What do you do when you're alone in the house for a few days?

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

DD is back to college this coming weekend and DH and DS (young adult) are travelling for a few days so it will just be me and the dog.

I will be quilting a lot, cooking meals for me for the freezer, sharpening all my knives (literally, not figuratively), throwing stuff out because we're hoping to move in a year or two and I don't want to pay to move old toys and general crap and trying to reach the bottom of my laundry basket. It sounds dull but I'm looking forward to it, must be my age.

Hoping to distract myself from an attempted break-in last month by five men in balaclavas that DH and DS chased off (well, DH turned on the hall light and DS yelled and they ran away). Keeping my fingers crossed that they don't come back as the dog is now ancient, completely blind and partially deaf so won't raise an alarm.

That sounds blissful to me! I wouldn't worry about those men returning, having been scared off once, They will try somewhere easier now it's been made plain that there are vigilant blokes at your place,

I'd be doing a lot of reading as well and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Five men in balaclavas sounds unnerving but also deeply odd! What did this police say? It seems like a highly atypical situation for a domestic burglary! Extremely unlikely they’ll come back, surely?

If I’m working on a book, I will throw all to the winds and work round the clock, stopping to eat and sleep only when I feel like it. If not, outside of work, I’ll garden and see friends, maybe have people around for dinner, or, if the weather is bad, and I’m not feeling social, I will hole up and watch film after film, and/ or book after book.

I do cleaning. If it's not pinned down, it goes in the washing machine/dishwasher, everything gets vacuumed, all furniture pulled out from walls etc. I do that as soon as I'm alone, then I can live in and enjoy my efforts before people come back and it starts looking like someone lives there again 😭

Clean the house and enjoy it staying clean! Miss the family when they’re not around me but a break from routine can also be good and restful. Some things happen at a more leisurely pace eg meals, waking up, and I have more time to do things for myself

I think the balaclavas were because everyone has cctv around here. They drove into our road in a car, parked up and split up going house to house peering in doors and checking car door handles. They obviously decided that ours was the easiest target, we had an e-bike parked in the hall so they probably wanted that. One went back to their car to get a crowbar and two tried to force the door while the others checked windows. It was on multiple cameras which was all given to the gardai (not by us personally, we gave our footage to the management committee and they compiled everyones video) but I don't expect to hear anything back about it. Groups of young men seem to be the most common burglers around here if local FB posts are any indication.