ELEVENSES - the next chapter

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we go !

Yes Hippi, we'll be here! How exciting Are you looking around where you live now or would you move a bit further afield?

I'd love to come to your Strawberry tea party MAS - I'm sure I can persuade lovely dh to drop me off while he takes B to the park or something

I'm feeling quite proud of myself. I had to have a filling at the dentist today and I actually managed to make myself go and have it done! This is huge progress for me!!! Unfortunately I have to make an appointment for one more, bigger, filling soon I just need to decide wheteher I really need to pay £170 for a white filling

excellent hotcross - would be fab to have you !!
And very well done for dental bravery - am proud of you
I broke a bit off a tooth yesterday - doesn't hurt, but am cross - am going in a couple of weeks,unless something else falls off.
Is your house on rightmove or an agent's website so we can be nosy look at it ?

Hello Hope you've both had a good day?

I had a coffee with friends this morning, which was nice then usual ballet after school etc tonight.

Sorry about your tooth MAS. They are annoying things - and costly!

Exciting about the house Hippi! Hope you have lots of interest...

Hello

Coffee with friend sounds lovely hotcross
Nightmare about the tooth MAS - I can emphatise, I have a filling coming away as we speak - cue intermittent pain and huge reluctance on my part to see the dentist. Will have to bite the bullet at some point (is there a pun there??)

We have had a few incredibly mad days. The estate agent has managed to get 14 viewings on the house over the past few days. This has meant that not only does the house have to be spotless, we have had to be out. Have felt very displaced.
One more couple coming round for a look this afternoon.
The estate agents have said they will ring us on Monday to discuss any offers received. But to complicate matters a bit, the couple across the road approached us last night and asked to come round for a look. Our house is a bit bigger than theirs so they are potentially interested. It would mean we save the estate agents fees and do a private sale. I feel a bit funny about that because the estate agent has put in a fair bit of work, but on the other hand...
But they may not even offer so it may be a moot point. We may not get any offers at all [wibble]

Oh, we are on rightmove now, and for all you nosy bunnies out there, linky here

your house is totally lovely hippi - just as I'd imagined !! dh liked it lots ! You are bound to get offers I'm sure - and I shouldn't have too many scruples about estate agents !! lots of luck

What a gorgeous house Hippi. So light and bright and airy - has made me determined to declutter Or is all your junk in the shed or something????! Tricky about the neighbours viewing, but I think I'd be inclined to get any offer details from the agent, beg your neighbours not to speak to the agent and then choose the most possible/fastest movers...if that makes sense!

Talking of sheds dh has spent this w/e demolishing ours, so we can have a new non-rotten one. The excitement of having a skip

Awww, thanks for the compliments about hte house
I just hope we do actually get any offers [fret]

Haha about the clutter hotcross - what the pictures don't show you is the cupboards bulging with stuff the estate agent told me 'to hide' whilst he took the pictures. For the dining room picture I actually stood behind him holding a pile of paperwork, Emily's school bag and a wicker basket full of pens, eraqsers, calculator, mobile phone charger etc etc. It is not normally that clutter free!

Both O and E have horrid colds and none of us are in the mood for school this morning. Sob. I am not in the mood either. I just want to stay home and sleep.... zzzzz

Have a nice day both of you - and fingers crossed we get some offers on the house after all these viewings... eek....

Am glad I'm not the only one with clutter, although am impressed you can fit yours in your arms I'd need about 6 pairs of arms for ours I think

Sorry about the colds and yuckiness. There's a lot of it about... Am sending virtual lemsip and chocolate (someone told me chocolate is just as good for coughs as Benylin type things, which sounds good to me!)

Hope the broken tooth is behaving itself MAS!

you are sure to get offers hippi - such a beautiful house and sweet garden...
poor T has a cold -he felt rotten at the w/end but is perky enough for school. Hope O and E feel better soon,and that you have a good week too.
Tooth is fine thanks hotcross - though dh has now broken a bit of his - we're both dentist bound next week !

