Another one

While browsing for rental properties today, Andrew came across this little beauty.

The ad was first placed in early January so we aren't getting our hopes up yet.  I'm sure this kind of house is very sought after so I will be very surprised if it hasn't been snapped up yet.

Beautiful two bedroom property situated on a rural small holding in Spring Gardens, Frome, Somerset. This stunning property is a fully furnished barn conversion which benefits from many features including an open plan living/kitchen area with glass doors allowing maximum light exposure, gorgeous wooden beams in both bedrooms and a private garden and patio area. Also comprises of bathroom with shower facility, downstairs WC, parking and outhouse. Excellent location with access to Bath and Bristol and ready for occupancy. More photos available on request. Please note that council tax is included in the rental price. 

(my bold)

Council tax is usually paid by the occupant in the UK, but it depends on the owner.  At the place we live now, Andrew is paid a very good salary so we have to pay the council tax (and Dorset council taxes are significantly higher than Somerset!).


Please cross your fingers, toes and anything else you can that we get the answer we want for this property!  If we get it, we can sell the cooker Andrew bought before I arrived, as well as the washer/dryer so that will help to free up a bit of cash. 

Busy week

I only worked at one farm last week because Andrew & I were meant to be spending 3 days up north in Coventry, so this week I had FIVE farms to visit, two were ES (essential sampling) farms which meant I only had to visit them once, the other three I had to visit twice.  One of the ES farms alternates from an evening milking one month to a morning milking the next month.  So I had to be up at 4am yesterday, to get ready (I am so not a morning person) and drive in the dark to a farm I had only been to once before.  And yes, I got lost.  Well, not lost, I just missed the road I was supposed to turn down.  Which meant I drove probably another two miles before I knew I'd gone too far.  The joys of country living in the UK.  Not all roads are signposted, and even if they are, the road doesn't always have a name.

Anyway, long story short is that I have survived my busiest week so far.  It feels good, I feel like I have achieved alot, but I am so tired now!

Andrew has been following a job lead from the cattle show in Coventry and he is really keen to try something different, rather than being a herdsman.  I have encouraged him for a long time now get away from just milking cows and pursue his real passion which is cattle genetics.  This job will require him to visit farms and sell new genetics to the farmers and help them to improve the standard of their herds.  I think it will suit Andrew so much because he loves to talk about cows.  So a change of direction in his career also means a change of address.  I have the responsibility of searching for potential properties for us to live, but closer to Frome.

Here are a few links to my favourites so far, I hope they work, but if you are in Aus they may not:

Alfred Street this place is not my ideal as it is an apartment, but if we don't like anything else this could be all that we can afford.  I like the size of the windows and the rooms.

Kingfisher Drive  price-wise it's good, seems to be a good standard of house but nothing remarkable about it except the street name, kitchen looks good if small


LET AGREED :( period home, Westbury love the garden, the kitchen and the period features, rooms look like they are in good proportion too.  Looks shabby at the front of the house but not going to let that deter me.  As long as the place is in good nic.

Richmond Road downside is that it is in the middle of town, but I love the proportion of the rooms and the kitchen looks great.  Tiny backyard though :-(

1 BR cottage downside is that it is only a 1BR place, but it has alot of character and seems airy and light

Green Parlour, Radstock this one is out of town (good), but not enough pics to really know if it's right for us.  Description of the house sounds promising.

Southfields, Frome we like this one moreso for its location.  Ok on the inside

LET AGREED :(Barn conversion, Rode looks quaint but only has one bedroom, which is no good if we have guests come to stay

There are a couple more to link but I'm struggling to keep my eyes open so I will get those up later.

