House Fittings

Light I saw in a pub in London in Soho.  I think that is what they call and Edison bulb

The roof raising is getting closer.  We have been told by the builder to start buying fittings.  Bathroom, en suite, lighting, tiles.  The list feels endless.  Having watched this be done on commercial scales for swanky corporate buildings and working with the project manager to realise the companies hopes and ideas, you would have thought it would come easy.  The problem is, a spreadsheet doesnt tell you how much light you need, or if it just needs to look good and you will use mostly lamps, instead of a main light so it doesnt really matter how much light it generates as it isnt really going to be turned on.

Modern or classic?

Retro or original, reclaimed?

"Here's the plan, please mark where you want plug sockets".  As I cant tell where we will be able to put the bed, I cant think where the sockets need to go.  "Are you having a central light in the new bedrooms or down lighters?" (I think these are called can lights in USA and Canada...  ?).  I cant even envisage what it is all going to look like.  My spreadsheets are failing me and I never thought I would say that ever.  

I have lost my decorating mojo. 

It has drained out like a glass knocked over and run off.

I cant even look on pintrest as you have to have an account else it cuts you off with a bar across the middle wanting you to log in...

 If you see my mojo, please leave it in the comments.  My brain needs a rest.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Be kind.

Cable

If you were me, where would you have put my camera battery charger?  I cant take any pictures....  It has been misplaced for about a month.  I wanted to take pictures of my tomatoes, to see what you all thought... hmm  The search goes on

You know you live in the country when...

I love this 50 seconds in.

You know you live in the country, when you are talking to your neighbour about what traps they use for mice.  You see, we have mice in our garage that are trying to destroy it.  We have humane traps and they thought it was funny when they kept seeing me walking up the road to the fields with a weird metal box.  The most I have caught in the trap is 5.  

They were laughing and saying I should mark them with something so I could tell if it was the same ones.  Lol

Us standing there, attracted a few of the passerbys who were walking their dogs.  They all had a chuckle.  From what they were all saying they bait their traps with peanut butter, one with butter studded with bird seed and the last one with sweets like fruit pastelles.  

When I told them we are hoping to rehome a cat from a rescue place, the really laughed and asked me if I was trying to keep the mice alive so it could kill them...  I hadnt thought about it that way...  Eek

Tomatoes

picture from here

Tomatoes.

Heirloom or hybrid?

Discuss

p.s. I have some heirloom's growing in the kitchen on the floor near the doors, they have yellow leaves, they are not over watered?  What are you thoughts please?

Overheard

Everything is going mega fast at the moment.  I will leave you with some bits from the week so far.

On Monday, whilst leaving Waitrose at 8am, I bought a banana for breakfast - if you must know.  There were 2 Policemen and 2 security guards, with an old man.  The old man was drunk as a skunk, he stank to high heaven like he had been dipped in whisky.  The Police were stopping him from getting into his green old range rover.  Old Man "I am jooooost going to Abbeymead, itzzz not that far, I am quite alright".  Putting his box of clinking bottles in the boot.  "Am off to see my Zon in Abbeymead".  Abbeymead is rather a distance from Cheltenham, its the other side of Gloucester.  The Policeman lurched for his keys whilst the other tried to manouvre him away from the vehicle.  

On Tuesday, an older couple in front of me were looking in the window of a gentlemans outfitters (I think that is what they are called, you know, tweed sports coats and cords).  The man says "oh, that is a rather snazzy tie, the one with all the orange".  "tie?  TIE?" his wife replied.  "I dont much like the one you are talking about. I rather like the orange one".  The husband looked at me and rolled his eye.  "you really must wear your hearing aid, when we go out", he bellowed.  "I'd rather not, it doesnt go with any of my clothes and I want people to look at my earrings.  Not that damn thing".

I just want to touch on Brussels, it would be wrong not to.  It all makes me feel very sad.  I wish it would all just stop.

On a brighter note, I would like to wish you all a lovely Easter, be it where ever you are.  And if you dont celebrate, Happy Long Weekend!  Lets hope for some nice weather shall we?  (its forecast as being awful).

Be kind

love Sol xx

Just No, OK? NO!

Roses picture taken in the summer.

Greetings or maybe not "Greetings", from the Cotswolds.

Today we arrived home from getting the food shopping.  The car went to swing into our drive, and there were loads of people (read half a coach load), in our front garden.  Cameras slung around their necks.  Some standing on the pallets of new blocks and stone for the building works that are commencing soon.

Turn the other way to the gardened area, and there were people all over that as well.  Selfie sticks in high use and people zooming in to the grape hyacinths and daffodils.  The drive way littered with said blooms, which had been picked for selfies.  One woman had daffs, clutched to her chest, standing aloft the new blocks pallet, having her picture taken with the house behind.  Our neighbours home.

Now this isnt something that happens every day, you see, we removed some fence panels, so they could have a new oil tank fitted, this was the only way for them to do so.  Meaning their normally hidden beauty of a home, was on full view to the road from our drive way...  

Why did the people, who seemed to think that they were OK, to just keep milling around like they were visiting Blenheim Palace and paid and entrance fee?  Well, it would seem that their coach had broken down and the pub food was scoffed by them before a replacement had arrived.  The coach was abandoned further on down the road, hazard lights flashing.  The Driver seemingly had told them to wander the village.

