Thoughts From Rosebud Lane

 Did you like your childhood home? What did you like or not like about it?

I'm not sure how to answer this question. The home as in the building itself? Or the home as in the place and people? I'll try both ways.

Drat! I wish I could find the photos of the outside of the house. The outside did not convey the inside at all. The main floor had 4 rooms. Living room. dining room, bedroom, and kitchen.

The living room had the heater in it. It was probably 4 x 4 feet and was in the floor. It was the only heat source for the house. It got mighty hot in the winter. We used to put our scarves and mittens on it to dry when we came in from outdoors. And you certainly didn't want to step on in with only stocking feet.  I guess you could say it was a cozy room. It was filled with antiques. A wonderful piano. Old, old wall paper. Eventually my uncle put in a carpet for that room. Why, I don't know.

The dining room was my favorite room. It had hard wood floors. Antiques galore that even at a young age I appreciated their beauty and the sentimental value of them. This room had almost floor to ceiling windows on 2 sides. There was a big old oak cupboard in the dining room. I believed it to come over with my grandfather when he came from Germany. That and a couple of other pieces that matched the carving. I don't know if it is true or not, but I like the story. There were so many wonderful treasures in this cupboard. Things that fed my young imagination.  Besides holding my mom's china and crystal  it kept her S & P collection safe. Once in a very great while I was allowed to take these out of their safe place and ohh and awe them. In the bottom of the cupboard were books and mugs and music sheets. It was a treasure trove for my mind.

The kitchen and bedroom were just that. The bedroom belonged to my mom. It had a few antiques also. 

Sounds like a pretty good house. Except...the toilet was in the basement. There wasn't a shower or a tub. The basement had all kinds of scary spiders. In the summertime wood was placed over the floor drain and a garden hose was used for a shower. It was too cold down there for a shower in the winter, and in the spring it flooded with water. I remember wading through water over my ankles to use the toilet. I think that is why today my bathroom is the cleanest room in the house.

My brother's and my bedrooms were on the 2nd story. My room was above the living room. The floor was warm in the winter, but that was all. I remember frost on the walls in the morning. Luckily my grandmother had made lots of quilts. Piles and piles of quilts. And I sure got out of bed quickly in the morning and downstairs.

So I don't know if I liked the house or not. Maybe parts of it.

This is a long post. Maybe it is best not to answer the other part of the question as I saw it. It would lead me into all sorts of bad memories that I am not up to for today. Maybe another time.