So this house was Grade 2 listed in the 1980s as late 16C, but de-listed later that year after the owner demonstrated that he built it himself in the late 1970s-early 80s, with an addition a bit later in the 90s.
Now being sold by the man who built it.
Rather embarrassing for Historic England, but tbf he did a cracking job.
I'd taken 6 or 8 of those dumpy bags full of garden rubbish to the tip. It was mainly damp beech nuts, so they were quite heavy.
The way my tip is set up, you can throw the stuff over the bar at the front of the skip, or you can walk down a platform along the side and throw it in there. I always go down the side, because the platforms are closer to the edge, and the sides of the skip are lower than at the front.
On this day, the side was gated off so you had to use the end. I hadn't seen them do this before, so I had not prepared my task accordingly.
I thought, well I'm not going to be able to get all the bags emptied this way, but if I can dump out the lightest one, perhaps I can scoop some of the contents of the others into the now-empty bag & thus lighten their loads.
I dumped the first bag. It was a bit of a struggle, but I got there in the end.
I was pleased with my success, but not confident about transferring bag contents without making a mess of my car.
So I'm looking at the bags, then looking at the skip, then back at the bags.
I'm thinking, should I just pop home and make these other bags lighter so I don’t hold everyone up 🤔
The fellow behind me, about to drive away, got back out of his car and asked if I needed a hand.
Normally I refuse help whether I need it or not. Idk why. It's just a gut reaction & I sometimes regret it.
Anyway, I surprised myself by saying that if he wasn't in a hurry I'd actually really appreciate it.
So we got it done in no time at all, had a bit of cheerful banter in the process, then I thanked him probably a bit too much, and he cheerfully said it costs nothing to be kind and went on his way.
It may not sound like much, but I've spent a lot of time the past couple of years feeling overwhelmed & this moment of camaraderie was really lovely.