Corvidic life - recent summary.

[wraithwitch]

I had a good weekend. I dyed my feathers black and drank plum wine and talked to people about many random things - although not all at once. (And I can't imagine what possessed me to have my feathers any other colour but black for so long.) I didn't go clubbing in the end as I was rather worn out from being consumptive and knew as soon as I got

Comments

[nadriel]

I was taught the same rules of hospitality myself.

Which is why I often sit on a sofa/chair quietly when visiting people, looking vaguely uncomfortable unless/until given permission to do various things (mainly, read).

[evilref]

Books are much heavier than clothes. So a book-case needs to be made of much more and stronger wood than a wardrobe, and the construction needs to be more sturdy: so mitres and other time-consuming joints where a wardrobe can simply be nailed together.

I was also brought up with the "best behaviour" school of being a guest; but when people visit us they often stay for days, so we will encourage them to enjoy themselves and keep in touch, same as they would if we were running a hotel.

I think duration-of-visit makes a big difference.

In the longer term we want to offer guests a cottage of their own to stay in. I think it will be harder for them to get stuck in the "best behaviour" paradigm when they have a front door and we are the other side of it.

But that'll be a few years off, unless our guests are into camping.

[wraithwitch]

Hm. I accept bookcases must be better made than wardrobes, but back in the day a gentleman's wardrobe was made with just as much care as his bookcase - and had almost as many shelves! Even so, I fail to believe bookcases should be £400 worth of added structural engineering =P

Oh, yes, duration of visit changes the rules a lot. I despair when someone who is visiting for supper has started reading or surfing the net; but if someone's staying longer than a day the behavior is perfectly agreeable.

Guest cottage? Hee - that's quite cool. The most we could ever manage here is a guest shed =P

[evilref]

I am a good enough carpenter to make stairs, but my craftsmanship isn't up to making Edwardian-style bookcases or furniture. Nevertheless, a carpenter of my level of skill is likely to earn £50 or so in the building trade.
Wood is expensive, too, particularly as solid wood needs to be free of knots if it isn't going to warp in a centrally-heated house.
I do agree that an Edwardian gentlemans' wardrobe would have been made to the same standard as a bookcase. It may well have been made of tropical hardwoods and similar non-PC material, too. We have one -- an Art Nouveau-style wardrobe and dresser -- and I've moved it three times. It's heavy!

The guest cottage will be a while coming. At the moment it is a tin-roofed two-bedroom cottage, and all there is on the property. We're vaguely hoping that our expanding family will give us an excuse to build a new house over the road. But that is a long time in the future, if at all.
Campers are welcome, though. Irish weather guaranteed!

[molez]

I think it depends on lots of things. Whether they are staying for a long time, when you last saw them, what the plan for the evening was etc.

In general, I figure the first few hours of any visit should have guest and host focusing attention on each other in general, but that just means shared coversations etc. It doesn't have to be absolutely nothing else going on. Beyond that - it depends greatly on what works for both... (not very helpful I know)

[sea_cucumber]

We had this liquid morphine stuff around the house called 'oramorph' that you could drink when my dad was ill (it tasted yum), but my mum took the leftovers back to the hospital! I wanted to keep it!

Spodding in other people's houses might be a bit cheeky during an evening visit e.g. for a few hours. Overnight or longer I could understand. I'm not as internet addicted as I once was though :)

[wraithwitch]

the thing i find weirdest with the medicines is that my cough-mixture stuff that contains nothing of any use and is sooo nasty tasting that no-one ever wants to drink it... has a child-proof lid.
And yet, the morphine syrup stuff that tastes pleasantly like a coffee frappe and is full of drugs... has a perfectly normal screwtop lid.

Makes no sense.
who knew morphine was so tasty? =)

[wraithwitch]

*nods* we have ikea bookcases, they're made of wood and yet cunningly look rather like plastic. My neurons have rebelled against buying more from ikea and live in futile hope of finding a nice battered antique bookcase off ebay or somewhere...

are there evenings when you are more likely to be free either to visit or receive visitors? There ought to be supper and being social =)