Decisions

This morning we notified the estate agent that we were withdrawing our offer on the property.  Not renegotiating a lower price, but pulling out altogether.  It was a decision that we took with some reluctance, given the time, effort (and money) we have put into the project, but it is definitely the right thing to do and having taken the step, neither of us regrets it at all.  The cost of renovation was escalating beyond common sense, and we could no longer justify spending that amount of our hard-earned money on that property, it simply wasn't economically viable.  We may have taken our time to reach that conclusion, but we're so glad we did.  

The whole experience has taught us many valuable lessons.  You can never ask too many questions, and if the first answer doesn't seem quite right, it pays to ask again.  Quotes and estimates for proposed work are invaluable - although mighty difficult to get hold of!  Little niggles should not be ignored, they often are more significant than at first seems.  Listen to the advice and views of others, but who will pay the final bill?  

Some pieces of Isle of Wight Glass, collected over the years

On the plus side, we are now more than capable of pricing up house repairs and renovations.  And when experts suggest you should build in a contingency fund, they know what they're talking about!  If we view other properties, we shall know exactly what to look for, and how much it'll cost to put things right.

The process has been frustrating, stressful and, at times, exhausting, and we are both pretty worn out.  However, we still have a roof over our heads and we are thankful that we had the sense to walk away when we did.  We still want to move - we might give ourselves a couple of weeks to lick our wounds first - and we are now much clearer what to look for in the future, and what would suit us.  It's actually been very interesting and helpful to realise that what we thought was going to be our dream didn't match up to our expectations, and is not necessarily what we would look for again.  

So, we didn't move house after all.  We've spent two months up to our eyes in surveys, costings and quotes, chasing up estimates, researching on the internet and planning.  We're not quite sure what to do with ourselves now!

I've been plugging away at N's new shirt for the past few days, and with the exception of buttons and buttonholes, it's now finished.  I've been glad of the distraction, and it's another job off the list.  Just another couple of small projects to finish, and then I might look at a couple of quilt tops that have been waiting, extremely patiently (for quite a few years, truth be told) to be made up.  

This evening we sat down to dinner at 5.45 pm, still in daylight, just.  It's March at the weekend, and we dearly want to get out into the garden; the ground is still quite soggy underfoot and we need to do some remedial work to avoid the soil becoming too compacted.  The shed and greenhouse could do with a bit of a spring-clean, and the seeds need sorting out ready for sowing.  Our minds have been so full of moving that we have lost sight of the every-day activities that kept us grounded.  

We need to get back to the basics of a simple life.