Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Are you sure? If one of my sisters told me off when I was house-sitting for free, I'd say something rude in return!

I've spent a lifetime of being downtrodden by family members..... I know when it's best just to be quiet and shuffle off (all the time).

I am not a fighter.... I'd lose anyway. Sisters are both bossy - and I don't have the verbal skills to go head to head and even come out equal.

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've spent a lifetime of being downtrodden by family members..... I know when it's best just to be quiet and shuffle off (all the time).

I am not a fighter.... I'd lose anyway. Sisters are both bossy - and I don't have the verbal skills to go head to head and even come out equal.

You're a much nicer person than I am (-:

Verbal, though, I can do. Arguing, ditto. Staying quiet and shuffling off isn't among my skills.

chewmylegoff

michaels wrote: »

If you are looking after their house (for free?) then whatever decision you make is the right one.

Re gen and PNs comments on buying a fixer-upper - I wonder how Chewie is getting on with his offer....

Well it hasn't been rejected yet, but the EA told us that the house had to stay on the market for six weeks under the rules of the church trust that is selling it and it's only been on four weeks so far so wasn't expecting to hear much yet.

fc123

vivatifosi wrote: »

As a lot of NPs live under the path of the storm, I wanted to wish you all a safe and secure day tomorrow.

I also have a question... for those people who are due to go to work, what alternative arrangements are you making? The reason I ask is that normally I leave earlier during bad weather, but if I do that, then the weather is forecast to be worse than when I normally leave. Not quite sure of best cause of action.

I hadn't given it much thought so far but now think, maybe I should.
Our wooden bench flew across the garden this morning. Lost the fence panel again as it's totally decrepit and we keep tying it back with rope. Spoke to new neighbours about it as we will be replacing the whole thing with a wall next summer as soon as the ground is dry enough.
They are being very tolerant about the big gap.

As I have a 10 min drive or 40 min walk I'll wait and see what's what @ 8am tomo am.

Generali wrote: »

I'm not sure that living in an all wood structure is the best place to be in a bush fire!

The thing is, we'd be living on the edge of a town so the firies would be doing their best to protect it. Also, a couple of hundred homes were lost in the Blue Mountains but thousands weren't.

The worst thing about living there would be that it would be spider-tastic.

Sounds like a good plan.

Do the schools teach the kids what spiders are dangerous? I would be really fretful about spiders that can kill with one bite even tho they don't bother me in general.

PasturesNew wrote: »

It never used to be important here.... until the likes of Homes under the Hammer, Kirsty and Beeny got TV programmes. It's a new thing.

20 years ago not many people ever got a new kitchen. You bought a house for what it was first..... and lived in it.

Not really it was the same then as now.....some people like to do up and some want a ready home to move into.

Every house I viewed that was 'done up, I didn't like the finish / style / colours so it wasn't 'worth' the premium.

Once we have done our final tot up on what the family home has cost us, I will add on OH's carpentry and labouring time to see what we 'saved'. We have replaced most of his labour in the business for about £100 pwk.

Our extension roof gets built in 2 weeks time and whilst he knew what to do/how, he doesn't have the confidence to do it solo nor a 2nd person who is skilled enough to help. As the roofer is an old school friend, they will do it together with said roofer being the boss on the job.

I don't think we could have afforded to do the work without OH being able to project manage and go on the tools for most of the jobs...even if it is just manual stuff like helping to dig footings etc.

fc123

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My mother was converted to the idea when she installed a new kitchen in our then-family home in 1989, and a series of various cupboards and so forth became a fitted kitchen.



One of the magic things about our current kitchen is the corner cupboards - they tend to be useless, and you end up with stuff stuck there, because you don't know what it is, or they are empty. But this kitchen lot recommended amazing metal swing things, so when you open the cupboard, the bit round the corner comes out, too. Impossible to describe, so here's a photo. I don't know if this is the exact one, but it's similar:

Looks practical that one....
We used to have a corner cupboard that things would get lost in. It had a rotating shelf thing that turned out to be a PITA.

I am now obsessed with 300 pull out larder units. I have planned the entire space around having x 2.

PasturesNew wrote: »

No, you don't understand family dynamics.... whatever decision I make is never the right one.


I'm looking after it "for free" - at a cost to me of fuel and some additional shopping I'd have not done - making choices I'd have not made if at home.

So all in, you could say it costs me £70 to do this "for free". But it does ease the guilt of not seeing mum for months on end as I'm over there every day while I am here.

How is she?

PasturesNew wrote: »

My kitchen expectation is that I might get one new kitchen in my lifetime; I might not. It's certainly not something I'd be actively looking to buy. So long as a house's got a kitchen, most are fine.

Never used a posh kitchen - probably wouldn't dare in case I ruined it.

I will confess here that having posh rooms is really stressful...I had no idea before we started how stressy it would be to use luxury bathrooms every day.
It's tragic really as I spot clean with bits of loo roll drips on the sink and taps in a way that I have never done in my life.

The new kitchen is going to be a nightmare as I won't dare move in it......I'll never fry again as I don't want to clog up the new smeg telescopic extractor fan.:o

PasturesNew

fc123 wrote: »

We have replaced most of his labour in the business for about £100 pwk.

I hope he knows this ..... he's worth less than a YTS Lad.

PasturesNew

fc123 wrote: »

How is she?

It can be hard to judge.... ga-ga enough to be living in her own world - yet able to voice sufficent moans and ideas that it makes you worried she might become a problem if she gets it into her head that she's independent (e.g. talking of moving back to where she used to live....)

Not sure she knows she's living in a home; I think she thinks it's some hospital extension.

PasturesNew

fc123 wrote: »

I will confess here that having posh rooms is really stressful...I had no idea before we started how stressy it would be to use luxury bathrooms every day.
It's tragic really as I spot clean with bits of loo roll drips on the sink and taps in a way that I have never done in my life.

The new kitchen is going to be a nightmare as I won't dare move in it......I'll never fry again as I don't want to clog up the new smeg telescopic extractor fan.:o

You need to get a grip. The way to do that is to not clean any of it for 3 months. Then clean it. After that you'll feel able to clean only what's necessary, when it's needed.

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

The kitchen we've installed here in our new flat should last a good long time, too.

That's about the size of the house I'll end up buying

I've never known anybody who had any size of island in a kitchen - they're on the telly and in adverts/magazines only.

I had one friend buy a brand new, 4-bed, detached house in about 2001 and her kitchen was the size of a bus shelter.

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

corner cupboards - they tend to be useless, and you end up with stuff stuck there, because you don't know what it is, or they are empty.

I hate them - historically they'd be dark/damp horrid corners..... my ideal kitchen wouldn't have corners like that.

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

But this kitchen lot recommended amazing metal swing things, so when you open the cupboard, the bit round the corner comes out, too.

In my world, all I see is a neat idea that works .... for now. It'd end up breaking/stuff'd fall out down the back and it'd end up an expensive nuisance.

I bet they weren't cheap

PasturesNew

B4lls.... just specially bought in some Pepsi Max - opened it, swigged.... tasted funny. Checked the can, it's cherry flavoured. Didn't know they made it cherry flavoured and the cans aren't significantly different for me to have noticed sooner