Lovely Christmas in Kent now back to Wales

We had a lovely time visiting family over Christmas although being back at the house made me feel saddened and frustrated at the situation we are in.  The house should have sold by now. However on departure, I left with renewed hope and the belief that it will work out in the end.  We are now back staying in our first holiday rental for a week due to the last holiday let having an existing booking for Christmas and New Year. I am finding it tough having to keep packing up our stuff, cleaning each place we leave and moving into another rent.  I know its a means to an end but its hard.  Luckily in a weeks time we have secured a rental until the end of March back at the second group of holiday cottages we were staying at.  I'm not looking forward to moving yet again but at least it will be a little while before we need to do it again although lining up another temporary home will be harder coming April due to the holiday season starting.  Additionally I have an interview on the afternoon of the day we are due to move - no pressure!! We have looked at short term rental i.e 6 months but the set up costs are high plus you have to pay all the other bills such as council tax, water etc which we are already paying on one property.  We just can't afford it.  I am just going to have to hope we sell our house soon.

Coming back to views like this, feels me with confidence that we still made the right decision to move up here. Just have patience Claire.....

Christmas back in Kent with family

We ventured back to Kent to stay in our house for Christmas whilst visiting family.  It was particularly strange for the kids to come back to the house.  However they were extremely disappointed to find that I had packed everything in their rooms in preparation of our move - if it finally happens!! They also found out that Grandad has now moved into our house after he completed on his house a week before.  This in itself has caused implications.  His household contents are now in storage costing a hefty monthly rent.  We knew things were never going to be straight forward and the timings were never going to work out the same but we did not anticipate it taking so long to sell our house in the countryside.  Now we have to work out how to pay a mortgage on the house and rent on  holiday cottages with only one wage.  Our savings nearly already spent on the last few months rent and Christmas.  I have been applying for a couple of jobs in North Wales.  A lot of jobs stipulate you need to be billingual so have not been able to apply for many. Just wanting to do my bit, to contrubute not take a holiday.  Walking the dog and volunteering is all well and good but its not helping Mark who is working extra hours or his Dad Dave, who has currently been left behind to help us sell our house.  We are all hoping the New Year brings new hope and we get the chance to start working towards achieving our dream.

Family walk

Nice little walk we found in Betws-y-coed

Another glorious morning here in Wales x

Today

Bad day

Yesterday was a bad day.  One of those days when the reality kicks in and you start to lose your nerve.  I just couldn't shake the deep sadness. We had a viewing last week, unexpected at this time of year but sounded promising.  Had a call from the estate agents a couple of days after, he felt the property was too far out (thats the beauty of the village.  Only 2 miles out but surrounded by countryside, worth it I think!)  Another blow.  Then I made the mistake of finding out that a house in the village that went on the market a few days ago has already sold!! Probably because it had a massive garden.  You start wondering what is wrong with our house.  We've spent a lot of time and money on it.  We've had people react with a 'WOW'.  Again another blow.  With the kids kicking off because they are having to share a room and can't escape each other (at 11 (girl) and 13 (boy) they shouldn't be sharing), you just can't help questioning whether you have done the right thing moving to Wales.  In my heart its still the right thing to have done but I am starting to panic that we will never realise my dream, that we will be struggling like this for a while. Tomorrow is another day, lets just hope it brings some positive news.  We will get there in the end.  The harder the struggle, the greater the reward.

My brother visits us!

My brother Chris who lives in Manchester came to visit today along with his family.  We visited the RSPB reserve in Conway.  Its a completely different world, a little wildlife haven with the hum of the A55 behind it and the River Conwy and Conwy Castle the other side of it.  The kids were kids again!  Its so nice to see them playing.  It is so rare to have them behave so naturally.  Normally I am greeted everyday with moody teenagers with attitude.  We then went onto Betws y Coed.  The day light was fading and we started to get a feel of Christmas with the festive lights and fire places.

Volunteering

I am going to be starting volunteering today at a lovely community led organisation, Golyga Gwydyr in Llanrwst.  Went in to offer my services yesterday and had a lovely chat.  Such lovely people with great plans to help the local community.

Crisp mornings

We have been waking up to some beautiful crisp mornings recently.  Just adds a bit of a sparkle to the hills.  A tad tricky walking the dog especially when he pulls, nearly fell on my arse a few times.  Least I don't need to worry about anyone seeing me!! 😆✨