I posted a blog and it disappeared. Can't be bothered re-doing it now. More later.
Bugger!!!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
It is May already
I can't believe how fast the year is going. I know I say this all the time but it is true. Here it is - May. Before you know it it will be Christmas again. Crikey!
Anyway, we are settling in really well in beautiful down town Ebor. The trees are turning the most wonderful shades of red and gold and we have had several frosts. In fact just over a week ago it was minus 2.4 at 6am and the yard had a crispy white coating on everything. I took this photo of the horses next door in the frost. Lovely.
The painting is going well with the bedroom and loungeroom finished and the kitchen is about 95% complete. What a difference a couple of gallons of sugarsoap has made to the yukky tobacco stains on every surface and then some bright coloured paint. It looks like a totally different house.
The fire place is now going 24/7 and we have about 6 tonne of wood stacked in readiness for the winter which we have been told will be C O L D. Well, it must be darn cold as our neighbours Paul and Jan, who have lived here for 4 years, go north every June for 3 months in their caravan. Hmmmm..... I just wonder what we might be in for. Apparently about 2 years ago it dropped as low as minus 15 and the falls half froze. Oh well, better that sweating like a pig in the heat and humidity of Lismore.
I will try to write a little more often. Right now I need to get off my bum and do the dishes then I have some pumpkin soup to cook for lunch.
Ciao folks
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Pictures from EBOR
Part of our yard looking across the road to the Ebor Falls Hotel/Motel
This is the Ebor Falls, a noted tourist attraction about one kilometer from our new home. Well worth a visit.
This is the Ebor Falls, a noted tourist attraction about one kilometer from our new home. Well worth a visit.
Left: The horse paddock next door. This is the view from the bedroom window.
Right: The Guy Fawkes River.
Lovely ........
How life can change dramatically, for the better.
It is truly amazing how life can change so completely within a matter of 3 months. Mine did. If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be living in the village of Ebor (population about 102) in the New England district of NSW, in a 2 bedroom weatherboard cottage we now own outright, on 1012 sqm grassy block with our own springwater bore in the middle of the yard and a large shed for my darling husband to tinker in, I would have laughed in your face. Oh come now, are you kidding me? Nooo.... way Jose ..... Well, it is true, I have lived in Ebor now for 4 weeks and I couldn't be happier. But 6 months ago ......
It was October 2009, our Cowra house had been on the market since May with not a lot of interest but we were hopeful of attracting a buyer soon so that we could move to Lismore by Christmas. This next part of my life has been covered in a couple of previous posts but suffice it to say that our plans were to live in a caravan on Loretta's land near Nimbin etc ...... you have to read previous posts for yourself unless you already have ..... ahhh, but things did not work out how I had imagined they would so something needed to be done.
We decided that we had to find somewere else to live. What would we do without a computer and the internet these days? Marvellous stuff. Within a period of 48 hours early in January, we had trawled the real estate sites on the net, found this house at Ebor, arranged an inspection, liked what we saw and made an offer which was accepted. It just felt like the right thing to do so we just did it. Probably a world record for the fastest real estate transaction. Just go with the flow if it feels right.
Anyway ..... here I now am in Ebor and I feel wonderful. This is the first house I have lived in that was not bought with the idea of resale value and it really feels like a home. Funny, Matt feels the same way too. I love the arrangement of the rooms and particularly the large kitchen. Sure it needs some work but that's OK. We love it.
I love waking up each morning to see the grassy paddock next door that has a wonderful old weather beaten wooden shed on it and the two horses that roam around lazily grazing on the grass that grows so prolifically in this area. God's country so we have been told because we are up in the clouds most mornings. Just down past the horse paddock is the Guy Fawkes river that flows by. The water is so clean and clear and you can fish for rainbow trout. All the streams and creeks in this area look so clear and clean and flow all the time. Such a change from living in Cowra where the local dam was down to 4% and the Lachlan River had lots of sand islands that all had a healthy growth of foliage on them.
