I recently learnt of some interesting research that Rattan Direct are undertaking, by means of a survey, into how well we know our neighbours. We have many neighbours - more than most - and the subject intrigues me - we share boundaries with seven other households, which is a lot, isn't it?

Our excessive number of neighbours is partly because of the flats next door and partly how the gardens are split and because ours dog-legs around the corner. I can name each of our neighbours and there's some we're more friendly with and stop and chat to if we see each other in the street, but we live in London and on a relatively main road, so that doesn't happen too often.

There is once a year though that there's a regular get together - and that's on London Marathon day. It's quite a thing for all of us to congregate outside, catch up on the local news and cheer the runners along their way!

So if you're wondering how well you know your neighbours and have a minute or two to spare to take this survey anonymously, then thank you. And if you're wondering why there's an image of the Painted Ladies in San Francisco accompanying this post, then it's because I often wonder if the people living here are as neighbourly as I imagine they would be, or if they too are caught up with their busy lives and living on what is probably one of the prettiest and most photographed streets in the world makes them feel less neighbourly to each other, because of being gawked up continuously, or more so because they have a common bond! Who knows?

THE PAINTED LADIES IN SAN FRANCISCO (Image credit: Unsplash)

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.