Progressing

Today has been a tiring but productive day.  Good to see progress!

I was up fairly early to take delivery of our online shop.  We spent yesterday evening planning our meals etc so hopefully we now have everything we need for the next week.

After that I got some  washing done and then I tackled the garden.

This is the view looking out of the kitchen or dining room window.  You can see I've got the bird feeder set up now and our bench is now where it will enjoy some sunshine .

This is looking back at the house.

And this is looking down the side of the house to the other section of garden.

I spent time tidying the paved area at the end today and cutting back the lavender that is in the raised beds in the corner.

Looking much better!  And one thing I like about this London borough - we have a brown waste bin for garden and food waste.  They only collect fortnightly but so much easier than having to book it as we did in the old house.

These pictures show the chaos that still remains in the studio.  I've now got the exercise bike from my daughter but there are also ordinary bikes in there and gardening equipment.

It's a mess but it will be good when it's sorted and it does look out onto the garden.  We've ordered a shed but it will probably be a few weeks before it's delivered and installed.

Once the shed is up we can move stuff out from here and the garage, then the ordinary bikes will be able to go into the garage and we'll be a little bit more organised.

Another couple of things I've achieved have been sorting out the alarm system and one of our TV sets.  

We had the alarm system checked and it's all working fine.  We can even alarm parts of the house during the night which is reassuring.  I don't feel unsafe in the house but the layout is more vulnerable than our old house so the alarm is definitely a plus.  I even managed to program one of the keyfobs into the system today.  We discovered one of the fobs wasn't working and assumed it was the battery.  I changed the battery but it still didn't work.  It looked fairly new compared to the other fobs so I checked and found the system only had 3 fobs set up but I was able to set the 4th fob up without setting off the alarm!  Progress.

As for the TV, well that was a bit embarrassing.  It was working fine in the old house but seemed dead here.  We changed the fuse in the plug.  We located the remote.  We found the alternative buttons on the side of the TV but nothing seemed to work.  After speaking to a repair shop and planning to get it looked at I decided to do one last check for any other buttons!  Just as well I did.  There was a small on/off switch hidden away that had obviously got into the off position during the move.  I'd have felt really stupid if we'd dragged it all the way to a repair shop for that lol.

Social media and the internet can be a pain at times but it can also be useful.  Thanks to a recommendation from a local group I've also got a repair guy coming to look at our dishwasher which has gone wrong.  I did try and check for any obvious problems with it but according to the instruction manual the light that's flashing indicates a problem that needs to be fixed by an expert.  That I am not!
 

We're here!

 

Not the best photo - I took it quickly in the rain just to give you a view of our new house.

Yes we're here, finally!  We moved in on the 22nd September but the period from when we exchanged contracts, (10th September) until now, feels like one big blur.  

Having refused to pack until we knew we were definitely moving from the date of exchange we packed, and packed.  Cleaned.  And ....repeat!

I ought to have been sleeping like a log but of course the stress of all the things to think about kept me awake during the nights, a lot!

But we're in and gradually getting ourselves straight.  The removal guys were excellent and the actual moving day went really smoothly.  They had us packed up and ready to leave our house by 11.30 am.  The financial transactions were done soon after midday so we were able to pick up our new keys, meet the removal guys here and they had everything unloaded by 4.30 pm ish.

I'd like to say I kicked off my shoes and sat and had a nice glass of wine but ...... look who couldn't wait to be here too!

 

 

Say hello to Vincent Thomas (aka Vinny) born at 9.35 pm on the day we moved, weighing in at 5lb 15oz despite being over 4 weeks early.  So while Mummy & Daddy were occupied with the new baby, Nanny was looking after his big brother Rory.

Mummy is home now but, as I write this, Vinny is still in the hospital.  He had to have a course of antibiotics for an infection which meant a canula in place plus he was also quite jaundiced so he had to be under a lamp for several days.  He's spent the time in the NICU but Mummy and Daddy have been able to visit despite COVID restrictions although individually not together.  He's doing well though and hopefully will be home on Wednesday provided the hospital are happy with the amount he is feeding.  We're looking forward to meeting him and having our first cuddles!

