When we moved in to this house a few years ago now – this was the house my parents had from about 1989 until I bought it off them (I mean it’s stupidly complex, I bought it in ’89 and they moved in and paid the mortgage and I ended up selling it back to them in ’03 so I could buy a house) anyway… we did a few things to it.
We have a small back garden. Not massive but certainly more exterior space than we ever had in our flat – but we also had a freakily useless large drive way at the side of the building that leads to a garage.
We ended up having to knock down the wall at the side of the driveway and we replaced it with a tall fence, which actually gave us a bit more privacy in the back garden (because the wall allowed anyone to just peer in). I mean we could spend another 15k-I-don’t-have on this house and barely make a dent, but this was one of the first and most sensible things we did.
As a result our drive way effectively became a yard. And it has become the place that houses things that have to go to the dump, especially large things. It’s purgatory for junk.
My wife hates it. Understandably. It takes a small area and makes it unnecessarily messy.
But, weirdly, I actually like it. It takes a small area and makes it feel like the back yards of my childhood. Where a broken chair leg could be repurposed in to a machine gun to kill hordes of Nazi stormtroopers, or a detached broom handle could pull double duty as either a lightsaber or as Monkey’s staff, fighting various demons while it was twirled around you like a maniac.
My wife sees a pile of crap and I see a pile of childhood wonder.
I’d love to convince my wife we should also dry clothes in this area, but she’s resolutely set on never doing that. (Which is a shame, because a backyard full of junk and hanging clothes you can get lost in gives me a sort of warm hug just thinking about it)
So I’ve been constantly kicking the can down the road for when I should tidy it all up. The endless rain has really been on my side on this front.
Arts Funding
I’ve been trying to understand arts funding, and let me tell you – it is not easy to understand. I’d much rather walk in a place and talk to someone, explain what I’m trying to do and have them say “this sounds great, lets fund that” – which was how I did things when I worked in IT. In the arts, filled with people, famously allergic to paperwork, you have to go through mountains of paperwork. I’m staggered any one bothers.
I am trying to think of some lateral moves I can make, in NI – to fund doing more Terran Omega. Ulster Scots? Why not? Irish Language? For sure. Just you know… give me some money.
Sunday For Sammy
Wife and youngest off to Newcastle today for Sunday for Sammy a charity concert. Son is a massive fan of the 1975, and it was all very last minute. Was out and got a text on Friday “We’re going to Newcastle on Sunday” so I’m trying to take today to finish some stuff, start scripting the next two episodes of Terran Omega (‘The Seed’) and get some invoices out. It’s been a rough week or three for invoicing, and I really need to get on top of that.
And that’s it. Will try and get back to our regularly scheduled programming of Yesterday On Social Media (which I kind of miss) tomorrow…
