The house

Ingrid and I have been discussing the house. This is our house as we paid off the mortgage at the beginning of the year. We had an estate agent come round in the week to look the house over and to evaluate its market value, which is approx £265000. We might be able to get a bit more and we might have to shave off some in order to get a buyer depending on the state of the market. However what it did was make us look more closely at what we have and what we want and perhaps also what we need. We are going to look at other houses but more to investigate what they have in comparison to ours.

We had been toying with the idea of an en suite bathroom attached to our main bedroom as we are officially a four bedroom house. Another idea was using the loft more creatively. Extending the lounge into the garden by means of a conservatory was another thought. The kitchen is looking tired and needs an overhaul. The estate agent convinced us that all these were good ideas if we intended staying but were not projects to embark upon if selling because the outlay would not be recouped.

Today we sat in our wonderful garden for lunch and the conversation turned to thoughts about the house. At the moment we have two bedrooms set up as bedrooms and two bedrooms set up as his and her studies. I make no apology for the bourgeois idea of a study as I like a private space to which to retire and these days occasionally to work ( total agreement with son in law Nathan there). This is sufficient provision for guests staying at the moment and one or other of the studies could provide temporary overnight accommodation if needed. Therefore there is no real pressing need for an en suite .

Ingrid loves entertaining much more than I do. I like it when its happening but I don't go out of my way to make it happen, if you see what I mean. The conservatory was intended to make the living room more spacious but my contention is that there would still be a metaphysical divide between those sat in the lounge and those sat in the conservatory, however cleverly the two were conjoined. It would also be a major investment and would use up a large proportion of our savings which we need to think about eking out more over a longer period. We decided the conservatory wasn't as good an idea as it had first sounded. I also pointed out that major family gatherings in winter will strain any establishment and should really occur in the summer when the garden can be used.

This led to the thought that we should extend and improve our patio and is the one idea we are going to look into as a practical idea as soon as possible this summer. This would have the effect of changing our water feature and perhaps compressing our flower beds into smaller more compact ones with more in them.

We are toying with the idea of extending the double glazing in our dining room to the overhang which would match what our neighbours next door have done. Another idea was having awnings over the patio to provide shade in the summer months. We will investigate these two ideas to see how practical they are.

Thank you for your indulgence, dear reader, but this post has helped me to clarify some ideas. It has also helped Ingrid and I to decide that for the next few years we intend staying here and our next move will be a downsize to perhaps even sheltered accommodation in our seventies so we our not a burden to each other or our children. They won't have any money left to them but, hey, what the hell?