They obviously all thought it was OK to wander all over our property, and had even used the fence panel removal as not only a photo opportunity to have their picture with a Cotswold stone cottage, they also wandered into their very picturesque garden, which due to huge amounts of rain, has been really quite boggy and they had mashed the grass into mud.  My neighbours are quite elderly, so seeing strangers peering into their windows and having pictures taken in their garden, scared them half to death.  They called the police and the farmer from down the road.  

The farmer arrived as we did, with his dogs in the cab.  The dogs flew out of the cab, barking like mad.   If it had been a few weeks ago, he would have arrived with the guns from the local shoot, the dogs and the Beaters.  It put the wind up them.  Posh Boy helped the lady down from her lofty place.  The farmer was bellowing at them that all of the gardens in this village are private property and that they had nearly given the neighbour a heart attack.  

So, yeah it has been one of those days.

I now have a new found sympathy for the people who live in Burford and Bibury, where they are descended on daily by coaches of people, who think that the plants and flowers were put there just for the tourists to pick.

I hope a fox had pee'd on the daffs that are all over the drive.  I cant wait for the electric gates to be put up at the front of our drive and a really lovely high wall!

In other news, on Tuesday, I fell up the front steps and into the porch, superman style.  Left my shoes outside, landed on my elbow (of the superman arm), smacked my ribs from the car crash (yep, nice right? did you hear me cry out where you live?), face planted on the door mat grazing my face, lovely bruises down both fore arms and smashed my shins on the 3 inch high lip of the front door, that felt like a knife, smaking into the bones.  *wink* I therefore looked a sight as Posh Boy tried to help me out of the car.

I wish now that I had video ed it on my phone, with all the people in the garden.  I never remember that my phone does that.

This all reminded me of a post on John Gray's blog, where people were looking in his windows.  We didn't invite anyone in like he did.  Nope they were hearded down the road, by a tractor with the bucket down.  

"Welcome to village life, please mind your step."

selling your house post number 3

picture from here

Some things to think about before you press go with the Estate Agent.

Did I say clean?

• Clean clean clean.  

Mostly I would say, really look around at the other houses in the area.  Then on rightmove, top of the screen there is an area that tells you the prices of the houses that have sold in the area.  You can check back through the last 15 years worth of sales.  If you are lucky the pictures will still be on the posts you can see how your house stacks up against it all.  I would look up to half a mile from your postal code.  It will look like the below 

Be ready, for people to give feedback on your house.  You must take this as an opportunity to change or remedy anything quickly that you have over looked.

Clean!  And clean again!

This being the 14th house, I am your nightmare buyer.  I will open every cupboard and sniff for damp.  I will get down on my hands and knees and look in the cupboards next to your washing machine and dish washer.  All your net curtains?  I will be look behind those to see the window frames and header above.  Constantly checking for mould and damp.  Fitted wardrobes that will stay?  I am looking in those as well.

Got a loft?  I have a ladder in my car and a torch and head lamp.  Garage - I want to see in there as well, dont bother to lock it as I will only ask the estate agent to get you to get the key.  I am not parting with 100's of thousands of pounds and not looking every where.  Sorry that is just how it is.

All of this is what I know and think, it obviously isnt completely comprehensive, each person and property is different and this is just my opinion and what I will be looking for and at.

When selling our houses, we have a folder that we keep in the kitchen and a copy we give to the estate agent.  In it we list all of the local schools, how frequent the buses are, any certificates we have for works done ie Fensa certs for windows and doors, insulation, plans for extensions and the planning permission when granted, a copy of the last electricity and gas bill - if you want put it in for a year, to give people an idea of how much it costs to run, a copy of the council tax and anything else that you think can help.  You may as well collect it all in the one place as your solicitor is going to ask you for most of these, as they will be given to the new owners.  Get them ready, make 3 copies, one for yourself, one for the kitchen folder and one for the Estate Agent.  The originals keep them together for the Solicitor.  Simples right.  Who doesnt want to know about these things when moving, all things that you have to think about.

As a parting word before I move on to other things... 

Also be ready for people to drive by your house and even sit there at different times of day to guage traffic and the neighbours...

If you have any tips please leave them in the comments I will add them to a final post about houses.

Good luck, may your house sell fast and you find your new home quickly.

Occupied

Greetings my Friends

Hope you are all well.  The weather is crazy is it not?  I dont know what is going on, nor does it.  I have asparagus coming up still, the daffodils have been out for ages as have the grape hyacinths and the primroses.

picture from google.

Which brings me around to the Norweigen TV programme I have been watching called Occupied.  Have you watched it?  Scary stuff, but really it could happen.  

To give you a quick 'blurb' about it.  Norway turns off all of the gas and oil production, or wants to.  The EU and Russia rise up against Norway, and Norway is forced to allow Russia to over see the production of oil and gas.  

Following on from this, what may feel like randomness, but it really all the loose change that is rattling around in my head.  Food storage, I am not quite running at full capacity.  And I havent planted enough seeds yet.  All a little at sea at the moment.

I hope you are all well.

Be kind.