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Post by candykane on Mar 24, 2011 16:15:50 GMT -5
Interesting point about old houses having more doors/rooms. Nowadays it's all about the open floor plan. My house is small, but open. My kitchen and family room flow right into one another. It's nice because I can watch TV and cook at the same time. As far as old houses, I assume it was much more practical to keep just a small area heated when more of the house could be closed off and the only heat source might have been a woodstove. I've read lots of historical fiction novels that talk about the families hanging out together in the kitchen since it would be the warmest room in the house during wintertime, and rarely using the living rooms until the weather was nicer.
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Post by zoar3 on Mar 24, 2011 18:45:07 GMT -5
^I never thought of that, Candykane, interesting point. I could see how it would make fianancial sense to only heat the rooms you were in or used. That reminds me that the woman who managed the arboretum made that point about heating the entire house.
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Post by wenonah4th on Mar 25, 2011 11:33:19 GMT -5
But we can infer form some other books that their houses were neither very new nor old, probably built in the 60s or 70s, so there's not much likelikhood that there was that reasoning either.
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Post by candykane on Mar 30, 2011 10:26:27 GMT -5
It's interesting to think of these neighborhoods in Stoneybrook that would have a mix of old and new houses right near each other. The house Stacey and her mom moved into post-divorce was built in the 1880's, but Mallory's house, which was right behind it, wasn't ever described as an older house (that I can remember).
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Post by wenonah4th on Mar 30, 2011 11:42:54 GMT -5
My parents' house was built around 1960, but next door was built int the 20s and around the corner is the oldest structure in town, which was an inn from around 1760.
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Post by greer on Mar 30, 2011 15:22:46 GMT -5
It's interesting to think of these neighborhoods in Stoneybrook that would have a mix of old and new houses right near each other. The house Stacey and her mom moved into post-divorce was built in the 1880's, but Mallory's house, which was right behind it, wasn't ever described as an older house (that I can remember). like wenonah (who I believe is also from the NE?), my street growing up had houses from a wide variety of eras. I think it's a lot more common in some parts of the country than in others. In Pennsylvania, at least, a lot of times you have a situation where there was a farm and then the land got sold off, either all at once or parcel by parcel until only the farmhouse itself is left. That's what happened with the Schafer/Spier house. On my mom's street, we have a range from 1700s-brand new construction. I think that's a lot less common in parts of the country that were settled later, first of all because there's less overall time that has lapsed since the initial settlement and also just more space, I think, so there's more of "one guy planned this whole thing and built it." So it's possible that Stacey's house is the "original" house, and in then in the 60s or so the neighborhood was built up around it.
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Post by candykane on Mar 31, 2011 9:32:37 GMT -5
^I live in a neighborhood of "one guy planned all this and built it." Every single house was built in the late 1970s. There's only a few different types of houses. My street has mostly colonial-style houses that all look the same, and then you've got my house at the end, along with my three neighbors, that have ranch houses that look alike.
There are still lots of farmhouses around here, but of course urban sprawl has built up around them and they aren't truly a part of a neighborhood or subdivision. Most of them are on main thoroughfares that are now very congested with traffic. It's very hard to imagine that once upon a time those roads were just dirt and the community was quite rural.
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Post by wenonah4th on Mar 31, 2011 12:35:29 GMT -5
Yes, I'm from NJ. There are plenty of pre-planned areas near where I grew up, but my own town was not one of them. It was a resort place starting in the 1870s - convenient to Philadelphia. A few farmhouses predated that. You can find pictures of a few things in town if you google "wenonah, NJ" (hence my screen name- we have a great 4th of July!)
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Post by featherearrings on Apr 6, 2011 14:01:38 GMT -5
The house I grew up in was built in the 1880's and there were pretty much only old houses in my neighborhood. I grew up in a mill city and the street I lived on housed the mill owners (the mills started several blocks away). So the houses were mostly really big and all old. (this is in northeastern Massachusetts).
However, the neighborhood I live in now (southern New Hampshire) has both old and new houses. It used to be farmland and, like a pp mentioned, the farms were sold off in portions.
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Post by wiggir13 on Apr 20, 2011 12:13:46 GMT -5
As I type this, my cat has his paw draped across my laptop so I guess that is fitting. I must say this book really did suck. I love my cat dearly and if something happened to him, I'm sure I would react exactly like MA. However, I'm realistic and in FL I don't let my cats out! There are gators and other crazy things here to eat them!
I would definitely like to see Kerry get a better punishment, perhaps cleaning her closet from 5 days of cat poop and pee (which would be disgusting!).
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on May 24, 2011 14:31:31 GMT -5
in this book, MA says that isn't especially perceptive, even though other books describe her as such. i'm not sure if it's an inconsistency, or if MA is just being modest.
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Post by BuckinghamAlice on Jan 25, 2012 19:24:10 GMT -5
As a cat lover and a big MA fan, I did enjoy this book. But I cringed big time when I she left him playing in the yard by himself. I have five cats who are all indoor only, because I don't want them getting hit by cars or getting in fights with stray dogs. Not saying it was MA's fault the Tigger went missing, but she probably didn't exercise her best judgment on that one.
Logan was totally acting like he was on his period for most of this book. He was really inconsiderate, and he definitely seemed to feel jealous of how much time MA spends sitting or doting over her cat.
And if I was MA, I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable around Kerry again. Agreed that that girl needs some help.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on Jan 26, 2012 1:52:32 GMT -5
^ was MA's backyard fenced in? i don't remember any mentions either way. i could understand leaving him in the backyard with the gate closed, but especially given how young tigger was and that he hadn't been outside very much, i wouldn't ever leave him alone in the front. my dad lives on eight acres with no fences, but i let oscar run around because i know he won't ever get that far. but at my mom's house in the suburbs, it's backyard only.
also, ITA about wanting to avoid kerry. it seems like anytime the brunos call the bsc, MA gets the job. it seems like all was forgiven really quickly.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 26, 2012 12:13:23 GMT -5
^ I'm not sure if MA's backyard was fenced in. I'm guessing not based on this book. I remember that in the movie there was a fence in their yard. But that was pre-SchaferSpier marriage. If I'm thinking correctly, I know one of the members mentions that they need a fence put in.
Oh yeah, it was Mal, I think. And how they couldn't get Pow until they got a fenced in backyard.
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Post by BuckinghamAlice on Feb 1, 2012 17:08:08 GMT -5
Yeah, it seems like no one's backyards were fenced in because they were always cutting through people's yards to get places on time (lest they piss off Kristy Khan).
Where I live, I don't let my cats out because there are too many stray dogs and cats that get into our yard, despite the fact that it's fenced all the way around. I got a puppy last month and I even hate taking him out because of that.
Even if their yard was fenced, the gate would have to clear the ground some, and he'd have been able to get out there. I still have to call bad judgment on MA.
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