General Chat

Glad to see that you arrived safely at the hotel Linda, and got a more comfortable bed :-)
Enjoy the scorching weather, and think of us at home who are going mildew :-)

Persie - It was fun playing house detective when we bought this old house. There had once been an outside loo built on the back of the kitchen, but accessed from the back yard. The kitchen had been extended by knocking through.
What is now a large bathroom was once a bedroom. The bathroom was not put in until 1926 when main sewage was installed. Until then sewage was piped the length of the garden to a brick built cesspit underground, which is still there, but obviously not used.
We discovered that there had once been two doors into the dining room. There is evidence that one was bricked up.
The original sash windows were here when we came here, and would have been beautiful once, but a hundred years had taken its toll, and the were draughty and let in the rain. It was much to expensive to replace them like for like, so sadly we had no option but to install white double glazing, albeit in the style of the old windows.
I love the other original features like the nine inch deep skirting boards, picture rails, and solid pitch pine panelled doors. All the bedrooms have cast iron fireplaces, though never used.
I think this old girl will still be here in another 100 years.

Phew what a scorcher. We just walked to the supermarket to get some water and wine. It involves a steep hill so I am not feeling like a goddess at the moment. We areniw back by the pool under the shade of a large tree. I might even take a dip in a moment.

Hello Linda

From the Greek goddess xx

Just checking in. It was 1am English time which is 3am Greek time before we finally got to the hotel, so we are tired this morning. The bed was rock hard as well, so I didn't sleep well. I asked for a mattress topper this morning g and it has appeared, so the bed is comfy now. That is five star service for you.

I can't log into the hotel WiFi for some unknown reason, luckily I brought a spare Mobil with an international data sim in it, so I am using that as a mobile hotspot, so my tablet works on that. I hope the credit doesn't run out too quickly.

My parents old house had a back hallway, a lot narrower than the hallway from the front door... it was a bit stupid would turn into it off the main hallway it had what they called the Breakfast room off it with a fake mantle affair in the corner (there was already two back to back fireplaces in the lounge and the main bedroom.) Then the other end of this little hall was the pokey kitchen, though it did have a table in it .. where I ate my breakfast.. not in the breakfast room that was only used when we had visitors.

My parents took out the hall which was so dingey and dark and was great for playing spooky games in... and made that area a big kitchen with table for everyone and then the other one became a porch and an inside toilet was installed at one end.... no more running down the backsteps in a major panic to the loo on a cold morning.

That hallway was put there by the previous owners because the ceiling pattern and the middle cornicing around the light then looked correct for the larger room.

We discovered a doorway in the house we live in, wehn we renovated back in 1977 ................

The bedroom had one wall panelled with wood-like material.

When we pulled off that panelling, there was a blocked-up doorway :-)

Obviously someone had decided they didn't like the door where it was, and moved it round the corner

I must say we took on an old house, stripped back to the studs because it was so bad inside, and 20 acres of land, in 1997

and we thoroughly enjoyed putting the house back together again


didn't make all that much impression on the land ................................


there were piles of "junk" all over it ........ old tvs, half a motorcycle, an old fridge, 2 or 3 settees, etc etc etc

One summer, we spent 3 weeks up there, and had 10 trips to the "dump" with the trailer filled with junk ................................ 80 miles each round trip, so we drove 800 miles just to get rid of junk!


we didn't find any gems either :-)

Our house is 1917 and someone modernised it in the seventies so when we got it, it had an orange bench, brown felt tiled carpet in the kitchen and dining area.. and arches galore and that was just the beginning. But we could see it had good bones and was interesting when we pulled up the lounge carpet to see in the floor boards where a door and hall way had once been.

Doesn't everyone have those grabber things, we had a couple of ones that folded up, they have been replaced by a longer handled one. Brilliant. We also have a couple of wooden poles with hooks on.. not as long as we had in our school classroom to open and close the upper windows but is very efficient at fishing for things and pulling down the internal staircase to the attic.

I hope Huia does not have an attempt at a third injury/fall or whatever,
she just will not stay out of trouble.

Persie :-)

Good night Tec

pleasant dreams xxxx


Have a good day, Sue xx

Goodnight Tec - sweet dreams <3

I must start my day too so I will say goodnight to Amanda and enjoy the rest of your day Sylvia <3 <3

Sounds very like this house when we bought it :-D but we loved its character and period features.
Was a lot of hard work, and a financial bottomless pit, but we had no regrets.

Good luck to that young couple, enthusiasm will get them through to their goal.

Well I must go to bed now,

Enjoy your day Sue, and Sylvia,

Sleep well Amanda if you look in again,

Goodnight,
Tec
:-) :-)

Hello Sylvia :-)

Tec - the house is a 1930's house. Very solid on the outside but falling apart on the inside. They haven't had the house for long but the young fellow has already started work on it. Because of the condition of the house they bought it very cheaply. It will take awhile as they are both working. Their excitement is infectious.

Sylvia I took on an old house, 1910, and an overgrown garden, but didn't find any hidden gems in either :-)

Sue, that sounds as though they have a big job ahead of them ............. an old house to sort out AND a neglected garden


Who knows what gems they will find ............................ in either place :-)

sure hope so, Tec.


OH has 2 more days of Grad ceremonies ..................... rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, but we're hoping it will be like Friday when it rained early in the morning but had stopped by 8 am when the first ceremony began


and then they dodged a couple of slight showers later in the day.


I must say, everything in the garden seems to be loving the weather!

Have they recently taken over the property Sue?

Good Afternoon Sylvia,

Maybe those clouds will pass you by :-) and the sun stay with you.

You should have seen the garden where we bought the pots. It looked more of a nightmare than a challenge. A decade of neglect. However they are young, keen and energetic.

Hello Sue, and everyone


it's sunny here ................ but with a lot of clouds around :-(

I'm fine too, thank you :-)

Well if the garden needs the rain - then it's welcome.
Everything is growing so much in my garden it's overwhelming. I'll need to go in there with a machete soon :-D