Nice people thread part 5 - nicely does it

Davesnave

PasturesNew wrote: »

You rarely see anybody mentioning Old Maths and New Maths systems and the changeover in the 70s.

I'm not really sure about that because I only taught primary school maths, and the teaching of that was pretty much defined then by the materials the school had adopted. Schemes of work were dull by today's standards, but an improverment on my experiences in the 50s/60s.

To be honest, I wasn't initially the world's greatest maths teacher , but I was cool on the English, art & science fronts, and maths was used in practical ways for the latter.

Primary school maths improved in the late 90s/early noughties as a result of initiatives from on high. My teaching changed and the kids responded very positively, so it was a self-reinforcing process. I think the problem then became sustaining the momentum for older pupils.

I'm up early as a result of being far too hot. The Aga, once lit, just stays on. It's blimmin' January, for goodness sake! :rotfl:

lostinrates

R.i.p. the gambia.

misskool

lostinrates wrote: »

R.i.p. the gambia.

poor fellow

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

R.i.p. the gambia.

Sorry to hear that even one of the most obscure names in animal history failed to save him.

lostinrates

Thanks guys, the gambia was a she.

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

fwiw i know there ios a lot about mine for people to dislike, besides the work needing doing. Topsy turvy floor s distress some people, not maximising bedroom numbers in the plans. That there are rooms not open plan bioger spaces down stairs....it can be quite a trek from the cheese room to the front oor, that there is no hallway and that the parking is a distance from the house.

Tbh, if i were building a house i wouldn't build this one, but i still care for it. Similarly, if i were asked to put ideal man on paper it would not be dh...but in realtiy of course it is. Like all important things and people, you adapt to it as well as adapting it to you sometimes.

I loved your house when I saw it. I enjoyed visiting it and I expect to enjoy following stories of your progress with it for a long time to come. I'm not enough of an outdoorsy person to want to live your smallholding lifestyle, and I haven't got what it takes to do a building project of the magnitude of what you've taken on. I still like the house, though. There's a difference between "I would not want to buy that house because it doesn't fit my lifestyle" and "I do not like that house because it is not to my taste."

michaels wrote: »

I'm with you Lydia, both on what makes a nice house and how misguided some people can be - I guess it is just the same as some people prefer listening to Adele rather than Rhianna - we just have to accept that not everyone can have taste

Nice to know someone agrees with me! Although we don't quite see eye to eye - you're one of those "open plan downstairs space" kind of people, aren't you? I'm more of a "separate rooms for separate things/people" kind of girl.

Doozergirl wrote: »

You're FiT, hot and cool

I like that! Thank you.

michaels wrote: »

DS has had a cold for a few days and is mch more snuffly today but is looking a bit red in the face and his cold is making breathing harder so I am worrying after what happened last year. Hopefully the calpol and puffer will gets us through the night ok but his pathetic little cough is so heart-rending. With all 3 DKs having coughs and colds this week and thus me having severly broken nights it has felt like a very long week.

Oh poor little chap. Poor little DDs too, and you and your DW with the sleeplessness. Hope the entire S household get better very soon.

lostinrates wrote: »

R.i.p. the gambia.

Big hugs to lostinrates. So sorry to hear.

silvercar

On house plans I think some people have a real dislike for something and that colours their view of the house. For me open slatted stairs are scary, open plan is fine. Stairs in the lounge are not for me, they let heat escape and noise travels too far, but that wouldn't put me off a house totally. Whereas open slatted stairs would.

JonnyBravo

silvercar wrote: »

On house plans I think some people have a real dislike for something and that colours their view of the house. For me open slatted stairs are scary, open plan is fine. Stairs in the lounge are not for me, they let heat escape and noise travels too far, but that wouldn't put me off a house totally. Whereas open slatted stairs would.

Even say in a spiral staircase?
There are very few absolutes when we examine it closely I suspect?
Suppose I'm most likely to say it's "new houses". Dont like them generally. But I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions.



Nando's is good. But then so is all food as previously commented! nom nom nom



Sorry to hear about gambia lir.

LydiaJ

silvercar wrote: »

On house plans I think some people have a real dislike for something and that colours their view of the house. For me open slatted stairs are scary, open plan is fine. Stairs in the lounge are not for me, they let heat escape and noise travels too far, but that wouldn't put me off a house totally. Whereas open slatted stairs would.

I wouldn't have chosen open slatted stairs. I remember when I first saw them I thought, "Oh. Open slatted stairs. Hmm. Oh well, my kids are well past the crawling stage so I guess it won't be a problem." However, I love the rich dark slightly reddish colour of the wood they're made of (teak?), and one of my recent visitors taught me to admire the workmanship of the staircase which is all wooden - held together with wooden pins rather than metal nails or screws.

I agree with you about stairs in the lounge not being what one would choose, but not a total put-off. My stairs are in the dining room, which again I wouldn't have chosen, but since we have two other reception rooms that can be closed off from the stairs, I'm not too bothered about it.

It's more of a problem to me that the door between the hall and dining room has been removed, and the door from the hall to the kitchen has been replaced with an open archway, leaving no actual door between the kitchen and the upstairs. My cheap and cheerful fix for that is to put a curtain across the kitchen archway, but when I have the hall and conservatory reconfigured I'm going to get the archway removed and a door or doors put there instead.

JonnyBravo wrote: »

Even say in a spiral staircase?
There are very few absolutes when we examine it closely I suspect?
Suppose I'm most likely to say it's "new houses". Dont like them generally. But I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions.

I'm not a fan of spiral staircases, especially with children. But it doesn't bother me to have a staircase in two halves with a flat bit in the middle, so you go up half the steps, turn left across the flat bit, and left again to go up the next lot. (Have I described that adequately?) Not everybody's happy with stairs like that, though, and prefer one continuous flight.

zagubov

Sorry to hear about your cat lir (well she wasn't yours in the possessive sense, but you know what I mean ).

Michaels hope your lkids get over their cold faster than I'm getting over mine!

Lived in a house with two rooms knocked into one and was convinced it was a madness that swept the country then everyone grew out of it and realsied that walls give you something to put things on and against and they actually create room rather than rooms IYSWIM.

If they brought back the series "Why Did They Do That" -which they should - I expect them to do one on open plan!