"MM" wrote in message
...

"MM" wrote in message
. ..

That's why I'd like to buy an old property again. This brand-new
house
has no history and consequently no character.

You'll have to give it some!

I think it takes years and several owners/occupiers before that
happens. Also, in my previous property I had expended a lot of effort
ripping off six layers of wallpaper, painting, laying floors, re-doing
the garden etc etc, and in the end I felt like I had become part of
the property. This new property needs zilch done to it, and there are
a few things about it that I don't like. I don't like the alarm system
and the hermetically sealed doors and windows (ideal enclosure for
carbon monoxide-induced suicide, by the way),

I thought there had to be some form of ventilation by law ...

Oh, there must be some.

So what's the problem with hermetically sealed doors? You won't get
draughts,
therefor your heating bills will be lews and you'll be doing something for
the environment.

DID I SEND THAT???

I'm sorry if I did, I don't know what 'lews' means! And I do know how to
spell 'therefore'

hangs head in shame - and that was before dinner and the very nice
Bordeaux

Oh, I know I am being a responsible little householder, but didn't you
ever see that poster of the bloke who painted his house purple?

No.

The
thought police were arriving to take him away.

Why? It's not environmentally unfriendly ...

... My previous house creaked and groaned. This one is as silent as
the grave, which is what it feels like most of the time.

This one is if we don't make any noise, sing, whistle, put on the
wireless,
the radiogram ...

That's a different kind of noise. I'm talking about the noises of a
living, breathing structure,

Houses don't live or breathe ...

spiders and all,

You have to have incredibly acute hearing to be able to detect spiders by
any other sense than sight and touch.

that has survived fifty
years of gales, storms, snow, sun, and countless tenants (in my case)
with their various little 'improvements'.

Falling apart and horribly decorated!

An indefinable soul that is
also present in old boats.

Hmm. You could always live on a boat. We considered it once. But not for the
noise.

the horrid low-voltage
lights that don't come on immediately like good old-fashioned bulbs,

What I don't like about those is the quality of the light. But surely
you
can replace them with tungsten in?

Yes, the light itself is far too bright and glaring. That, too, is a
problem. I once had the idea of ripping out all the low-voltage stuff
and putting in proper lights. But then I thought, stuff it, I'm gonna
move!

New bulbs are cheaper!

Cost is not everything.

I think you're just finding things to post about.

Not all rooms have the LV lighting - the bedrooms have nice
bulbs. I often sit in the bedroom with the door shut and imagine what
life would be like if the whole house were thus equipped.

Oh come on!

No, sorry, I cannot. I am too depressed. No, you cannot persuade me!

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. If you couldn't anticipate the
problems and your acceptance of them when you saw the house before you
bought it there's no hope for you.

I
said NO, okay? Oh, all right, then. Cup of tea and a bacon sarnie? Oh,
well. If you feel you must...

I doubt that your tea would be to my taste. As for the bacon - what breed,
what rearing, what layerage, what killing, what cure, what type of bread?
I'm probably even fussier than you :-)



I always saw this house
as a jumping off point and not as my final destination. I didn't think
it would take this long to fall in love with a place.

We're not in love with our house, even after 40+ years.But I never
expected
to be, things are to use, people are for loving.

I don't mean that kind of love, but the kind of empathy one feels for
one's habitat and surroundings.

Oh bolli!

In any case, nearly all the people I
loved are dead.

There must be younger people around you.


See
he http://www.visual.basic.freeuk.com/

It's a far better lawn than we have.

Hey! That is really nice to hear! Perhaps I'm too much of a
perfectionist to notice.

Oh! You're becoming aware!!

Although I do admit to feeling just a tad
pleased with it. So far, at least. Anything could happen. Probably the
worst.

sigh

Our hens ate all our grass. Since I
can't see the point of lawns anyway that was no problem, saved on mowing.

Lawns look nice.

No they don't.

They generate a pleasant atmosphere.

No they don't. And you spend time watering and fertilising them so that they
grow and then you cut them. Mad.

But hens are
nice, too. My father had several thousand of the little blighters. We
ate quite a few of the old'uns. They were tough unless boiled.

Simmered.

They
really stank the place out when the innards were drawn.

I've never known that. Perhaps it was a function of the feed- or perhaps the
innards were damaged when they were drawn. I've drawn hens, ducks, geese and
turkeys (as well as game birds) and have never had bad smells.


Actually, across the road is an identical property now on the market
for almost £11,000 more than I paid. If they get it fairly soon, I
shall be off to pastures new (and older, much older).

But then you'll have to spend all that time and effort getting rid of
the
evidence of previous owners' bad tastes and DIY skills!

Ah, a challenge at last! Can't wait!

Well, I suppose everyone needs a hobby ...

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms for the lack of a paintbrush and dirty
fingernails.

Look, there's nothing to stop you painting your house even if it's
pristine.If you don't like it it needs it.

Mary