Derek

In the back bedroom (or guest room) on the wall is a printer’s case. A friend, who has since sadly died, gave this to D and I many years ago. He was one of those people who had led an interesting and varied life; following an apprenticeship as the Printer's Devil(which, according to his autobiography[!]is an historic term for a printer's apprentice), he went to Australia  on the £10 passage. Here he found work as a journalist and met the Beatles at a party (well, all except Lennon). On his return he worked at the V&A as an attendant, followed by work as a housemaster at a boarding school for children with chronic asthma  - where he ran a printing press in the converted gym.  In later life he bought a van and set up a mobile printing works – designing and setting small letterpress jobs and printing them in the back of his van… but of course this was all before I knew him. He stayed with us on various occasions (often sleeping in his camper van outside!) and during one of his visits produced the wooden case and with it, our names in wood type, as a thank you. It was a lovely gift, but why didn't I discover more… what other wonders did he have squirreled away? Were these oddments of wood type – or part of a full set that he split? Part of me feels guilty that the case and type have become a wall decoration – but it is what he intended.  

Table Setting

I hardly ever have cream teas, but I love the idea of taking time out to have 'tea'and a cordial chat in the afternoon. No doubt it is re-living nostalgic memories of childhood, when we used to stop off for this tea-time treat on the way back from an excursion whilst on holiday. So although it was only once or twice a year (never to be had at home), the performative nature of the cream tea intrigued me, and I really liked the way it was served, so that I had the choice of whether to put the jam or the cream on first, myself (always the cream)! 
My Mother's Grandmother hailed from Devonshire (never 'Devon').

Granny’s blanket

Ok, I'm in the small third bedroom now – and as we have already discussed the merits of crochet, I thought I would share my blanket with you; made by Granny many years ago, it has several holes (which, if I were able to crochet I would probably be able to mend) the culprit was our old cat who loved to sleep on it, but would regularly pummel it with his claws. I hate to admit this but I have never dared wash it – although maybe I should rectify this situation? 

Kitchen (utensil)

Ok P, carrying on from the bottom of the stairs, we go along the back part of the hall way, past the recent (but as yet, not painted) addition of 'the under stairs cupboard' to arrive at the entrance to the kitchen. As you can see in the second photo (one with my slippered feet) there used to be a door here at some stage, which was removed. We are not going to put one back.

On into the kitchen, a galley type space, with units along one side and the sink, cooker and washing machine on the other. After renovating the kitchen (over our first Christmas holiday in this house), we knocked through
the back wall last summer to put a door (instead of a window) at the end of the kitchen. This necessitated changing the location of the sink, and therefore the plumbing and radiator position. So finishing and redecoration of this space is now being saved as a job for this summer.

On the stainless steel work surface is a spoon rest. It was found in a charity shop for 75p. It looked kind of familiar. It turned out that my Mum had one exactly the same. She doesn't know what happened to it. Maybe it got lost when they moved house?

Alternative bathroom cabinet

Outside the bathroom hang a row of gym bags on a set of old hooks (these were found on a roadside somewhere in Greece, and bought home as hand luggage, not your average holiday souvenir). The gym bags are my bathroom cabinet – the bathroom itself is small with limited free wall space – so the bags, which are themed – hold various bits and pieces; for example spare shampoo, conditioners and soaps in one – all things medicinal in another – etc. Is the medicine/bathroom cabinet endangered I wonder?

In the time it takes to go up and down the stairs ...

(which ok, admittedly has been quite a while) the base of the stairs has changed quite a bit! The paper has been scraped off the walls to reveal the original decoration underneath (plus quite a few new patching jobs to do) and the position of the newel post has changed to be two steps up from the bottom of the staircase. The re-site of the post has now changed how the stairs can be navigated (can step up from the side), and has also widened the hallway - as you may notice from the pic - the two bottom stairs are removable which 'well whaddya know' know, when they are taken away - it makes it possible to steer a vinatge vespa scooter all the way through our terraced house and ot into the workshop beyond!

Sign of the times

A relatively new acquisition is the sign on the stairway. Purchased purely for its typographic quality – I have since learned that it is from the Great Western Railway – identifiable by its colour apparently. I also like the sentiment of the message – firm yet polite! 

It's a good size piece too - 4 feet across, so it is easily accommodated on the quite large expanse of stairwell wall.