Hallway Pt II

This is a photo response to Chris's story about our amazing tilting hallway. It does appear to be tilting slightly in the second photo! The tiltyard, if I can call it that, runs along the back of the picture from the right, where Mum and Dad's bedroom was at the end of another branch of the hall, past the closet and Grandfather clock you can see behind us, to the toilet which is off to the left.

This is Bec, Jo and Rachel of course, demonstrating how our hallway could be used for all sorts of fun and games. Another one I recall was to put a pillow over our faces, held on with the pillow-case over the back of the head, and just walk into walls. The girls practiced gymnastics up here - cartwheels (you'd better get them straight, or your foot might crash into that stone wall), walk-overs, or beam or floor routines while random younger siblings tried to copy with forward rolls.

It was such a wide space, it was almost like another room. I can also remember Peter building Mechano sets here, and Maria sorting through her stamps by the light of the big sliding door outside Mum and Dad's room.

We also held concerts here, with the the rumpus room/bedroom acting as backstage, the other wings of the hall as wings, and the area in front of the closet and Grandfather clock as the stage. Mum and Dad and whoever else was unfortunate enough to be at our house that night would be charged 5c each and sat on the wicker chairs from the kitchen. Four could fit across the span of the hall.

To the right is the completely crappy heater. There were two of these, and they didn't seem to make a lick of difference. Mum and Dad ended up getting another heater that blew out hot air - we kids would get dressed in front of it in the morning, or just sit in front of it and read a book. We kept turning up the thermostat to make it keep going, and then Mum and Dad would keep turning it down again when they came past. Drove Dad NUTS!

The stone wall was one of the unique 1970's vintage architecturally designed wonders of our house. The stones kept falling off, and were placed on the windowsill to the right. Whenever anyone had some spare time, they'd try to find the gap where the stone had fallen from. It was much harder than it sounds, because the stones were not stuck on flat, so the glue pattern left on the wall was not the same size and shape as the stone. My 7th birthday cake (I LOVED that peasant dress!) and a really good view of the wall: