" Who lives here?"


It's a beautiful summer morning and the cottage windows are wide open.
I was ironing a shirt in the kitchen when I heard the ramblers outside.
They had walked up through Graham's sheep fields and were heading for the Gop.
I heard a tinkle of a laugh and a woman's voice.
" who do you think lives here?" She asked
The women were playing a sort of game children do
Who lives in a house like this?....
The game had started next door when the walkers had spied sailor John's homebuilt sailing boat
I paused my ironing to listen
I wasn't surprised with the comments
" lovely little garden"
" nice flowers in the window "
" awwwww look at that little dog asleep" ( George)
" tasteful" 
" an older lady with class?" ( I liked that one)
" no an older couple " whispered " underpants hanging!" 
" no look at the kitchen tiles, very retro , it's someone younger "
" they have a wood stove whoever they are?"
" a holiday cottage perhaps?" 
" no there's an antique soup tureen on the window ledge... its someone older and they own it"  

I couldn't resist joining the discussion so I popped my head around the kitchen wall
" actually it's a middle aged homosexual with fabulous taste who lives here !" I trilled
And the women all cackled with good humour



84 comments:

  1. So glad to hear you solved the problem for them!

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    1. You can't leave it alone, can you ...

      U

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  3. A happy home all together!

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  4. I loved this post. Glad you set them "straight." And I am pleased that they laughed too.

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  5. Haha, great answer!

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  6. I like their detective work!

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  7. Well done John. Next you'll be selling Cream Teas.

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  8. So funny, go John !

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  9. Anonymous11:58 am

    Wide smile.

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  10. I hope you had tidied up.

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  11. What a wonderful neighborhood, keep having fun,

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  12. Have you got a public footpath right past your kitchen window through your garden?

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    1. No the kitchen side window opens directly onto the lane I've had people just peeping directly into the kitchen before now
      Y into

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    2. I had to walk through someone's garden once as I was following a map.I felt awful but didn't know where else to go-suddenly a man in slinky black trunks fled.I didn't get chance to apologise x

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  13. "Oh look at this darling bulldog."
    "She's rubbing her fanny against your leg!"
    "Yech! That's gross! Have you got your fanny flannel on you Myfanwy?"

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    1. Thank goodness she was still upstairs in bed.. she goes to bed at 7 am after her first pee of the day..she doesn't get up until noon

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  14. hee hee hee!

    "'actually it's a middle aged homosexual with fabulous taste who lives here!' I trilled" - I read that in your voice!

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  15. Simple human interactions can sometimes be so very encouraging that the world isn't a total shitshow.

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    1. As long as we keep our humour , as long as we keep our humour xx

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  16. Fun game. And a great view. First thing in the morning I go to Cro's, then I come here, wondering on both counts what the hell went wrong that I currently haven't got a garden of my own. Still, better to live by proxy than being compost.

    U

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    1. I have always had a small patch of green wherever I have lived

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  17. Very funny, I would have laughed too. You made their day and ours.

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  18. I did the same as Anne Marie. I read it in your voice and it added so much more humor to it! I love you so much! I reiterate, I am not a stalker!

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  19. I was thinking (and hoping) that you were going to pop your head out with a "BOO!", but you topped it.

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    1. Always have the best one liner ready Raymondo

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    2. Trouble is, the best ones only come to me a long time afterwards, by which time it's much too late to employ them.

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  20. Love the quote John! Enjoy your Saturday! Gabs

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  21. I do love your style.

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  22. Love the “from the window” view . . . lovely . . .
    And loved your response to the “trilling girls” . . .

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  23. John, no one has ever explained to me why there are no screens on windows in Britain. Did St. Patrick drive out all the flying insects. Perhaps the atmosphere is just too pleasant for bugs to penetrate. Wonderful story; have a grand day.

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    1. Joanne perhaps we just don't have the bugs you do x

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  24. I would love to have seen their faces! I hope your day is still beautiful.

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  25. FABULOUS DAWLING, JUST FABULOUS!!!! (Do you not have screens on your windows in the UK?)

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    1. We used to have an antique French lace curtain on the lane window but it doesn't fit with the new window

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    2. Not the lace kind, the mesh kind that keep the bugs out.

