Tuesday, June 30, 2015

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Since we have looked at a few houses in Hamilton, we have been inundated with phone calls from the Real Estate Agents, wanting feedback.  

That's OK.

What isn't OK is pushy agents trying to talk me into taking them on as my 'exclusive' agent... assuring me that they will show us EVERYTHING available in Hamilton, no matter who's listing it is.

I didn't know agents could do that.  But they can in Hamilton it would appear.

So, I have been made to feel awful, being fought over by agents trying to get our business.  One agent was MEGA pushy yesterday over the phone, literally harassing me and I ended up getting quite angry.

So once I got off the phone with HER... I rang the Real Estate Agent who we bought our last Hamilton home with, (she also sold that house when we went to Palmerston North), and gave her our business.

Hopefully now I won't get harassed any more.  And Lou is a lovely lady, and she knows me fairly well!  I know she will listen to our requirements and not dick us around by taking us to see anything that isn't suitable.

So, today?  Repeat of yesterday.  De-cluttering, cleaning, Hospice run, and so on.
Maybe even another visit over to see Bex and the boys too.

ONWARD...

Ha ha!  I'm far too busy to really miss Steve, Bex, Dante and Archer!  
I shall be seeing them again today at some point, so still seeing heaps of them.

Well... another load has been dropped off to the Hospice Shop, and I've bought new shower caddies and plugs, a paint tray and roller, and then I went to visit Bex and the boys too.

Only they were on their way out to the mall, so I came home.  

I'm now going to stop and have lunch... and maybe not much else as I'm completely exhausted.  Maybe the rest of today will be a rest break.

This afternoon I started painting walls.  It's amazing how quickly you can make a scuffed, manky wall look awesome again!

Steve and Bex and babes called in tonight, it was lovely to see them.  

We also had the Real Estate Agents pop in with the contracts for us to sign.  We now just have to get the house totally ready for the market, which should be in about two weeks!  It really is all GO.

So exciting.  And tiring!  This afternoon I literally hit a wall, bone tired.

But, tomorrow is another day and I'm up for it.

End of Day: Can't wait till bedtime, it's so nice and warm in our bedroom!  I went down to the garage just before and couldn't believe how COLD it was down there!  I'm never sleeping in a bloody garage again!
nite nite

Monday, June 29, 2015

ON MY OWN!

For the first time in over 2 and a half years, it's a Monday, and I'm going to be in my house... ON MY OWN!

Once Stew and the kids leave for work/school... it's just ME.  

I don't know if I shall be lonely... or relieved.  Something tells me I'm going to be too busy to be lonely.  *smiles*

I might take a quick trip over to Steve and Bex's at some point today though.  They left a few things that I can drop off to them.
And I will get to see Dante and Archer... I'm already missing them.

I was happy as last night, I got to arrange my family room the way I wanted it again.  


ABOVE:  look at that!  Spic and span.   And yes, that's the rug from hell... it won't get as much traffic there, so hopefully won't let rip with too much fluff.  Plus, it's gorgeous there... makes the room look lovely.

And that's important when you are trying to sell your house.
  
ABOVE:  Poor Bex, standing in about the only part of their house that wasn't entirely covered in boxes, furniture and what nots!   I wonder how much they got done last night?

Right, time to get moving... I've got heaps to do.

ONWARD...

Well... so far so good.  I've got a load in me car for the Hospice Shop, and I've got the bedroom and en suite sorted out...


 ABOVE:  I love how our bedroom looks now!


ABOVE:  The curtains on these windows were very mouldy, so I whipped out quickly yesterday afternoon and bought this set... for half price from Spotlight!  I saved $170.00 !!!

And how gorgeous do they look?  And they match the curtains above the bed.  I couldn't get a set to fit above the bed so had to stay with what was there.  They are ok though, not mouldy at all.

I've still got to get Stew's drawers up from the garage, but I'm leaving that job till Stew gets home, he can do it for me.

