#FlashFiveFriday – House
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #FlashFiveFriday run by The Indie Exchange.
#FlashFiveFriday is a weekly flash fiction / flash blogging prompt.
The rules are very simple if you’d like to take part:
1) Write for no longer than five minutes
2) No upper or lower word limits
3) You must write something new
4) You can prepare your post ahead of time but the 5 minute limit still applies
5) If you add your blog post to the weekly linky you must visit five other blogs that week too to show your support
This week’s #FlashFiveFriday post
#FlashFiveFriday – House
Dave
The house I’m currently in with Mrs B is the first home I have owned. I’d like to say it’s a nice home but truth be told it does have some issues. We currently have holes in the roof which only some nifty work my father-in-law has managed to assuage down to just a few drops of water, carefully caught in a bucket we have stashed in the loft. We love that bucket. He’s a real nice guy is that bucket.
Prior to the roof debacle we had issues with our boiler last year. It simply stopped working and due to financial constraints we could not afford to get it repaired. We faced the prospect of winter with just an electric heater to see us through the cold. It wasn’t pretty but we were blessed with an unusually mild winter in the UK so it could have been much worse.
I remember first moving into our little house and savouring how much space there was compared to the flat I had lived alone in. When we opened the doors to six cats the domestic idyll gave way to six rampaging felines who have now put paid to the curtains, the wallpaper and even taken up some of the carpet too. One set of curtains are only still up because one half of the curtain pole is still firmly nailed into the wall. The cats being Tarzan have yanked the other side almost clean out of the wall, which is held in by a solitary nail and not convincingly I might add.
We may do this house up if and when our fortunes change but if we are to move to a new home in future it won’t have wallpaper, carpets, curtains or any kind of furniture, I can promise you that. Cat proof it must be. My sanity can’t take it otherwise!
Donna
Like Mr B admits, our house is not without its failings and increasingly we’ve begun to ask ourselves why there seems such a British obsession with home ownership. From the moment you begin working, you know you are working towards buying a home. Renting is considered ‘wasted’ money and ‘getting on to the property ladder’ is considered vital.
When we encountered the boiler issues and then the holes in the roof, we were asked the same question by American friends on Facebook: “Why can’t the landlord help?”
I have no desire to move from property to property and the stability of knowing you own a home is reassuring. Kind of. But I’ve known people lose their home due to repossession and others face that very real possibility along with sleepless nights at 3 a.m. Need help with your mortgage if you’ve lost your job? You’ll be waiting at least three months before you can get any support.
It’s nice to own a house but here in the UK we need to get over this idea that it’s the only way forward. There are more options than the property ladder and all its daunting responsibilities.
#FlashFiveFriday – House | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
