houses, sledding

[derien]

Still getting over the cold - I don't think that going out to look at houses, yesterday, was the best thing for it. But we saw some really interesting places! Eor wants the little bungalow we saw. The pipes in the heating system froze, because it was either improperly winterized or it was done too late, and it's impossible to tell if the furnace or water heater need to be replaced. And the kitchen looks completely impossible - it's so small that there's no space at all for a fridge and stove. I kept looking around and cocking my head like a spaniel, wondering how on earth they ever had this set up so as to cook. Only maybe they never did, because the back entry way is full of pizza boxes. The whole house is full of trash. But all the woodwork is original, the walls and ceilings and floors look true, the chimney looks sound, and it has a tiny garage which is still in good shape despite the door being gone.

The big drawback to the property itself is that it's a very small lot with absolutely no shade at midday. And that's not something it's easy to fix. A partial fix might be to grow peas and run their strings up the porch, but you can't just get a full-grown tree in like you can change out a water heater. Well, I mean, you can, hypothetically - I had a uncle who moved a gigantic tulip tree one time, but he had a crew, a crane, a backhoe, a large truck, and plenty of money from the woman who wanted it done.

Anyhow.

Just hanging around waiting for littleredhead and groundctrl, at the moment - we're supposed to go sledding :) - and trying to decide whether to make a thermos of hot chocolate or not. Or whether to make it from the old tried and true Nestle's instant or go with something more interesting. I got these chocolate balls from Granada for Christmas, from Eor's sister - one ball is supposed to be melted into three to five cups of water, strained, and then milk and sugar to taste, so it seems unlikely that I'll ever do this if I don't have someone to share it with. Several someones.

...

Whoops, I guess I should have posted the above. Sledding has been done and a wonderful feed of Indian food has been fed. I'm finishing myself off with coconut cookies that littleredhead brought for me, and some hot chocolate.

We had a wicked good time sledding! It's brilliantly sunny out, if cold, but we didn't feel the cold at all. 13F and we were sweating from climbing the hill. And then we did the Swedish hot chocolate ritual - where you squat on the ground, pour out two cups of chocolate and each couple shares a cup back and forth repeating the ritual phrases: "Did you see me hit that bump, man? I caught air! I totally ate snow!" and "What is the sound of one buttock throbbing?" And then we changed into dry things and found the appropriate Indian restaurant in which to rejuvenate ourselves. :)

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

I know only too well that there's a lot of compromise that goes on between getting the place you want/can afford, but a decent sized kitchen is really essential if you are a person who likes food.

And what the heck with the pizza boxes? The brass neck of people trying to sell a place without even tidying up the place a bit first. I've seen some places that made me roll my eyes at the badness of them for the price being asked, but it would never happen in this country that you'd go to see a place the there'd be actual rubbish there!

That said, it must be nice if Eor wants to buy it.

[derien.livejournal.com]

It was foreclosed by the bank, I think, and when they do that it seems the usual plan is to not touch anything inside the house at all, just chunk it off on someone else as fast as possible. They have no idea what, exactly, is wrong with it.

It's solid and has all the original woodwork, and hasn't been badly remodled by poor DIY, which is sadly very difficult to find. One wall was removed, but they kept the mouldings for it! Eor thinks he would probably put it back.

The other house we're really drawn to has had a little bit of DIYer impact, but we think we could correct most of the problems fairly easily, and be living it it at the same time. And I think Eor's drawn to the bigger challenge. Also, possibly, the fact that the smaller house has a (tiny) garage, where he could put his van, which the larger one doesn't. I think we could build a garage for his van, as the lot of the bigger house is MUCH larger. And there are some trees - one looks like an apple. :)