Category: married life

Hels’s flat sale has fallen through – the purchaser was intending to buy-to-let and has got cold feet over the interest rates. This is a major setback. We’re very pissed off and incredibly stressed, with just over four months until the wedding and nowhere to live.
I have to go to France later today until Saturday – I’d rather be here sorting all this out, although I’m not sure if there is anything much that I can do. Aside from support H, of course.

I’ve spent the whole day driving many miles and visiting umpteen estate agents. I also viewed three properties, one of which is "really quite promising and high on the list". Another would rank as "very interesting". I looked at a third from the outside and ranked it as "having potential". All in all, however, the whole experience has been utterly exhausting and I’m fit to drop. I’ll be more than happy when we’ve settled on a place.
EDIT: it seems that I’m not alone.

I don’t think I’ll show this post to my future wife. I don’t think that she has yet expressed any particular preference for men’s underwear (when worn by me, I hasten to add – she doesn’t wear men’s pants herself). I like my boxers from Next and I’m sticking to them (not literally, you understand).

For those following our house-buying story, the one we looked at yesterday was nice, but not quite right. It needs quite a bit of work done to it, and would stretch our budget and time availability beyond breaking-point, I believe. Shame, as it has a nice pub across the street.
The other half of the pair is also up for sale, and may actually offer a better option for us. I’ll be contacting the agent today for more information.

UPDATE: Whoa!!! The other half is on the market for £65,000 more than the one we looked at! Whilst the one we looked at needs redecorating and a new kitchen, it does benefit from an extension. Suddenly, I’m wondering if we can stretch that far – it would make a fabulous investment.
If only we had more money…..

From the property details of a house that Hels and I will be viewing on Thursday –

Ah. That’ll be a semi-detached house then.

Today, I have received all the forms that my solicitor would like me to complete in advance of the sale of the flat. They relate to the leasehold. As I also own 50% of the freehold, there will be a similar pile of forms relating to that. It appears that I need to check my inside leg measurement, shoe size and IQ, and write those into the appropriate sections of the form, along with a full and complete tally of the number of doorhandles (10), fluorescent tubes (none), extractor fans (1), curtains including net curtains (6) and picture hooks (4). Interestingly, two things that the forms do not require are my name or date of birth.

Today is St. George’s Day, and I intend to celebrate this later with a pint of good English ale.
On this day, some years ago, a little girl was born. She grew up to be a beautiful, intelligent, funny, quirky, caring, smart, loving, savvy and wonderful woman, much loved by everyone around her. She’s my fiancée.

Happy birthday, Hels. I love you very much.

It won’t be health, education or Gordon’s flower borders. No, the subject of the rant will be the cost of wedding car hire. How much??! Suddenly I see the attraction of Worra and his "beautiful Nissaaarrrn!" – it would certainly be cheaper. OK, I can see that vintage cars might cost more than a modern car to maintain, and there is the cost of a driver to be considered. But it looks like it might make a fair dent in our budget, as our previously volunteered car has been withdrawn, as the owner/driver is not sure he wants to drive it the thirty or so miles that it would have to cover. Ho hum.
And when I say a fair dent, I mean a bloody great huge dent. The sort of dent that, were it to be inflicted upon a wedding car, would render it unroadworthy. Permanently.
Ironically, the cheapest element in the whole wedding plan is the church. Vicars seem not to respond to market forces by inflating their prices on Saturdays like florists, car hire companies and reception venues tend to do.
So now I’m looking around for other volunteers who might help us out with vintage cars. I’ve got a contact into the world of oily rags and spanners, although he is based around Chichester and so probably doesn’t know anyone in the Kent borders area who could help. All very frustrating.

It looks like things are progressing with the home-moving, as Hels has a tentative offer on her flat that is acceptable, and will hopefully be confirmed on Monday. There are also plenty of other people interested in it, so that is very encouraging.
My flat is progressing too, with the bulk of the decorating work likely to be finished this week, and new (cheap and cheerful) carpet to be laid on Wednesday. Hopefully I should be able to officially launch it onto the market around March 28th.
We’ve been exploring the house market for the last few weeks, and have seen a couple of places that we like and can afford in areas that we would like to live in. We should even have room in our new home for a cat or two, and even a little bit of garden so that I can actually have some plants around my own home.
I’ll be working from home in our new abode, so I’m going to have to get used to a life with less social interaction than I have now (there are usually people coming and going from my parents’ place, which is where my office is based now). I know that quite a few homeworkers read this site – any tips on sanity preservation?