House Rules and Guidelines

  Outside out business premises

My husband has been testing the boundaries of late and I have not been too mean about it because I know it has been a difficult time in our business with the change of warehouse situation. Now I have had to call a top level meeting to re-establish the previous guidelines. The first and most important protest that I have brought up is that I don’t want the entire house to be his office. Steve did nod nicely when I called this to his attention and he did clear some parts of our main room in the house, that being what most people would call the lounge or the sitting room. Our friends and family know that this, in our case is a combination room. We sleep in a large French bed at the back garden end of that space, close to the french doors. There is not a dressing table, there is not a wardrobe. Moving toward the middle of the room there is a French table that can also be used as a desk this stands at the dividing point of that once upon a time dining room area. The rest of the space is a relaxing, sitting, chatting, reading, TV, radio, music playing place, then just in the bay window stands a marble top Gueridon at which we eat our evening meals, sitting on the little French arm chairs in the bay window overlooking the small front garden and street. This lengthy description is to make the point that it is a room that we have jointly put a lot of thought into making it exactly what we both wanted. That is why I do not want its style and character ruined with office clutter. During this last week I have removed and couple of things every day whilst Steve has been out.

 

 

 After a presentation from Inspire leisure

The upstairs front room has been carefully planned also. Steve knows that I like to write for pleasure and relaxation and I have chosen the bay window as my writing station. I have also claimed about a metre of space behind my chair and requested that I have some time alone in that room, at least a couple of hours a day, when I would prefer not to be doing business work on the computer. Some times Steve goes along with this and sometimes not. I try to be agreeable to office work first thing of a morning, after all the training and before he goes out, it works mostly but he still rings me to send an email here or there or make an invoice out. I also expect to have more work to do on his return in the afternoon. We are both still working, he more physically than me these days, but I am still the head washing ironing and gardening lady. He has his own desk, his own computer and his own set of drawers plus a filing cabinet and umpteen shelves in one of the back rooms. We won’t mention the Turbo room.

 

 

 Tuff Man: The marathon section in Kingston

For over twenty five years I was the third person in the list of importance under this roof, so now that Steve’s Mum is holding court in the pink satin salon in heaven, talking about when she was young in Bankgrove, the big house she lived in with her parents, where there was a french maid, a gardener and a pool boy, I feel I can ask for more consideration. It may sound demanding but I won’t be backing down.

 

 

 The Gardens of Versailles on an anniversary celebration

Two weeks ago Steve brought his triathlon transition bag into….. yes, I am going to call this ‘MY SPACE’, he said he would sort it out and repack it ready for the next event. It sat there for two weeks before I gathered it all up and plonked it in the back bedroom/office/dressing room/store room. It is almost presentable here now.  

On the whole, my husband is a very sweet, and mostly considerate. He is also funny and excellent company. I like him as much as I love him. He likes to cook. He likes to do the food shopping himself daily. He is my first choice of companion to go out with to the cinema, theatre, dinner, lunch, coffee, and of course training. Mostly we do as he suggests. So I don’t think it that unfair to ask that my very few little rules and guidelines be remembered.

 

 

 The original Gayer Anderson Cat at the British Museum

Please do not come into the house wearing trainers especially when they are covered in mud. Please do not leave the garage door open, especially when our best bikes are standing there. Please do not put items directly on top of the boiler, just a little quirk that one but it worries me. Please do not leave windows open when there is nobody at home. Common sense that one. Please do not be disrespectful to my favourite ornament (a full size copy of the Gayer-Anderson Cat), don’t ask please. I don’t like arguments, I think they are nasty. I like straight talking. I like a few house rules that we can both stick to. I don’t like nagging and I don’t like being nagged.