Cooking for one (Mark Three)

bouicca21

Talk to them, Money? No way. I used to get them every single weekend - the temple/church was just round the corner. They clearly have debriefing sessions where they discuss responses, because they'd keep changing the spiel. I ended up just being rude and shutting the door.

moneyistooshorttomention

PasturesNew wrote: »

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....

You know what that list costs in our part of the country Pastures....yep....more than a "single" can afford for sure:(. That's even without adding "....and it's got to be detached too" onto the list.

I couldn't afford that checklist in this area even - never mind our own area - (unless I went even more "back of beyond") and then the buses would be even worse. Though in this area there is the problem of a lot of houses having names (not numbers) and they are often in Welsh as well (so you can change your own house name - but the others are still ones you can't pronounce/don't understand/will forget). Then the street is the same - ie probably a name you will forget etc etc. Followed by there are several streets with the same name as each other (I haven't figured that out either yet as to why that happened) and other streets that have a different name for each half. Hence I land up having to give VERY specific directions to my house every time if someone hasn't been here before and I still get the odd "I'm lost on the way to your house" phone call.

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

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'.

I'm not going to argue re defining posh. It's not - just a small 3 apartment originally with extra space added over the years on very much a DIY basis. When the kids were small there was 4 of here and it was pretty cramped. Extending was cheaper than moving. Now there's just me yes I could downsize but for what I would get for here I couldn't get the things I want for the money I would have unless I moved to a different area.

Have you thought about moving to a cheaper part of the UK, you could probably get what you are looking for with cash left over especially if you don't want a new build?

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

... That's even without adding "....and it's got to be detached too" onto the list.

Oh I forgot that bit. Yes detached.

caronc wrote: »

Have you thought about moving to a cheaper part of the UK, you could probably get what you are looking for with cash left over especially if you don't want a new build?

Well, there are cheaper bits here, but cheaper for a reason (e.g. living next door to the man who has a regular 1930s semi on a main road and a pile of hay up against his wall for the horse he keeps there)...

Other places .... I've done my moving. I'll stay in this county. I am actually in a "cheaper area" compared to where I grew up

And another thing... I know this sounds strange.... but I'd like a utility area to make washing floors and big things easier. If you, say, have a mop/bucket of water and you do the kitchen floor thoroughly, emptying that water, say, 3-4x as it's dirty and you're doing a thorough job ... being able to empty that water easily would be good. At the moment it's tricky to fill any bucket - and then you're stuck with the water, having to take it all the way through the house and out into the garden to throw it away ... dripping stuff... then where do you put that wet mop? So you end up only being able to do it properly when the weather's right and you can prop the mop up in the garden, say ... and when you're prepared to faff about filling the bucket and emptying it.

Ditto washing big things by hand - and emptying/changing the water.

Maybe I do more things "1850s style" than other people do

flubberyzing

I had the god-botherers round last week. 2 young men. Luckily, my block of flats is on an intercom system, so you don't have to deal with them directly.
I could see them from the window though. They stood there for ages, trying to get someone to talk to them!
Both of these lads were perhaps mid-20s. I wanted to tell them to go and get a proper job, and stop harassing people about your obscure sect.

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

Oh I forgot that bit. Yes detached.



Well, there are cheaper bits here, but cheaper for a reason (e.g. living next door to the man who has a regular 1930s semi on a main road and a pile of hay up against his wall for the horse he keeps there)...

Other places .... I've done my moving. I'll stay in this county. I am actually in a "cheaper area" compared to where I grew up

And another thing... I know this sounds strange.... but I'd like a utility area to make washing floors and big things easier. If you, say, have a mop/bucket of water and you do the kitchen floor thoroughly, emptying that water, say, 3-4x as it's dirty and you're doing a thorough job ... being able to empty that water easily would be good. At the moment it's tricky to fill any bucket - and then you're stuck with the water, having to take it all the way through the house and out into the garden to throw it away ... dripping stuff... then where do you put that wet mop? So you end up only being able to do it properly when the weather's right and you can prop the mop up in the garden, say ... and when you're prepared to faff about filling the bucket and emptying it.

Ditto washing big things by hand - and emptying/changing the water.

