Country Life
BY IAN NIALL
eiN HOLIDAY in an old cottage where 'mod. eons,' are very much the exception. I find rnYself renewing acquaintance with the daily Chore of water-carrying, going to bed by candlelight and—the weather not having been
kind as it might—wondering about dry mndling. How much we take for granted the Witter main, and all that goes with it! The Water from the well seems much colder than the water from the main at home but we enjoy
cup of tea a great deal less because the Water here is harder. There was a time when the inconvenience of filling a bucket at the , ..1/urnp was not thought of at all. The pump ' water was esteemed for a coldness that sug- gested the deep rock from which the spring ,C,atile. Kindling was something long-term in the routine of daily life and in any case there 41ways seemed to be an ember to be encour- eged to flame with the bellows. Going to bed 1.4y eittldlelight or an oil lamp was everyone's lot Pnd, considered in retrospect, we enjoyed an Pnogether peaceful and pleasant existence. It is °dd to discover that old, and in memory, familiar background and find that although this was the way once upon a time one cannot 5 easily slip into the past as one can put on PO old jacket. A pint of water weighs a pound `Ind a quarter, they said at school. This may be
but over a distance of three hundred yards, surely it gets heavier?
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