lizwilliams | Where I've lived meme

1. How many places have you lived in your life?

16.

Gloucester = 1 (my parents' house, in which they still live)
Manchester = 3 (twice with other people, and one flat on my own for a couple of years)
Brighton = 4 (once alone, and then with Charles)
Cambridge = 2 (house shares)
Almaty = 4 (various flats, either rented or borrowed from people)
Berlin = 1
Glastonbury = 1

I own a couple of flats, one of which I've never lived in.

2. Which was your favorite and why and what street was it on?

Apart from a couple of places (one of the Manchester houses, in an area commonly known as Bombsight, and a roach-infested flat in Almaty), I have been blessed by lares and penates. So edited highlights are:

Gloucester: because I grew up in it
Cambridge: the house with the cherry tree and the bluebells in the back garden
Almaty: the flat with the glassed-in porch overlooking the mountains
Brighton: the house on the racecourse, the basement (in a house shared with 6 other people, 4 of whom became some of my closest friends and still are), and the flat, which had the sea at the end of the road
Glastonbury: the one I'm sitting in. It's the largest place I've ever had, but mainly T is in it, and that is the most important thing.

3. If you could live anywhere for the rest of your life, where would it be?

Wales. We may, eventually, move over the border. Other very vague plans include Ireland or France.

4. What would your ideal home have in it?

Wouldn't mind a sauna. And if Mr

cleopand gets his act together, which I know he will, a bread oven wouldn't go amiss. However, I'm into the whole eco-living thing, so ideally, I'd like to get this place a wind generator, and some form of solar power. Compost lavatory! Back burners! Bring it on! Given our recent electricity bill, this may be necessary, since the elec board appears to have mistaken us for a small independent nation.

5. Can you describe your current crib?

('Crib'? Who wrote this meme - Neal Cassady?) This is an early 18th century farmer's house (as opposed to a farmhouse proper). Floor is stone flagged, and there are open fireplaces. 4 bedrooms in the main part of the house, and a dairy at the back, converted into 2 flats. Our lodger lives in one, and the other is used as a workshop. 2 conservatories, 4 outhouses (tack room, potting shed etc), one stable, several garages, an orchard, a greenhouse, a mouldering caravan, a vegetable garden and a couple of meadows. The house is low, long and grey, currently covered with small pink and yellow roses. It looks out onto the horse farm opposite.

And a pink Cadillac, rapidly growing green.