FB is back on the menu

I couldn't keep my FB account deactivated for very long, I missed being able to keep up with everyone, plus I had quite a few people expressing their disappointment that they wouldn't be able to keep in touch (only via email which isn't as exciting is it really?).  So I am back on FB, count yourself lucky if you are still my friend (kidding!!  I haven't deleted anyone)

The cattle show was really boring this year, I guess I knew what to expect this time.  I took my knitting with me and got a little bit done, I felt really self-conscious and quite silly, I must have been the only person there who wasn't interested in looking at cows.  It took 3hrs to get there, 3.5hrs to come back and even though I did nothing all day (Andrew drove all the way both trips) I was exhausted when we got home, crawled into bed and slept about 11hrs straight.  Probably because I had to get up at 6am.

Change of plans

We didn't go to the national all breeds show today like we planned.  We will be going on Wednesday instead, driving up early in the morning and driving home in the afternoon.  Our original plan was to go today, stay two or three nights, then come home.  But we are trying to cut down on spending so Andrew wants to do it all in a day.

Tonight we are having a Chinese banquet for dinner, that is our little splurge compromise, and as I will be getting paid at the end of this week we can afford to treat ourselves to some takeaway and I get a night off from cooking (besides, it's too cold to be standing in the kitchen, I'm quite happy to stay here on the sofa)!

Strange day, good day

We've had sunshine, snow flurries, sunshine again, then snow flurries.  There's only a dusting on the ground, very patchy and not photo worthy.

Andrew has gone out for a boy's day out at the cinema with Daz aka Freaky Boy, they went to see some gory movie that I am definitely not interested in seeing.  So I have been enjoying the peace and quiet at home, pottering about doing housework, and popping outside to clean the windows when the weather is calm enough.

I have picked up more farms for work, my supervisor Ken just called to ask me to do a new farm on Friday afternoon so I have a total of 9 farms to do this month.  One of the milk samplers has injured her back so while one person has to cover for her, I have to cover for them which means I could end up with even more work while Karen is recuperating.  This is all good, it means more money for Andrew & I!

FB

If you were on my friends list on FB, please be assured that I still like you, I just decided to delete my account.  You know how to contact me if you need to :-)

Have I mentioned how much I love....

my Dyson?

I don't know what's come over me, I've never been this house proud before.  I'm vacuuming twice a week, giving the bathroom a quick tidy-up ever second day (sometimes every day, depending on how badly the black bath towels shed their fluff!) and *shock horror* making the bed.

Last night we had a few friends over for pizza night, I had the house literally glowing on their arrival.  No, it wasn't on fire, I just had the whole lounge room aglow with tealights, as well two of my home made candles on the front step for their arrival.  I should have taken some pics, dammit. Must do that next time.

Something I'm not happy about at the moment is our Hotpoint washer/dryer.  If you ever think of buying a combined washer/dryer, be sure that the machine has a lint filter for the drying stage.  My machine doesn't have a lint filter, so you can imagine what our lovely cream coloured bed linen looked like when it came out of the machine.  It is a MESS.  I'll have to take the linen to the local laundromat to wash and dry it properly there.  I'm so annoyed, I want to sell the machine and buy a new one... ggrrr....

She's home :-)

Mum was released from hospital yesterday and she is glad to be home (aren't we all!).  She hardly slept in hospital, what with the other patients, the constant beeps and alarms from various machines and monitors, and the nurses buzzing about.  I know from my own experience when I had the stroke in 2004 that you never go to hospital for peace and quiet, my most vivid memories are of curtains being thrown back at 7am (just as I'm starting to go into a deep REM sleep), nurses talking loudly and emphasizing their words and making bizarre attempts at sign language at me (they instantly treat all patients as if they are deaf for some reason) and then poking and prodding me for endless blood tests.

Andrew & I are looking forward to two days off, we are going to visit Gran on Wednesday and maybe catch up with some friends, and then on Thursday Andrew has a job interview at a farm not far from where we are living. Whatever job he does end up getting, I hope it doesn't mean moving too far as it will probably mean me also having to find a new job.  My current employer pays me for mileage and I don't think they'd be keen on paying me to drive an extra 20 miles for each farm I have to visit.