This post is sort of an aside from this week’s Twittering Tales.
Hubby sometimes talks about replacing the car with a horse and cart . It makes me wonder about his sanity (well, he did marry me) but there are times when maybe what he says isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds.
With the announcement in our recent Budget here in the UK, diesel car owners are facing a hike in their compulsory road tax and surprisingly (not) there are suddenly an awful lot of diesel vehicles up for sale on private driveways.
Both of our Peugoets were diesel (the above are google images, not ours).
They were economical to run, and my 206 was in one of the lower taxation brackets, costing me a mere £30 a year compared to Hubby’s £115.
We only have the one car now and that’s petrol, again attracting a low road tax of just £20.
However, should money become a problem, or should I say the lack of it, the car is the only thing that could really ‘go’, leaving us dependent on public transport, Shanks Pony or hiring a vehicle for long trips anywhere.
Putting aside the obvious question of where we would keep said horse and cart (domestic pets only according to the covenants** in the house deeds) and the necessary vet bills, it would indeed open up some interesting avenues.
Our veg patch would flourish, provided GeeGee didn’t munch his way through it, I could grow rhubarb again and we would also have a most glorious Ancient Mariner rose bush in the front garden. Hopefully ours will look like this next year.
We could subsidize our income by selling the unwanted ‘by product’ of horse ownership to the keen gardeners around us, many of which have an allotment, on a buyer collects basis.
GeeGee would contribute to his keep by keeping the grass down, thus saving on the electricity bill.
No tax duty or petrol required for our transport, and the cart would be more than adequate to contain our monthly shopping. No parking ticket would be required for the car park (where would one stick it anyway) and no risk of clamping as I don’t think anyone would want to try it from the back end.
Naturally we would be totally responsible owners and have a bucket and shovel aboard for clean up duty.
Hubby would no doubt make some kind of removable cart cover should we have to go out on rainy days, and thus I suppose we could convert it to a sleeping wagon for the odd weekend away.
In all seriousness though, I don’t think I have what it takes to own a horse. I think they are magnificent animals and love to see them free in the fields. I’ve never ridden one, the one time having the opportunity I balked as the thing was just so big!
OB had a goat though, which did keep down the grass. Whether it was his or not I’m unsure, but it got extremely territorial and charged its reflection in the patio doors.
Not once, but twice, so they got rid of it.
**Note to Hubby:
When you read this Love, remember it’s not allowed.
pensitivity101 
I chuckled at this, but you have a point… x
Thanks Jane. Have a good day.
Ah if only we could go back to the horse drawn carriage 🙂
I love horses! But as you say, it would be jolly expensive these days with vets bills, grazing, stabling etc. Still I remember as a kid several horse drawn vehicles stopped outside our house, to deliver coal or soft drinks, or even collect jam jars. I was straight out there making friends with the massive cart horse 🙂
It’s lovely to see them in the fields.
🙂
For grass control, I would prefer a sheep to a goat. You’re crafty, and if you don’t already know how to fiddle with fiber-arts, you could learn to make yarn and all sorts of things.
My mother had a friend who asked her to keep her rough collie’s fur after each brushing as she spun it and then knitted it up. Mum gave her bags of it, but never got a ‘free’ jumper or even a pair of gloves!
IMHO, your mom should have at very least gotten yarn.
I agree she should have had something, even if it was just a tea cosy!
Exactly!