Not Going Out (Much)
Here we are again, Lockdown mark 3. Stay At Home! Only go out for exercise or if you Really Need to
This is so much easier in a wet and chilly month like January. Though I feel sorry for parents who are again trying to Work from Home (if they'd ever gone back to their previous workspaces) and are having to Home School again. I feel sorry for the children too. Specially those who have Exams this year, or even those who don't because Exams are Off this year, and are trying to work on their own. It's ok for those who can, or enjoy doing so, or have their own room, and their own tablet/laptop. Not everyone does.
For us life hasn't changed so very much. We have the option, since H retired; we look at the weather and the forecast, we look at what Needs Doing, we decide. Monday was dry, we went down the Front - for exercise and to get some shopping from the Vegan shop down there. We wore our masks, we stayed together, we stayed at least 2m away from anyone else, we used hand sanitizer (our hands are still recovering!) We are not frivolous, though maybe we'd like to be!
And we had quite a pleasant time, for all it was a tad chilly. I'm a knitter, we were well wrapped hand and foot and in between. Hmmm, maybe I could knit some woolly trousers? Not that knitted trousers would be a good look on me. For that matter, with a 36" inside leg, it might take til next winter to knit them. Maybe I'll carry on wearing leggins, or my pyjama trousers, underneath my regular trousers. Haven't dressed completely for a couple of weeks now, maybe longer.
So things seem to be pretty much 'Here comes the New Year, same as (most of) the Old Year'!
But things are changing for us. I've been complaining about the steepness of our stairs for a few years now. They are steep, it's a Victorian terrace for goodness sake. Even with a hand rail both sides, I'm having difficulties, specially coming downstairs. My right knee is getting 'fussy'.
Also if last year served to point out anything, it was that I really do WANT a Garden. I've done a lot with large pots in our semi-to-deep shade concreted back yard over the past going on 40 years, but it just isn't enough. I really would like some land, in which I can grow things - flowers, shrubs, trees, vegetables, fruit, even some wildflowers and other plants suitable for wildlife. I'd like to be able to attract birds, as well as the butterflies, bumblebees and hoverflies I so much enjoyed last year.
Then when Mum died mid-August we realised that she hadn't, as we'd all told her repeatedly, spent the Inheritance, and, with our savings, we could afford to move. We could afford to move to somewhere with a plot of land. Preferably front and back of the property, and Definitely NOT all paved over for 'ease of maintenance' or a parking space!
We had a few more requirements -
We found a place in Romsey which we quite liked, we like Romsey a lot, but that was too expensive. Also while the garden had wonderful potential, the house room arrangement was less than ideal. Besides which, it would have meant moving to a Southampton postcode. Hmmm.
Then we found a place within 20 min walk of here - a house built in the 1930s, with a garden and a forecourt out front, also a shared drive and a garage. So we invested in a survey, which showed that not only did it need major redecoration, but various roofs needed attention, as did the damp proofing, and various other expensive bits. Plus the kitchen wasn't that big or convenient (see 'house built in the 1930s'.) It was, basically, a 'Doer-Upper', and we aren't looking to do , that much 'Doing-Upping'.
We soon found a buyer for this place. First-timer, currently living with parents and longing to be out (cos style of both parties being cramped, we suspect), wanted to be in before Christmas (some hope, even without the 'Doer-Upper disappointment!) He's hanging on, and probably getting Fed Up with the waiting. Patience, Buyer! His solicitor is being a bit of a pain, while doing his job, during the wait.
During this time we'd kept looking at other properties - if nothing else, it gave us Valid Reasons to get out of the house! It also turned up a bungalow, built mid-fifties. It fitted our criteria - for all the back garden slopes and the front garden has been bricked over for off-road parking. Bricks can be lifted. In part.
There are also: a walk in bath with shower over (we both have difficulty stepping into and out of a bath, we have a shower here, the bath houses part of our garden, so will be going with us), garage with shared drive (doubt we'll need the drive much, the garage will do nicely for storage and a workshop for D), separate loo and bathroom (need to fit small wash handbasin in the loo), a kitchen (slightly dated, but we can live with that for now), three other rooms downstairs and a large room in the roofspace with Vellux windows, and, note the dents on the stair carpet, room for a stair lift - currently in storage.
The survey was, eventually because Covid, done this Monday. We got the report Tuesday. No major problems. We'll take it! Preferably before the end of March and the Chancellor re-applies Stamp Duty on house purchases.
I shall refrain from commenting further on Politics, merely point out that somebody voted for these not-so-funny Clowns who have refused to take us, or Covid-19, or democracy seriously. It is Serious, Dear Reader.
Stay safe - when out wear a mask in enclosed spaces and on public transport; wash your hands/use hand sanitiser; stay in, or stay at least 2m from people you don't live with; and THINK, please. Particularly try thinking about other people.
Y'all have a good, careful and thoughtful day now!
