I was up at 4.30 a.m. this morning as we had another viewing today, an extended family from Dorset. Despite beavering away in the house and garden all week to get it looking good (despite my dearly beloved saying that it was fine, nothing needed doing, why was I putting myself through all this again - it was only a fortnight since it was last done?!!!), I still had a mental list of "fings to do" this morning before the viewing and thankfully, got them all done in time. I even found time to bake a Manderin Orange Cake which, despite being on a change your nutrition type of diet to improve my gut flora, I felt I had earned a large piece of afterwards.
I wish I had been able to make up a pretty bouquet like this one from the garden, made up for house photos for our brochure, but it is mainly Cowslips out there at present, and though I did pot up a plant for the kitchen, I went and bought a bunch of flowers for decoration.
The people seemed to like the house and made some very complimentary remarks, other folk have done just the same and walked away. Next Door cleaned the road for me, as requested, but he did it yesterday and then had the cows go backwards and forward 3 times after that so it was nearly as bad again. Ah well, I can't change that. We shall just have to wait and see.
Then I had details of a lovely fresh property come on my newsfeed and it is FABULOUS. (This said with the eye of the Romantic rather than the heart of the Practical). It has unsurpassed views and that is something I always wanted . . . even though you would experience every wind going - AND some!
We are going to look at three properties next week (just in case). One is the Sensible Head and Practical Heart sort - a bungalow with some character in the right area. My heart does SINK at the thought of bungalow living though, as it really isn't US and is tantamount to admitting we are old fogies now . . . Local walks aren't brilliant either but it is a short walk to a couple of local shops.
Another is a lovely cottage, but at the top of our budget, and the local walking all seems to be single track lanes climbing up a hillside to various different farms. No loops and nothing flat. The 3rd we like a lot, it has an Aga and good sized rooms. (Well, the bungalow has good sized rooms too which is the main reason we're looking at it.) It also has an acre and a half of land and views and isn't too far from a town with all the facilities we could need. Goodly length of flat lane noticed, and some loop walks.
Local views - up by Horeb I think, taken a few years back.
Anyway, we shall now have to wait all over again. I hope it isn't another 10 days before we get a polite thanks very much but no thanks . . .
I have lots of things crossed for you
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue. I have too, but I almost don't dare to hope, yet again . . .
DeleteIt's a pity that bungalow-living has this awful imagine when it's totally unnecessary and quite the opposite. We bought our first bungalow in 1964 as young marrieds, I was just 20 and husband 28. We thought it was wonderful, to have a brand new bungalow to move into, and a bungalow was THE kind of property to have in those days. So if you are moving into a bungalow, embrace the 'low' life, I say. No more stairs, easy to get a cup of tea from the bedroom, not carrying trays up and down stairs when one of you is unwell ... there's a lot to be said for one-level living. Single storey dwelling is now the word for them! Since 1985 we have lived in a dormer bungalow, with just three rooms upstairs, but we still live mainly one the ground floor.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
www.margaretpowling.com
Margaret - it is what we are leaving behind that makes the thought of a bungalow so unappealing. No beams, no crooked walls, no wonky doorways, no huge rooms, no hand-made ripply Georgian glass, no history and no memories.
ReplyDeleteEverything crossed here for you! Must admit I have the horrors when I look at bungalows! There are a lot for sale on the Isle of Wight because it makes me realise I am possibly a wrinkly! If the children move with us I think a bungalow would be too claustrophic - need extra space with 4 of us so everyone can have privacy and a place they can escape too. Good Luck anyway :)
ReplyDeleteThanks RR. When I was younger I didn't mind those "Ponderosa" type ("El Rancho") big bungalows that got built near us close to the River Hamble in Hants. This lovely old farmhouse has SO spoiled us for anything which doesn't have what we love about it. I can't imagine no inglenook (let alone two, which we have here) or no barns with Swallows nesting in them either. So, a place with good sized rooms with character (only less rooms please!)
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean about bungalow living, but they are a very useful way to live as you get older when stairs can become both a hazard and hard to negotiate. We never think the day will ever come, but it does. I would love a stone barn conversion all on one level, but can I find one, no such luck. You would think that there would be plenty here in the Cotswolds. I am really hoping that this is your lucky year, and everything will be happily resolved for you.