Maybe I do more things "1850s style" than other people do

I wouldn't want to relocate either:)

Farway

Lovely sunny day, porridge etc for breakfast then out shop mooching

YS bananas was the only bargain, 20p, weighs over a kilo, nothing wrong with hem, not black & squidgy, just marked skins and still a bit green

I'd heard good report on £land pies, 2 in a pack. I've got cheese & onion which should be OK, and mince & onion, which maybe donkey nose & ears flying under a false flag, but I'll give them a go

Lunch was another BLT sandwich, assembled without dropping it on the floor this time

Dinner, one of the donkey mince & onion pies, with mash, carrots, "steamed to death" tum friendly cabbage and last of my cooked beetroot

I'm not a big prawn lover, I'll eat them if they turn up but will not buy them. For me the way they are farmed puts them in the Vietnamese catfish category.
Not for what they eat, but the cruel methods employed in their farming

But I've got a conservatory, love it. I had it built once I retired, warm & cosy, grows my tomatoes, overwinters the begonias, early start on seeds, reading room, snooze area, and junk room at times
I've got a fan assist convector in there, but that is only for taking chill off.
In winter I never use the conservatory, but it goes across rear of house so keeps the worst of the weather off,with added security.

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

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.

When I was looking I found a bungalow with that, wish in some ways I'd bought it.
Detached, it was square with courtyard in the middle, lead stained glass windows, flat roof, with balconies, private parking to front, rear access garage, on an embankment up from road, so no one walking by
No gun turret but there was room to fit one on the flat roof, the roof was accessed up stairs, but not a trap door, sort of cubicle on the roof.

The thing that put me off was the thought of the flat roof leaking, needing replacing etc. In the end we finished up in the country, nice quite, excellent schools etc, things work out most times

PasturesNew

Never had the God botherers round.... I did see some walking the streets the other week though as I was cruising the area in the hour up to the point when I'd view a house.

Lots of other oddballs in the area too, so all of that added up to the final tick in the "No" box.

Bought a 500g bag of frozen chicken breasts the other week - but they're cluttering up the freezer. I'd used one, but got no enthusiasm for the rest - so I've just taken from from the freezer and put into the fridge to defrost overnight. I've a jar of peri peri marinating sauce I was "gifted" (somebody else's cupboard turnout) - so tomorrow I'll toss the lot into the slow cooker and bung it on. That'll be about 4-6 dinners worth though ...

Earlier today I had that final corned beef pasty + mash + beans. ... and lots of choccies. Currently sitting here with 3 chocolate digestives for tea.

Brambling

That's quite a wish list PN, have you worked out which ones if any you will compromise on? When I brought my house one of the criteria was it had to be at least as big as my flat and there were a lot of 2 bedroom houses which were a lot smaller :cool: I walked into one house and asked the EA where the rest of it was, we didn't bother going upstairs :rotfl: I was lucky when I brought my house as I hadn't expected to afford a three bedroom house, a older lady had lived here and although it was possible to move in it need upgrading (gas heating, double glazing, shower) the rest has come slowly when I could save for it, bathroom and toilet made into one room, new kitchen etc each room as had to be replastered as I've redecorated. 13 years and I'm nearly done just putting off doing my lounge and dining room as I repapered when I realised how bad the walls were and I need the walls and ceiling replastered and some storage build in the dining room. The small bedroom also needs doing as well as other odds and sods which could probably be added to a list when I get my Polish builders in again :cool:

Thinking the gun turret would be worth it just to see my neighbours faces :rotfl:

I live in a Close and we rarely get visited by the God-bothers just the occasional charity collector who can be more annoying. I've a firm NO Thank You as I'm closing the door with a smile which works, my dad could argue the bible with them and tie them in knots, they rarely came back :rotfl:

I've spent the last couple of days redoing some of my work my manager and his manager did when I was away, it was an interesting conversation with them last week when I saw what had been done :eek: luckily my manager is now overseas for a couple of weeks as I keep finding more stuff that needs redoing and I don't have to bite my tongue too much :cool:

Lunch was the last of my chicken soup which turned out to be a generous portion. Dinner was rump steak, chimichurri sauce, new potatoes, green beans and purple sprouting broccoli and I'm sitting here feeling full

wort

I love my home, yes it could be warmer but that's probably cos I'm a thin blooded bad circulatory person:rotfl:
I never dreamed I'd live in a new build 3 bed semi. My conservatory is never too hot !!! In winter I have an oil filled heater and if I keep the door shut gets really hot!
It's small but perfect for me, I'm not overlooked in the back garden which faces West so gets fab sunsets. I love the light in there and seeing the garden even when it's too cold to go out.
PN - I hope you find your dream home. Even after 17 years here I still prefer to stay in on my days off than go out!!

Tea tonight was patatas bravas, and gf breaded chicken .Yum.
Not sure what to take for lunch tomorrow, may take some toast and beans. With yogurt afters.