Ferdinand lived in Shepton Mallett. A small house built from stone. Although it did boast a conservatory with a plastic corrugated roof. It had one bedroom and a downstairs bathroom, an avocado bathroom suite with pine cladding varnished burnt orange; nails tacking the wooden panels were rusted and competed for vibrancy.
In the hall was a phone that had a slot to push coins in when a human being wanted to speak to another being over the wires. Buckets would catch water that dripped from the ceiling when it rained. This room proclaimed itself as the kitchen; although it was the front hallway and the only entrance to the house.
Three doors led to this kitchen/lobby. One door in a wall directly off the street - no pavement! Entrance was accessed directly from the road. This led to an inner yard. 1.5 metres square. Facing the first door was another door which had two bolts, a hole -28 x 20 cm- had been cut, a home made wooden shutter fitted, this also was bolted, but would afford the resident time to determine whether friend or foe before drawing back the bolts -or not!
Through this door an alley. Directly ahead was yet another door -which opened onto a shed. But turn 45 degrees left advance a metre or so then another 45 degrees and there was the front door. This door orange or red depending on the strength of the sun was THE front door. It had a letter box! (Although the post was delivered into a home made box stuck onto the back of a hole hacked onto door 1.
Ferdinand lived in the conservatory, amongst the clay and the paints and detritus of an artist's 'studio'. Ferdinand needed a roof and under the polypropylene he could see the stars...
In the hall was a phone that had a slot to push coins in when a human being wanted to speak to another being over the wires. Buckets would catch water that dripped from the ceiling when it rained. This room proclaimed itself as the kitchen; although it was the front hallway and the only entrance to the house.
Three doors led to this kitchen/lobby. One door in a wall directly off the street - no pavement! Entrance was accessed directly from the road. This led to an inner yard. 1.5 metres square. Facing the first door was another door which had two bolts, a hole -28 x 20 cm- had been cut, a home made wooden shutter fitted, this also was bolted, but would afford the resident time to determine whether friend or foe before drawing back the bolts -or not!
Through this door an alley. Directly ahead was yet another door -which opened onto a shed. But turn 45 degrees left advance a metre or so then another 45 degrees and there was the front door. This door orange or red depending on the strength of the sun was THE front door. It had a letter box! (Although the post was delivered into a home made box stuck onto the back of a hole hacked onto door 1.
Ferdinand lived in the conservatory, amongst the clay and the paints and detritus of an artist's 'studio'. Ferdinand needed a roof and under the polypropylene he could see the stars...