I live in a small village and the only shops here are a petrol station with a small shop that does hamburgers and sandwiches and sells the local delicacy - smoked trout - plus a handful of groceries, milk etc. Then there is a small post office which doubles as a tiny general store. I mean tiny. I am talking about 4 shelves, one household fridge and one chest freezer. The lady who runs it (Lisa) is about 30 (who can tell these days anyway) and a font of local knowledge. We all need to collect our mail as there is no deliveries. I wondered why no-one had a letterbox when we first inspected the house. The mail comes in from Dorrigo once a day. On Fridays Lisa gets fresh bread in from Dorrigo which is handy. If you need a tradesman for a job around the house or you need a load of firewood or anything else, just ask at the post office.
There is also no garbage collection service here so we need to deal with our own rubbish. The tip is 2km north of town and if you go there when the council bloke is not there and use the side gate, you don't have to pay to dump your garbage. If however you have a large load that needs access through the locked double dates, you need to come Monday or Thursday before 2pm and pay the man. I have been using the side gate on off work days since we got here. Another tip from the lovely Lisa.
*sigh* Life is good my friends. Trust your instincts and don't be afraid to try something new if it feels right. By the same token, if something feels a bit iffy, don't do it. Happy days .............
It was October 2009, our Cowra house had been on the market since May with not a lot of interest but we were hopeful of attracting a buyer soon so that we could move to Lismore by Christmas. This next part of my life has been covered in a couple of previous posts but suffice it to say that our plans were to live in a caravan on Loretta's land near Nimbin etc ...... you have to read previous posts for yourself unless you already have ..... ahhh, but things did not work out how I had imagined they would so something needed to be done.
We decided that we had to find somewere else to live. What would we do without a computer and the internet these days? Marvellous stuff. Within a period of 48 hours early in January, we had trawled the real estate sites on the net, found this house at Ebor, arranged an inspection, liked what we saw and made an offer which was accepted. It just felt like the right thing to do so we just did it. Probably a world record for the fastest real estate transaction. Just go with the flow if it feels right.
Anyway ..... here I now am in Ebor and I feel wonderful. This is the first house I have lived in that was not bought with the idea of resale value and it really feels like a home. Funny, Matt feels the same way too. I love the arrangement of the rooms and particularly the large kitchen. Sure it needs some work but that's OK. We love it.
I love waking up each morning to see the grassy paddock next door that has a wonderful old weather beaten wooden shed on it and the two horses that roam around lazily grazing on the grass that grows so prolifically in this area. God's country so we have been told because we are up in the clouds most mornings. Just down past the horse paddock is the Guy Fawkes river that flows by. The water is so clean and clear and you can fish for rainbow trout. All the streams and creeks in this area look so clear and clean and flow all the time. Such a change from living in Cowra where the local dam was down to 4% and the Lachlan River had lots of sand islands that all had a healthy growth of foliage on them.
I live in a small village and the only shops here are a petrol station with a small shop that does hamburgers and sandwiches and sells the local delicacy - smoked trout - plus a handful of groceries, milk etc. Then there is a small post office which doubles as a tiny general store. I mean tiny. I am talking about 4 shelves, one household fridge and one chest freezer. The lady who runs it (Lisa) is about 30 (who can tell these days anyway) and a font of local knowledge. We all need to collect our mail as there is no deliveries. I wondered why no-one had a letterbox when we first inspected the house. The mail comes in from Dorrigo once a day. On Fridays Lisa gets fresh bread in from Dorrigo which is handy. If you need a tradesman for a job around the house or you need a load of firewood or anything else, just ask at the post office.
There is also no garbage collection service here so we need to deal with our own rubbish. The tip is 2km north of town and if you go there when the council bloke is not there and use the side gate, you don't have to pay to dump your garbage. If however you have a large load that needs access through the locked double dates, you need to come Monday or Thursday before 2pm and pay the man. I have been using the side gate on off work days since we got here. Another tip from the lovely Lisa.
*sigh* Life is good my friends. Trust your instincts and don't be afraid to try something new if it feels right. By the same token, if something feels a bit iffy, don't do it. Happy days .............
