House Proud

One of us! One of us!

– The Simpsons

On Sunday mornings I ask Kevin, “Will we speak with The Boy today?”

Better known as “Ben”, The Boy is a full-grown man now, but speaking (and now Skyping) with him on Sundays is a tradition of long standing and one of the best parts of our week. For many, many Sundays, Ben — Kevin’s son/my stepson — provided updates on the hurdles and contingencies he was untangling in order to acquire his first house. Recently, everything resolved, and Ben and his lovely girlfriend Lois moved house. (Or just “moved” if you are logging in on the west side of the pond. No houses were literally moved for this post.)

Ben and Lois live not too far from Manchester (in the north of England, y’all), where houses are often built of creamy limestone block. I downloaded the estate agent’s pictures to give you a preliminary looky-look. Here’s the front of their new digs:

house front

And the back, with an extension and great French doors:

house back exterior

The sitting room. Fireplace is original and fully operational. The striped wallpaper is already gone. They also ripped up the carpet and refinished the original plank floors that they found intact underneath. They move fast!

house living room

The roomy kitchen, complete with a rather amazing cooker (dual fuel! it rhymes!) and a refrigerator of nearly American proportions.

house kitchen

The dining room/sunroom off the back. A stream runs past the garden and flagstone patio.

house kitchen toward sun room

Upstairs, two bedrooms and a full bath, including this nice-sized room with wood floors and great light!

house bedroom

I cannot wait to see it in person! In the meantime, we’re getting a huge kick out of talking about home improvement and hearing all their plans. We’ll include updates here from time to time. Most of our traffic is from the US and the UK, so depending on where you’re arriving from, I hope you enjoy seeing a little bit about how projects unfold overseas. Plus, given the speed with which Ben and Lois are making changes, there’s a lot more stuff getting done there than around here!

Of course, people always think their sprogs (US: “kids”) are the Source of All Goodness and Light. But in this case, it’s actually true. Congrats, Ben!

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