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  26. I have always said start worrying when they don't talk about you....keep them guessing...…

    I would have loved to have seen their faces.

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  27. Anonymous2:54 pm

    They did very well! However, never in a million years would they have guessed..

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  28. That one will be told around the dinner table to sounds of gentle laughter.

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  29. How does one trill?

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  30. I love it when you can join in with other people's conversations and it all turns into a good natured laugh. That's the beauty of having dogs ... or simply a beautiful cottage and garden that folk can get up close and personal with 😁

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    1. Yes I agree make something more fun....everyone wins

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  31. Ha! That was fun and delightful!

    Your view and home are charming and picturesque. Beautiful and vibrant. And so welcoming and cheerful. Lovely.

    I am troubled by the fact that strangers can just hop off the walkway and look into your kitchen window!

    It gets hot in these parts, so I like to chill in my home in my underpants (and sometimes no pants when getting out of the shower). If I was at your place, I would keep the blinds closed or have a privacy fence or wall installed...or install a pay booth for the peep show. Proceeds will go to a good cause...

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    1. Most old cottages like ours ( circa 1760) were built on lanes and thoroughfairs .
      We have three kitchen windows the one on the lane was in fact an old door...

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  32. How much fun ! Lovely people outside walking on a nice day, and playing a walking game and enjoying the day. Love that you popped up with the answer.
    And your window and garden looks adorable plus a sleeping George helps.

    cheers, parsnip

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  33. There is a Portmeirion soup tureen in a window nearby to my house x

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  34. I'm beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with me, because I seem to be the only local who doesn't want too or hasn't been a peeping tom at your kitchen window.

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    1. These weren't locals.....where are you again Mary?

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  35. Another story well told! It's lovely that all the comments were kind as they made their guesses. And now they, too, have a great story to tell :)

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    1. I wondered if the underpants comment would be laughed at

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  36. Lovely story John - and a good laugh was had by all.

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  37. Go on, show us your tureen!

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    1. tee hee, that sounds so naughty!

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    2. It's lovely and is in fact a vegetable bowl

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  38. A lovely tale. Which has people smiling around the world.

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    1. We all need a smile at the moment eh?

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  39. I have no idea what passers-by deduce from the items on display in my front windows. But I hope they deduce that the occupier is someone of impeccable good taste and discernment.

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    1. The underpants , George and other bits were out on the patio

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  40. We used to have a big sitting room window that looked out directly onto the pavement. We had a thin net curtain that stopped casual passers by staring in but that wasn't much use when we moved a large, brightly lit vivarium into the room with bearded dragon lizards in it. One night I was startled by banging on the window and looked up to find a grizzled elderly Eastern European chap leaning on the glass, hands cupped round his eyes to improve the view, shouting "YOU HAVE NICE BLIZZARDS! I LIKE YOUR BLIZZARDS"

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    1. When I lived in Sheffield the houses were terraced and faced the street. I loved walking finlay ( my dog) at night looking at the wallpaper, furniture lifestyles of many a living room

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    2. We used to do that in Newcastle in the early 1970s spotting who had got Laura Ashley curtains and wallpaper.

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    3. It's great fun....obviously more people do it than I thought

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  41. Now they had something to really discuss on their way to the gop!!

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  42. I would have jumped out of my shoes !

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  43. You made their day, John, as you do for many.

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  44. I often look at older homes, while driving on less traveled narrow country roads, trying to visualize what living their must have been like just before the industrial revolution. I am old enough to remember the family crowded around the radio listening to "The Phantom" while I squirmed in my seat on the floor. Now That, really dates me I quess.

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  45. How rude! And invasive. Still no screens? My pug would be out that open window, headed for the Gop and beyond, with or without the rude walkers.

    lizzy

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  46. Anonymous7:50 am

    but whose underpants were they… Yours, I guess. Didn't they catch on they were a blokes underpants? Or is there something you haven't told us yet…
    Elsewhere from Amsterdam

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    1. My big pants on the airier by the back door

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  47. Loved how you gave them the answer! lol

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  48. Ah, adorable. I will forever think of you as a middle-aged homosexual with fabulous taste.

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  49. Hahaha - thanks for making me smile.

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