So it's been a very hectic few weeks and we are now taking our time unpacking all those boxes and helping out with Rory when needed.  

Hopefully I'll be back in the swing of blogging again soon and will be able to show more of our house.  We're loving being here even if it is taking us a while to work out where everything should go, how everything works etc.  

Now I'm not quite so exhausted and the pressure of the move deadline is gone I might even have time to read your posts although commenting might still lag a little way behind.  I'm sure you'll understand and won't be offended.

#SoCS - 29/8/20 - More than a hundred....

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “more than a hundred.” Write your post inspired by something you have more than a hundred of in your home right now. Enjoy!

#SoCS is hosted by Linda - here

Pop over to her blog to see how to take part and who else is joining in.

 

Well it's been a while since I did one of these posts but I was up fairly early this morning and decided I would give it a go.  Especially as there are probably more than a hundred thoughts whirling around my head connected to our upcoming move.

 

Did I mention I'm moving house?  Probably done that more than a hundred times too as the process has been dragging on since early this year.  Does house buying usually take this long? No!  Well sometimes it can if the chain breaks down or you discover a major problem with the house you're buying and have to start over.

 

That hasn't happened to us (yet) and we're almost over the final hurdle but that hurdle keeps moving.  The left hand isn't communicating with the right.  Our solicitor tells us one thing, which I believe because she forwarded the e-mail from the other solicitor, but then the buyer says something else!

 

At some point I need to start packing up my house, especially as I definitely have more than a hundred books on my shelves.  Maybe I'll count them as I'm packing, or maybe not.  That might make me start trying to remember what I can about the book.  Probably not a lot! But it will make the packing process take longer.

 

One thing good to come out of the delay in the move is that we'll still be here next weekend and will be able to take part in the annual jumble trail. (Bit like a yard sale.)  We haven't got lots of stuff to get rid of now as we've been doing a lot of clearing out for a while, but I'm sure we can still find some things that don't really need to go to the new house.

 

Hopefully we'll get rid of some of them but if not we have a friend who does car boot sales and will probably take any items we don't want.  He took a load of stuff recently.

 

I was trying to think what else I might have over 100 of.  Definitely not shoes as I find it hard to buy comfortable shoes.  I probably have somewhere close to 100 items of clothing.  Hubby probably has more than 100 records.  Yes vinyl records.  He's very attached to them and getting his hi-fi and speakers set up in the best place in the new house will be his priority when we move it.  Can't wait lol. He's also got more than 100 CDs.

 

Lots of other things have been scaled down.  I've usually got a lot of canned/dried goods plus cleaning materials stocked up in our cellar but I've been whittling them down too.  The freezer is looking pretty empty as well.

 

As for the thoughts flying around my head, well of course lots of those get jotted down and become to do lists.  Thankfully I haven't got over a hundred of those although there might well be over a hundred things to do on the master list.  Have you any idea how many people you need to inform when you move house?  Neither had I until I started making a list.  Oh yes, there are more than a hundred! 

 

 

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 19/8/20

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce over at "From this side of the Pond".  Pop over there to see who is playing and how to join in.  If you do join in remember to visit your neighbour on the Linky List.  Have fun.

1. Five years ago this month hubs and I relocated from New Jersey to the Palmetto State. What were you doing five years ago this month?

Relaxing at home and planning for our annual family get together at the end of the month.  Unfortunately that won't be happening this year thanks to the pandemic.  Gatherings of more than 30 people are not permitted and the accommodation is closed. :(

2. What was the last 9-5 job you worked? Tell us about it.

I was a School Business Manager for the primary school that my kids (and their Dad) had attended.  My youngest was in his last term there when I took the job so it didn't cause any issues.  I loved that job but unfortunately new management made it become unbearable so I left in 2015.  I'm a lady of leisure now although not yet retired and of course my family, especially the Grandkids keep me busy.  The job also involved responsibility for Health & Safety and I'm really glad I'm not having to do the endless risk assessments that must be needed at the moment as schools prepare to reopen fully in September.

