Peace, ranting, then more peace and nature

 Yesterday was the quietest Monday we've had in ages, hardly any movement around here all day and no builders next door.  No builders again today, for the 4th day in a row (they've generally been working Saturday mornings as well as Mon-Fri up till now).  So it looks as if either neighbour Mr X has dispensed with their services, or they've refused to carry on with the job....possibly, we don't know.  It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, Mr X and his brother generally have Wednesdays off work so they can do labouring work for the builders.  If the builders aren't coming back, I wonder what will happen now?  Will the project be abandoned, or will Mr X try to get another firm of builders in at short notice?

Problem relative was ranting (and I do mean ranting) early this morning on our WhatsApp group about some load of conspiracy theory nonsense, when I read his first words of "You all need to hear this...." I thought - well, no we don't actually, and muted him.  I've just unmuted him and he's still going off on one so back to mute it is.  The problem is, he lives alone, is agoraphobic, paranoid and lives his life scouring the internet all the time, virtually 24/7.  He refuses all offers of help and has been extremely rude to mental health and social care workers in the past, so is his own worst enemy.  We've had several months of relative calm and quiet from him, so a blow up was bound to be imminent.  It'll pass over soon enough I expect, it usually does.

Meanwhile, we had a drive out this morning to another tea room we hadn't visited before, in a little village which has a pretty river running through it:-

Shallow but very clear, with a lovely old stone bridge across.  The journey there was longer than we thought it might be, took about 40 mins on narrow twisty roads in places, and quite steep in some areas so our poor old car was struggling a bit.  It was worth it though, we sat outside the tea room on benches with sunshades (welcome as the sun was very strong).  I had a (very naughty) slice of rum, raisin and pineapple cake which was delicious.  I was a bit disappointed with my latte - the taste was fine, the trouble was it was at least 50% froth so not much actual coffee to drink.  It was nice sitting on a bench watching the river flow though, with some grey wagtails bobbing up and down.  We might go there again if we're in the area for some reason, but probably wouldn't make a special trip to go back.

Eye tests for both of us tomorrow, nothing else planned for this week, thankfully as it's getting very hot again.