It's finally happened! I have the house befitting a lady; lady Warrington that is. Let me introduce to my new manor; the manor I now reside in, in Wales.
You see! It's bloody massive. Well it is for a girl like me who spent her childhood growing up in a semi detach in Warrington, that didn't really have enough room for us all. I spent most of my childhood, sharing a room with a bunk bed with my sister. I really believe that my mother finally got that extension above the garage, only to split us up and stop our God dam fighting (but in truth separate rooms didn't really stop the arguments)! We did fare better than my poor brother though, who lived his days there in the box room, which really wasn't big enough to swing a cat in. It wasn't so bad in his younger years, but when he had his pubescent growth spurt and turned into a 6'3 giant it wasn't so easy. I still have the memory of walking in his room and seeing him asleep with his legs daggling off the end of the bed which was the length of the room, and which my brother exceeded both by quite a bit.
How did I come to live here you ask? Well Howard (or now as he is more commonly know H) has friends in high places. Me and Kat were trawling the Internet looking at pokey, modern flats in Cardiff with no personality, thinking this would be our life for the next 9 months, when H told us we didn't need to bother.
"I have a friend who has a mansion just outside of Cardiff in the countryside. We can live there!"
Now you would expect my initial reaction, would be "Amazing"!, but in fact it was the complete opposite. The reason for this were:
1. It's in the countryside! I have never lived in the countryside in my life. I'm an urban girl. I don't know any different. What do people do in the countryside anyway? Drink cider and make out in the hay? Actually it doesn't sound that bad!
2. It's an old mansion. It's probably haunted and cold. I had visions of suits of armour with cobwebs; portraits with eyes that follow you, creaky floor boards and constantly being cold, which I am normally.
3. It's in Cardiff and I don't want to live there! I want to live in London.
I cried most of the journey from London to Cardiff with my belongings piled up high in my car and as I entered the drive way I was all doom and gloom about my new home, that I didn't want to live in. Luckily it surprised me. Though it was big, it wasn't too big. There were no suits of armour, cobwebs, and creaky floorboards, and with the log fire burning (Yes we have a log fire!) it was toasty.
Because I have the most stuff I was given the big room at the front of the house. My first impression when I walked through the door was, Oh my God! It looks like some really dated B&B, in somewhere like Margate! Then I had a change of mind and thought the dated, Margate B&B look was quite cool. I love the old ceramic sink in the corner; I feel very a home sat doing my make up every morning at the kitsch dressing table; and my favourite thing? Well that has to be the curtains! There so bad there good! My belongings have blended quite well in to my new surroundings; my trinkets; old pictures and blankets have formed a mish mash of styles and eras, but it seems to work in this room. Even though I write this post in the early hours of the morning, as I am suffering from another bout of insomnia, I feel quite at home and safe in my little (well actually it's quite big) haven. One complaint: there is no book shelf for my huge book collection, which for now must now reside in the boxes piled high in the corner.
So I will take you on a whistle stop tour of the place with my favourite parts of the house.
EXHIBIT A: THE SPORTS RACK
At the entrance of the door you will find a vast array of old sporting items: cricket bats; hockey sticks and Tennis rackets. We will be adding to the collection, as me and Kat want to play croquet on the lawn when it gets hotter, in summer dresses, while drinking Pimms. I also like the old weather gauge above them as well.
EXHIBIT B: THE MAIN LIVING ROOM
My favourite room is the main living room (yes there is more than one living room)! It has a grand piano, wooden panelling, but my favourite bits are the log fire which we warm ourselves round at night, and the books. Oh! I love books so much (When I retire I'll probably become a librarian). I find myself perusing the shelves for ages when no one is looking.
EXHIBIT C: THE HALLWAY
It has an antelopes head that looks sadly down at you; a gong to order people to dinner; Toby jugs; but the best, with out a shadow of doubt is the Edward Burne Jones that hang above the stairs. I mean Edward Burne Jones! I use to look at his pictures in books, forever when I was studying art; and now there just there, greeting me when I get home from work.
EXHIBIT D: THE ELEPHANT FOOT INK WELL
Wrong, macabre and probably completely illegal now, but the Elephant foot ink well is very fascinating at the same time.
EXHIBIT E: THE STONE UNICORNS
There are four of them in each corner of the drive way. I feel they are our little guardians, watching over and protecting us.
EXHIBIT F: THE SECRET GAMES CUPBOARD
Oh hello! One of the panels in the main living room, opens up to become a secret games cupboard. It's full of every game under the sun. The classics; Monopoly; Cluedo; Buckeroo? But I'm especially drawn to the huge 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle as I use to do them with my dad as a child.
EXHIBIT G: THE GARDEN
I was pottering around my room when something caught my eye.
"Oh my God Kat! There is a giant trampoline in the garden!"
As me and Kat are probably the silliest girls you will ever meet (we are OK with this, as it makes life more fun!) it didn't take us long to find ourselves after work bouncing away on it and laughing like idiots (God knows what the Hell the neighbours must think of two grown women acting like children on a trampoline)?We also, on our little adventure found a tree house complete with seating area and slide, and have decided to have a treehouse party in the summer.
Me and Kat spend most of our nights sat by the fire eating a vast array of different cheese boards (I know we are sad)! We actually have become also addicted to university challenge, though we can't really answer any of the questions. Cheese and university challenge, what more does a girl need (no wonder everyone at work thinks we are completely mad)! In fact university challenge has finished now after a great award cermony with presentation by a very stiff as a corspe, Camilla Parker Bowles, so we are now left with a huge void in our Monday night lives. Apart from that we are quite happy in our little country retreat hidden away from the world, though it doesn't feel like home yet. Maybe it never will, but I could think of worse places to have a stop gap in.
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