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Our new home
I am thrilled to be in our new home in the village of Ebor, population 102 (we are the 2 - lol). This is our little place which actually has a name, it is called "Appletree Cottage". There is a lovely folk art sign attached to the front.
The purchase was settled on Friday at Coffs Harbour after much ranting, raving and tearing out of hair by me at the Bank's agents who had a major breakdown in communications and stuffed up big time. How hard is it to read a bloody letter for Gawd's sake?
Honestly, with less than 2 hours to go till settlement last Thursday, I received a phone call from the Bank's agent enquiring as to the whereabouts of Dorrigo, where I had booked settlement to take place, and whether it was within proximity of Newcastle. Given that I had advised the bank twice in writing and the agent's settlement department four times by telephone that Dorrigo was located one hours drive inland from Coffs Harbour and that the nearest branches of ANZ was Coffs or Armidale, upon hearing the question, I exploded.
Many years of legal secretarial training stood me in good stead for the following 2 hours of phone hockey which I engaged in with the bank, the vendor's solicitor and the real estate agent. There is very little I could do at that late stage to ensure settlement would take place at the time and place that I have previously booked and, mind you, had confirmed four (count them) four times!!! So the whole matter had to be postponed until the following day.
Of course, now there were extra expenses to be incurred by the vendor's solicitor to get the documents to an agent in Coffs by courier which I offered to pay as I foolishly expected the bank to come to Dorrigo. They said they would 4 times and you just have to take them at their word, don't you? *sigh*
The bank admitted that the booking error was theirs and that I could "possibly" be compensated for expenses following an internal investigation. Secretarial training once again came to the fore as I kept written notes of every conversation I had in those 2 hours and, how great is modern technology - the mobile phone log allowed me to transcribe every call, the time and duration and to whom I was speaking.
I have created a tax invoice and a 2 page letter to the bank's agents and I named names! They are not dealing with some silly old woman who knows nothing, no, they are dealing with "Litigation Linda" the toughest, fightingest, rootin-est, tootin-est hombre that ever was!!! I am not going to settle for such unprofessional and sloppy mismanagement of a very serious matter. MY matter that is. I expected a moderate amount of competence. Sheesh!
Anyway, the house is ours at last and we are both very happy. The dogs are loving it as they have a large grassy yard to run and laze in, Matt has his shed, I will have a craft room as soon as we get around to painting it and setting it up and we are once again just the two of us in our own space.
Coffee and tea with scones will be served to one and all who would like to drop in. The Ebor Falls Hotel/Motel is across the road should you feel the urge to stay a night or two to perhaps go trout fishing. This is a beautiful part of NSW and well worth a visit.
Love to all and, don't settle for second best in anything.
Linda
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
And now for the next big move
Well, I am sorry to say that things did not work out as I thought they would living at Lismore for various reasons so we have bought a little cottage in the village of Ebor, population about 100. We have partially moved in even though settlement is still over a week away. The vendor (an elderly widow) let us in after exchange so that we could mow the lawn and get started on the cleaning and painting. The house has not been lived in since June 2009 and the previous occupants were a pair of geriatric smokers with two little stinky dogs.
Cleaning this house will be a full time job for months to come. The tobacco smell is at times overpowering and every single surface will need to be cleaned to remove the smoke residue from ceiling to floor. Being a reformed smoker from the time when a packet of 20 Winfield reds cost 47 cents at Franklins, I should be a bit sympathetic I suppose but I am NOT! The stink! A curse upon anyone who smokes indoors. You'd think with all that we know about the effects of smoking on the body that there would be less and less people taking the filthy habit up but, no. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Anyway, back to the house. Upon closer inspection, there are filthy marks on every doorway, light switch and the window glass is yellow. The stove is in a less than desirable state so I have unearthed the trusty Sumbeam electric frypan and am cooking our meals in that until the sdtove cleaning fairy pays me a call. Fortunately the carpets have been professionally cleaned as the real estate agent said when he first saw the house, the smell was dreadful and there was no way he could market the property until the carpets were done. In retrospect I should have hired a professional cleaning company to do the house top to toe before we moved in but that would have cost a bomb. I know if I was a professional cleaner I would charge like a wounded bull to do this place. Nevertheless, I can see the potential of this house, how wonderful it will look when it has been painted and the arrangement of the rooms is asthetically pleasing.
