A noisy noise annoys an oyster!

Well we are not oysters, and we are not annoyed, but its surprising how every house has its own particular sounds and noises. It’s strange how each one is different. Of course, when we live in a place for a while we get used to all the noises and they don’t make any impression on us.

Today we moved into our next house sit. The owners have left for holiday and we were here in plenty of time to sort out the technicalities of things. They have some unusual light switches in the living area, and we have found out that the toilet has a nifty little blue light that comes on in the night when you walk into the dark bathroom.  

This house has been renovated, and the owners have done a really nice job. Most of the houses in this area are older, maybe built in the 1950’s or 60’s. They are built on small sections but with nice gardens, its a nice quiet area. It looks like they were all built as Queenslanders, meaning they are built up high off the ground. They were built like this to keep the homes cooler in summer. Here in Queensland, everything is built to keep a house cool.  In New Zealand everything was built to keep a house warm.  The homes in this street have been modernised though, many with lovely large verandas around them or large decks coming off the living area. This makes for a home that is very convenient and generally has some cool spots at any time of the day. This house is no exception.

I asked my mate Google and found some sample Queenslander houses to show you........

 

This is a typical Queenslander house. Built up off the ground, with quite unusual stairs and small windows.

 

Some are modernised and beautifully painted. They have lots of woodwork around the verandas.

 

Look at the woodwork and screen work around this house. Many Queenslanders are renovated like this, with garaging
underneath and sometimes other rooms built underneath too.

When doing the renovations here in this home, they have put down some beautiful flooring. I don’t know much about flooring, so I am not sure if it is real wood that has been highly polished or if it is some sort of veneer. I think it is real wood. It is beautiful flooring, but it squeaks! Coming from a tiled floor on a concrete base, the noise is quite distinctive.  There is a small flat underneath too, with a tenant, so I don’t know if they can hear us walking around up here. . . I would think it sounds a bit noisy.

Another very distinctive sound is a clock. I’m not sure if this is what you call a ‘grandmother’ clock. A grandfather clock is a tall one that sits on the floor and is about six feet high, and a ‘grandmother’ clock is one that hangs on the wall but is only about three feet high. It chimes on the hour, but not on the quarter or half hour. It has a bit of a tick and sounds the hours off as time passes. It’s not a loud chime so won’t be a problem in the night, but still, we have not had a housesit before with a chiming clock.  Just another noise to tune our ears to.