Cooking for one (Mark Three)

PasturesNew

I really want a conservatory, but so few houses in my price bracket seem to have them ... really struggling to find any place to move to that's in my price bracket and not last decorated in the 1960s... there are some odd things going on in houses.

I'd also not realised just how far "allocated parking" had crept into housing. So much of it going on and I am 100% against it in any form whatsoever. Absolutely NO "new builds" for me, or even houses built in the last 10 years it seems... they all have this "fight it out" approach to parking.

I just want my own land, fences, gates ... and gun turret.



And a conservatory

Might have to give up all thoughts of a conservatory though... they don't exist... and if I buy a wreck at the top of my budget there's nothing left to pay for one either.

Never had one, been in a couple very briefly ... always liked the idea of one.

Don't really want/need a kitchen .... just a conservatory ... and a toaster.

moneyistooshorttomention

PN - more to the point - I don't know if that trend of the last few years of housing turning out to be leasehold and/or having service charges has crept into our part of the country? (ie South West England). I still take it absolutely as read that, of course, houses are freehold and don't have service charges - but don't know if that's still the case for us?

Know what you mean about a conservatory - I always took it as read that my "final house" would have one (if I had to add it myself), but my "current house" doesnt have one and it doesn't really look like a feasible proposition to add one with the layout of the garden being the way it is. Still waiting on whether I ever have the chance to move again to get the conservatory, private back garden, garage or equivalent for storage that I have "always known" my final house would have. Mind you - I did "save" a house to my private Pinterest wishboard for a replacement "final house if I get the chance" today that only has the private back garden out of those things and 4-bedroom/3-storey with the sitting room on 1st floor may not be the world's most practical layout:rotfl:

The one blessing of houses in my Home City is the decor is almost uniformly plain white walls everywhere - errr....like I've just had my current house done in then too LOL. Yep "saved" house is a "period" one, but has our white walls.

flubberyzing

Another lover of prawns here! I've never cooked them from raw though... I'd have to google what to do! I know shellfish is something you have to be extra careful with, when cooking.

A couple of friends of mine have conservatories. They uniformly say, that unless it has heating in it, or you're prepared to put it in, don't bother. Without heating, it is only really useable for 3-4 months a year. Otherwise it's far too cold, or far too hot.

Nothing exciting for me today, food-wise. Curry with a jar sauce probably. Although I'm looking forward to my chippy tea tomorrow!

moneyistooshorttomention

Conservatories do have uses for a variety of purposes imo.

As a conservatory (ie growing plants in there - in lieu of greenhouses) and it's one of my reasons for wanting one personally.

There is also the point it's one of the places one can put a clotheshorse with washing airing. In my last house - I had room in the bathroom for a clotheshorse and could/did put sheets to air over the bannisters. So I do have a distinct clothes horse problem in my current house - no bannisters (as it's a bungalow) and the bathroom isn't big enough for a clotheshorse. So there's also the conservatory, the garage, the utility room, the 3rd bedroom I could put it in - only this house hasn't got any of those things. End result - that clotheshorse has "been on its travels" around the house wondering where to put it when there is nowhere. It's shifted from kitchen (no longer any room now my new units are in there) to sitting room to main bedroom and it's basically going to have to be in my study and move it out of the way every time I decide to do a YouTube exercise video (as it's taking up dancing/exercise space).

A conservatory is also a useful "halfway house" between inside and outside - for things like taking off muddy footwear and leaving it till one decides to clean it or dumping shopping etc out of the way on coming back in again or for taking things back out of the house (eg rubbish).

PasturesNew

flubberyzing wrote: »

They uniformly say, that unless it has heating in it, or you're prepared to put it in, don't bother. Without heating, it is only really useable for 3-4 months a year. Otherwise it's far too cold, or far too hot.

The way I see it, it's for those days when it's a bit breezy, or a bit damp, or evenings when it's just getting a bit chilly ... and you can't sit outside as your papers/things would blow over and away - and you're in/out/in/out as it keeps raining and your chair gets wet and you have to keep wiping it.

It's a "very light room, where it doesn't rain and it's not windy" - which is most days.

Also good for drying laundry In fact, if one did have washing machine plumbing that'd suit me fine. I don't need a genteel conservatory for guests and ladies who lunch, with a wow factor, just nice/bright usable space...

bouicca21

I rather like those 3 story houses with the sitting room on the first floor but when I was looking the only ones in my price bracket were in a sort of no man's land housing estate miles from shops and cafes. I console myself that all those stairs would be a no no if I get decrepit.