3. Plead the fifth, high five, take five, it's five o'clock somewhere, or the big 5-0...which number five phrase relates to your life in some way currently? Tell us how.

I think take five.  We're in the throes of moving house and sometimes I just need to "take five" to get away from that lol

4. During this season of spending so much time at home, what distractions get in the way of being your most productive? Or have you been extra productive since this whole thing started?

How much time have you got?  Am I being productive?  On and off.  Am I easily distracted?  Definitely.  The television.  The internet - especially social media.  My phone with it's constant stream of messages - large family whatsapp groups can be very time consuming.  Thank goodness you can turn off any annoying chimes every time a message comes through!  I'm hoping once we get to the point of exchanging contracts on our move this will give me the kick up the backside I feel I need.  And of course once we're in the new house there will be lots to do.  

5. Give us a list here of your top five anything.

Well you get a bonus here - in no particular order these are the books I've given 5* to so far this year.

1. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
2. Saving Missy - Beth Morrey
3. The Other Half of Augusta Hope - Joanna Glen
4. Cilka's Journey - Heather Morris
5. The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
6. The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
7. Half a World Away - Mike Gayle

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I checked out the spelling of "throes" earlier just to be sure and was a bit surprised at the meaning - intense or violent pain and struggle, especially accompanying birth, death, or great change.

I guess moving does mean great change!  It's also definitely intense and a struggle.  Hopefully it won't involve violent pain. 

And it's Monday again..17/8/20

And..... it's Monday again.

Despite the pandemic and restrictions which means we are able to do less and sometimes the days do drag, it also seems that time is also flying by.

On Saturday we saw Grandson Nathan and his Mummies briefly as they'd been house hunting not too far from us.  They's managed to get Nathan's hair cut and he still has some curls!

 

Yesterday we had Grandson Rory and his parents here for dinner.  Rory loves coming here to play and reading Nanny's books!

I also found time to start making some more face masks:

Today we inched a bit nearer to moving - we've tentatively agreed a completion date of the 10th or 11th September.  Hopefully the solicitors can make that happen and our removal company will be able to move us on that date.

I'll feel happier once contracts are exchanged but apparently there are still a couple of queries to resolve but we're still waiting to hear what they are.

Two steps forward one back!

 

 

 

And another day dawns

I actually saw the dawn today - well saw it was getting light through the curtains.

Some nights I sleep reasonably well and others.... well let's say I'm well acquainted with our spare bed thanks to hubby's snoring/my restlessness/overheating/overactive mind......I'm sure you get the picture.

I made it through till almost 5 last night but after tossing and turning in the spare bed for over an hour I decided to give up fighting the desire for more sleep and got up.  Yes I know all you early birds will be saying this is not early but for this night owl it definitely is!

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the move - where things will go, what we'll need to do.  To do lists for the actual moving process - things like labels on furniture that's not going to the new house but being left for the new owners here.  Oh but wait we haven't checked yet if they want certain items - note to self to check that out.  Note to self not to pack the masking tape - can't rely on post it notes not falling off!  Get the picture?

Organising was my thing when I worked so it does come fairly easily to me but this move is definitely daunting.  I did manage to persuade Hubby yesterday that we really don't need two crates of box files/ring binders/folders when we don't really do anything that would require them.  We didn't put all of them with the "dispose of" pile but we did reduce the number we're keeping.  Sigh!

One thing we did score a win on though was a crate of records and tapes and packaging materials from when Hubby had a spell of selling on Ebay.  He contacted one of his friends who does that sort of thing and he said yes to the box!  Hopefully he's picking them up tomorrow.  One less thing to move.