I know so many people with teeth problems. Guess it's an age thing I'd love to think I'll hang on to mine for as long as possible - have another filling coming up...

MAS is right about your house. It's attractive, well kept and in a great area - what's not to like??? There'll be offers I'm certain.

Any offers??? Am waiting here on tenderhooks!

I'm off to look at a bike tonight. It's very exciting - B is desperate for me to come cycling with her but I haven't been on a bike since my teens

Hope you're enjoying a lovely sunny day. I'm off to doggle walk!

yes,any news hippi ? fingers really crossed here.
Good luck with bike hotcross - I really should get mum's and have it reconditioned and get pedalling !

Hi MAS! I had my mums bike when I was in my teens. It was a proper old black thing, with sprung seat and basket on the front, and I loved it The bike I'm looking at is much more modern (therefore terrifying)!

Sorry - realised that sounded sniffy about old bikes. I would actually far rather an old elegant thing that doesn't split your bottom in half

oh don't worry - I've had old (lots) and new - I have a bike in the shed but seriously in need of refurbishing...I was given a friend's old hefty bike with a wicker basket on the front which I named Beryl and would cycle to work at Waterstone's in Richmond on her -was very hard work !

Oooh, old bikes are great! In Holland you see lost of very old bikes, which have obviously been loved for years and years (and used, they all look shabby) and that is so much nicer than a brandnew shiny thing.
Having said that, I have a brand new shiney (Dutch) bike but I plan to keep it and love it forever so one day it looks old and dignified and loved

The housing thing has gone a bit mad. We had 14 or so (have lost count) viewings between Wednesday afternoon and Saturday evening. The estate agent rang on Monday to say he had had 10 offers of which he was only going to bother telling us the top 5. One of those was full asking price and one was £5K above the asking price. He then said not to do anything, he was going to email everyone and ask for best and final offers as he was not prepared for us to get involved in haggeling. He felt there was not need. So, the full asking price offer was upped to £3K above and the offer which was already £5K above went up to ... wait for it.... £16,100 above asking price. We have accepted that offer.
Now it is a mad panic for pass solicitor details over to the estate agent and find a house ourselves...

Right, I have shortlisted 4 houses, can you each give me your thoughs:

1. here- Large 1960's semi in quiet street in quiet village. Needs gutting and starting again - it is vile inside. Is currently in the extremely tight catchment area for Gordon's school. No use for O but potentially for E in 4 years time. Would only have around £20K to do the work after buying it. Could not live in it as it is. Too yucky. Kitchen and bathroom hideous.
2. this one- Small (read tiny) 1960's semi in quiet cul-de-sac in large housing development in neighbouring village. O practically on top of his new secondary school. House is tiny but immaculate. On a large plot so could extend over garage and out the back. The canal towpath runs along the end of neighbouring road so easy to get to it for bike rides. Railway track nearby.

Can hear trains passing clearly. Would have plenty of money to do the extention to create our dream house in a few years time once car paid off. Decor lovely and would happily live there without doing anyting for the time being.

1. here Great house. Detached. At very top of budget. 4 bedrooms. Would not need to extend or do anything to it, just move in and enjoy. Backs onto A322 dual carriage way. Potential noise issue???
2. this one The dream house. Detached, 3 bedrooms, 1930's, bags of character. In a quiet crescent of similar houses. But in an undesirable part of Woking. Sandwiched between 3 council estates. Reports of torched cars 2 streets away. Do I believe reports? House over budget but could just stretch. But the location???

Help me please - I am bamboozled and can't see the woods for the trees....

I'm thinking number 3 -gut reaction - no 4 looks great but location is a worry. I knew you'd get loads of offers for your dear house !

