What are you all up to

That sounds really stressful B2.  It is a long time since our last property purchase, 34 years, and that was only a £25k building plot, but only 3 1/2 years since DD and SIL bought their present place and it all seemed pretty easy once their offer had been accepted.

The waiting on the morning when the offers had to be submitted was pretty tense!   They were quite surprised that their offer was the one to be accepted, but they did have the advantage of being able to finalise the purchase at any date the seller wanted.

  I do not think they had to do much reading of paperwork, that was all taken care of by the solicitor, though they  were sent copies of everything.  

We were away on holiday just before they were due to sign everything, and got a semi-frantic phone call for advice as a mine shaft had unexpectedly been discovered outside the driveway.  Not really that unexpected as there was a lot of mining in the area in the 1700s and 1800s.

The Halifax, mortgage providers, had to be consulted in case it was a  valuation problem, the surveyors consulted too,  but it all turned out OK in the end, with the proviso that they understood it might put off future purchasers.  As this is their "forever house" , and it had been there since 1924, they decided it would not be a problem and went ahead.

KJ my OH can sleep for France and UK he is a natural late night person 11.30pm onwards  as I am earlier and awake earlier in the morning but he is not, I sometimes wake in the night and will read for about 10 minutes and then get off again and know what your OH re thinking things over.

As to land prices here the previous owner bought this plot 1acre and a half about 28 years ago for 3000.00 euros and you can still get a good sized plot for about 20 to 35 thousand euros but we do have a lot more space around here.

Hope things will get sorted for you soon B2.

Another sharp frost and lovely sunshine.

Bored with tv last night I flipped through the internet and came across the coroners reports for our local area around 1840 to about 1850. OH said, how depressing, and of course it was but also interesting history. Given the area, there were drownings. Also lime kiln deaths, bull charge deaths and horse related deaths. What I did find horrendous was how so very many children caught their clothes on fire, many only being left for a few moments while mother went for water etc. Even the coroner suggested children clothes might be changed from cotton to wool. Why did no one suggest fire guards. Some mothers seem to accidently overdose their babies with ‘poppy seeds’ or laudenem, with the chemist being chastised by the Coroner not the mother. And if you were old or no reason could be found then it was always ‘ visitation of God’.

Lately I've become a bit obsessed with old newspapers - https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

I've always done a lot of research into our family trees, but I'm finding all sorts of interesting things I didn't know. Maybe they were incidents the family didn't want to talk about. This is (I think) my GGG Grandfather. The equivalent of parking on double yellow lines? 

The human side of history is always fascinating but not always easy reading. I enjoy looking into things too.

Yesterday I made some marmalade after vowing not to make it any more as it's hard work and the results are unpredictable. Most of it will go to a local fund raising event. This years Seville Oranges were better, not so tough. 

It's haggis and neeps in this household tonight, thankyou Mr Burns for such an easy meal! 

I'm a very light sleeper so any noise and I'm wide awake. Since retiring I no longer have trouble dropping off to sleep but staying asleep can be an issue. I often wake around 6am then can't get back off to sleep, eventually I drop off only for OH to wake up  if I stay in bed it's usually the best sleep of the night.

OH could sleep on the edge of a razor blade, anywhere, anytime he can just close his eyes and drop off. He claims its his early years in the army, lots of soldiers in a hut together all coming and going.

Years of doing duties, stagging on every few hours and of course being on manoeuvres, sometimes on the rangers all day then driving to the next area overnight. In our early years of marriage he once came home late Friday afternoon from a 6 week excersise, after something to eat and a bath he went to bed, he woke up Sunday mid morning I had a devil of a job convincing him it was Sunday not Saturday.

Dull day here, OH down at the men's shed again, another 25 trees to plant in the community orchard. All mixed fruit trees.

Would like to sell up and move but the thought of it puts me off, after doing 17 moves with the army which were easy as all you have to do is pack everything into boxes then clean your quarter from top to bottom. We have only ever bought the one house, this one but we were still living in army quarters at the time so it didn't matter how long it took. The thought of trying to find something suitable then going through all the processes required is putting me off. Good luck to you Bakers2 at least you will be near to your son once it's all done.

Right must get on and finish my sewing, the dining room looks like a bomb has hit it. 

Another GREY cool, 4c now, still day. I've been noticing subtle differences in bird activity but much more noticeable today, even more woodpeckers drumming too! Spring must be coming 😃.

A really good night for me last night, much appreciated, but a very slow start - running over an hour late but it doesn't matter. Tesco delivery early afternoon then off to sign the papers 😱😱 mind you won't be actioned until whole chain ready........ Learnt from the restrictive covenants we can't keep pigs 😪😪

Checked our removal quote, 6 months validity expired. Delighted to receive the revised quote and ecstatic that there's no price increase. I was expecting something because of the cost of fuel. Let's hope this one doesn't expire!

Wish OH would eat a Burn's dinner.

Yes I do miss the casual reading of old newspapers or documents since leaving work. It was always lovely if someone had ordered something particularly interesting - that could be anything! And folk using the search room  weren't in need of too much assistance on their research. The human side of any history is really interesting to me. We had a lady, now a professor at a Scottish uni who researched animals, cows sheep pigs chickens generally singular,  left in wills, boxes and boxes of them (wills not the animals). Such was the lack of 'stuff' available the dresses, petticoats etc would all be willed, should the person be 'rich' enough to be able to leave a will. How different things are today - I haven't mentioned clothing or animals in my will and now I know we can't keep pigs I don't need to alter mine! If the dog out lives us I expect son to take it on, as we would theirs heaven forbid but its been nodded to.

Coroner's reports weren't always subtle and admittance to mental hospital or workhouse harrowing. They called a spade a spade. In Essex reports weren't retained but coroner expenses were....... Even baptism registers showed no fear to label a child, base born or bastard 😪😪. Apparently my uncle cried to his wife in his wedding day because their marriage certificate had the harsh description under father's name - unknown. Women sitting with woman and interrogating her during labour to gain name of a father so the child didn't have to be supported by the parish 😪😪

We've never bought a house, just moved into the farmhouse when my father-in-law died. But three years ago we bought the adjoining farm (except the house) at auction, and that was the scariest thing I've ever done. The accountant and bank were involved, and we had to have enough cash in hand to pay a 10% deposit the minute the hammer fell. I've never written a cheque like it. The room was packed with farmers from near and far, with all the eyes on us, as everyone knew we wanted it. Not that, that stopped others bidding against us. I sat next to my husband ready to dig him in the ribs if he got carried away. But with almost imperceptible blinks he came through. 

Bought a house at an auction once, it was like winning the lottery but then having to pay it back! 

Not been a bad day here today dry and quite mild. I remember a couple of weeks ago a chat on here about passports well I sent off my renewal form last Monday and got my new passport through the post today so a total of 8 days excellent service and much quicker than I expected. Not done much today got word back from a CL in Cumbria that they have space for us on our chosen dates around Easter so that’s good news something to look forward to