1 post tagged “homes sweet homes”
How many houses have you lived in? How is where you live now different from where you grew up?
I'm not too sure on dates -lets see how it goes...
1979-1983 A two bedroom terrace in Yampton, Devon. It had a red door and was on a busy road through the village. I remember my little sister lying on the pavement having a full on tantrum because my mum wouldn't let her toddle accross the street by herself. We had an allotment down the road and my dad used to take me in the wheelbarrow. My parents painted an entire wall of my bedroom to be a shop front called 'Laughton's General Stores'. We also had some chickens I think.
1983-1984 My dad moved jobs up to Cambridge and we ended up living in a horrid rented house in a god awful place called Waterbeach for a year. I think I have blocked it from myh memory.
1984-1997 Wilgress House, Bourn. My parents finally found a house to be home for us. When they bought it there was no running hot water, electricity or pretty much anything. The nettles in the back garden were taller than me. They saw potential though and gradually did it up themselves. Now it is a gorgeous 3 storey detatched victorian red brick with a massive garden which is absolutely beautiful. My dad has just started keeping bees. My parents intend to live here til they retire and then move to the cottage in Cornwall which used to belong to my granny. When that happens I shall be very sad indeed.
1997-1998 I lived in halls at the college of St Hild and St Bede at Durham. I had a teeny weeny room but it had fantastic views over the city. I had my own sink but we shared everything else.
1998-1999 I moved out to live in an old town house in the city centre with 3 normal people and one complete psycho. Virginia used to steal stuff from our rooms, claim she hadn't and then wear it herself the next week. She also melted my cds on the aga and refused to ever ever empty the bin.
1999-2000 I moved back into college for my final year and was upgraded to a slightly larger room. woohooo.
2000-2001 I was back at home for a year, temping and saving some money.
2001-2002 Back ooop north but this time to Newcastle to start my MA. I lived in Heaton (studentville near the city centre) with 4 other postgrads in a big terrace. Somehow I managed to bagsy the only double bed in a huge huge bedroom with 3 windows. Result. I really liked this house and the other occupants were pretty ok considering they were strangers when I moved in.
2002-2003 In fact I moved out with two of them after we graduated and rented a corner terrace in South Gosforth which is a very nice area. It had two lounges and a big kitchen and a garage and we seemed to pay only a nominal amount of rent somehow. It was almost like a proper home. Unfortunately I was struggling to find a 'proper' job doing what I wanted so I was pretty unhappy for most of the year.
2003-2003 After our tenency was up I moved in with my then boyfriend of 5 years into his semi just round the corner. I was blissfully happy playing house until he cheated on me and I was forced to move out...
2003-2004 ...into a modern ground floor flat with a girl called Maxine who was lovely. I found her on easyroomate.com and she was the cleanest person I have ever lived with. She was also bulimic and only seemed to eat boiled fish. I was pretty happy here though, I even had a fish tank in my bedrooom.
2004-2007 I decided it was time to get on the property ladder and I bought my lovely lovely flat in Gateshead. It was two bedrooms, original wooden floors and high ceilings. It had a little yard which I stuffed with flower pots and window boxes. I adored living here and had several lodgers live with me throughout the 3 years (some odder than others - remember?!). Eventually S moved in with me in early 2007 and that was that.
2007- present...except it wasn't. We wanted to live out in the country and a bigger place that belonged to both of us. So I sold at the perfect time pricewise (phew) and we bought 7 Bute Street. Its a three storey stone terrace in a little village between Newcastle and Durham. It has a miniture front garden that gets the sun til mid afternoon and a back yard which is sunny after work. It has high ceilings, original features and big windows. We are both very happy here and the only reason we would move in the future (but not for years) would be for a bigger garden so I could have a bunny.
