Monday 26 May 2025 post begun 1036hrs BST
IT'S A KITCHEN, D'UH! Of bloody course the cabinetry should be 'satin white' with a dark worktop over, flippin' d'uh - a dark worktop means the impossible-to-avoid tea and 'red sauce' (BBQ, tomato, curry...) stains don't show, and washable 'satin white' cabinetry means drips and other kitchen gunk can be seen and cleaned up immediately.
It's called hygienic. It's called sanitary. It's called efficient kitchen from which arrive delicious meals and baked goods you don't worry will give you some nasty food borne illness.
D'UH!
I love my husband. But he's incapable of understanding why I constantly agitate for a new kitchen - preferably in a slightly large home. Our current kitchen is the ultimate 'minimalist' dream - so bloody effing small NOTHING fits and actually cooking is next to bloody effing impossible. I've seen on-board railway galleys that are more efficient (and hygienic).
Fair play, he has Asperger's and is Aspie-comfortable in this effing shoebox with a garden my heart conditions mean I can't keep up - and he neglects shamefully.
He has, with my encouragement, the sole use of the one and only bedroom in this semi - a man with Asperger's NEEDS a sanctuary, a safe retreat from the daily hustle-bustle of home and neighbours. I accepted that need when I married him and while our first marital home had two bedrooms, it worked nicely for us until some serious issues arose.
In 2018 we downsized to a lovely one bed-one bath semi tucked away from foot and motor traffic. I knew it was a mistake but we needed to move asap - the first home had a back garden 20ft high retaining wall my building conservation husband recognised presented a collapse threat and the neighbours didn't want to know. Oh, and their two pre-teen daughters thought it a-ok to peer into our windows from their vantage point AND intrude on any BBQ or garden party we tried to have. We. Had. To. Move. Paul was on the verge of permanent meltdown at 'the old house'.
By 2019 I was on a folding bed in the living room so Paul could have the bedroom to his sole use. By 2024 the extremely 'compact' nature of this semi was frazzling my last nerve. It is now mid-2025 and...
We need to move. Again - but hopefully for the last time. We're both in our late 60s and need to be realistic. I just don't know (yet) how I'm going to convince my beloved Paulie.
I've found 'the perfect' property - a 2bed-1bath with an genuinely perfect floor-plan. Now all I have to do is get Paul to consider it, view it (because I know if he actually sees it he will fall in love with it and make an offer on the spot), and then move into it.
No garden - it's a 1st floor flat with main door and a stair from the main door to the living quarters wide enough for a nice stair lift to be fitted. Fab big kitchen, multi-fuel burner in the living room, both bedrooms great size with one to the rear overlooking a churchyard (right up Paul's street for peace, quiet, and a lovely view:). Modern bathroom AND a converted large walk-in closet turned office (perfect for my sewing-crafting). Oh, did I mention the windows fill the property with sunlight AND the floored and insulated attic is accessed via a discreet actual stair.
We're 'not getting any younger'. This flat I'm dreaming of living in has two bedrooms AND is located on an easy to access street - deliveries would no longer go 'Can't Locate' (sigh) and emergency services can not only find us but can get their appliances right at our doorstep. Our current property is tucked away down a 'goat path' lane only wide enough for a compact car meaning IF emergency services can even find our home they can't get the ambulance or fire engine to us.
Did I mention no garden? At this point I'm a-ok with a few houseplants and cut flowers from the supermarket.
If not this flat then another just like it - it may take me a while to convince my darling husband.
Sigh
Posted 26 May 2025 1113hrs BST
