Sunday 26 March 2023

New home

Perhaps you are interested to see where we are living now? It is certainly very different from any of our previous homes; a former farmhouse where we lived when the family were growing up, with it's large rambling garden, so good for dens and swings and badminton on the lawn. When the family were up and away we moved to live for a happy quarter of a century in a former gamekeeper's cottage. (The 1911 census tells me that the gamekeeper and his wife had seven children, they must have been packed in the cottage like sardines in a tin!) We led a happy life in both those homes and are hoping for the same here in busy Bournemouth. The house that we've bought was built in the 1920's and we are only the third occupants, so we feel it is very up to date compared to our previous homes! For the first time we are not involved in any major alterations, no knocking down walls or rewiring needed - you can guess who is delighted! Neither is there a lawn to cut. What a happy man! We have slapped a bit of colour on some of the walls, added a blue sky with gold stars to the hall and hung pictures. It is starting to look like our sort of place. You can see from the old and new photos that little has changed. The house initially backed onto woodland. The photo of the sisters who first lived in the house shows what the surrounding landscape was like and the same pine trees now tower over the garden.
It is interesting to see our furniture and accumulated 'stuff' in a new environment. Everything seems to have fitted in well. I've even hung a pair of old curtains from my childhood home. They are far too long and also very tattered but I don't want to cut into them. I unpicked the linings and gave them a good wash and am pleased with the result as I open and close them each day. Shabby chic doesn't start to describe them, my parents would be pleased! Nothing repainted as yet upstairs but the rooms are all neutral colours causing no offence. And at long last I have a little dressing room between the bedroom and bathroom. What's not to like!

12 comments:

  1. I was thrilled to see your post today! I am indeed interested to see where you are living now. Your new home is lovely, and the vibrant colors and your artwork are beautiful. I'm happy that you are continuing to post as I've always enjoyed following. I'm looking forward to seeing your new garden as it emerges, as I'm sure you are too!

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    1. Hello Kathy, how nice to hear from you again. Although the weather continues cold and wet the garden is slowly springing to life with blossom on the trees and promising looking shoots on the ground. I shall be posting progress!

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  2. It looks lovely, very attractive, and already has a special homely established feel, one would think that you had been there forever.

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    1. I am quite surprised how well we seem to have settled in to such a completely different environment. The only downside is that of being far away from much-loved friends of many years standing.

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  3. So lovely to catch up with your post. Lovely photos.
    cheers !

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    1. You've had snow! Such confusing weather patterns. My new garden has some sub-tropical planting. I would love some sub-tropical warmth to match!

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  4. As Kathy said I was so pleased to see your post as I had been wondering about your new home which is lovely. You said there is no lawn to cut but I assume there is a garden.

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    1. Yes, now we have a much smaller garden, with gravel paths, the ground mostly planted with shrubs. Apart from copious leaf sweeping there will be far less to do!

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  5. Indeed, what's not to love! I like everything you show us in this post, but of course my favourite feature is the blue ceiling with gold stars.

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    1. Small things can make all the difference, a blue sky with gold stars is very uplifting!

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  6. Putting some colour on the walls and hanging pictures suddenly made the house look like ours!

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  7. I hope you are right about not needing any re-wiring. In our earlier thirties semi much of the wiring was original: one socket per upstairs room, the single cable snaking back to a ceramic junction where the wires were casually twisted together and topped with a ceramic dunce's cap. These junctions were handily placed under the landing floorboards where - as the decades rolled on - the insulation ceased to be flexible, became crystalline, was subjected to the vibration of millions of footsteps and eventually broke away to reveal bare wire. And there were other electrical solecisms. It's my opinion that the implications of Ohm's Law are only imperfectly understood in the surburbs.

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