I probably should be more ruthless than I am but Hubby is more of a hoarder than I am.  I think he gets it from his Dad.  He was definitely of the "it might come in useful one day" clan.  My argument that, "if we haven't used it in over a year we're not likely to, and if we did get rid of it by mistake we can afford to replace it" falls on deaf ears. Although it is hard when I hate to just throw stuff out to end up in landfill but recycling can be time consuming.

Of course sitting here blogging is just my way of procrastinating about doing more sorting!  There is still a lot to do and now people are starting to talk about discussing dates for exchange and completion!  Yikes I need to get my skates on.  No, wait, they were another item I did manage to shift via Facebook lol.

Another step forward....

Thank you to all those who stopped by and commented on yesterday's post.  It's definitely uplifting when you know you're not sitting here composing posts in a void and that people do read them!

The drain survey was done here yesterday.  Fortunately the engineer was able to lift our inspection cover that hasn't been disturbed in about 20 years!  And our drains are ok!  Of course we knew that but we understand the need for the buyers to check and be sure.

It made us feel that it was probably something we should get done on the house we're buying and we used the same company who were able to do the survey today and it was done first thing this morning!

Not quite so straightforward as here - apparently the inspection cover is located in the crawl space under the back extension of the house and would need 2 people to lift it off.  As an alternative the engineer removed the downstairs toilet and accessed the drains that way (and of course reinstated it afterwards!) and they all seem fine.  Not an ideal set up if we do have any problems in future but at least there is an inspection cover and we're aware of where it is.

So another box ticked.

We also did some admin yesterday answering questions the buyer's solicitor had raised, hopefully to their satisfaction.

We were a bit puzzled to be asked to provide more information about a "flood" (not something we've ever had) but it was an error.  Phew!  They wanted more info on an attempted break-in that happened years ago.  Hopefully they'll be reassured by the fact the attempt was unsuccessful and we've never had any actual break-ins while we've been here.

At last it feels like we're moving forward and I'm encouraged to get on with more sorting.  Apparently all the searches that solicitors conduct have come back on our house so we're expecting more questions in the next day or so but hopefully we can resolve any issues and look forward to discussing exchange and completion dates.

This move might actually happen!

Up and Down

Well it's been a week since I blogged properly (excluding my weekly photo) and it's been very up and down.

The downside was the ongoing saga with the house.  The survey on our house threw up issues relating to the roof, specifically the supporting structures, and also the electrical wiring.  A bit of negotiation followed (a drop in price) and hopefully we are back on track ....except today we are waiting for a survey to be done on our drains. 

The surveyor failed to notice we do actually have an inspection chamber for the drains.  No doubt he has reported that he was unable to check the drains and advised having a survey done.  We understand but ....if he had only asked while he was here we could have shown him where the inspection chamber is and also confirmed that we have never had a problem with the drains!  The buyers might still have wanted to get a survey done but at least they would have been working on correct information.

We don't anticipate any problems with it and we have made it clear we are not dropping our price any further.  Fingers crossed.

The survey on the house we're buying didn't really throw up any major issues but there are a few things our solicitor will need to check with regard to the building works that were done in the past to do with planning permission etc.  Again we're hoping that will all be ok.

All this uncertainty though is not good for my mental health which is already suffering from the pandemic.  It's hard to knuckle down and get on with sorting/cleaning etc when nothing seems certain.

So that was all the down side to the week - 2 steps forward, 1 back but still slowly moving forward.

But lots of ups too! 

Nick took a lot of rubbish we'd sorted to the tip and our gardener came this week so the garden looks tidier and the patio no longer looks like a rubbish dump.

We moved all our daughter's stuff over to our son's garage for now so our bedroom is no longer cluttered with lots of boxes.

We saw a few members of Nick's family this week and we babysat Rory a couple of times.  We've also had a video chat with Nathan which was better than usual.  He often wants to call us but then gets distracted easily and doesn't want to chat but doesn't want Mummy to chat either. 

Nathan and Rory and their parents also got together this weekend in a park so that was nice for them.

