One of the most weird things about living in the country is the difference between the types of traffic we encounter in the road. There are no 'boy racers' or kids on quad bikes here. It's nice to feel we can let Rosie and Archie go down to the car without needing to put them on their leads. They are in no danger because we can see cars coming from either end of the lane and therefore have plenty of time to get them out of the way before one goes past.

Today has been a lovely sunny day but a frustrating one because we've been waiting for one of the workmen who is doing a job on the cottage to turn up and he didn't get here till mid-afternoon meaning we couldn't go out walking. We sat in the front garden admiring the view in the sunshine.

While we've been sitting out we've had another long conversation with another neighbour (who we've not met before) so now we've met almost all our neighbours - In Sandhurst, we only know the immediate neighbour on one side by name. It's such a different pace of life and people have time to spend with us. It's fantastic.

Rosie and Archie have been thoroughly enjoying their time here - they can watch the world go by in complete safety and happiness from the front garden and Archie in particular has become so laid back he's almost horizontal! He's normally such a worrier but he's been completely chilled. He sits by the front gate sniffing the air and taking fuss from the neighbours as they pass by. He's happy to be there all day and would stay there all night too if we'd let him. We've been making him come in at around 11pm and he slopes up the path looking miserable.

He watches intently as new things pass......riders on horseback are quite common (and quite contentious with the road's residents who are angry about horse poo in the street and they feel that riders should be made to pick up the mess their horses make in the same way that dog owners have to pick up their dog's mess - apparently the issue is such a burning one that it made the local paper last week). Sheep too are wandering along the street all the time. Archie is fascinated by the sheep - I think he is thinking 'I know I should be doing something with them but I'm not quite sure what'. As they go by he sticks his snout out through the slats in the gate and sniffs the air, puffing his cheeks in and out as he smells them.

This little group of sheep wanted to go up the road but were huddled by this fence as a car came down the road. They do seem to be quite good at keeping out of danger. They make me laugh with their bleating and jousting. Eventually they all passed our door and made their way up the road with the ewes a bit behind the lambs keeping a careful eye on their offspring. Loose cows were common in the road too before Foot And Mouth hit the country. They are starting to return to the moor now - there was a little group on the common in the next village as we passed yesterday.

I had planned a different photo for today. We went to an open air theatre just a few miles from home to see an Oscar Wilde play and I'd intended to take a photo at the theatre but when we got there we were told 'no photos' so I have had to pick the best of the rest for my PotD today. As you will have already spotted, this was a lean day!!!!

BTW - we are uploading via a slow modem connection so not doing any surfing till we get back to Sandhurst!