I shall be heading out soon to drop off stuff at Hospice, then visit Bex and the boys.

Stuff dropped off at Hospice - tick.
Supermarket run - tick.
Visit Bex and Boys - tick.

It was lovely to see the boys and Bex... Dante was showing off like he hadn't seen me in a week!  Cute kid.  It was good to have a quick break with them and a bite to eat.

Found our small tv amongst their stuff... so brought that home.  I shall use it in the garage when I'm sewing...  IF I ever find time to do any sewing!

My arms hurt.  And me back/legs/knees... you name it, it hurts.  I think I've spent about 2 hours 'relaxing' today, the rest of the time I've been busy tidying, cleaning, de-cluttering etc.
And I will do it all again tomorrow.

End of Day: time to actually RELAX and do very little.
nite nite

Sunday, June 28, 2015

FIRST BIG MOVE

Today Steve and Bex move out!

This will be their first 'home' together, and the first time Dante and Archer will be living with JUST their Mum and Dad.

We won't know ourselves here... but then again... we will be too busy to miss them I think.

We will be moving too before we know it ... and then life will be rather different for us all.

Hopefully Dante settles into his new home well and doesn't miss his extended family too much.  *sniff*

I know we will miss him dreadfully, and Archer of course.

Steve and Stew are about to head out and pick up a big truck, then go to Steve and Bex's storage unit and get all their stuff and take it to their house.
After that it will be back here to get everything of their's out of my house too.

I expect that will take most of the day.  AFTER that, they will  move Stew and I back into our bedroom!   OMG I am quite excited about that prospect.  

Funny thing is, we will probably only be back in our bedroom a matter of weeks before we move again.  WELL... I hope it's only a few weeks.

All depends on how long it takes to sell this house eh?

Right, I better go and do something... like pack a box or 10.

ONWARD...

Well as you can imagine, it's a mad house here today.
Steve and Bex are on their 2nd run with the big truck, then they have to take the truck back.
Then we will do car/van runs with all the left over stuff, mostly smaller stuff.

I've managed to get Griffin's room almost 100% sorted and spic and span.
By the end of the day I should have our bedroom and the spare bedroom done as well.

That means all the vacuming, skirting boards, windows, wardrobes etc cleaned.

I've got  a list a mile long... and am really trying not to look at it too often, it's so daunting.

But at least I can plug away at it during the week.

OMG ... everyone is absolutely KNACKERED.
Steve and Bex have an enornous job sorting out their house... it looks like a bomb struck, there's virtually NO ROOM to move for boxes and furniture.

Bex is going to be a busy girl over the next couple of weeks making it all fit in their little 2 bedroom house.  But, they don't have to hurry at it.

Someone asked where Steve and Bex are living? Mt Wellington/Sylvia Park.  I won't be showing a photo of their home as I'm sure they don't want to advertise where exactly they live.  
Tonight... Stew and I are sleeping in our bedroom!  And I've done our wardrobe, Griffin's wardrobe and the spare bedroom wardrobe.  So many jobs getting done... so many to go!

End of Day:  a massive day.  Can't believe how much stuff the kids had to move!
nite nite

Saturday, June 27, 2015

WHAT A RELIEF

Counting our lucky stars today.
If we hadn't taken our trailer load to Hamilton the other day, we would be doing it today.  And it's a wet day.  
So relieved we did it already.

We are going to Hamilton today, but only to look at houses.

I have 6 lined up for today, starting at 11 am, and the last one at 5 pm.

Here's a few of them:




ABOVE:  We are very lucky.  There is a good choice of homes for sale in our price range.  Unlike when we bought in Auckland!
In the suburb we wanted to be in, there were only 2-3 in our price range, and that was 7 years ago.  It hasn't changed either.

There's very little on the Auckland market that's affordable, and in our suburb.  So, fingers crossed that means our home will be snapped up quick.

