Welcome friends. A Jug of White Daisies is about my life and all the thoughts that come to me while I'm walking, doing the dishes, having a shower or hanging washing on the line - some of my regular activities that give me time to think. It's about all the things that make up my life - cooking, cleaning, creating, loving, learning, discovering, rolling my eyes, sighing, smiling, forgiving, making do, making the most of, looking up, gardening, hugging, being. It's about the things that I make for sale, fabulous finds, the wisdom and beauty in the world, and it's about stopping to admire the simple perfection of daisies.


And in amongst all the thinking and writing about that, I'll be doing it all, and more, so if you don't see me for a day or two, please send chocolate.

July 10, 2015

Owning It

We are reluctant renters no more. That house I spoke of in the last post? We got it! It wasn't quite a smooth sail, but it is indeed ours now.

After our offer on the R Street house had been rejected, we had driven out to look at a house again that we had previously looked at, that was not quite right. We knew it wasn't quite right, but we just wanted to make sure, you know? And we were right. It was OK, but not The One. Then I suggested we go look at this other house that was for sale, in a street nearby. I hadn't told my husband about it before because he'd made noises about not really thinking much of that kind of style of house. But we pulled up in front and he got out and peeked in over the gate. The lady who owned it noticed and invited us in. I didn't find it all that appealing actually, but as we walked around, Duncan and our daughter both really liked it and I let them sweep me up in their feelings.

We arranged an official inspection, talked to our mortgage consultant, researched flood plains information and possible new Ikea kitchens, had a pest inspection done, met with a solicitor, and did all the usual pre purchase things.

It felt like a compromise though. I really struggled with my feelings of it being "just another house" for weeks, while going along with the whole purchase thing. Once the loan was approved, neither of us felt like woo-hooing and it was all a bit anti-climax. People who know us were all so excited for us, but we were like, "yay" instead of YAAAAAYYYY and that felt a bit scary. What had we done?

The first thing that strikes me about buying a house is that you stand in it and look around for maybe 20 minutes or so making a decision about a very large and important part of your life. You mull over it later, you think about it (a lot) and discuss it with other people, you wonder about living there, actually being and living there, and you work out the trek to work and the shops from there.... but really, it's that few minutes while you are in it that decide you. You don't really know what the neighbours are like, which is important for all sorts of reasons - whether they like cats for instance; what it will be like in different seasons, what little nasties may lie concealed within the walls or roof, what the soil is like for growing things in, whether there are wild teenagers up the road that will burn rubber past your doorstep. You just get a feeling and for whatever reason, think it will all be OK. Luckily for most of us, that works well enough.

When we were on our way to sign the papers at the solicitors, the agent from the R street house phoned and said that the offer that gazumped ours had fallen through and did we still want it. Eeep! We didn't until then.... so the solicitor said she'd wait and start her searches etc the next week. We went back and had another look at R Street and you know what? We didn't like it nearly as much! It had SO much work to do on it, and we both felt like we had a lucky escape! Suddenly the house we were buying looked a whole lot nicer!

Even so, it wasn't until two days after we had picked up our keys and started moving in that I had that feeling of belonging, of being in the right place, and that it wasn't "just another house". I smiled because it was home, simple as that.

love Heather x

To the question of your life, you are the only answer. To the problems of your life, you are the only solution. ~Jo Coudert
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