🦞 The Lockdown Gang still chatting 🦞

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A cut out in the carpet where the fitter didn't move the wardrobe!

Sorry to hear about your friend Doodle 😞

I watched the TV rememberance service and then we went a fairly long walk to a wee pub and had lunch there. You have the best pubs in England. 😊

Tonight friends joined us for delicious supper which DSiL and DB cooked.

I will be sorry to leave.
Tomorrow will be a tour of King's college.

I hope all Lobstars are doing well.

Ooh Notspaghetti what did they discover? 🤔
Grammaretto so pleased you’re having such a lovely time with your family. Enjoy your stay.
I’ve been to church today. Lovely memorial service.
Sadly a dear friend and parishioner of long standing died on Thursday. He’s been unwell a while but still sad news.

Just had one of my mother-in-law's truly lovely carers come to collect a wardrobe from her house. She came with her brother in law.

Look what they discovered when they moved it!
😱

John Lewis!

Hello Lobstars! I hope we are all surviving?

Apart from general aches and pains which up with, I'm afraid, just have to be put. I am so glad I came down. My siblings are lovely to be with although I daresay we'd get on eachothers' nerves if we lived together.

It's been good to spend time with my niece and nephew and their spouses or is that spice? The gt nephews have suddenly become tall young men with deep voices.

My DSis made a huge spread of Mexican food which took ages to prepare and was wolfed down in seconds. I helped chop veg.

I think there are plans to visit somewhere local-ish today. The "arts and crafts" exhibition we saw yesterday is on until next May at the Fitzwilliam and well worth a visit.

Cambridge is looking splendid as ever and it's good to be away from my house and all it's problems for a few days.

Oh Notspaghetti glad your back in
Sit by the fire with your feet up and have a cuppa.

Have been locked out for several days.
Back in.
No time to comment but hello again!
👋👋👋

NN your home sounds lovely. I’m glad you’re happy there.
Grmmaretto I hope you find your happy place too.

You do make me smile ☺️NN 😍

Having not had close neighbours for nearly 50 years I can't remember what it's like but judging by some of the suburban roads, I am a bit uneasy.

I walked down a road recently where there was fake grass in one garden and a gent washing his car asked me what I was doing in his street! I know him slightly.

I am glad you found the perfect house for you. I am not convinced mine exists at least not in this town so the thought of renting for a year and still not finding it, makes me think I can and will compromise.

2 architects are now keen to help me to adapt a house which is exciting.

I'm still on the train and it's dark. At least it's not too crowded.

Grammaretto I'm going to jump straight in....I really know how you feel as when we were relocating here to the West Country it was the time when there was a stamp duty holiday and as quick as something came on the market it was sold. There came a sort of desperation to find somewhere and had we gone through with 2 of the properties we made offers on I would have been very unhappy and regretful that we didn't take the decision to wait and see. In the end we did rent and put everything into storage and it was the very best decision we could have made as it gave us time to look and see what we didn't want...I know exactly what you mean by suburban....my first home was just that and I never came up to scratch with the Stepford Wives who lived there, one of whom told me she dusted her wainscoting throughout the house every day....I had to look up what wainscoting actually was😅. Their washing was on the line at 8am and back in for ironing at 11am. Fifty years later I don't think my washing has been on the line at 8am more than twice!!!!. During the 8 months we rented it gave me time to think what I really wanted...( DH said he'd live in a shed as long as it was with me ❤️) and I realised I didn't actually need 4 bedrooms ( we had left a 5 bedroom house) and actually 3 would be sufficient...( the hope was still there that our children and my grandchildren would be part of our lives once more). A garden was a must, not necessarily as big as what I had but not just a courtyard either. A big kitchen like the one I left would be lovely but I was open to change.
In the end....it was just the feeling when I viewed this cottage that told me we would be happy here. It was overwhelming....and all my pre conceived wants and definite needs went out the door....We have ended up in a 2 bedroom cottage spread over 4 floors, the sitting room isn't even half the size of my previous one... There is what I call the Summer Kitchen with a traditional cooker, in Estate Agents blurb it would be described as galley style but is open at both ends and a large window on one side too so it is light...then there is the Winter Kitchen with the aga with the utility room off it ( it does have a toilet in there too). The dining room ( only so called as that's where the table and chairs are) are at the other end. The whole length being (DH just measured it as I didn't have a clue) 21ft. ( Not including the utility room). Previously my sitting room alone was 32ft long and the kitchen was 20ft square complete with peninsula, wall ovens etc.
I'm telling you all this because at the end of the day I'm happy here...I knew from that initial visit that my heart would find peace in this place and I think I probably speak for all your Lobstar friends in saying that's what we want for you. If it means renting for a wee while and putting your furniture into storage then so be it. Don't settle for maybe it will be ok... Your special place is out there...