So, if I can, I'll do little updates during the day, letting you know how it's going.  Until then, time to get ready to leave.


While we are gone, Steve and Bex will be picking up the keys to their house, and starting the move out of our home!  One more night until we shall be back in our bedroom!

ONWARD...

So annoyed right now. Got a phone call from the agent who we had an appointment with at 11... to cancel due to time conflicts. And we were already here and about to go meet him!  Stew yelled at him on the phone, he was that incensed. So we are killing time now till our next appointment at 12.  

So the first house in the above line up will be seen at a later date now.


It's cold.... so I bought something warm. Killing time again till next appointment. 

What a long day!  The soles of my feet are sore from all the walking around.

But, it was a good day.  We saw 6 houses after all that.  Of them, 3 were definite possibilities, the 2nd two above and this one:


ABOVE:  I really loved this one. Stew preferred the 3rd one in the first line up.  It had a pool, but two of the bedrooms were very small, and it just didn't float my boat as much as the one above.

Time will tell, there's actually HEAPS more to view yet!
We won't be going down next weekend, as we will be frantically getting this house ready to list on the market.

Lots of cleaning, de-cluttering, water blasting and so on.

It's nice to be home, feet up, fire on, TV on, ready to watch Coronation Street.  *smiles*

Steve and Bex haven't been tardy today either.
Bex spring cleaned the en suite and packed heaps... and Steve did the grouting in the kitchen for me!  I hadn't gotten around to it... I was kinda still putting it off... I hate grouting!  So it was freakin' awesome to come home and find it done for me.

THANK YOU SO MUCH Steve, and Bex for doing all that cleaning.  *kisses*

End of day: an awesome day.  Off to bed early. ...so tired!  Sleeping in tomorrow. ... don't expect a new post till late-ish morning.
Nite nite. 

Friday, June 26, 2015

HOW GORGEOUS IS OUR ARCHER!

Bex crocheted a 'cocoon' for Archer, and he's finally using it.  
He looks utterly ADORABLE in it too:



ABOVE: because he's a big baby for his age she is gunna have to add some length to it, or he won't be getting much use out of it!
Do we all agree he's just UTTERLY DELICIOUS!

Stew is home again today.  We have heaps of things on the list to do, so I will fill in the blanks later, cos I don't know right now what's at the top for today.  *smiles*

ONWARD...

Well... we SHOULD be doing something towards de-cluttering, or fixing something, or packing something today.  But we've decided to take it easy today and do something different.

We are going shopping for our 'Auckland Painting'.

We have a little tradition.  In every place we live (since we got together almost 30 years ago), we have bought a painting of that town/city.

So, we have paintings of Whitianga, Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Palmerston North and now we need an Auckland painting. 

So we are going on the hunt for our Auckland painting today.

We are not quite sure where to start looking.  So, if anyone out there knows of places to find local scenery paintings, let me know ... ta.

Yaa!  Found the painting and on our way home. ... my feet are killing me.

Well after traipsing around downtown Auckland we came to the conclusion there are no art gallery/shops there.   So we went to Ponsonby ... same result.

Next stop, Parnell.  Had a quick lunch then found several galleries.  Yaaa.
3rd one we went into, I spied one of the only hand painted Auckland paintings, LOVED IT, BOUGHT IT.  And it wasn't even very expensive. 
It's just a little painting, 8 x 10 I think:


ABOVE:  Our Auckland painting.  I think it's totally cool.  A bit different, which is what I was looking for.

Time to put me feet up for a little while.

Feet have been up long enough.  Time to go down to the garage and try and make some sense of the mess.  While down there I shall be watching Coronation Street, so Stew gets to watch rugby in the lounge for a change.  Lucky guy.  It's not freezing in the lounge. *smiles*

End of Day:  another successful day.  Thrilled with our Auckland painting.  
nite nite

Thursday, June 25, 2015

FIRST LOAD TO GO

Stew has taken the next two days off work, so he can get his car serviced before he has to start commuting to Hamilton.
Also, to do a few things around here.

