Tag Archives: bungalow

The Doings of the Day and Some Old Photos

Yesterday, I missed posting. I didn’t mean to, and I wasn’t particularly busy but I didn’t do it in the morning because I had other things to do, and I didn’t do it in the afternoon because I had other things to do. In the evening I fell asleep in front of the TV, snoozed in front of the TV and, on waking, misread the clock as 10pm (“plenty of time”) and, after making a cup of tea, found it was  midnight.

And that was how it happened.

On the plus side, the man doing our garage doors got all the old paint off and undercoat applied. It’s 8.14 now and he’s back for a second day, putting the top coat on. He’s a good worker and does a good job.  He also restores my faith in human nature, doing a good day’s work for a fair price and showing there are still decent tradesmen about. I was beginning to doubt this after our initial experiences in the bungalow.

Julia is now calling me through for breakfast, but I will be back afterwards to ensure this post is published before I forget and do something else.

9.40. A leisurely breakfast and then a discussion on other jobs that need doing around the place . . .

When Mum and Dad moved in they spent what seemed like a lot of time and money on the place, but that was over 20 years ago. We seemed to spend a lot of money on maintenance while we were renting it out to pay for Dad’s care fees, but my sister arranged that through the letting agent. They used a builder they used for all sorts of work, who was the one we originally used when we moved in.

 

He was, as you may recall, expensive and we have had to have most of his work redone. The agents, meanwhile were just parasites who did very little for their monthly payments.

I just wiped 150 words out because I was starting to sound like an old-fashioned rack-renting moustachio twirling landlord. I’ll just say that the tenant fitted into the group quite nicely.

Rant averted.

Photos are some Julia took a few years ago. It was 2002 according to the date on the email. I must have forgotten to use them. They were on the farm where we used to stop for ice cream on the way to Llandudno. I will find the name for next time I use some of the photos (I have a few in reserve)

Shades of Lady Bracknell – A Conservatory . . .

I’m feeling a little shell-shocked at the moment after gaining access to the new bungalow yesterday. It’s been eight years since I last visited and it isn’t quite as I remember it. There’s more lawn than I remember, for one thing, and more wooden fencing (which all looks as though it needs painting). I remember two sides of the back garden being brick walls but in fact only half the back wall is brick and the rest is wood. Two self-seeded trees have been allowed to grow, the shed is rotting and rampant ivy is assailing us from all sides. Even if I had been thinking of what to do in retirement (which I haven’t) I now have the answer. I’m going to be gardening. Fortunately it’s good for you to get outside and get your hands in the soil while doing gentle exercise, so it’s not a problem.

Our first test run was rather too hot.

 

Inside needs a bit of work too, but that’s mainly minor stuff, with the exception of the leaking conservatory roof, and I knew that was a problem we would have to fix. I’m torn between annoyance at having a large bill for repairs (currently waiting for quotes, but it’s bound to be large, or probably even larger) and wonder that I actually have a conservatory. A good portion of my early years were spent living in a corner shop in Blackburn, where we only had an outside toilet. I think I must be from the last generation where it was possible to grow up without indoor sanitation. My Dad, a generation earlier, had clogs. They are something worn by clog dancers these days, but they were the footwear of the poor in the 1930s. They are still used as industrial footwear and you  buy them from workwear shops when I lived in Preston in the 1980s.

How times change. A conservatory . . .

I’ve also had another poem accepted, but that’s not as amazing as owning a conservatory.

Piccalilli

Pictures are more from October 2014 – the first month of the blog. Header shows the mobile bread oven being stoked up for a school demonstration.