I used to quite fancy a conservatory but think I might prefer a verandah. A gun turret, now that definitely gets my vote. Fortunately living in a flat means I have a front door behind a front door so I no longer get swathes of people trying to convert me to strange religions.

moneyistooshorttomention

bouicca21 wrote: »

I rather like those 3 story houses with the sitting room on the first floor but when I was looking the only ones in my price bracket were in a sort of no man's land housing estate miles from shops and cafes. I console myself that all those stairs would be a no no if I get decrepit.

I used to quite fancy a conservatory but think I might prefer a verandah. A gun turret, now that definitely gets my vote. Fortunately living in a flat means I have a front door behind a front door so I no longer get swathes of people trying to convert me to strange religions.

I've got two approaches to those "missionaries" on the doorstep. I have been known to send them to nfh next door when they were playing up (suggesting they might be interested). On the other hand - I might engage in conversation with them and daylight dawns on them after a while that I honestly am very tolerant of any and every religion and none and quite firm about my own (extremely wide) boundaries in that respect.

The house with sitting room on 1st floor is a period house in the older part of my home city - hence the character touches - and it's extremely conveniently located and future-proof (in view of the City Council's plans for the city - which basically boil down to "Boom....boom....grow...grow..buzzy...buzzy...buzzy" and I estimate that will be one of the few areas that will benefit from what the Council will do over the next few years). I would have half an eye as to whether there was a way for stairs to be "navigated" if...though my own personal view is that I have strict/fairly narrow limits on how bad I would allow my health to get before I thought "Blow it!" - so I'm not sure I'd personally put up with a body that had stair-climbing difficulties anyway:rotfl:

Verandah - yep...I'd like that too.:)

My cynics take on "You can tell someone is probably pretty "old - ie hundreds of years old" (ie has had a lot of lifetimes - my ideas on reincarnation) when they have a great long list of things they want - from many different cultures":rotfl: Probably one of the single biggest things I want isn't from our culture at all - it's one of those internal courtyards like riads have in Morocco. Outdoors and totally private - win/win.

PasturesNew

All I want is .... garage, plenty of off road parking for visitors/deliveries (that's defendable/has a fence/wall), not next to any public land or path or car parks/similar.

3 bedrooms (3rd can be tiny as it's just "for stuff"), En-suite. Built in wardrobes already.

Open plan kitchen/living with a wide clear breakfast bar and good number of base units. Utility room (preferably outside of the house footprint).

Back garden south/west facing with a conservatory. Room for a good shed.

No big trees nearby.

Handy shops and close to a bus stop. Not a hard to find address (no endless looping estates).

No chav neighbours

One thing that's common is bungalows seems to be putting the kitchen at entirely the opposite end of the building to the lounge... I hate having to open/close doors between watching telly and putting the kettle on.... or turning the chips over....

caronc

Good morning everyone,
My kitchen & conservatory are one room so fully integrated. It is my favourite space in the house and I love the extra light it brings.:D It does get warm in the summer but it keeps the heat in the winter so it's used year round. I also have a covered deck (Think deck with "carport" roof rather than anything grand:rotfl:) which is a good space to sit on cooler days. Both of these more than anything else are why I'm reluctant to move house:cool:.
My best deterrent to unwanted callers is a kaput doorbell:rotfl::rotfl:. Friends/family use the back door so unless I'm expecting a delivery I only answer the front door if I cba:cool:.

I roasted a big tray of tomatoes last night and made passatta this morning for the freezer. I reckon there's another trays worth just about ripe so I'll get them roasted in the next few days.
My stuffed tomato last night tasted wonderful but wasn't the most attractive looking as it sort of melted into a squishy puddle. The joy of CFO is that there was only me to here to eat it and I didn't care what it looked like. Not much by way of cooking happening today, I've the soup I made yesterday for lunch and as I'm out early evening dinner when I get back will be something quick.

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

My kitchen & conservatory are one room so fully integrated..... I also have a covered deck

That all sounds "a bit posh" And you've got two living rooms (living + dining), so we know your house is a bit bigger than most...

The ultimate for me would be a conservatory that leads to a covered area ... handy for sitting on the hotter days and perfect for line drying clothes at other times....

I know somebody who has a conservatory, out to the covered area, another door to a utility room... it's got everything there...

I have two neighbours with 3 bed houses - and they have a single living room with a small kitchen area tucked up one end. And they've got 2-3 kids in that space... and, outside, just a garden about 20' x 20'.