We had hoped to see our eldest son at the weekend but that visit was cancelled when his Father-in-law thought he might have picked up the virus.  Thankfully he was able to get tested quickly and the test was negative and now he's feeling fine so we all breathed a sigh of relief and hopefully Matt will visit next weekend.

We've had rain - not the best thing for getting out to walk but it's saved me the job of watering the garden.

All our family, including the pregnant DILs and babies are well. 

Hold that thought!

A bit of News!

Well we finally got some feedback on the survey done on our house today.

Our buyers got the report back last Wednesday but didn't e-mail the agent until late on Saturday so we didn't get to hear about it until today.

Apparently there was nothing "devastating" in the report but it did throw up a few things they weren't expecting relating to gas, electrics and the roof.

As far as I can tell the issues with the gas and electrics was about having safety certificates for them.  Which we had already forwarded to our solicitors who I'm sure will have forwarded to their solicitors.  Left hand talking to right hand????

Anyway they've now also been sent to the agent to send to the buyers direct.

We've no idea what the roof issue is but hopefully we'll know more in a day or two and then we can see what needs to be done to resolve the problem. 🙏

Feels like two steps forward one back!  But at least we've had some feedback at last.

On a brighter note we drove over to visit one of hubby's sisters today and were surprised when 2 more sisters turned up with their husbands.  We sat socially distanced in the garden.  It was lovely to catch up with them.  First time we've seen any of them since we were locked down in March.

And here's a pic of Rory from yesterday - he does love playing with cars - he spends ages just lining them up them rearranging them!

20 in 20 - Weekly Photo #28 - 12/7/20

Well technically I'm a day late but it's been that sort of week.

This is a screen shot of the photos I took this week.  Not very exciting.  Apart from the rucksack they're all of jigsaws that I've done.  I was trying to see if any of our kids wanted them before I add them to the "pass on" pile in my house.  As in pass on to someone else rather than just trash.

We're still sorting things into that pile or the trash pile, slowly.

We feel a bit in limbo again this week - the survey on our house was done on Tuesday 7th and we've yet to get any feedback on it, despite chasing the estate agents.  We don't know if our buyers have had the report back or not and consequently we don't know if there is anything to worry about, or not.

I'm sure the optimists out there are shouting out "no news is good news"  or "don't worry until there is something to worry about" which of course I get.  I'm just not very good at doing it.  Of course there are various scenarios from this, the worst case being that there is something very wrong with our house, the buyers will pull out and we will be back at square one with a problem to solve.

I know that this would not be the end of the world.  There are things that could happen that would be much worse.  And of course we would deal with whatever is thrown at us.  It's just the not knowing that's frustrating.  It deters me from making much effort in the house.  I'm not good at tempting fate so the plans to do a really thorough deep clean is on hold but the longer we wait to move forward the less time we may have if suddenly everything takes off and we head for the end of August deadline that has been proposed.

The Covid-19 situation is not helping.  Especially now that restrictions are being eased and the messages given out by the Government are far from clear.  They seem to be passing the responsibility for keeping safe onto employers and the general public.  Our PM even seems to think that things might be quite normal by Christmas.  It would be lovely if he's right but I'm not convinced.  Wearing masks, keeping apart and avoiding certain activities is not normal!  But I've ordered some pipe cleaners and plan on making some more masks so that we're prepared although we're still being extra cautious.  It will keep my idle hands and busy brain occupied.

In other news Hubby and I actually sat down and watched a film together last night.  "3 Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" was on.  I'd say it was an OK film.  I didn't like the ending and it was hard to follow what was being said at times due to the accents and the sound seeming a bit muffled and of course if you don't like swearing it's one to be missed.  During the adverts they were promoting "The Post" which will be shown next week.  That's the last film Hubby and I went to see at the cinema.  Thankfully there are so many films available on cable/Netflix that we don't miss going to the cinema. (We don't even miss the popcorn as we're not lovers of it lol)

On a final positive note we're seeing Grandson Rory this afternoon.  Can't be miserable around him!

