Tiny changes;
spiritual; get outside, or at least as far as the back door step. That's going to be so much easier now that Spring is arriving.
What must it be like for people without access to a view of greenery - our first house was in an area criss-crossed by streets full of near-identical terraced houses opening straight onto the pavement. We had a small backyard, only accessible by going through the house - pause to contemplate wrangling our bicycles and dustbin through the kitchen and living room, tracking in dirt and worse - and with no trees, shrubs, flowers or even grass visible from the windows. This could be our street
Even houseplants couldn't grow in our northfacing front room. I was so glad to move out of the town centre to somewhere more in the country.
So yes, I intend to get out, at least as far as the door step every day.
Tiny change towards a calmer life - leave 10 minutes early. Then you can arrive in time -and breathe! I was in two minds whether to write this down; BB is a great one for leaving early, and I am more resistant. I think this is due to my dislike of having to get up so early for work. I'm not a natural early riser, and he is. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Can a leopard change its spots? Well, I'm not a dog, I don't do tricks and I'm not a leopard. So, maybe I can change. Would leaving five minutes earlier because step in the right direction?
Madness, 'Our house, in the middle of the street'
This could be our first house together, even to the colour of rhe paper before we painted it.
As a kid, some of the worst years were when I was five and we moved from the Yorkshire moors to a terraced street in a big town. I kept turning corners looking for the fields. Tiny house, paved backyard not a blade of grass. I was so glad to get away eventually to a better place, room to plant.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been hard; small children are so powerless in the face of these kind of changes. At least we did have green spaces nearby
DeleteOur first (rented) flat was brown and beige 1970s colours. Except for the bedroom carpet. I'd been given two pieces of 1950s patterned carpet by two different people. Same mad multicolour design, except one was on a green background, the other grey. Together they made a fitted carpet, which had a join down the middle. Green left side/ grey right side!
ReplyDeleteBack in the day our first homes were very much 'makey-do'. Mismatched furniture, plates, cutlery, glasses were the norm. I don't think most people expected so much all at once then.
DeleteSending hugs and all encouragement. Take care of yourself, as you deserve good things.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteHow terribly inconvenient your first home must have been. Thankfully you were able to move to a better place.
ReplyDeleteBoth of us tend to arrive early for everything. I can't count the times we had to sit in the car down the street from whoever we were going to visit so we wouldn't be TOO early.
Those terraces were cramped, dark, cold (just a gas fire in the living room) and damp, as they were built without damp proof courses. Thousands and thousands were built in towns all over the country from about 1870 onwards.. But there was always a strong community, and mix of people. You'd be surprised how many people lived in them, with just 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. A previous owner had added a bathroom opening off the kitchen; no such luxury for old Mrs Challis next door who still had just the outside toilet in the yard!
DeleteIn our first house, we actually papered a room in brown and cream!! Well it was the 60s.
ReplyDeleteIt's amusing to look at pictures of how 'they' use to live, then we realise that we lived like that too! I bet the late Queen had a brown and cream room in the 1960s!
DeleteI don't think I could live in a place like that. I'd love to live somewhere a bit more country. We are lucky enough to have a bit of green in the back, but we're still too close to neighbours for my taste.
ReplyDeleteLittle steps are good to take!
I would struggle to live somewhere like that now.
DeleteIt is hard living with no greenery, as children my siblings and I went from living in a farm in very rural Surrey to living in a row of Edwardian terraced houses in London, no front garden and a small back yard. We too had a bathroom off the kitchen. It was hard for all of us but we have been lucky since and have all lived somewhere with lots of green fields and woodland since, and for me the sea as well, oh be joyful. I am always leaving early for appointments, my husband is much more relaxed which always makes me anxious. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI was lucky to grow up in a large house surrounded by a large garden. Hat makes a huge difference.
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