Downsizing

moneyistooshorttomention

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Both of us can read quite happily in the sitting room with the TV on, something we learned to do when we were children in households where it was on all the time.

Given the number of readers who do a lot of their reading when they go to bed or when they wake up, I can't see why reading in the bedroom would be a problem; if it's comfortable at those times, it's equally comfortable in the middle of the afternoon.

If all else fails, have a bath and read there.:)

It must be useful to have the skill to be able to "tune the tv out". Some of us are just too distractable for that and I'm one of them personally. I would start reading and find the tv programme grabbed my attention every time (even if it was total ****, as it usually was). So it was impossible to even focus on something "lightweight".

Since moving out from parental home (many many years ago now) I read a lot "heavier" stuff and really need the silence to be able to focus and take in the information, even though I've gone past the days where I had to have a dictionary beside me whilst reading to learn what several words a page meant, as my vocabulary is up to a reasonable standard now.

Re baths, we don't all have them.

Savvy_Sue

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

One of my dogsitting clients has 'downsized' to the dower house on a country estate. It has a few acres of land. I can't imagine what they lived in before!

:rotfl: Slight improvement on my parents, who downsized to something with 6 bedrooms (I think, I rarely go into some of the rooms and can't remember the layout), a large kitchen/diner, separate dining room, large lounge, study and 'conservatory' better called a utility room. There are two bathrooms (1 ensuite) and a downstairs loo.

And yet, the house would be ENTIRELY unsuited to a wheelchair should Mum lose her mobility.

It was one of the things I thought about when we moved here: I saw the house once and was thinking about it afterwards, and realised it had wide doorways and 'gentle' stairs, so space to manoeuvre (sp?) a wheelchair if necessary.

Although we do need to downsize, the house was ideal for six but a tad roomy for two ...

borkid

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Both of us can read quite happily in the sitting room with the TV on, something we learned to do when we were children in households where it was on all the time.

Given the number of readers who do a lot of their reading when they go to bed or when they wake up, I can't see why reading in the bedroom would be a problem; if it's comfortable at those times, it's equally comfortable in the middle of the afternoon.

If all else fails, have a bath and read there.:)

I read an easy to read book for 5 or 10 minutes before settling down to sleep. For 'proper' reading ie a more demanding book for an hour or so I need a quiet room and a comfy chair same with hubby. Reading any demanding book with the TV in the background just wouldn't be possible for me or hubby. I like to hear the words in my head and savour the sound, I sometimes even say them out loud, so other words going on in the background would be a big distraction.

As for reading in the bath, no way, our books look like new after reading them, no dogeared corners or marked pages even the spines of paperbacks aren't creased. How would you manage to read a large hardback book in the bath?

pollypenny

I used to be able to read with the TV on when grieving up. However, it was a small, by today's standards, black and white.

I find that I cannot compete with our colour TV, even though it's not particularly big at 26".

Like SDW, I love OH to bits, but we each need our space. Living in each other's pockets is not healthy.

missbiggles1

borkid wrote: »

I read an easy to read book for 5 or 10 minutes before settling down to sleep. For 'proper' reading ie a more demanding book for an hour or so I need a quiet room and a comfy chair same with hubby. Reading any demanding book with the TV in the background just wouldn't be possible for me or hubby. I like to hear the words in my head and savour the sound, I sometimes even say them out loud, so other words going on in the background would be a big distraction.

As for reading in the bath, no way, our books look like new after reading them, no dogeared corners or marked pages even the spines of paperbacks aren't creased. How would you manage to read a large hardback book in the bath?

If I'm reading a large hardback book or something on the Kindle, I also have a paperback to read in the bath. I often read for half an hour or more before going to bed and usually more in the morning - so I woudn't make any distinction with reading in the day.

If I had any inclination to reading out loud (which I don't) I think it would have been knocked out of me by spending hours in the university library where such things were frowned on.:rotfl:

tgon

I feel to old to recover from my impending job redundancy and a few years to young to retire. I'm currently downsizing from a large property I love to a smaller house to clear my mortgage and reduce my financial risks. For me, I wish downsizing was for retirement, future health planning and the relative peacefulness(?) of senior life but its not; its just survival.

borkid

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If I had any inclination to reading out loud (which I don't) I think it would have been knocked out of me by spending hours in the university library where such things were frowned on.:rotfl:

Never had an inclination to read maths or chemistry formulae out loud at uni! It's poetry and some of the more flowery prose.

Newly_retired

We have downsized, sort of...
We left an extended semi, five bed- roomed house with storage basement, but only one bathroom and loo, for a 3 bed roomed detached, with additional downstairs room plus shower room.
As two bedrooms were surplus to normal requirements, we don't miss them. But we had loads of stuff, or rather DH did. So it has been a major effort in decluttering, though he has still got too much stuff.

I love our new house. I love being able to step out the patio doors into the smaller, more attractive garden. DH has just bought a shed and is now converting the garage to a workshop. He also has his study. So he has three places to disappear to.
I still manage to keep a study, though it is downstairs and not as private as before.
The house would feel bigger if we had managed to get rid of more stuff. And that is after about 15 trips to the charity shop, 40 to the tip, a few items sold, and 3 skips to clear loft and basement!
It is no mean feat, leaving a house you have lived in for over 30 years.

I love our new location, primarily because we now live near my family, though still a short car journey away, so not on the doorstep.
It is a level 10 minute walk to the shops, GP, library, church, station, and there is a frequent bus service to the nearby city every 15 minutes, yet the countryside is just a minute away.
Oh and when we need it, we can convert my study to a bedroom, and/or put in a stair lift.

I have no regrets, though DH is still struggling a bit, and has not got as involved as I have in the local community. But he has space for his hobbies and we both have space to be alone when we want to.
We have made the move before we reach our seventies. It has taken time and loads of effort, and I would not have wanted to wait until we felt we had to, as by then we could not have coped.

pollypenny

That sounds great, NR.

[Deleted User]

we have been happily married for 44 years and I put this down to not being joined at the hip. We each have our own space and recently converted the garage into a workshop, complete with workbench, scrollsaw etc. He is very happy in there with the radio on and he is also very happy when doing 60 mile cycle runs with his club. I love going to the allotment, 1/2 a mile away and my new hobbies of spinning and weaving while listening to audio books

We did de-clutter ( that has not remained a permanent state ) and we moved in 2010 when I was 62 and dh 63, we just about had the energy then but would certainly not have liked to leave it to later than that, if we had left it later then we would have had to have had the big removers in plus help in sorting the garden and putting everything in place. Strength does ebb away without realising that it is happening

We love where we are now and our bills are low, total energy costs are only £760 a year. We eat well, sleep well and wake up to silence and birds. We have no facilities within walking distance but I am used to that and people in the village live accordingly, making our own communal entertainment. Internet shopping has made life a whole lot easier, all I have to do is unpack the boxes and bags

Personally though I could not do without decent storage in a house.