I've been in my house for 12 years, and it is approx 110 years old. At least the barn that was previously on the site was pulled down then. It was originally a pair of semi-detached houses,"2 up, 2 down", and 25 years ago was converted into one. We are the third family to inhabit it since then. I stress "family" because a sale fell through just before we saw it, and that was for a single woman. It's a house you have to walk into and through. On the ground floor there is no passageway. When we viewed it, it had stood empty for 14 months and had rising damp in the sitting room. I know it was summer, but as I walked into it, I felt it fold itself around me. The house likes a family. We had to have a new damp course installed, and a new kitchen. all the plaster on the ground floor was chiselled off for the first 3 feet or so. Moving into the place with no heating in the November was a bit of a trial!. That Christmas my mum came to stay, and after the first night she walked downstairs and said, "This house is a lady with a bustle, and although she's pleased you're here, she's a bit miffed that you haven't bought her a present!" (My mum can be a bit odd at times!) To which I replied something along the lines of "But I've just bought her a new kitchen!" Funny thing is though, at odd times on one side of the building, a couple of my kids have "seen" an old lady (so they said) and I never feel alone in the place...

And speaking of music, you should have been at the Christmas party: Bill Sables, Sam Pirt and Ian Stephenson firing off each other, with us other mere mortals joining in as and when we could!

mouldy