MAS, I love you Number 3 is my favourite, with number 2 a close second. Have just had an over-the-dinner-table chat with dh and we have decided that whilst Number 4 is beautiful and gorgeous and everything our hearts desire we just cannot risk the location.
Number 1 has left us both cold - we just cannot get excited about it even though on paper it is the best option.
Number 2, once the building work has been completed, could be our perfect house. Well, nearly perfect, it is a semi and my dream house is detached. But the location is lovely, so close to the canal. (although you cannot actually see the canal from the house)
Number 3 is already perfect. I really like it. But can I live with the constant wooshing of cars from the by-pass?? Will I get used to it? It is also a bit of a drive to school every day. But this is a minor annoyance if the house is right.
Would you be able to live backing on to a dual carriageway bypass??
We are viewing both tomorrow evening so will report back once we have seen them 'in the flesh'. So far we have only seend them from the outside doing drive-by visits to listen to train noise, road noise etc.....

Have a good listen to the by-pass when you go to view..I lived on the south circular for a while- just by Kew gardens -the traffic was horrendous, but I was in a house right on the road,with normal windows. I reckon you'd soon get used to it- In Brentford we were under the flightpath and really got used to it. I think you'll know when you step in whether it's 'your ' house...lots of luck

oh the miserable saga of my tooth - another bit has dropped off (I was only eating pasta and presto) - a crown looms I fear , still could be worse !

Oh no MAS teeth are very annoying!

Hippi, that's all really exciting! See, we said it was a lovely house Um I think I agree about house no 3... No 4 is gorgeous, but they always say buy the worst house in the best location as you can always alter the house... No 2 is very nice, the garden is lovely and the location sounds great. No 3 has the size, nicely decorated etc. The noise may not be an issue when you're actually there. Good luck!

Must go and make cakes for the cake sale tomorrow, was just popping in!

Right, well, it is all change in the hippi household

A few months ago a lovely 1950's semi in the neighbouring (and much nicer) village of St Johns came on the market for £325K. I hankered after it but we were not even thinking of moving then...
It fell through and went back on the market 6 weeks ago, for a lesser price. Again, we were not really thinking about moving and I hankered after it anyway.
Two days ago I drove past it, saw the sold sign and thought 'if only'

Well... this morning it came back on the market. We viewed at 4pm and offered asking price there and then.
It needs an awful lot doing to it. The old man selling it has lived there since it was built. Sadly his wife died a few years ago and it is now too big for him.
It has not been decorated ever and needs gutting and starting again.
But - best thing - and the details don't really show this but it backs onto the Basingstoke canal Well, a lock of the canal. So no chance of a jetty but a nice view nonetheless (once we lower the fence panels at the rear, currently canal not visible)

Here it is - I am soooo excited!!!

Wow! Wow! wow! that's very exciting. St John's is luuuurvely Am jealous of garden backing onto canal - imagine how easy walks with Dillydog will be!

I'm off to bed, as I've a funny feeling we'll be up in the night. B has a funny itchy rash on her tummy and back, so we've Piritoned and she fell asleep at 9:30. It might be heat rash, but then again it might not...

wow hippi ! exciting !! that has huge potential for putting your mark on it,plus canl and nice location -fingers crossed !!!!!!!
Hope B is ok this morning hotcross

Huge potential is right MAS - as it stands it needs gutting and starting again. But that is fine - we are taking an extra little bit of money on the mortgage because pretty much straight away it will need rewiring, radiators replacing, boiler changing, carpets ripping up (smell of catfood and cat wee), bathroom and kitchen replacing. We are going to block off the opening from the living to the dining room but knock through from the kitchen to the dining room to create a large, airy kitchen diner with french doors out to the garden.
It is going to take time, be messy, be stressfull but the finished house will be lovely. And then there is always the option of knocking down the garage, rebuilding it next to the house and put a room over the garage. But no deperate need as the smallest bedroom is perfectly fine for E for a while

My main wish a for a nice wooden front door - get rid of the pvc nasty that is in there now - and to make sure we can see at least a hint of the canal behind the garden - am thinking of replacing two of the fence panels with 4 ft hight ones with trellis on top so you can see through but still have some privacy from the walkers/cyclists on the towpath on the other side of the canal

Am so excited - please keep your fingers crossed it all goes ahead...

Hope B's rash is better and your tooth is ok MAS. Sorry I have been a bit preoccupied, will be back to normal soon