We may have had the last of our viewers through the Old Manse and we are now at the stage of setting a closing date. It will be an enormous relief not to have to show strangers around-and however much you feel that they are likely to be rubbernecking time wasters there is still the compulsion to have yet another frantic tidy up-knitting behind sofas, ironing board out of the posh dining room, crumbs swept off the kitchen table, wood burning stove de-ashed and laid for lighting, central heating turned on, socks kicked under bed and loo seats in the closed position.We have no bidets so there is no need to clean out the mouse droppings-a favourite place for mices apparently.But we do need to conceal the humane mouse traps in case would be purchasers get the impression that we are swarming with rodents.Which we may be.

This last lot-viewers not mice-were of the professional well organised sort. 5 houses in one day on the East Coast and Merse (including, yes, two Old Manses and one Ould) She rather fancied the east. He, was a Westerner, so it would be over to the West Coast tomorrow; but she felt that neither of the two properties their would suit her.But anything would be better than their 9 am call: a very bijou des res-listed, lovely garden, in good nick but with extensive views of the Torness Nuclear Power Station. Apparently the owner was quite enthusiastic about living so near to such a source of clean energy and also reassuring-heavily masked men in space suits checked her garden with Geiger counters every year and had (so far) given her the all clear. Mrs Viewer was highly indignant that Frank Knight (or as she put it Not-so-Frank-Knight) had omitted the Power station from the glossy brochure so I had hastily to confess to the adjoining Rutherford Marshalling Yard to the west-and of course our very quiet neighbours in the church grave yard to the south. Neither mentioned in the brochure but as far as the stiffs are concerned but one assumes most people know that Manses and Kirks go together and where there is Kirk there is human dust never mind the odd urn of interred ashes. However neither source of possible pollution seemed to bother Mr and Mrs Viewer and the two tiny viewers who were entranced by the pond, the frogs and the swing.

Were they interested? Who knows but if they are they will need to extract digits as the closing date is about ten days away.

They went off happy enough. Mrs V still muttering about nuclear power stations, dangers thereof,radio activity, brains sizzling etc.

It would be wrong to suggest that she was incandescent. But certainly

gently humming

(Image is of Torness. We looked at a house near there ten years agp and the departing owner said 'I am getting quite fond of it!

Sweet, really.)

PS I wonder if it is the same house.

Labels: Merse, Nuclear power, Selling the Manse

  ¶ 10:02 AM