A home of our own

Sometimes all you need is a nudge... Or three, to blog again. When your favourite blog author (Heather, of www.heatherdrive.blogspot.com) asks what's going on you know you've got to put pen to paper,finger to keyboard, whatever.

The most significant thing that's happened these past few months is that we started house hunting in earnest. Having looked on and off for about a year, we were ready to get going with the search and stop paying stupid amounts of rent for a flat which plainly has seen better days. But that's a whole story you don't want to know about.

We saw a house soon enough, it was pretty, in a nice residential area, and we kinda fell for it. We made an offer, it was accepted after some negotiation, except slowly it began to dawn on us that we were overpaying. A lacklustre survey made us back out of the purchase.

If there is something in life that I hate it's house hunting. Being taken round by conniving people who insult your intelligence by lying to your face, calling what are clearly single rooms, 'comfortable doubles' feed you rubbish about the area commanding unprecedented prices... Honestly, I hate estate agents. So hunting for our first home together brought out the worst in me... I was impatient and frustrated. London has become insanely expensive. It seemed like anything good was out of reach and we were being shown expensive rubbish.

But, finally, we found something! In a residential area, 15 mins walk from the underground, in nice surrounds... A four bed, with a garden, a home to call our own. It's so exciting, it's just where we wanted to be location-wise. It will be a financial stretch, for sure, but we know it will be worth it to be in our own home. I am such a home bug!

We move in at the end of March, expect pictures then! Until that time, if you read on you will be regaled with stories of couch shopping and the like.... Ok, so I'm doing a bad job of getting you to stick around, but all the same it'd be grand if you did!