Cess pits and pig sties

I find it difficult to imagine a situation where I would describe someone's house as a cess pit or pigsty. I might describe it as a mess, dirty, smellyor uncared for.

We have a cess pit at our French house, we had an old inadequate one for about 10 years now a modern meets all standards one. neither ever smelled and I I have no idea what the internals were like they were hidden away under ground in a concrete tank. As far as I am concerned the descriptor cess pit suggests neither dirt, or smell.

Mind you I would describe someone as having a mind like a sewer!!

I once had to take a poorly child home from school. It was lunch time and the mother was still in her nightie. A toddler was sitting on a pottie in the corner of the kitchen. As he got up the pottie tipped and the wee wet the floor. The mother wiped it up with a cloth which she then threw in the sink. Unfortunately the sink was full of unwashed dishes.
That was a pig style !!

Dirty kitchens or bathrooms turn my stomach , I have got very squeamish in my older age and I really hate unidentifiable unpleasant smells too. I have been into some pigsty houses and while it is up to the occupant to live as they please I would never eat or drink in one .

My DDs were untidy as kids and teens and like Alea I closed the doors and walked away.

They both have lovely homes of their own now which are much like ours was when they were kids.. basically clean in the key areas, dust where it didn't matter and clutter and stuff always waiting to be put away... There was always much more interesting stuff to be done!

Because the neighbours complained . BUT, that is where it goes, excellent compost accelerator.

Pompa Why don't you just wee on the compost heap?

It's up to each person if they want a sterilised house or a messy even smelly home

Oh has someone been looking through the windows of my sewing room? I'm in the midst of creative turmoil at the moment. The study is bad too. But that's not my problem.

Neither would I ever use those terms to describe a home. When I was working we went into one home, a ground floor flat, where there was coal piled in the porchway. Inside the family cooked on the coal fire, everything was smokey and I thought it was like a cave.
We've got the real smell of pig slurry today as the next door farmer is muckspreading - it doesn't last long though.

My workshop could also come under the cesspit label. It is away from the house and I am usually covered in sawdust and shaving, a quick run into the house for the loo is impractical, so I have a bucket for emergencies. It took me a while to discover what the awful smell was when I opened up the workshop. I had forgotten to empty the bucket last time I was in there. And. before you ask I can wash my hands, there is a water butt by the door.

I would never use those terms either - they really are very extreme. One of my sons, when at university, lived on a farm which was a collection of buildings which had been converted into houses for students to shack up in. He actually did live in the pigsty, but it was clean and tidy (most of the time).

I make no comment as I have no desire to incriminate myself.

annsixty that exactly describes my 'messy' daughter ( who I have used the words cess pit too )

Her house , even on messy , smelly days is full of well loved kids - hers and others - having a high old time.

Cess pit is a rather unkind descriptor of someone's house and I've never used it or thought that someone might apply it to my house.
Pigsty on the other hand was my mother's favourite term to announce that she had tolerated the state of our bedrooms for long enough and something had to be done about it!

My D's house is mostly untidy and "lived in" but it is the house that most of DG's friends love for a sleepover and she is the first port of call for friends who need a bed for their children either in emergency situations or just for a night away. So she must be doing something right. She also is one of the few who will let 2/3 take over the kitchen to make pizzas or cakes.

I've never thought of describing anyone's home as a cess pit. Maybe I haven't been in those kind of homes.

Pig-sty, however could apply to any teenager's bedroom so I've certainly yelled that one at the top of my voice.

Many years ago now though.

Anywhere dirty or smelly would get the pig style label from me. I don't mind untidy at all, a sign of a busy life or a mind occupied elsewhere but there are few excuses for being unclean.

As teenagers my DDs' bedrooms were unspeakable! I just had to shut the door as it upset me so much and they only ever tidied up after a fashion when the cleaner was due.
I sometimes smile now. Their 3 houses put mine to shame The 2 younger ones have charming but tiny 2 up 2(knocked through to 1) down Victorian terraced cottages in London and they are minimalist and immaculate. Their older sister has a big 3 storey Arts and Crafts house and 3 children and it is spotless. Toys are cleared away each evening, you could eat off her floors and she too is ruthless about clutter.
I don't half have to hoover and tidy up whenever they are coming

Hear hear !

I think a pig's sty or cesspit would be unhygienic and smelling of you know what ? My Mum used to call my house A Burach - an old Scottish word for mess (she was tidy ) . My minimalistic daughter calls it The Hovel so I've put L O V E letters together with an additional H on my mantelpiece to make HOVEL ! It's a very pretty hovel . Sanctuary for this cranky old hag !

pompa I nearly choked on my coffee that comment made me laugh !!!

oh I'm the guilty party of the 'cess pit' comment.

For me its the smell of a home to start with. I'm not advocating flowery and fresh as necessary but I am sure you have all walked into a home and there has been an unidentified odour that you know could be eradicated with a decent clean.

I don't mind mess, families with children live in a certain level of untidiness.

I do mind about unclean toilets, kitchens and bathrooms. No excuses there I'm afraid.

I don't mind untidiness but I do mind dirt. I'm not talking about a floor with muddy footprints from the kids or pets necessarily - that's easily remedied. But the spill that hasn't been moped up so has left a stain , or the pile of clean clothes that has waited to be either ironed or put away that its now dirty again from being piled up, knocked over etc etc.

Bear in mind I am talking about 'minding' in my own families homes. Strangers can do as they like, none of my business but first and foremost, no matter how old my daughters get , I am their Mum . Not their friend - so I have to say the hard stuff not just the lovely stuff. And before everyone automatically assumes my daughters live in filth - they don't {smile] but now and again...a nudge is needed.

I think my workshop could be used as the standard