The dogs now have a large grassy yard to run around in any old time they want to and there are a couple of Kelpies next door they can get to know through the fence plus a bonus - the other side is a large paddock with an old wooden shed and a couple of horses. Lou Lou likes to bark at the horses. I have also seen a few rabbits there. I just love the view out the loungeroom and bedroom windows of the horse paddock. Matt has a large double shed down the back where he can tinker away as long as he likes. The Guy Fawkes river is 200 metres away and is full of trout.
There is no mail delivery or garbage service so we must rock up to the local post office which is a postage stamp size building (pun intended :-) to collect our daily mail and the tip is 2km out of town. *sigh* I am going to love being here full time. Still a little stuff to move from Lismore which we will do over the next couple of weeks.
I will definitely NOT miss the ants in everything, the humidity, trying to sleep on a hot night, the cane toads, mozzies, having to do the doggy shuffle to avoid Lou Lou and Peg fighting, not being able to cook 'cause I got no kitchen, having to go to the main house to shower and use the loo, and having to pee in a bucket at night.
Must finish off now as I need to light another incense stick which helps to override the tobacco smell. Crikey.
Cleaning this house will be a full time job for months to come. The tobacco smell is at times overpowering and every single surface will need to be cleaned to remove the smoke residue from ceiling to floor. Being a reformed smoker from the time when a packet of 20 Winfield reds cost 47 cents at Franklins, I should be a bit sympathetic I suppose but I am NOT! The stink! A curse upon anyone who smokes indoors. You'd think with all that we know about the effects of smoking on the body that there would be less and less people taking the filthy habit up but, no. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Anyway, back to the house. Upon closer inspection, there are filthy marks on every doorway, light switch and the window glass is yellow. The stove is in a less than desirable state so I have unearthed the trusty Sumbeam electric frypan and am cooking our meals in that until the sdtove cleaning fairy pays me a call. Fortunately the carpets have been professionally cleaned as the real estate agent said when he first saw the house, the smell was dreadful and there was no way he could market the property until the carpets were done. In retrospect I should have hired a professional cleaning company to do the house top to toe before we moved in but that would have cost a bomb. I know if I was a professional cleaner I would charge like a wounded bull to do this place. Nevertheless, I can see the potential of this house, how wonderful it will look when it has been painted and the arrangement of the rooms is asthetically pleasing.
The dogs now have a large grassy yard to run around in any old time they want to and there are a couple of Kelpies next door they can get to know through the fence plus a bonus - the other side is a large paddock with an old wooden shed and a couple of horses. Lou Lou likes to bark at the horses. I have also seen a few rabbits there. I just love the view out the loungeroom and bedroom windows of the horse paddock. Matt has a large double shed down the back where he can tinker away as long as he likes. The Guy Fawkes river is 200 metres away and is full of trout.
There is no mail delivery or garbage service so we must rock up to the local post office which is a postage stamp size building (pun intended :-) to collect our daily mail and the tip is 2km out of town. *sigh* I am going to love being here full time. Still a little stuff to move from Lismore which we will do over the next couple of weeks.
I will definitely NOT miss the ants in everything, the humidity, trying to sleep on a hot night, the cane toads, mozzies, having to do the doggy shuffle to avoid Lou Lou and Peg fighting, not being able to cook 'cause I got no kitchen, having to go to the main house to shower and use the loo, and having to pee in a bucket at night.
Must finish off now as I need to light another incense stick which helps to override the tobacco smell. Crikey.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
We're Here!
Yes, we are here in lovely Coffee Camp near Nimbin and enjoying the rain and humidity. This photo shows our caravan parked at the rear of the shed and part of the view over the land next door. Lovely really. We are still settling in but I can easily get used to the relaxed lifestyle living on Nimbin time. It is so nice to not HAVE to do anything - just please ourselves. Retirement is great.
More soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)