Skip to main content

"New" house

I promised my grandparents some house photos months ago (are you sensing a certain theme here?) but kept thinking, "I'll take some when that bit's organised" or "when it's tidy" or "when we've got those shelves up".  Finally yesterday I decided it was about as good as it's going to get.

So: pretty standard front view.  Useful garage for stashing stuff in (and Graham's just got a chin-up bar and dartboard in there) and huge driveway.


Welcome!  I think... Not sure what that expression's about!


The hallway leads through to the living room on your right...


...which is nice and long, so we've partitioned off a toy section, which is not normally so tidy...


...and also off the hallway is the kitchen to your left.  The floor and counters have the curious property of really not showing dirt, which is useful to an extent, but quite disconcerting as well.  I always feel like I'm cleaning blind.


Looking the other way, through to the dining room and with the utility room, downstairs toilet and door to garage off to the right.


Toby wanted to be in the dining room photos, but he always pulls the worst faces he can think of for the camera right now!  This is looking through from the kitchen, and that door at the end goes back into the hallway again, right by the front door.


I've got my books and piano out after almost a year in boxes.  Feels good!


The utility room, which is perpetually full of washing.


And our spacious and amazingly well-kept (by the previous owners, I mean!) back garden.  I haven't been out there much lately, but I notice some bulbs are coming up, so it should gain a bit more colour soon.

Up the stairs we go, and, anticlockwise from right, it's the master bedroom...


...the spare bedroom, with sofa-bed made up in case we have to call the neighbours in the night when the baby starts arriving.  There's a desk back there behind the door, too - it's a decent-size room.


The room that is, really, going to be ready for the baby, just as soon as I put the curtains up and move those boxes out...


...the bathroom.  Not much to say about a bathroom...


...and last but not least, Toby's room.  The front windows, including his, have a view of the cooling towers from a now-disused power station (which sounds appalling, but actually they're strangely atmospheric).  For the first few weeks after we moved in, he would wake up, look out of the window, and announce, "Mum!  Dad!  There are five cooling towers!"  Now we've moved on to the more mundane shout of, "I want breakfaaast!"

Here endeth the virtual tour; but if you're in the area, you're very welcome to come and see it in reality.  Sorry it took so long, Grandma and Grandpa!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A baker's dozen of beautiful moments in 2025

2025 certainly had its times of difficulty, sadness - it seemed like lots of people died - and frustration. But as I read back through my diary, I noticed many moments of beauty and joy, too. I was going to pick twelve, one for each month. But after all, I am a baker: you've ended up with an extra moment tucked into the top of the bag for free. photo: Pixabay 1. Birthday cake in the snow I'd invited some friends to join us for a snowy walk near Cromford just before my birthday in January. At the top of the hill, my friend Jane produced a birthday cake, candles and all! That was a very special surprise.   2. Barn owl and beautiful music It was just a regular drive back from my Thursday Bible study meeting, until a barn owl flew across the road in front of me. I slowed down and watched it soar out of sight. As it disappeared, the haunting strains of Peter Maxwell Davies' Farewell to Stromness came on the radio. The ten-minute car journey had become extraordinary. 3. Songs an...

St Editha's Way, day 2

For the first day of St Editha's Way, see here . I had walked from Polesworth to Tamworth and stayed in Tamworth overnight. Today, the journey continued to Lichfield. I think I was the only person staying in the hotel last night. Certainly I was the only person having breakfast. I felt a little sorry for the two men who had had to get up early to cook and serve it to their one and only customer. Tamworth Castle, Monday morning St Ruffin's Well was mentioned on the pilgrimage brochure as a place to see. I hadn't found it yesterday, so I went back to the castle area to take a look. I don't think there's been a well there for a long time, but there is a plaque tacked on to the wall of the shopping centre, giving an approximate location. I also wandered over to Borrowpit Lake while I was waiting for St Editha's Church to open. St Editha's, Tamworth, is a very impressive building. Tall arches, painted ceilings, and modern wooden partitions for cafe and shop areas...

St Editha's Way, Day 1

St Editha was a Mercian saint who was Abbess of Polesworth in Warwickshire in the 10th century. Mercia was one of the old kingdoms and a powerful one; it covered much of the central part of the country before England was united under Ã†thelstan in 927. St Editha's family tree is unclear, but she may have been Æthelstan's sister. After a brief marriage, she was widowed, and took monastic vows. There are several churches dedicated to her in the Tamworth and Polesworth area. modern statue of St Editha And now, there is a new pilgrimage route connecting St Editha's churches and going onwards to Lichfield Cathedral. Early on a Sunday morning, I set out to walk it. The logistics had taken a bit of working out. I drove to Tamworth (free parking on Sundays!) and caught the 748 bus to Polesworth. It was my private chariot for the first half of the journey, clattering loudly over the speed bumps, although a couple of other people got on before I alighted. Abbey Green Park in Poleswor...