It was grade 4, Mrs. Johnson in the first cubicle behind St, Christopher’s School (the old school, the one that no longer exist). It was there that we were asked to draw our dream house. We were able to design a house using our imaginations. We could include anything we wanted, any type of room or furniture desirable. We were 9 years old. As I look back on this embedded memory of good old St. Christopher’s I can see that Alex was not the only odd ball child of the family, I ranked up there as well.
I remember thinking, how joyous this assignment was going to be, as did the rest of my classmates. I remember hearing the buzz of excitement around me while Mrs. Johnson distributed the manila landscaped papers, “I’m going to have a water slide that starts at my bed and goes all the way to the pool outside!” shouted Marco. “Well mine is going to be bigger than yours!” exclaimed Christine. My excitement was a little different. I remember being excited to include vaulted ceilings and natural hardwood floors to my dream house, I hadn’t thought of the size or of any outrageous waterslide ideas.
It’s wild, but all I was excited about was sketching my house. I was excited to use the handy symbols for doors and windows, that dad had taught me. I couldn’t wait to put my skills to work!
Anyway as my classmates erupted with excitement and started to fill their empty pages with colourful outrageous elements, that no real house could accommodate, I took out my ruler and pencil and began scalping a rather decent regular house.
Prior to this lesson, our family friends had just recently bought a new home. It was Dave and Sue, they had bought a beautiful newly built home right behind the school. At that time it was probably one of the nicest homes I have ever been into. I decided then, that this was my dream house, and I went on to sketch a very similar model to their house on my page. My furniture, yet beautiful was practical. My rooms had sky lights, not swimming pools, and my yard had a garden, not an amusement park.
This is my first ever memory of my love for architecture. Other things come to mind, such as, always adoring Brie’s Victorian set house found just off of Riverside Drive in Windsor. I remember the rest of my friends excited to go to Brie’s parties to well, party. I was more excited to get a glimpse of the original re-furbished stair case, or the cute little powder room situated in the living room. Yes so there it is, I am just as odd as Mr. Alex Washbrook.
Anyway, I have been thinking about my odd obsession with architecture lately, for a few reasons. Firstly, anyone will agree with me when I say, England has a distinctive architectural element. Their houses are all extremely, if not totally, the same. On arriving here, the first thing Ryan and I commented on was the similarity to all the homes. I remember the train ride into Newcastle from London. I looked over groggy eyed from the 30+ hours of travel, and asked Ryan, “So, what do you think of England so far?” And he answered “Well for miles now, all I have seen is red brick homes with clay shingled roofs”. That is what we continued to see for the 4 hour train ride, well mixed with the odd field that housed sheep by the hundreds of course.
Once we settled in our house in Newcastle upon Tyne, I began to realize that it was not in-fact our imaginations. All the houses in England have a similar if not exactly the same look. The only way that a house in England can define itself, Ryan and I have come up with, is through the colour of the door.
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| I captured this photo so you get the idea of how similar the houses are to one another. |
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| Don't be fooled, this is not the same street as the photo above!! This is a different street. Do you see the difference??? Neither do we. |
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| Therefor the hunt begins, what colour door would you prefer to make your house different? |
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| Green door? |
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| French Door? |
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| Red Door, Black Door? |
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| Lime Door? |
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| Oh and my other obsession, name your home. Instead of a number address many name their houses. When filling out profiles for the bank or bills, they don't even ask for your address, they ask for your 'House Name'. |
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| If I lived on this street, I could see myself walking into the wrong house! |
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| Yellow Door Perhaps??? |
Not only has it been the similar houses that have got me thinking about architecture, oh no, it’s been a few other oddities.
Yesterday, Ryan and I went to the Hancock museum. It was a great afternoon date, to learn more about Hadrian’s Wall and Ryan loved seeing the irregular sea-life come alive. But, to tell you the truth I was more interested in the building itself. I was marvelling over the original floor boards and the vaulted ceiling and the re-finished beams, to even notice half the time that we were in a museum! Ohhh geezzz... what an odd ball.
A few other date nights that Ryan and I have been able to enjoy lately includes our visit to the Tyneside Cinema. Here in Newcastle, the Tyneside is much desired by the locals. If you talk with a Geordie long enough, they will ask you, “Have you been to the Tyneside yet?”
With all this hype we decided we needed to take in the Tyneside Cinema, so we ventured out and visited the Tyneside to view ‘The Artist’.
The Tyneside is like no other modern day Cineplex. It reveals an old fashion theatre with the old red velvet seats, and curtain screens. Also it has a 1920’s art deco feel throughout the cinema. It has a theatre space called, ‘The Circle’. In the circle the seats are like Minnie couches and you are in a private area with your group. We did not sit in the circle because it was just the 2 of us, but I for sure wish to do this in the future.
You are able to drink alcohol in this theatre, which mad Ryan happy. I on the other hand have given up alcoholic beverages for lent. To my surprise though, the Tyneside is home to not only a swanky art deco restaurant but a lovely cafe as well, so as Ryan found happiness in ciders and beer, I found in my mint latte.
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| A Glimpse of the Tyneside. |
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| Inside, I made Ryan pose next to all the old equipment. He never seems impressed with me when I ask him to pose. |
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| The art Deco feel. |
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| In the Cafe. |
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| At the bar. |
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| Gorgeous! |
Here are some other fun photos of the week.
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| I thought I found Kraft Dinner!... In a can.... oh well can't be that bad, or can it be? |
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| Epic FAIL!!!!!!!! Oh it was bad! |
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| Our Let sign is up! Come let our place !! We are Canada Bound!! |
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| Spring! |
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| More name's of houses. |
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| Ryan made a wonderful spaghetti dinner. The only thing is that it could have fed 8 people, so we have been eating for the last 4 days straight. |
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| This is the next night! haha.... I still love him and love what he does while he is in the kitchen alone for an hour! YUM!! |
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| Spring... On British Mother's day at the Hancock. |
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| The biggest hot-chocolate |
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| And would you like a massive amount of cream and marshmellows with that? WHY YESS PLEASE!! |