First up... we are taking a load to Hamilton today, to put into storage.  We plan on going down as often as possible with all the stuff I want out of the house before we list it for sale.

So, that's quite a bit of 'stuff'!

Today I think we are taking all the sewing room shelving units, my computer desk, and various other smaller things... and a few boxes.  So far I've got about 17 boxes packed.

Bex will be home today, so she will be home for when Brylee and Griffin get  home from school, if we are not back by then.

It's getting a bit exciting, like things are happening!

We are going back to Hamilton on Saturday too, I've got 6 houses lined up to view.  

It should be a lovely day today, just Stew and I.  I'm looking forward to us having lunch somewhere nice in Hamilton and relaxing for a little while, before coming back here to the mad house.

Steve and Bex are mega busy packing and getting ready to move too... so it really is all go here.

Time to go.  Got a trailer to load!

ONWARD...

Well... Stew and I got the trailer loaded up and left by about 10.30 this morning.  We had a smooth trip down to Hamilton, and then dropped all our stuff off at the storage place.


 ABOVE:  at the storage place, about to unload.  It was a big job, with Stew doing 80% of the work.  I can't believe how much we managed to get on that trailer and in my car!  All my sewing 'room' stuff and a bit of other stuff too.

After unloading, we went for a late lunch at The Base then came home.

On the way home I decided to take my HUGE, HUGE sewing desk to the Hospice Shop.  I shall use my smaller desk from now on.

So, we got home and loaded that into the trailer.  It took Stew, Griffin, Bex AND Me all our strength to get it out of the garage and onto the trailer, it is that heavy!

Down to the Hospice shop and just as we were about to attempt getting it off the trailer, I spied a lovely strong young bloke standing outside the car part shop next door.

So I yell out "Hey Dude, how strong are you feeling today?"

He came over immediately ... and him and Stew managed to lift it into the shop in 5 seconds flat!  Awesome.  I shook his hand, told him he was just gorgeous and off he went, on his merry way.  *smiles*

My motto is if ya don't ask, ya don't get.  Simple.


ABOVE: now the garage is a shambles, and I have no desk to work on until I nick the one out of Griffin's room.  That will be over the weekend sometime.

Thank goodness it's takeaway night tonight.  No cooking.  I'm knackered and feel like shit.  The cough hasn't been TOO bad today, though we did have to buy some Gees Linctus in Hamilton cos I didn't think to take any with me.

I'm just tired and my head still constantly aches.  

End of Day: got a lot done today...quite happy about that of course.  Tomorrow is another busy day no doubt, off to bed.
nite nite

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

OUT FIRST THING TODAY, THEN INTO THE CITY

First thing this morning I'm off to Weight Watchers.  Not expecting a big loss today, but a small one will do thanks!

I shall not be staying for the meeting, there's too much to be getting on with at home after all.

Around midday I'm taking Bex and the boys into the city, dropping Bex off at the Letting Agency to sign up for their house and pay the deposit.  I shall stay in my car with Dante and Archer.  That way Bex doesn't have to battle inner city traffic, babies, car parks etc.

After that we will come home and carry on with our day.

For me that means finally getting the bloody grout on the kitchen tiles.

ONWARD...

AND.... so happy to report I lost .600 grams this week.  That's a good solid loss, what I would like most weeks thanks. *smiles*

Had an interesting trip to WW's.
MY CAR decided to go to Animates in Takanini!  I arrived and stopped the car, was about to get out and realised where I was ... WTHell?  Like my car has a mind of it's own I'm sure.

At least it took me home afterwards. 

I'm now off to try and make some sense out of the cupboard under the stairs.  Grouting will happen after I get back from taking Bex into the city.

Well the under stair cupboard didn't take long!  All that's in there now is stuff I need to keep, photos and so on.
Time to get the family ready to head into the city.

