Canal walk video

Andre's mom and I went for a walk along the canal near our house one morning last week before getting back to unpacking, cleaning and gardening.



Click here to see it on vimeo.

The Move

Andre's mom came to visit us this month. The timing worked out perfect as she got to see both our previous house we rented as well as the new one we bought now. Unfortunately for her this also meant she helped us pack, move and unpack! It was a huge help though to have an extra pair of hands to pack and carry boxes.

We started packing the Wednesday before the move. Packed the bedroom, study and lounge in a couple of hours. Friday morning we packed the kitchen which took quite a bit longer than I imagined. Andre moved all the boxes to the garage and around 11am we went to fetch the van we rented for the move.

We used blueboxrentals.com which ended up being through Northgate Vehicle Hire. We got the best quote from them and were very happy with their service. They even gave us an upgrade to a slightly bigger van which was helpful. Can definitely recommend them if you're looking to rent a van.

On our way home with the van the estate agents called to say the money has been cleared and we can pick up the keys. First went straight home, loaded the van and car with as much as we could and then came to get the keys and start unloading.

We did another load with the van on Friday and one last load on Saturday morning before returning the van. Andre enjoyed driving this van so much he wants to buy one for himself!

We were exhausted by 8.30pm Friday, and so went out for a curry once we had everything unloaded and our beds made for the night in the new house.

Next morning I woke up early, excited to start unpacking our things. Another day of hard work on Saturday. Andre's mom even started doing some gardening.

The neighbourhood cat who is very at home in our garden.

Picking plums

Cooking in our new kitchen

Sunday we took a break to do some sight seeing. More on that in the next post. Have to go teach my craft class now!

The House Hunt

Around April we started looking at houses. We weren't in a rush to find a house but I really got into the process of looking at properties, always worrying that if I do not go see an available house we might miss THE one. Although it was hard work looking, organising viewings and driving around all the time, I enjoyed seeing so many houses. In less than two months we saw 49 properties. Quite a few of which we quickly walked out of again, some which we considered, but none we felt absolutely sure about.

I was starting to think that we won't find the perfect house and shouldn't expect to find the perfect one, until over the bank holiday weekend in May we did. From the moment we walked into the house we both just looked at each other and smiled and knew. This was it.

We viewed the house for the first time on the Saturday morning. The owners told us outright that they had already refused a lower offer and that there is another couple very interested in the house. We had a few more to see that Saturday morning, but when we got home we phoned the agents and asked if we could come by again for a second viewing. The owners agreed to let us see the house again on the Sunday morning. We were still sure that this was the one for us. 

With that Monday being a bank holiday we had to wait an extra day to put our offer in. I called the agents first thing Tuesday morning. They later called back to say the other couple has also put an offer in. We were very nervous waiting to hear back from them. I really didn't want to have to go back to searching again, knowing how long it took us to find what we liked.

About an hour later we got the call to say the sellers accepted our offer!

We kept it quiet all this time as the sellers can still change their minds about selling at any time. Only once the contracts were exchanged did we really allow ourselves to celebrate. 

The whole process from offer being accepted to exchange of contracts took 9 weeks. With a lot of hassling the bank and the agents to make sure things got done. Our solicitors, Barnetts, were amazing. They got everything done right away as it needed to be done. Great communication with us, letting us know what's going on. We never had to contact them to make sure things are getting done. We'll definitely be using them again if we need to. Which hopefully won't be any time soon though. The only hold up we had was with the bank who seemed to take a month long vacation at one stage. It took a lot of phoning and in the end speaking to bank managers to get them to wake up and send the relevant documents to the solicitors.

Then we were lucky that the sellers were happy to move out within a week of exchanging contracts and we moved in right away. 

More about the move in the next post.

Packing started yesterday

It's been over a year already and time to move again! 

Seriously. This time we're staying in one place for a long time!!

Marlow & Maliks

Andre's mom arrived here early on Sunday morning. After spending the day at home relaxing and catching up, we went out to dinner in Marlow. We first had a walk around the town and along the river Thames. The weather has been behaving remarkably well all week.

Andre took some great photos along the river. 

After our walk we went for our favourite meal out: curry at Maliks!

Mommy-in-law is here!

Andre's mom is here!!! It's been two and a half years since we last saw her. Way too long! We picked her up from the airport very early this morning. Talked talked talked. Had breakfast. Talked some more. Had cake. (Andre's birthday cake) And then everyone went for a nap to catch up on some sleep. And are still sleeping except for me!

Thank you to the SA family for all the lovely gifts!! Will still speak to you all later! And thank you Pauline, my blog reader in Cape Town, we received your hugs! :-)

We'll maybe go for a walk later if the rain stops and then out for curry later tonight for dinner.

Have more news and photos to share later!

Creative Kids fishy crafts

It's school holiday here are the moment and my craft classes are nice and busy with lots of kids coming to enjoy some crafts during the holiday time. Our theme for the holiday is Sea Creatures. Here's what we did today:

We used plastic water bottles to create these fish.

Some of the kids in todays class with their "Bottle Fish"

On Monday we also painted some underwater scenes
which turned out great.

You can see more of what we've been doing on the Creative Kids blog. www.creativekidsuk.co.uk