#WDIIA - Monday 15th June 2020

#WDIIA - it's the day we bought a house!  Well we've started the ball rolling.  We saw the house on Saturday, liked it, put an offer in earlier today and by the end of the day it had been accepted. 

Now the fun begins.  Lots of paperwork to be completed, surveyors and solicitors to instruct and removal men to find.

Oh and just the small task of packing up the belongings etc we've accumulated over the last 20+ years.

Whose idea was this?  Oh yeah, it was mine.  What was I thinking lol.

#WDIIA - What day is it anyway? was started by Linda - the host of #SoCS and One Liner Wednesday. You can find her posts here.

#WDIIA - Sunday 24/5/20

Well my Fitbit tells me it's Sunday so it must be so.  Am I the only one losing track of the days here?  As as for the actual date - well thankfully my Fitbit tells me that too!

Today has been a lazy day.  We did get out for a walk but I've spent most of the day looking at houses for sale on my laptop.  We're still waiting to hear that our chain is definitely still intact so it's hard to get too excited yet.  I have bookmarked a few houses that look promising but I'm not sure how the viewing process is going to work.  

Some agents seem to be saying they'll be doing virtual viewings - hopefully that would be like a video call so that you could direct them on what you want to see rather than the agent not showing you things they don't want you to see.  Others seem to be putting steps in place so that one of us could go and view the property and be socially distanced and safe. It's all a bit nerve wracking.

I've sent the house details to Hubby so we could end up viewing none of them if he doesn't like them.  It's been fun looking at them all though and working through all the estate agent's jargon and trying to visualise what a wrong might look like without the various decorating disasters - or with furniture in if the place is empty.

Although it's likely to be difficult to find and purchase a house at this time at least it would give me a sense of purpose.  I think that's what I'm finding hard at the moment.  Not knowing whether we're staying or going makes it hard to focus on doing much at home.  I'm not always the most patient of people!

But another day is almost over.  That must be one day closer to a successful treatment or vaccine right?  Let's hope so.  

Apparently it's a Bank Holiday tomorrow.  Who knew?  Well I do now because they e-mailed today to tell me our HelloFresh box will be delayed until Tuesday.  Because they notified me so late they've also given me a £10 credit.  Not going to complain about that!  Better go and get something out of the freezer for tomorrow's dinner before I forget.

The Moving Saga Update #5 - 25/3/20

Well this will probably be the last update for a while.

On Saturday we viewed another 3 properties.  2 were no good but the final one we really liked.  It was definitely a downsize on where we are now but it was actually only about a 15 minute walk away so still in our local area.  We wouldn't have had to get to know a new neighbourhood and the maintenance tasks would have been greatly reduced.

After much debate we made our offer.  There was a lot of interest in the property so we had to make our best and final bid by 3 pm yesterday, giving details of our situation and ourselves.  Yikes we've never done that before!  Hubby and I were just about still talking to one another by the time it was done and I'd pressed send on the e-mail.  (Don't worry, we're fine really but it was all a bit stressful.)

But....we were unsucessful.  Understandably the vendor went for someone who was chain free.

And now we are in Lock Down!

No more going to view properties.

We have advised our estate agent.  We'll keep our eyes online to see if anything is added or if anything we liked and missed previously comes back on the market.  That does sometimes happen.  We'll express our interest if we see anything worth a view so that we can get things moving again as soon as the current restrictions are eased and it's safe to do so.

Hopefully our buyers will be prepared to wait but if we lose them and have to market our house again then that's what we'll do.

In the meantime all this time at home will give us time to continue sorting and whittling down all our stuff, well at least deciding what needs to go.  We won't be able to do much shifting of things while we're locked down but at least we can sort into keep, trash and pass on.  Hmm that might cause a few cross words between hubby and me too! lol

Is it Thursday?

Linda has been doing posts entitled "What Day is it Anyway" during these strange times.

I'm pretty sure it's Thursday today.  (But I could be wrong!)  Since giving up work / retiring staying at home I already struggled to keep track of the day and as for the date well thank goodness my watch can tell me that.  Now in these strange times I fear that one day will merge into another and this heading will become very topical.

