. Fiscal responsibility? Good work ethic? Or wine and books? hmmm
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