My Mother's House
Aug. 4th, 2013 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloThe keypad that allows entry to the back door has been on the blink since before we went away. I propose we replace it with a straightforward, non- electrical Yale lock.
We've been waiting for months for a builder to come and fix the damp in our bedroom. He fixed it before to no good effect and I suspect there's nothing he can do now short of taking down the wall- and that's why he's delaying his return.
There's wallpaper peeling off the ceiling in the hall.
Matthew fixed the greenhouse while we were away. I don't know how he managed. The panes of glass keep falling out of a wooden framework which has- in places- rotted into a state of non-existence. I keep waiting for a heavy rain or a strong wind to take the whole thing down.
The electricity went off yesterday. We tracked the fault down to one of the rings on the kitchen hob- and isolated it. It must be 40 years since the house was last rewired.
The dining table my mother uses as a desk has a leg on the point of detaching itself. My sister has propped it up with bits of wood she found in the garage.
The roof isn't looking too good. There are a lot of broken tiles.
The switch that controls the garage doors works sometimes.
The hornets were back last night. They got into the bathroom and both bedrooms.
We've been waiting for months for a builder to come and fix the damp in our bedroom. He fixed it before to no good effect and I suspect there's nothing he can do now short of taking down the wall- and that's why he's delaying his return.
There's wallpaper peeling off the ceiling in the hall.
Matthew fixed the greenhouse while we were away. I don't know how he managed. The panes of glass keep falling out of a wooden framework which has- in places- rotted into a state of non-existence. I keep waiting for a heavy rain or a strong wind to take the whole thing down.
The electricity went off yesterday. We tracked the fault down to one of the rings on the kitchen hob- and isolated it. It must be 40 years since the house was last rewired.
The dining table my mother uses as a desk has a leg on the point of detaching itself. My sister has propped it up with bits of wood she found in the garage.
The roof isn't looking too good. There are a lot of broken tiles.
The switch that controls the garage doors works sometimes.
The hornets were back last night. They got into the bathroom and both bedrooms.
My Mother's House
Date: 2013-08-04 10:05 am (UTC)We seem to keep nature from taking over only by constant interventions and repairs. If it was left untended, how long before the roof fell in, the water poured in, animals and insects started to take over? I reminds me of the deserted village in the mountain in Southern Spain that I took photos of and you wrote accompanying poems to.
Love Jenny x
Re: My Mother's House
Date: 2013-08-04 11:35 am (UTC)But I don't think Ma would stand for having the builders in. We'll have to go on patching and mending and making do.
We had the builders in a couple of years ago- and it's no fun.
I think the house will last out her time without a major intervention but I'll be surprised if the greenhouse is still standing at Christmas.