So lucky, we had a dream trip into the city, I dropped Bex off and rounded back and found a carpark right outside the building she was in.  Sat there with the boys for half an hour, fed Dante his lunch and Archer stayed asleep.

Once the paperwork was done we headed back to Manukau, where I dropped a load off at the Hospice shop, Bex bought some boxes and then home again.

This afternoon Bex is going to start packing up stuff in their room.
I might have a nap, cos I'm still not sleeping that well, and the cough/cold remains a bit shitty.


ABOVE: Kelly had day surgery this morning to remove a Ganglion Cyst from her wrist (example above).  Thanks Amanda C for letting me know all went well.  Kels, get better soon.

End of Day:  well another day down, more done... more to do.
Lots more to do.
Relaxing now till bedtime.  Cos  tomorrow... is another busy day.
nite nite

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

GORGEOUS BOYS, AND GROUT

I shall be making this quick, cos it's too cold to be sitting here.
I need to be moving to keep warm!

Here's some lovely photos of the baby I got last night:






ABOVE:  Archer is now 7 weeks old, and is very much loved by his big brother Dante.  It's so nice to see them together.  Archer is now 'talking' and smiling, and he loves Dante!  He always smiles when he sees him.

This morning I'm FINALLY putting the grout on the tiles in the kitchen (behind the stove top).  I should have done it about a year (or two) ago, but never got around to it.  Must do it now!

After that, more de-cluttering until my Doctor appointment.

That is after lunch.
Bex has another house viewing sometime today too.  Thinking positive thoughts on that score.

Right, I'm outta here, it's too cold sitting in the hallway 'computer nook', thank you very much!

ONWARD...

STEVE AND BEX have found a house to rent!!!  They are so very lucky to have something so fast.  We are beyond relieved as it means we will be able to list our house for sale in the next couple of weeks!  
There's a 'few' jobs to be done like tidy up inside, paint kitchen cupboards that need it, wall marks painted/washed off, cleaning/cleaning/cleaning.... water blast the house... oh the list is fairly long!

HAMILTONIANS:  ANYONE out there got an empty garage we can borrow for a while?  I seriously doubt our storage space is going to be big enough!  If not, I may have to look at renting another storage unit.  

Well my visit to the Doctor went well.  My HbA1c level went down another notch...to perfectly normal.  Every other reading was excellent as well, so I must be doing something right.  That is 6 months of doing well!
HIGH FIVE me.  *smiles*

Home, and I've got a lovely young man here fixing door locks, and making new keys for them.  When we bought this house all the sliding external doors had no keys and we didn't bother getting any.  Now, we have keys.

That is another thing off the list!  Yaaaa.

Dinner tonight is something easy, beef spare rib thingees and veges.  Quick and simple.  After doing a roast turkey last night I thought I'd do an easy dinner.  *smiles*

End of Day:  slowly making sense of all that's to be done.  I didn't get the grouting done today, so that will be on the list for tomorrow now.
A quiet evening ahead.
nite nite

Monday, June 22, 2015

WHAT'S NEXT?

Well... as you can imagine I've got a million things to do on my lists.

Today I am going down to Bunnings and Mitre 10 to suss out a gate to replace my awesome wrought iron one.

I'm NOT leaving that gate here.  It's special and it's coming with us, even if it becomes a garden ornament!

I will do that, then come home and get the house as tidy as possible, as we have Real Estate Agents coming around after dinner tonight to give us an appraisal.  We only plan on getting two agencies in, so after this lot we will decide who to go with.

This means I won't be going to Patchwork Class tonight.  In fact, I'm done with classes for now.  I will suss out a new one in Hamilton once we get there.  I will just do some sewing here at home when I get the chance.  In between painting kitchen cupboards, walls and so on.

I think Bex has another house viewing today (to rent).  They have been to a few now, but there is no guarantee they will get one yet.  Patience .... it will happen.