We are not self isolating but we are social distancing.  So we have been at home.  I'm not even sure when we will see the grandsons & families again.  We're being asked to avoid family gatherings yet we can still go to the supermarket!  And pubs and bars etc have not been told to close!  Yet schools will close their doors tomorrow for an extended spell.

As for our intended move?  Who knows?  One of our viewings for Saturday was cancelled today but then another house that looks promising appeared on the market.  As we haven't been told we can't go we will continue to look and practice social distancing/good hygiene etc as best we can until we're told otherwise.

Today was pretty miserable weather wise but tomorrow looks slightly better so we will definitely be aiming to get out for a walk.  At least we can still do that.  We'll also continue to tackle the To Do list for moving because even if we don't end up moving for a while these things still need doing.  

Today I finished shredding a big pile of old financial paperwork and we also checked out the state of some of the tents that have been stored in the cellar.  They all seemed fine so now I can offer them out to our kids or the extended family.  Hopefully some of them will be taken off our hands and then we can think about what to do with the rest.  Fortunately our son who lives nearby has a garage but no car so if there are things we haven't got rid of that we don't need to take to a new house we can dump them in the garage while we work out how to dispose of them.

Of course we could be here for a while.  What day is it?

Actually I know exactly what day it is - 32 years ago today I was giving birth to my eldest son. A word of advice for expect mothers - if you're given the choice between pushing or forceps - PUSH! Sorry if that's too much information.

Happy birthday Matthew!

 

There are still plenty of things to smile about.

The Moving Saga Update #4 - 18/3/20

Coranavirus is impacting more and more on our day to day lives.  After Friday our schools will close for the foreseeable future.  We're all being advised to limit social interaction.  This gives me a dilemma.  Should we still be going to view houses if we try and be as cautious as we can - no close contact with anyone, frequent washing of hands?  Or should we just be giving up on the whole idea of moving for the time being?

It's hard because our buyers have already started the process of selling their flat and their mortgage broker is keen to get a valuation done on our property so they can get their mortgage finalised.  I'm loathe to put them to any unnecessary expense if we can avoid it.

Currently we have 3 properties lined up to view on Saturday.  One of them we think is chain free.  The others I'm not sure what the situation is.  My gut instinct is telling me it's no more risky going to view a house that it is to go the the supermarket and we haven't been stopped from doing that yet.  So at this point in time I'm thinking we will go.

Maybe the decision will be taken out of our hands.  Things seem to be changing swiftly.  Last week they were saying that closing schools was not yet required, this week they've announced they will close on Friday.  Many have already closed. 

Wouldn't it be good if we could all go into hibernation!

The Moving Saga Update #3 15/3/20

WE ARE UNDER OFFER!*

Which of course is great, but now we have to find somewhere to go.  Not so great, especially with all the problems associated with the Corona Virus.  How do you view a house if you're virtually under house arrest?  Although of course we're not at that stage (yet)  but everytime I have a bout of coughing, which I often do thanks to the medication I'm on, there is the dark thought - "should I be self isolating?"  Difficult times.

Anyway, we have been doing our best to find a new home.  We've seen quite a few now.  Some good, some ok and some definite Nos.

Spotting the definite Nos can be quite easy as in the following examples:

• The one with half the kitchen in the conservatory and the tumble dryer in the garden. 
• The one with a question mark over where and when the boundary fence would be reinstated and an extension next door with a window invading your privacy that wasn't on the plans.
• The one with the tube trains running along the bottom of the garden.

Yes I know you're probably wondering why we even bothered to view these but you can't always tell from the online information that these problems exist.  Yes we knew the trains would be there but it's hard to tell how noisy they are unless you're actually standing in the garden.  Answer, too noisy and too frequent.

The good ones often jump out at you but again it's not always easy.  They can look wonderful online but in reality they can be much smaller and the decoration in need of TLC.  We've also been trying to find out more about the areas we've been looking at.

