I love having great neighbours. I didn't have bad neighbours in my old house - they watched our house when we were away, knew which way the drains ran and we swapped Christmas cards 'from those at No. 25'. However, we didn't socialise with them or have much in common other than living in the same street.
Since we moved here, we have been to Christmas drinks at the neighbours house (whole street invited), swapped DIY tools and puzzles with next door, had more than one set of kids round to play, been to a funeral and supplied wood for the log-burner across the road!
DIY activities this weekend have just confirmed how 'neighbourly' (for want of a better adjective) our new neighbours are.
We have finally embarked on Operation Tidy The Front Garden and commenced with looking for all the utility pipes so that we know where they are and to see whether our water pipe is lead or plastic.
Obviously, working in the front garden enables you to talk to everyone who passes and also allows them to be curious without appearing nosey!
Having found the gas and electricity without much difficulty, we were scratching our heads as to where the water could be. The man across the road works for the water utility company but couldn't access the records. The elderly neighbour got involved, applying logic that older people seem to have in these situations. And then the elderly lady from the end of the street joined in - but we still didn't find it.
It was also green-rubbish day so we had our wheelie bin full and several other boxes of compostable waste at the ready. It's no exaggeration that five of the neighbours came out of their houses to offer us their green bins.
We did find the pipe eventually. And it is lead. So now PM is dismantling even more of the garden to fit a new pipe and taking apart the hall floor (not so happy about this!)...
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