I was leafing through my local village magazine and an article looked familiar – about cookie cutters together with an amazing array of biscuits and cookies that had been produced in a local artisan bake house. This in turn reminded me of my stay in the US a few weeks ago. Whilst relaxing in the granny annexe provided for me, I was absorbed by the hundreds of tv stations – of course. Lots and lots of programmes about house refurbishment and remodelling. There are a set of brothers who deal with exactly that – refurbishing houses that are too small for the family, allowing sales at top dollar so the families can then move on to bigger and better. All including fabulous kitchens and living spaces. the phrases ‘open concept’ and ‘back yard’ are ones that are infiltrating our own house speak over here. As is ‘cooker cutter’ house. I was bemused at first. But instead of thinking about luscious biscuits with coffee – it’s a slightly derogatory phrase for housing development designs where almost each house looks the same bar the odd titivation. Just like we’ve had over here since houses first began!
