Don't Tell Any One But...

Shhhh... we've seen a house that we like!!! We are considering putting an offer in on it. It is a lot less than the properties that we have been looking at but needs some work done on it, but as it is less, we would have the money to spare!

It is a beautiful old Georgian style farmhouse, 3 bedrooms. It has a small bit of land but the farmer is willing to rent out more as and when it may be needed (possibly with the chance to buy it in the future). There is one large cow shed, perfect for conversion to stables and some old outbuildings, again good for potential conversion in the future.

The house as I say needs some work but is livable. Needs a new kitchen and could do with another bathroom. The central heating needs repair but there are open fires and plenty of scope for electric heaters in the mean time. There are two holes in the ceiling and they will be the main reason why we change our minds. We are waiting to see the surveyors opinion on those, as one was caused by water damage.

I feel I am painting a rather dim view of the house. Apart from what I have mentioned the house apepars solid and well laid out. There is plenty of scope for development and of putting our 'own mark' on the inside, without the thought of 'well, it doesn't really need doing' that accompanies looking at a newly refurbished house and thinking 'I just don't like that kitchen!'.

Once we hear more from our solicitor then I will let you guys know too. Until then it is all hush hush! LOL You'll just have to tune in and see!

A Visit To The Farm..

So, we went to see the house that we have been considering. Here's what we thought..

Details

5 Bedrooms

2 bathrooms

1.9 acres of land total

Shed

Couple of derelict buildings
A byre suitable for conversion

The property had its own small courtyard with a gate seperating it from the farm track that leads from the main road. We checked out the house first and were very impressed. The rooms were large and suitable to move into straight away. Nothing needed doing and everything was beautifully finished. Our only initial concern was that there was no obvious sitting room. The room that was listed as the sitting room was acting a bit like a corridor as it was necessary to cross diagonally across the middle to go from the entrance hall to the dining room (and the rest of the house).

The land was in bad shape and would be needing a lot of TLC to turn it into something useable but it is not undoable. The solicitor that showed us round was very encouraging as he said there was a drive in the area to increase tourism so anything (like self catering cottages) would probably be easy to pass through the planning office.

The parents came along and were having a good look round. They could see the potential in the property also but they also saw the work that would be needed to get the land into shape. The dog loved the pond doing a couple of laps before we managed to get him to get out, which he did after claiming a plastic duck that he had found.

The property has been on the market for over a year and has been standing empty for just as long and is beginning to show it. Apparently the owner is keen to sell as soon as possible, which means we would maybe be able to get it for a pretty good price!

We have a lot to think about!!

How the Seeds are Going... and the Ants!!

	So the seeds are coming along really well. Here are the sweetcorn seedlings. I have re potted them and brought them into the conservatory to give them a bit of help. Still a bit of a long way to go till we get some sweetcorn to eat I think!!!
	The lettuce has been struggling. I discovered that the ants were cutting the leaves as fast as they were growing so I have also had to rescue these and bring them in to the safety of the conservatory a well. They have really appreciated it and are already bigger than they were when this photo was taken! So hopefully we will be getting some nice salad leaves soon!!

Where Have I Been....?? But great news!!

I feel bad and I should apologise! I have not done any of the things that I said I would do and there have been no updates! Bad me! But I have not be idle.

But the biggest news is this! The second property we have been awaiting selling has sold!!!! Actually it was sold a while ago but I didn't want to jinx it! The keys are handed over to the new owners this thursday (14th) and that's it all done!! This means we are able to get seriously into looking at new places without worry!! This is what we have been waiting for but also suddenly makes things scarily real! What the heck are we doing....???

As a result of this we spent the weekend moving furniture from my grandmother's house (the house just sold), into one of D's dad's sheds. This is the furniture that we had requested before the rest of the contents were sold. D Snr is going to store it all for us until we move in. We are the proud owners of:

1 dining room table + 4 chairs
1 kitchen table + 4 chairs
1 dining room side board
1 other side board
1 wooden bench
2 large bookcases
1 glass fronted cabinet
2 wall clocks
1 grandfather clock
2 pouffes

All these are awaiting our moving from their new home of a large farm shed with neighbouring combine harvester!

So this weekend is the visit to the property I have been rattling on about to anyone who would listen for the last 6 weeks. (See post below). With this visit though we will get inside and potentially find out all that is wrong with it. We have good feelings about this after long discussions with both sets of parents this week (one reason why I wasn't updating, wasn't around!) Have even discovered D's sudden liking of a goat, that he can tether in the middle of a round lawn... methinks this has something to do with lawn mowing duties! What is really great is that all parents are coming to see the house this weekend too, so it will be good to get people's opinions and especially's D's father's input as he is the farming expert!!

Further joy on the current "ranch" arrived yesterday when I discovered that the pump in the fish pond has broken, why now? Why not in 6 months time when it is someone else's problem! It wouldn't bother me so much but the people who put in the pump thought that concreting it in would be a good idea so to change it will be a huge job. The only other option I can come up with is to buy a new pump that I can just put in, untidily, leaving the old one there, then take the new one with us when we leave. Chances are high that we will need a new pump for the place we move to anyway. Not sure how well that will go down with selling it though 'here is a pond, pump is broken and we are taking away the one that works' problem's yours.!!! I guess we'd be taking the fish too so initially they wouldn't need a pump anyway... hmmm...

Things have been active in the garden and I do have some photos of how the lettuce is coming along and soon there will be a sweetcorn update also! The lettuce has had to be brought inside, due to ants! The have been slowly munching through the new leaves as fast as they have been growing! So I have brought the bowl into the conservatory to give them a bit of protection until they are bigger.

Just thought that I would also mention to any chicken owners out there (current or wannabe) that Life on a Southern Farm blog is giving away a couple of their fabulous nesting boxes!! Get in there and win a chicken paradise!!

So there you are, a mis match of updates in a strange order, now you know the rambliongs I have to go on with in my head all the time.... But just to say we are very excited at the prospect of finally taking that first step. We have to remain impartial and look at the property sensibly, hard though....