No place like...

Somewhere in the depths of my Blip I think there is the story of how I came to acquire this house. It was a characteristically quick decision to buy it. Indeed, it was the only house I looked at.

And it's not much to look at, I grant you, but it's home, and all of my children grew up here: at one point there were eight of us living under this roof. Anyway, I love it.

Having bought it in 2000, it was two years before I had the money to start doing the place up and then I went to town on it. Once all the renovations were complete, it was just how I wanted it but the sheer number of bodies in the house meant that there was a lot of wear and tear.

Now it needs - in fact, is well overdue - a bit of attention and having spoken to various companies about the bathroom, the windows, and the decorating, today I spoke to a chap about the fireplace. He asked me for a photo of the house, and this is the one I took.