Tuesday 16 October 2012

My New Flat

This is totally off-topic, but since a large number of you seemed to be interested in historical romances and houses, I thought I would tell you that for the next few weeks I will be dividing my time between a flat in an early seventeenth century house in the city and my usual flat in a late seventeenth century house (with eighteenth century improvements) in what is left of the most local countryside.

The city flat is very small and modern-looking, although it is at the very top of a very steep and narrow turning seventeenth century staircase and has views of other ancient buildings in Edinburgh's Old Town. Spires and towers and ball finials abound.

The flat has a tiny front hall, really an antechamber between door to stairwell and door to flat, a sitting-room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom with two narrow single beds, somewhat like those of Bert and Ernie or married couples in old films.

The sitting-room has windows on both sides of the room, dressed with Jacobean rose-print drapes, a wine-coloured sofa and armchair, a modern tartan rug on the sisal carpet and a cunning electric fire in the nineteenth century tiled grate. It has a television with better reception than to that which we are accustomed, and there seems to be unlimited hot water, "Just like in Canada, darling."

Sadly, there is no coffee machine. And even more sadly, there is no internet access, so I will not be able to blog or read your comments. However, there is internet access at a nearby library, so I will not be out of touch.

Here is an article I came across about Other Singles of Good Will that I found very moving. It is in The New York Times, so read the combox at your peril. I quit when I got to the "imagine what a wonderful world it would be without religion" comment. Mmm, yes. Because 20th century experiments with that concept turned out SO WELL (sarcasm). So never mind the combox. There is enough in the article itself hinting at controversies within religious communities, shared by observant women of many religions.

1 comment:

jamie said...

mmm. That article was very well done. A woman's a woman, no matter...uh, what religion you are. I can definitely relate.

The more I think about it, though, most of the conversations about marriage that I have with Single (girl) friends are really not thinly veiled envious discussions. I am genuinely happy for my married friends. Most of my conversations of this type border more along the lines of: "I feel like I'm ready to be married. But in order to be married, I guess there has to at least be a man in the picture that I'm interested in." I think I'm less envious as I am just simply getting impatient. So...where are you hiding him, God?? :)

Caveat: I don't really have many married friends. Not good friends that I actually am still in regular contact with, anyway. One of my best friends who is married doesn't have kids yet, so when she does, that could possibly change our relationship somewhat, but I don't think it will. She lives pretty far away, but regularly hosts overnight gatherings of our college girlfriends whenever we can get there. So it's not like I'm seeing her any more or less than I would if she wasn't married. Also, her husband was a good friend to all of us before they were married, as well.