It's hard because it's such a big decision for us having been in our current home for 27 years.  We've also been used to a big house with lots of rooms and now we're looking at things that are smaller.  But we know it's the right thing to do at this stage in our lives, although we still want enough space for when the kids and grandkids visit.  I'm trying not to hanker after something bigger and I'm gradually getting used to being sensible.  We looked at a house yesterday that would have been great but it was at the top end of our budget and being on a corner plot it would have involved lots of maintenance.  My heart loved the house, my head told me not to be stupid.  I've allowed my head to win.

We have 2 that we think are worth a second look and another couple to try and see.  Again I'm trying to think with my head, especially as one of the houses we'd like to see again currently has 2 large vivariums housing snakes.  I cannot bear snakes.  Rationally I know that the snakes would be gone if we moved there.  Irrationally I would worry about any escapees!  But it was a lovely house and ticked a lot of our boxes.  

The situation with the Corona Virus is also beginning to impact on this process.  Several of the estate agents have started implementing handwashing on arrival and before leaving a property and some have also mentioned the possibility of moving to virtual viewings if necessary.  This will possibly slow the whole process down.  Hopefully we will be able to find a property before our buyers lose patience with us (they have buyers for their flat and are also expecting a baby very soon) but I'm a great believer in that if it's meant to be it will happen.

For now our search continues!

* Not sure how it works elsewhere but here in the UK this means we have agreed a price with the would be purchasers.  Their solicitors will now carry out various legal checks, a surveyor will check out the property and their mortgage providers will also determine how much money they will lend them and how much deposit the buyers will be required to lodge on exchange of contracts.  

Hopefully all that will go smoothly and contracts will be drawn up.  An exchange date is then agreed at which point the buyer makes a deposit which is non refundable.  The solicitors then work towards completing the sale process and everyone moves on completion day.  

There are usually a few weeks between exchange and completion (although it can be done quicker if required) which gives everyone time to finalise removal contractors and everything else associated with moving house.

20 in 20 - Photo of the Week #7 16/2/20 & The Moving Saga Update #2

Well I'm combining 2 posts here as time is short!

It's been busy here this past week or so but we are now officially up for sale!  Our house is the middle one with the red door. 

These window boxes are now on my front window sills.  Of course this meant a trip to the garden centre.

The stairway leading down to our kitchen needed some work.  We'd had to take the tongue & groove panelling off at the bottom and had never got round to reinstating it.  It was definitely a mess.  Now thanks to a handyman recommended to us the panelling is fixed, it's had a lick of paint and looks so much better.

And the room that we now refer to as Hubby's den (which has served as a playroom and a bedroom in the past) now has new curtains.  The old ones practically fell apart when I took them down to wash so we had to get new ones and opted for a new pole system too.  Thanks again to our handyman for getting the pole up.

We've also been busy doing more decluttering and tidying and managed to get our lawn cut (despite the wind and rain we've had) so we decided we  were ready for the estate agent to come and take pictures for marketing the house.

As of today the propery is live on the web and we already have 3 viewings arranged!

I am definitely on a runaway train!  We also have 3 properties to view.  1 on Saturday and then 2 the following Saturday.  The market is definitely picking up and I think good houses are going to sell quickly.  We were hoping to view one house but when I rang on Monday to try and arrange it I was told it was already under offer.  (I hadn't realised it had had an open day last Saturday.)  That of course bodes well for our sale but makes it harder to find the right house to buy.  Hopefully, as we will be mortgage free and therefore "cash buyers" we will be more attractive to potential vendors and more likely to have an offer accepted.

Thankfully it's half term this week so I haven't had Rory to look after.  I miss seeing him but it's nice to have the rest, especially when we've been working so hard in the house.

Thank you for all the comments on my posts.  Apologies for not replying to all of them.  I'm finding it hard to keep up at the moment.  I am visiting and reading blogs but I don't always have time to leave a comment.   It's amazing how tiring looking at houses online can be, not to mention how time consuming!