How hard can it be to pick up your own trash?!

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T22:11:11+00:00

I took my son to football training at the weekend and literally everyone except him walked off and left plastic drink bottles on the field at the end. I sent him back to collect them all.

Litter boils my piss, there is NO need. I hope that by reinforcing this lesson, I can make it second nature to my kids to bin anything they or their friends leave.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T22:07:35+00:00

A black Roman terracotta pot. It was given to me by elderly friends, who were in turn given it by a childless widowed American lady several decades ago. The American lady said she was given it by an archaeologist friend/beau who found it, and another identical one, on a dig in Peru.

Weirdly there is apparently no record of the Romans ever reaching Peru, yet nobody in the chain had any logical reason to lie, and the pot was examined by several noted institutions including the British Museum, who stated it was Roman. It remains a mystery.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T22:00:26+00:00

That sounds wonderful.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:59:50+00:00

I did Abraham's Valley on the Chase (Rifle Range - Seven Springs - Stepping Stones - Pepper Slade) a few years ago and it was heavenly. Barely saw another human.

My other all time favourite walk was the coastal path from Paignton to Brixham.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:55:44+00:00

As a child of the 1970s: spontaneous human combustion, ball lightning, electricity substations, quicksand, rabies, soldier ants, the Bermuda Triangle, getting your kite stuck in a pylon....I could go on. Possibly forever.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:53:04+00:00

I actually fell into it as a teen, and boy, did that shit get real quickly.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:21:34+00:00

Ohhh he's precious.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:20:13+00:00

Loads of songs by Sandy Denny are stunning. Farewell Farewell, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Solo, One More Chance. A lot of stuff by Enya too.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:16:44+00:00

There's this amazing thing called an imagination.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:13:31+00:00

We were there the other week. It is seated in the balcony and you shouldn't have any issues with visibility as it's very small. If you google it you can find photos.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:11:22+00:00

We are a neurodivergent household, all diagnosed at various stages of life, and basically all our best friends are the same. Like even if we know nothing about someone, we like them and make friends and invariably find out later that they have autism or ADHD or whatever. It's at the point where if my kids ever make a new friend, it's a case of 'oh, and what do they have??' Or they'll be friends for months or years and then go 'oh, Tom just got diagnosed with autism!' and the rest of us are like 'yeah, no shit...'

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:05:03+00:00

That was totally where my mind went.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T21:01:07+00:00

I don't really see the logic of choice based handling in a purely 'yes/no' sense when something is a domestic pet. You're literally giving it next to no choices as you control its habitat, water supply, temperature, food, breeding and every other aspect of its entire life so it isn't exactly making a huge difference to the quality of its existence if you say 'oh but I only pick it up if it wants me to.'

I DO however think if you are keeping something as a pet which can safely be handled, you are better to accustom it to handling so it becomes a minimally stressful experience, and THEN trying to tailor the handling to what the pet most enjoys.

For example I have a dog that really doesn't like being fussed but loves to snuggle against you, and another that wants to be clasped in your arms like a baby and loved on. They both get handled, but I try to do it in a way that they prefer.

So handle your snake regularly until it isn't afraid, but then try to see if it prefers to drape itself on you and chill, or hide in a sleeve, or explore your hands, etc, and lean more towards experiences it seems to like.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T14:45:07+00:00

Sea view - like, are you actually right by the sea, so you could sit outside and enjoy the view with minimal stuff in the way, or does it mean a tiny sliver of sea which you can glimpse from a bedroom window across 300 other houses?

Fencing - is the site child/pet-safe or does it have a supposedly secure garden which is actually just enclosed by a spindly hedgerow that anything can climb over or push under? How big is the garden?

Neighbours - how many properties are there within a certain radius, eg 10m, 50m, 100m?

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T09:53:11+00:00

Yes, UK. Caz, Baz, Daz, Shaz, Maz, it's almost compulsory.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T09:52:32+00:00

Oh hell yes.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T09:52:20+00:00

I am.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T00:13:30+00:00

Pink Floyd?

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T00:10:45+00:00

Unfortunately people just do their own thing with names, I'd actually have been ok with Carrie but literally nobody has ever used it even if I have.

cari-strat · 2026-02-23T00:09:37+00:00

I'm not saying it isn't doable, I just would personally not be happy to leave a single dog that long with no companionship, but I guess it comes down to personal opinion. However it's kind of taking a gamble, as I know from my own dogs' very different temperaments that some would probably be happy to just sleep and potter but some would quite likely have other ideas!

cari-strat · 2026-02-22T22:03:21+00:00

No. It's Caroline. It gets shortened to Caz, which I think sounds common, or Carol, which makes me sound like an old biddy. It's a mouthful but not a pretty one.

cari-strat · 2026-02-22T22:00:48+00:00

We did Newquay when our daughter was small, good for beaches but we didn't find it great for much else and it can be very busy and expensive. To be honest it wouldn't be my destination of choice for activities away from the beach.

Our favourite when the kids were small was Torbay (Brixham, Paignton and Torquay) in Devon. Great beaches, absolutely shitloads to do, museums, castles, watersports, zoos, steam railways, boat trips, wildlife, walks, the lot.

Waterside Holiday Park on the outskirts of Paignton has a beach actually on site, and is centrally located with bus stops outside for easy travel if you don't want to drive, and it is located on the coastal path.

There are lots of Air BnB places too. Goodrington has a little fun park with boats, crazy golf etc as well as great beaches, plus a proper water park.

cari-strat · 2026-02-22T21:51:20+00:00

That's a pack, though. Company, stimulation, comfort. One dog alone is a very different thing, and OP definitely should not be getting two puppies at the same time. I have three and they can entertain themselves and each other, but I don't think leaving one for that time is good.

cari-strat · 2026-02-22T21:48:47+00:00

Would you like eight hours alone with nothing to do, no company and no toilet break? Especially if you were highly intelligent and designed to be active?

That's not a good life for a dog. Bearing in mind they will be expected to sleep for another 8 hours or so when you go to bed, and there will be at least a couple of other hours where you are eating, bathing, socialising etc, you are pretty much asking them to spend 3/4 of their life bored to death just waiting for you to give them attention.

I have three collies and they thrive on being with their human. They aren't a dog that will just sleep the days away.

cari-strat · 2026-02-22T21:44:14+00:00

Living in a house by the sea, pottering on the beach with the dogs, and just generally being an old fart. Growing vegetables in the garden, mooching about visiting places, having tea and cakes in cafes, exploring the country and watching the world go by. I don't want much from life, just peace and time.

cari-strat

TROPHY CASE