What's the strangest thing you've seen in someone's house that they thought was 'normal'?

[00100001]

I'll go first.

When I was 7, I went to a friend's house, and had bright red mashed potatoes for dinner.her dad always put food colouring in food. She thought this was normal, a d everyone had coloured mash.

I like shark house too but the neighbours were mainly

I too love the shark house, I lived in Headington for a couple of years.

One of my friends' son went to a pre school near by and their wendy house also had a shark in the roof.

@sashh

I too love the shark house, I lived in Headington for a couple of years.

One of my friends' son went to a pre school near by and their wendy house also had a shark in the roof.

You made me laugh that's great!

“ What gets me in stories like this is how the mum and dad have decided this is how they are going to live their lives.
As a kid when you go to someone else’s house and they act like it’s all normal that there is a pig in the living room or you can’t speak at the dinner table or you should wipe your arse on a towel. But at some point a couple have got together, set up home and decided on these rules”

And at no point neither of them or their friends / family tell the other one that it’s a bit weird. It must just evolve over time to full on batshit crazy

Sex toys
A humping puppy once

I used be a carer for the husband of a rather odd couple for some years. The wife was rarely there. They were not exactly hard up but the washing machine was kaput broken & contained their accounts. The fridge freezer was also non functional and the boiler didn't work hence no heating or gas oven. The only cooking facilities were a microwave & toaster that was stinky & unpredictable. Heating was one electric fire. The house had boxes of stuff piled high with strategic walk ways through, it was like an indoor maze. The toilet flush was busted so had to chuck bowls of water to flush no 2's. They had been living like this for many years. The man would have meltdowns if I left a light on in another room, he could hear the extractor fan in the bathroom (that worked!) & freak out in case I'd not switched it off. They came from comfortable backgrounds, not penury. I think they were mean to the extreme. Always trying to con me into buying milk or pot noodles then forgetting to cough up. Surprised they would even pay for a carer but hey ho!

I've been reading these thinking I have nothing to add. But my memories have been jogged!

When I was about 15 a friend invited me to her house and for some reason she thought she'd show me her parents room. It was like a sex dungeon! Handcuffs on the headboard, black satin sheets, toys on the table!

When I had my first child I got friendly with another mum at a mum and baby group. She asked me for a coffee at hers one day. For some reason was telling me about how she had her nipple pierced, then she whipped her boob out and showed me the pierced nip!!

I also had another dear friend who's parents didn't care about the state of the house. It smelled awful somewhere between a mix of wet dog and grime. The kitchen was piled high with dirty dishes, leftover food and the worktops where no where to be seen.

@MakeMathsFun

Also, I used to know a guy who bought an empty (used) urn from a charity shop. He used it as an ashtray that lived on the coffee table in the living room. Within it, beneath the thick layer of cigarette ash, he had placed chicken bones. And when asking for it, he would say, "pass me granny"!

On a related note, I've always thought that if I laid a patio I'd buy a life-size plastic skeleton and hide it under the flagstones, just to give some future occupant a fright

@twinmum2007 I declined the tea and retreated very quickly, I vaguely remember muttering something along the lines of how uncomfortable I was and apologised I think. I do remember getting into the car and being breathless /seeing stars for a few minutes before I could actually drive. Insane and disturbing .

It's quite interesting actually- cucumber and vinegar benefits

My OH makes cucumber and vinegar- a dish his family would make- he is from the NE.
He does spice it up a little now though, with fresh chopped chllies, carrot ribbons, fresh coriander and a little sugar.
Fantastic with hams, cooked meats, salads stc.

A goat. The lovely well-spoken, educated couple, lovely large victorian semi in a suburban Cheshire town. The goat stood in the sitting room. There were dottles of goats poo on the rug. They both smoked and flicked ash on the patterned rugs and rubbed it in with their feet. The goat apparently was quite cold in the outhouse where she usually lived, so they had bought her in for a warm in front of the fire. They were selling some old chairs I was interested in. Lovely people. But a GOAT in the sitting room.

The vinegar, is it malt vinegar? Or white?

@BasiliskStare

I wonder is the shark still there ? That is a mad choice for a home . I’d love to see it in real life

@pheonixrebirth Was it in Yorkshire? My mum always made white onion and cucumber in vinegar to go with roast dinners

A coffee table made from a real elephant's leg. 🤢😢

www.headington.org.uk/shark/

Don’t mean to derail the post but my home town, Oxford ^

The ins and outs of Yorkshire salad

www.southyorkshiremobility.co.uk/post/what-is-a-yorkshire-salad

Whilst deriding others, forgot my own parents were slightly bonkers. They were given a tv which the sound had conked out on, they then aquired a tv with sound but no picture so stacked one on the other and went through an elaborate rigmarol to turn both on. I used to sing Bowie's 'Sound and Vision' to them when the 'turning on' ritual began. I gave them a perfectly good tv which they plonked in their junk room & continued with the two tv method.

@MakeMathsFun

The strangest thing: hundreds of (yes, about 300) decorative ceramic teapots and othe hollow ornaments all over the house, on every shelf, table, cupboard and under the TV and behind the sofa on the floor - AND EVERY ONE OF THEM FILLED WITH HOMEMADE EGGNOG, ready to drink at a moment's notice.

I LOVE this one. Not sure eggnog contains enough alcohol to mean it can stay unrefrigerated for all that long, though?

@DoubleShotEspresso I had a friend in my teenage years who's dad had a picture of Hitler in his living room.

@NeopreneMermaid Yes it wan actual elephant's leg . Personally I would not do that myself.

Elephant leg furniture including the brolly stand were very popular with the victorians.

Vomtast: my dog isn't filthy or scavenging and brings me joy. Having read some of the reports of human behaviour on here I'm not sure it's safe to generalise and perhaps it would be better if you didn't.