ReplyDeleteI quite entertain the idea of a stone barn conversion and there are some nice ones about - the one we like best is on the main road (A40) though, so the thought of traffic fumes and flat-pack cats has put us off that one. I hope you find one in your area.
DeleteThis is proving to be a funny old year, and things go wrong, all of a sudden to be put right again, so I really don't know what it's going to turn out like.
Our area has many of what I would term 'bungalows'--[strange word] built probably in a range from mid 1950's through the 80's. Our first Kentucky house likely fit that category. Often they were built on the site of a former farmhouse which was torn down--in some cases the wreck of an older home can still be seen on the property. Our Amish farmhouse is in a category of its own, and many of them have been bought up and 'made English' in the past decade as Amish groups left the area.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it does come down to the sort of home and grounds one can keep up with as aging takes its toll of our energies.
Re your cleaning and tidying ahead of the viewing: we women notice things in a house that escape the attention of most men--the little touches count!
The word bungalow comes from India I believe, where British folk liked to live in 'em and brought the Bengal design home with them and made it their own.
DeleteI was interested to read about how the older farmhouses became single story. Your Amish home is a different thing entirely!
We could always get a stair lift if we needed one, having bought somewhere with stairs, but I shall need a smaller or low-maintenance garden in the future. My bendy bits aren't as willingly bendy as they used to be!
You are quite right about us women noticing the little things (imagine my horror when the son-in-law's head was an inch from a long cobweb I had missed!!). Fortunately, I made the little touch of a cake, which I am now accounting for as they couldn't stay to enjoy it!!
We don't have a staircase here because our building was the cow shed, stables, and cart shed. We don't miss the stairs at all! I hope you get some good news, really soon.
ReplyDeleteps I'm just about to start reading The Unsought Farm, I found a really cheap copy.
You were lucky to find that book cheaply Elaine, as it is Quite Collectable. Mine was also cheap AND bought in Hay, so someone missed that one! I wouldn't miss the stairs so much (although ours are the lovely wide shallow Georgian sort), but it's the character and proportions of our current home.
DeleteCrossing all that I can for you. I hope things work out quickly for you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thanks Jackie. I am still holding on to a tiny bit of Hope (knowing it could be pointless, however, as it has been in the past).
DeleteNot to do down bungalows because that becomes a snobbish take on them, but Daphne Du Maurier described areas of Cornwall as 'Bungaloid'. But they are useful, it is impossible to make them pretty though. Just thought if the term comes from India, what about a fabulous verandah winding round the bungalow, always fancied the American Dream of a rocking chair whilst it rained....
ReplyDeleteThere's one like that on the Llandrindod Wells road if I remember rightly. Always looks very Gin and It and Colonial. I think as much as anything, even considering a bungalow means admitting increasing old age!!! Still fighting against that . . .
DeleteI'm keeping fingers and toes crossed for you BB. When I lived in a bungalow, many years ago, I absolutely loved it. I had a huge conservatory running along the back, facing the garden and it was just so peaceful, even though it was near a town. You could make any house pretty :D xxx
ReplyDeleteI think, if there was NO choice, it wouldn't seem so bad. I keep finding beautiful - but totally impractical - cottages, all the best of which are in the middle of Nowhere! We wouldn't mind edge of a small market town, though edge of village would be more practical. I am quite sure that some of Keith's Militaria spread about would soon make it seem like home!
DeleteWell BB I now live in a bungalow and I love it. I am not terribly mobile and life is so much easier. Whatever building you have to live in can be made into a home - you just need the knack - some have it and some don't. Home is where the heart is.
ReplyDeleteYour bungalow is right for you at this stage of your life. We are still reasonably fit and active, but having to forgo clambering up on roofs now, and even I am daunted by the thought of taking a mattock to a rough area of the garden this year! We could make anywhere a home, you are right. We shall see where we end up.
DeleteHope it all comes good this time.
ReplyDeleteArilx
Oh Aril, you and me BOTH. I have been eyeing up the top end of the yard (overgrown) and thinking I need to get on top of that this year, and keep it tidy, but it has always been a rough area, and rampant with brambles and couch grass. I am thinking about trying to clear it and putting in some more fruit trees (I have several in pots which I have grown from seed.)
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