This is so much easier in a wet and chilly month like January. Though I feel sorry for parents who are again trying to Work from Home (if they'd ever gone back to their previous workspaces) and are having to Home School again. I feel sorry for the children too. Specially those who have Exams this year, or even those who don't because Exams are Off this year, and are trying to work on their own. It's ok for those who can, or enjoy doing so, or have their own room, and their own tablet/laptop. Not everyone does.
For us life hasn't changed so very much. We have the option, since H retired; we look at the weather and the forecast, we look at what Needs Doing, we decide. Monday was dry, we went down the Front - for exercise and to get some shopping from the Vegan shop down there. We wore our masks, we stayed together, we stayed at least 2m away from anyone else, we used hand sanitizer (our hands are still recovering!) We are not frivolous, though maybe we'd like to be!
And we had quite a pleasant time, for all it was a tad chilly. I'm a knitter, we were well wrapped hand and foot and in between. Hmmm, maybe I could knit some woolly trousers? Not that knitted trousers would be a good look on me. For that matter, with a 36" inside leg, it might take til next winter to knit them. Maybe I'll carry on wearing leggins, or my pyjama trousers, underneath my regular trousers. Haven't dressed completely for a couple of weeks now, maybe longer.
So things seem to be pretty much 'Here comes the New Year, same as (most of) the Old Year'!
But things are changing for us. I've been complaining about the steepness of our stairs for a few years now. They are steep, it's a Victorian terrace for goodness sake. Even with a hand rail both sides, I'm having difficulties, specially coming downstairs. My right knee is getting 'fussy'.
Also if last year served to point out anything, it was that I really do WANT a Garden. I've done a lot with large pots in our semi-to-deep shade concreted back yard over the past going on 40 years, but it just isn't enough. I really would like some land, in which I can grow things - flowers, shrubs, trees, vegetables, fruit, even some wildflowers and other plants suitable for wildlife. I'd like to be able to attract birds, as well as the butterflies, bumblebees and hoverflies I so much enjoyed last year.
Then when Mum died mid-August we realised that she hadn't, as we'd all told her repeatedly, spent the Inheritance, and, with our savings, we could afford to move. We could afford to move to somewhere with a plot of land. Preferably front and back of the property, and Definitely NOT all paved over for 'ease of maintenance' or a parking space!
We had a few more requirements -
- less steep stairs (not another Victorian terrace, which is a bit of an ask in Portsmouth)
- an upstairs bathroom (not always a given round here)
- a downstairs loo as well
- room for a stair lift eventually (our stairs have a 90° bend at the bottom and nowhere to 'park' either end),
- lower ceilings (no point in heating all that extra space and anyway, I'd like to be able to paint them without needing steps)
- handy for public transport (both buses and trains, neither of us drives. Yes, there are such people in the UK still), but NOT on a busy road
We found a place in Romsey which we quite liked, we like Romsey a lot, but that was too expensive. Also while the garden had wonderful potential, the house room arrangement was less than ideal. Besides which, it would have meant moving to a Southampton postcode. Hmmm.
Then we found a place within 20 min walk of here - a house built in the 1930s, with a garden and a forecourt out front, also a shared drive and a garage. So we invested in a survey, which showed that not only did it need major redecoration, but various roofs needed attention, as did the damp proofing, and various other expensive bits. Plus the kitchen wasn't that big or convenient (see 'house built in the 1930s'.) It was, basically, a 'Doer-Upper', and we aren't looking to do , that much 'Doing-Upping'.
We soon found a buyer for this place. First-timer, currently living with parents and longing to be out (cos style of both parties being cramped, we suspect), wanted to be in before Christmas (some hope, even without the 'Doer-Upper disappointment!) He's hanging on, and probably getting Fed Up with the waiting. Patience, Buyer! His solicitor is being a bit of a pain, while doing his job, during the wait.
During this time we'd kept looking at other properties - if nothing else, it gave us Valid Reasons to get out of the house! It also turned up a bungalow, built mid-fifties. It fitted our criteria - for all the back garden slopes and the front garden has been bricked over for off-road parking. Bricks can be lifted. In part.
There are also: a walk in bath with shower over (we both have difficulty stepping into and out of a bath, we have a shower here, the bath houses part of our garden, so will be going with us), garage with shared drive (doubt we'll need the drive much, the garage will do nicely for storage and a workshop for D), separate loo and bathroom (need to fit small wash handbasin in the loo), a kitchen (slightly dated, but we can live with that for now), three other rooms downstairs and a large room in the roofspace with Vellux windows, and, note the dents on the stair carpet, room for a stair lift - currently in storage.
The survey was, eventually because Covid, done this Monday. We got the report Tuesday. No major problems. We'll take it! Preferably before the end of March and the Chancellor re-applies Stamp Duty on house purchases.
I shall refrain from commenting further on Politics, merely point out that somebody voted for these not-so-funny Clowns who have refused to take us, or Covid-19, or democracy seriously. It is Serious, Dear Reader.
Stay safe - when out wear a mask in enclosed spaces and on public transport; wash your hands/use hand sanitiser; stay in, or stay at least 2m from people you don't live with; and THINK, please. Particularly try thinking about other people.
Y'all have a good, careful and thoughtful day now!