I've got a big job at lunch time too... stuff a turkey and get the bugger in the oven!  He's left over from Christmas and I don't want to leave him in the freezer any longer.  So, turkey for dinner! With roast veges.  Something tells me it will be a lovely dinner!  I wonder if this family can polish off an entire turkey in one go?  *smiles*

ONWARD...

Didn't take long to get to the 'cough, cough, vomit' stage!  Dammit.  Going to the Dr tomorrow.

I decided to put my computer desk in the garage, ready to go into storage.  So I slid it down the stairs and then..... stuck.  It won't fit through the bloody door!
So, after a LOT of VERY BAD WORDS Bex helps me and we get it out the front door (just fit) and then into the garage via the garage door.  Which meant moving the treadmill first, and a few other things.  

But, it's done now and that's about all I intend moving today!  I think I've run out of bad words.

DOGSTARS:  "Non chalant"?  Not really.  But then, this will be my 38th move since leaving home as an 18 year old, so it's not something I'm new at!

Yes, there will be moments that will be very stressful and tiring, but it's also exciting.  Finding a new home is such FUN!  I have a rather long list of 'wants', and in Hamilton I should be able to fulfill most of them as house prices are lower there.

As for lovely walks, there is the Waikato River, which has some lovely walking paths along it.  I am sure I will find some nice places to walk.  *smiles*

I am told there is a lovely lady doing Patchwork Classes there too... my Monday night tutor is getting her name for me.

Also, we have quite a few friends in Hamilton from when we used to live there, so it won't be so lonely for either of us.

Back to today: The turkey is stuffed and in the oven, all I have to do is veges later on today.
I've done the washing, it's  a nice day so it has a chance of drying.
The lounge is looking gorgeous with two lounge chairs at the end where the computer desk was.

It's such a gorgeous room!

The turkey smells amazing, and Bex has had a taste and says it's lovely.
The house is all spic and span, ready for the real estate agents visit tonight.
It's all good here.

Well that appraisal went well!  Stew and I now have to talk and decide which Real Estate Agent to go with.  
And list our house just as soon as we can.  Fingers crossed that isn't too long from now.

End of Day:  a nice day, and I'm happy to say I'm feeling so much better compared to the last few days, even though I do have a cough still.  It's not too bad, and maybe it won't hang around for long.  
nite nite


Sunday, June 21, 2015

BUSY... I BETTER GET USED TO IT

Well today's list of things to do is a mile long.
So long in fact that I know we won't even get half of it done.

But that's ok, cos we have plenty of time I'm sure.

It's not like we can list the house for sale yet anyway, but we can do  heaps to get it ready for sale.

We have to do a grocery shop first and foremost.

Then when we get home I'm going to get Stew and the kids to bring EVERYTHING down from  the attic so we can sort it all out, chuck out what we haven't used for the last almost 7 years we  have been here, make a pile for the Hospice shop, and box up what we want to actually keep.

That should take most of the day!

I have virtually NO IDEA what is up there, apart from two rugs... the rug from hell and the gorgeous rug from the lounge that will end up in our bedroom once Steve and Bex have left.

I shall have to send Stew out for more boxes too... I've used almost 20 already!  Can't believe how many I had to use for my sewing room paraphernalia.  *sigh*

I am also going to get the kids to de-clutter their rooms, anything they simply don't need on a day to day basis is going in a box.

I shall have this place ship shape in no time I'm sure.

Right, that's me for now.... I hope you are all having a lovely weekend?  Anyone else de-cluttering, house hunting, or just frantically busy like me?  What ya doing?  

ONWARD...

OFF. TO. BUY. GEES. LINCTUS.  Cos the coughing is getting really BAD.  And then the groceries.


Well, we got the grocery shopping done, came home and put it all away.  Then I crashed and had a nap for a couple of hours.