I've now got to explain to DH why I've made him get on his hands and knees and measure the Winter Kitchen ( there's posh says he) and 'dining room'. He's also just said that the 'wainscoting' looks like it needs dusting. Oops.

Hope you have a good journey Grammaretto shame the train trip will be in the dark. I quite like a train journey. So much more comfortable than coach or bus. I hope you don’t need to pur yourself in storage too 🤣
ixion hope Barney is safely inside now. Very little in the way of fireworks here. Yes mal was lovely thank you. Lots of laughter.

Hope you enjoyed your celebratory meal, Doodle. How much nicer, these days, not to have to get dolled up geared up to dinners out, especially at this time of year, when a warm and undemanding night in is much more preferable!

Safe and enjoyable trip, Grammaretto. What a lovely city Cambridge is😍.
I have signed up, more in hope than expectation, to a website featuring vacant rooms in university residences, Oxford, Cambridge and London and am promising myself a trip and stay in the New Year.

I hope you don't have to follow your goods and chattels into storage anytime soon, but I think I share the concern of fellow 🦞s that a sideways move into something rented is preferable to moving to a place that you have to learn to love. Are there any less 'conventional' properties on the market that might enable you to continue potting with relative ease?

Pleased your lasering went well, NfD. Might I ask how long ago you had your initial op? I had mine done around 8 years ago (I wept when my optician told me I needed it - encroaching old age and all that😟) and now am just wondering whether my eyes might deteriorate too.

Jan, is Theo safely tucked up away from the excitement of Bonfire Night?
Hopefully, unlike Barney, who may later regret his show of bravado on exiting after his evening meal.
We shall await his return!
Stupid boy.

I hope you enjoyed the Chinese meal. Doodle

I must get packed and ready to travel tomorrow. It's a bit later in the day so I don't have to rush, thankfully.

The downside is that most of the train journey will be in darkness.

No more house news to report. I'm waiting until a date is suggested for the exchange of missives.

I hope I won't need to move my belongings into storage and myself into storage too
rented accommodation.

I'll be hiding from fireworks tonight probably along with the dogs.

Several big/important birthdays coming up within the family so I am racking my brain for ideas. I have now given in and asked them. 😂

I hope all Lobstars are doing ok.

Oh how lovely to be invited to meet up with your siblings Grammaretto Certainly an opportunity not to be missed and a train ride too,
Have a lovely time. Sounds exciting.
Been doing housework today but treats tomorrow. Lucy st a Chinese restaurant to celebrate friends 80th

My DMiL moved in with her other DS when it was impossible to look after her in her own house. A stairlift was fitted from his basement flat up to the ground floor of the 18th century Georgian house - now subdivided . It is a bendy staircase but it was manageable. She died a few months later but my DBiL is leaving the stairlift for his own old age!

I've been invited to Cambridge this weekend to meet up with my siblings.

I'm rather excited 😊 and have booked the train. This is what they mean when they say "Look after yourself" 😍 Doodle

Now I must back out of several weekend commitments.

I’m sure you DGDs will love the Christmas show Grammaretto. There were quite a few children at the ballet but I’m not sure what they would have made of it all,
If you do have to move out is renting somewhere an option rather than buying a place that might not be what you really want? It’s very hard to scale down especially when you’re used to such a big house and grounds.
Sorry I didn’t mean to imply you needed a stair lift just that if the time arose would one fit in the house. A downstairs loo would be a big plus.
NFK glad the layering went well and things are better. Good you can manage to live in your downstairs. DH and I moved to a flat with a lift for the very reason it was all on one level. Thank goodness we did because after his accident when he couldn’t walk I don’t know how we’d have managed as he wouldn’t have been able to use a stairlift either.

As long as I can put a downstairs loo in, I think the house will work. I don't need a stairlift yet and I have 4 flights of stairs now to keep me fit.

The skip left today. I thought it was full but if I had broken everything down I could have squeezed in twice as much according to the driver 😟
He added a mattress before it left which I had hauled downstairs. I think everything else not coming with me can be taken by the house clearance company.

