this is my home now
This block of flats, two up, two down, is built in a "T" formation.
Four flats in front, four flats in the "T" behind, which I didn't take a photo of. Yet.
This little bit of the block, is mine. My new home.
The balcony above the front door belongs to the upstairs flat.
It looks small, and when I first saw it, I worried a little. How on earth was I going to live in this?
But once I stepped inside I was reassured. Not a mansion by any means, but plenty big enough.
After all, I'm only one person, how much space do I really need?
So I'm well settled, the flat is very, very familiar already and after only two weeks I get a sense of coming home when I unlock the front door on arriving home from work.
This photo is part of the garden that fronts the complex on the main road side.
It's quite a large complex, more than 100 flats altogether, with a main entrance from the busy main road, and another entrance from a side street.
I haven't taken a lot of photos around here yet, I've been a little busy with the unpacking at first, then the working out of bus timetables so that I can get to work on time.
A minor snafu on the first day, now I make sure I catch the bus earlier than the one I want, in order to catch the second bus. The connections don't mesh very well, there's quite a lot of time spent waiting at bus stops.
Thankfully the weather is nice and by the time winter rolls around again, I'll be well used to the routine and waiting in the rain won't bother me.
The balcony above the front door belongs to the upstairs flat.
It looks small, and when I first saw it, I worried a little. How on earth was I going to live in this?
But once I stepped inside I was reassured. Not a mansion by any means, but plenty big enough.
After all, I'm only one person, how much space do I really need?
So I'm well settled, the flat is very, very familiar already and after only two weeks I get a sense of coming home when I unlock the front door on arriving home from work.
It's quite a large complex, more than 100 flats altogether, with a main entrance from the busy main road, and another entrance from a side street.
I haven't taken a lot of photos around here yet, I've been a little busy with the unpacking at first, then the working out of bus timetables so that I can get to work on time.
A minor snafu on the first day, now I make sure I catch the bus earlier than the one I want, in order to catch the second bus. The connections don't mesh very well, there's quite a lot of time spent waiting at bus stops.
Thankfully the weather is nice and by the time winter rolls around again, I'll be well used to the routine and waiting in the rain won't bother me.
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I often wonder what it will be like when I move from the large house in which I live with many others, who come and go to a small space. I can see it happening, and sometimes I long for it. Large spaces can be difficult to manage. Small spaces are much more manageable. Your new space looks terrific.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth; thank you. I used to want to have lots of empty space around me, but I've changed my mind quite a bit now that I'm no longer able to care for a large garden or even clean as much as I used to. This smaller space is much easier to manage. I'm very comfortable here.
ReplyDeleteThe building and grounds look nice and your indoor shots show that the space is comfortable. You have a knack for making "home" wherever you are.
ReplyDeleteDelores; the grounds are nice. There's plenty of space between each block of flats, lots of trees and bushes, many people also have their own potplants on their porches, just like me.
ReplyDeleteI've had many happy landlords in the past all commenting on how I've made their property into a "home". Well, I have to, it's my home for however long I stay there and I like it to be comfy. I don't understand people who say "oh it's just a rental" and don't make any effort to make or keep it nice.
You are adjusting beautifully. Change is my bug-a-boo. I don't do well with it. My hat is off to you.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck
It looks really nice, and I loved the shots of the gardens. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou've settled in nicely and the gardens look well kept, but i couldn't live with my neighbour above my head too noisy and intrusive, that's why i bought a ground floor unit :-).
ReplyDeleteA home is a home, no matter if it's rented or owned.
ReplyDeleteGlad you've settled in and the gardens out the front look really nice.
I swear that buses are getting worse!
I like the way the balcony above your door shelters it. You've got that place for life, never get booted out.
ReplyDeleteAre all the flats small like yours? I had a marvellous commission unit in Highett (Melbourne), ultra modern, two floors, backyard and all. The only trouble was some of the neighbours, a woman on the corner broadcast country and western twenty hours a day and the one on the opposite corner was a rampant slut. I had a little affair with her but so did every other bloke in the place.
And she had a little daughter, same age as mine. That's what I think about; the kids. It's hard for them to grow up decent when the parents are shit.
I'm glad you are settling in River. It must have been daunting at first.
ReplyDeleteThe garden looks lovely.
I hope you get the internet sorted - how frustrating.
Manzanita; I used to think I didn't deal well with change, but I've discovered that it depends very much on what the change is, what it will mean to me. New rules and methods at work? Hell no! I can't handle that well at all. But a new home with less financial stress, less cleaning, (no carpet), no garden that I have to care for? That's a change I CAN handle.
ReplyDeleteEC; I like that they're the community gardens, looked after by the Housing Trust, so I don't have to be weeding or mowing grass.
Windsmoke; the neighbour upstairs is very quiet about 22 hours of the day, I only hear him when he's coming or going.
Sarah; you're right, a home is a home if you choose to make it one. I much prefer a comfy home than just someplace to park your boots.
R.H. I plan on being here till they carry me out in a cardboard box. I'm pretty sure all the flats are small like mine, I'll have a wander around the complex on Sunday and check things out. I also play country and western music, but not loud enough to annoy the neighbours. I hope. Shame about your other neighbour. Maybe she chose that way to make a little extra cash to feed and clothe the daughter?
Trish; It turned out to be not as daunting as I thought it would be. Internet seems to be behaving itself today.
If all the flats are small like yours there's unlikely to be single parent families there. Which means that apart from the odd mental case you can expect a peaceful ride. My housing commission experience was on a 'family' estate of two/three bedroom flats and while some of these single parenting women really did love their kids some loved men more.
ReplyDeleteI offended the country and western woman (and her kids) in my first week there by planting flowers in the front garden.
ReplyDeletePenalty: egged windows.
One night her crony on the other corner invited herself in to visit me. She left after about two hours, came back wearing a flimsy nightie, and played a dirty video on my TV. Then upstairs on the old double bed she says, "You're not very romantic, are you."
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the hell she expected because I didn't even like her. A few days later, late at night, I heard her accost the teenage boy next door as he arrived home. "You're a bit of a snob, aren't you," she says, playfully. Good heavens, this was a woman with a six year-old child. Her flat had more blokes in and out than a male toilet during a Grand Final.
It's great how quickly we adjust isn't it? And its nice to have a speedhump on the road nearby so people don't speed past. I've applied for one on our road as well for that reason. Glad you're settling in quickly River x
ReplyDeleteR.H. most of the flats appear to be one bedroom like mine, but I'm wondering if a few of them have two bedrooms. There's a block directly across the driveway from mine and the upstairs flat seems to have three or four people living there. A family I'm sure. I think they're Jamaican because I often hear reggae music when they sit out on the balcony.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who gets offended by flowers probably isn't worth knowing. Egging your windows seems a little harsh though. The other, slutty neighbour didn't bother you again?
Sarah; The speed hump is axtually on the driveway, there are several of them along the extent of it, from the main road entrance to the side road entrance that I use.
I'm so completely settled I feel as if I've been here a year instead of two weeks.
I can't get over how she thought she looked alluring in a see-through nightie. She kind of stomped about in it, all skin and bone. But that's how she walked anyway, packet of fags in her hand. Well I can say she wasn't nasty at all, we became very polite to each other, and when I told her I'd come to like the country and western music (knowing she'd pass it on to the scrag who played it) I became an okay guy around the place.
ReplyDeleteGolly, the lies you gotta tell for peace!