After that I did what the Real Estate Agent suggested and turned our big linen cupboard back into a 'Study Nook'.  It has all the wiring there and was advertised as a Study Nook when we bought the place.  


ABOVE:  done.  Most of the linen has gone into the 2nd hallway cupboard, or in a box to go into storage.  Slowly making a dent in the de-clutter.

But the biggest, most awful spaces are still to be done.  Under the house storeroom and the attic.  They might have to wait until next sunday now as Stew is mowing the lawn while it's not raining.

End of Day: trying to put off going to bed. You always feel 10 times worse when you go to bed, and the coughing steps up.  So, I don't wanna go to bed. *sigh*
But I will eventually I suppose, though it might be on the couch so I don't keep Stew awake.
nite nite

Saturday, June 20, 2015

JUST CALL ME SNIFFLE AND SNOT

Yep... still feel like shit.
I'm going to a chemist to get drugs to alleviate the symptoms.  Panadol just ain't working at all.

I will do that on our way to Hamilton.

Yep, we are going down to the 'Tron' ... I've got 4 houses lined up to view.
I know it's kinda far too early to be looking, but I can't help myself!

Better to know what's out there, than just look at photos on the net and wonder.

If we get time we will also sort out a storage unit so we can start taking stuff down as well.
The sooner we start, the less there will be to do once we sell.  And I need to get this house de-cluttered asap really. 

Bex and Steve have another viewing of a house today, and a few more lined up as well.  So fingers crossed they get something soon.

I will take photos of the houses we view today and show ya later.

Catch you when we get home late this afternoon.

ONWARD...
well we now have a storage unit in Hamilton... all ready to start filling next weekend. 

We have visited some good friends who are going to have Stew on the odd Thursday night, so he can go to the club with his old mates again. 

Stew is gunna LOVE living back in his 'home town'. And I'm sure I will eventually too.

It's now lunchtime at Chartwell Square then off to view 4 homes. Quite exciting. 

The houses we saw today and a brief run down on our thoughts on them:

ABOVE:  A home with 4 bedrooms and an internal atrium.  It had a lovely kitchen, but that's about all I found nice about it.  It was totally standard, boring, and the atrium was just like an internal garden with lots of wasted hallway space to get around it.


 ABOVE:  Griffin loved this one.  It had two complete kitchens!  One behind the other, like a huge skullery with oven, sink etc.  I liked it too... but wasn't too sure about the neighbourhood.  It had lots of bare land around it and who knows what could get built on it?  We won't take that chance.


ABOVE:  This one looks AMAZING on the net, and I was excited to see it.  Big disappointment when we went inside.  While it had 5 amazing bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, walk in wardrobes in most bedrooms, it's living rooms and kitchen were far too small.  So disappointed.  


ABOVE: I was even more excited to see this one!
But when we got there, we had to wait for the agent, which gave us time to take in the neighbours.
Two doors down was a house that had SIX cars on the front lawn, and several young men milling around... and they stood and stared at us and we really didn't feel comfortable at all.
So, before we even got inside the house, we had decided it wasn't for us.
Your neighbours can make a world of difference to how you enjoy your home and neighbourhood... so while the house was AMAZING in every way... we won't be buying it.
I am so sad, cos I really loved that house.  It would have been perfect for us.

The agent tried to pretend she had no idea about all the cars/blokes two doors down too, which made us cross.  

It was a good day though, and getting a storage unit was great, and we got it for a good price too.

On our way home we stopped at the top of the Bombay hills and had dinner... I couldn't eat even half of mine, so Stew had a REALLY big dinner.  *smiles*

Time to relax now and enjoy Coronation Street!  I'm feeling marginally better than I was this morning, thank goodness.  Maybe this cold will bugger off fast and I can get on with my lists!

End of Day:  well it's been a busy, eventful day.  Got to cross 4 potential homes off the list, and next weekend we might just do it all again.
nite nite