I did all the measurements of rooms and furniture for the house I lost but it had a garage and a conservatory. This has neither.
It does have a floored attic with ladder but I can't stuff furniture up there 😂

I have several more weeks to go before anything is signed and sealed. I may have to go into Sparky's flat after all.

I am glad your eye surgery went well Nfk
That must be a relief.

Grammaretto - If the stairs are steep and there's nowhere to put a stairlift - walk away! It's not just the width of the stair but where it will park at the top and bottom. Although Stiltz Lifts might be an answer.

Have you tried cutting out shapes of the furniture you want to take so you can draw a plan of any prospective home and see if said furniture will fit? See if the quarts will fit into the pint pot?

Like NotSpagetti I've decided to stay put. Well, I did look for a bungalow but the competition around here is fierce and the nice ones get snapped up by people who've already sold, living in rented and ready to move quickly. So, I've changed the rooms around and now live downstairs. It seems such a waste, but the upstairs does get used when family come and I still have my little playroom (room with a view where I dabble in watercolours) up there. And it's saving on heating bills. I think. Octopus have just told me I need to raise my DD.

Thank you for asking and my eye lasering last week went smoothly and I can see clearly out of both eyes. No more foggy eye! It was a very speedy experience with lots of red fireworks to watch as the bright laser zapped the thick cells which had grown. I may well need to have it done again in the future but it holds no fear now.

I'm so pleased you enjoyed your ballet Doodle. I love it too especially the traditional ones.

It was a daddy long legs, ixion so harmless I'm told 😲
I've ruled out barn conversions too NotSpaghetti but because they are in rural areas and usually far from bus stops which is another of my must haves

Staying put is not an option now.

I saw a rather nice film tonight "The Choral" written by Alan Bennett about a Yorkshire choir in the First World War.

When I saw it was described as a comedy but set in 1916, I was intrigued.

The Ballet sounds great. Doodle.
I've booked a Christmas show to take the DGDs but couldn't get panto tickets as they were sold out! How are other people so efficient?

I would too, but I don't like what Grammaretto finds in the bath😱

notspaghetti Grammaretto has a studio. Perhaps you should move in with her and solve both your problems.🤣

Oh grammaretto how terrible… what a decision!

I have ruled out houses with small rooms that couldn’t be “knocked through”, also houses on perfect estates and anything suburban as I don’t want my lawn or hedging etc “watched” growing by too tidy neighbours…. And I’m hostile to lean-to type “sunrooms”…

I’ve been looking at all the different floor plans and don’t think I can manage under a certain size either to be honest.
I haven’t said this out loud but it’s frankly better to stay put and endure the (known) problems here than to move for the sake of it.

It’s a struggle to find things in our price range with a decent garden.
For the future-proofing I’d want a downstairs loo for daytime as stairlifts are quite slow, so if there wasn’t one I’d have to budget to put one in.
And I also need a room for a studio. I’ve looked at building a dedicated workroom in the garden but it’s more expensive than you’d think.

I have seen some quite ok barn conversions - but they all turn out to be a part-barn in a sort-of complex. And I find the way they split the spaces up quite odd. They only ever have pocket handkerchief gardens too.

Went to see my first ballet today. Snow Queen. I loved it.

Grammaretto is it a house a stairlift could be put in if necessary. I know you don’t need as many rooms as you r got now but you are used to having space. Would you cope with the small rooms do you think.
So difficult to find the perfect place. Hope it works out for you.
Ooh I don’t like spiders. Mind you it is Halloween 🎃
Good news Notspaghetti
NFK hope your eye is better now.

That's wonderful news 😀😊 NotSpaghetti if a bit sudden! I can imagine how weary you are.

I had a second viewing of the house I quite like, taking my df. He thinks it's very small. The rooms are small and the family there are so tidy! I started to have doubts about it. It's suburban if you know what I mean. All the tidy gardens in the street so I fear I wouldn't fit in. Also the stairs are steep and there is no loo downstairs. 😕

Nfk I do hope the laser treatment works for you!
Well done Doodle with the walking.
Love to Kaimoana if she's reading this.

Jan. I know what you mean by being knackered by the exercise classes.

My Helper left today to go to her next place in England and I am relieved. It wasn't a good idea to have someone new when I am in this odd limbo state.
She did make apple juice and process apples but kept the strangest hours. She kept telling me how lucky I was. I'm not sure I feel particularly lucky.

Look who I found in the bath!