You complete me!

The good news: finally we completed. The bad news: our sellers had not. As in not completed anything, their packing, their cleaning.

We knew things had gone awry when Tim turned up at the estate agents and was asked if we wanted some pet goldfish. The estate agent told them they had until 7.30pm to clear the property of everything including all marine life.

We waited until 8pm, despite having completed at 2pm that afternoon, and discovered the seller looking ashen and like he was about to collapse while his cheery wife chatted to a neighbour on the landing drinking what looked like a teacup full of advocate.

The house was still full of their belongings. Cupboards full. Drawers full. Piles of old Irish newspapers. Basically the random rubbish that accumulates over 70 years spent living in the same house.

We said hello to our neighbours who has been roped into helping out and then told the couple they could come back in the morning to finish cleaning up and they duly scampered into the night with promises of cleaning echoing back to us.

Outside our new house, piles of rubbish, bits of broken furniture, overflowing wheelie bins and a small tupperware bowl full of oversized goldfish.

Travelling light in Amsterdam!

Headed to Amsterdam for the first time for New Year's Eve with our best friends!

Amsterdam is a really pretty city and we had a great weekend eating, drinking and cowering behind cars trying to avoid being maimed by stray fireworks - Amsterdammers are quite keen on letting off bangers in the street!

Amsterdam is also a super stylish place, all trendy restaurants, beautiful homes and uber cool design stores, so we had a quick poke about.

Hadn't planned on falling in love with a very cool lampshade which we decided would be perfect for our new stairs. We've never had stairs before so we need a very special lamp!

Plus I'd actually ripped a picture of the same lamp out of a magazine a few months earlier from a UK shop but it was nearly twice the price!

Bargain...until we realised lampshades definately don't qualify as hand luggage!

A very neighbourly stalker!

Managed to track down our new neighbour in a very stalkery fashion. 

We googled her loft extension plans on the council website which gave her name and we then googled her name which led us to a famous London theatre. 

Of course, there were loads of the same names working all over London, but we took a random chance and phoned one and left a rambling message explaining that we were possibly her new neighbours! 

15 minutes later and our hunch was confirmed. She was lovely and told us what a wonderful place we had chosen to live! 

Everybody needs good neighbours!

Beds and boilers!

Time seemed to be going soooo slowly waiting to get our keys to we decided to pop round to the house to measure up for our lovely new bed.

Discovered we can fit in the superking bed of our dreams. 

Also discovered we have bought a house without heating. Does IKEA do boilers?

A truthful exchange!

Faced a stressful week of estate agent trauma. 

So this is what we were told when we submitted our offer: The sellers want a quick sale. The sellers are not in a chain. The sellers will move in with their son to ensure a quick move. The sellers are not planning to use your deposit money to buy on a brand new house in Ireland against the strong advice of your solicitor. Hmmm.

Actual truth: The sellers are in a chain, the sellers do not want to move until March, the sellers do not want to live with their son, the sellers would like to take our deposit and start buying things with it. Hmmm indeed.

A few taut days and a couple of polite phonecall arguments later and finally our solicitor worked his magic and we exchanged. 

We owned a house. Well, nearly.

Oh, and the reason, they didn’t want to move in February. It’s a very superstitious month for them. 

Bless this house!

Offer accepted and mortgage application lodged, we headed back to Malvern Road with Tim’s mum and dad for the all-important second viewing. 

Cue much oohing and ahhing of original cornicing and ceiling roses. Cue great excitement over the greenhouse, shed and outdoor loo!

We also realised that our sellers are a pretty religious pair judging by the random myriad of atefacts, pictures of the Pope and cute garden gnomes of Francis De Assisis.

And I managed to get puffed in the face by one of the dozens of motion sensor room fresheners around the house. 

At least, we think they are room fresheners, it could well be blessed holy water. 

Our house is very fine house!

So this will hopefully be our new home…fingers crossed! Two double bedrooms, a small single bedroom, three reception rooms, a grotty lean-to kitchen and a styish avocado bathroom.  DIY SOS!

 

     But look at our marvellous garden - and all is forgiven!

Leafy Leytonstone!

Last year we decided that we wanted to move home.

We really wanted stairs to up to bed on and we really wanted a garden. Somewhere to grow chills and play badminton in our socks.

So one sunny autumn afternoon, after quickly realising we couldn't afford the area where we live now, we hopped on the tube and ventured east.

We landed in Leytonstone. E1 to E11. Almost Essex but not quite.

It was only supposed to be a recce of the area, but one very persuasive estate agent later and we plumped for house contended number two.

A terraced three bedroom house with bay windows and a south facing garden. Owned by an Irish 77-year-old man who was born in it.

It needs a little updating.