Our little announcement - finally!

Ah, sweet Planetarians, thanks ever so much for your kind comments on my Dad’s health following my last post. He’s still in hospital and waiting on test results which will determine what lies ahead. I won’t go into details in order to protect his privacy but I have grave fears. Yesterday was one of the most surreal days of my life. In the truest sense. I thought it would never end. It was a total rollercoaster of the highest high and the lowest low. The low was seeing my Dad so terribly vulnerable and frail and having some family discussions I hadn’t expected would need to occur for many years yet. The high was discovering that finally I can let you in our news. You’ve been extraordinarily patient! So, here goes…

Source

A house purchase

Yes, Planet Baby is on the move! Yesterday, just minutes before I raced to the hospital to be with my Dad, I discovered that our bank had approved our purchase of a house in Hobart. Woo hoo! It’s been the culmination of many years of hoping, dreaming, thinking it was too hard, putting on the back burner, having the 3 pixies in 3 ½ years, thinking we could never afford it in Sydney, living on a single income for the past 3 years, moving back to Hobart and then suddenly, this little charmer appeared.

Mr PB had been sporadically keeping an eye out for houses down here and just stumbled upon this gem of a house. Built in 1924, it’s a weatherboard house which has been completely renovated. Exhale! No need for us to do anything. Except change some paint here and there if we want but only to suit our tastes more, not because it’s needed. Oh, and garden as we desire.

Let’s take a little wander. Here’s the master bedroom just to the left of the front door.

The blue-and-white girl in me is pleasantly satisfied. It’s spacious, has ceiling height built-ins and that gorgeous little window nook which will catch the afternoon sun delightfully. I fancy the picture rails and polished floorboards as well.

So that’s the first bedroom. There are 5 here – can you believe it?! The mind boggles at all the permutations. Joshua has always shared a room with India. Our Sydney apartment had 2 bedrooms and our current rental has 3. Now we have a multitude of options. Two of the pixies could share a room, leaving us with a playroom and a room for me. The pixies could each have a room, leaving a room for me.

Are you sensing a theme here?! Yes, I finally can have a ‘room of my own’, something I have craved ever since reading Virginia Woolf’s book (you know what I mean, Ann) but most recently as I have started rediscovering my creative side. This is the current contender which has fabulous built-in storage and will allow the light in throughout the day. Sure it looks a bit drab and spartan now but don’t you think it has *potential*? Ooh, I can’t wait to hang up my Blogging Your Way mood board!

Finally, I can have a room where I can paint, do my cross-stitch, write, foster my growing interest in papercraft, read, learn to sew and embroider - basically whatever takes my fancy. And I can leave paintings out to dry and creations at mid-assembly stage by simply shutting the door. I can’t even imagine the *delicious* sensation of having my own space which I don’t have to share with other little people, putting things away before creeping hands reach them or Quicksilver Sam runs away with my scissors!

So that’s the bedrooms dealt with. There are 2 bathrooms and most importantly, 2 toilets, an essential when living in a house of toilet trainers. But let’s walk outside this room and have a peek around the corner. What can we see?

This gorgeous sunlit area leads out onto the deck. Note the reverse cycle air conditioner above the door – a bonus in Hobart where older houses are rarely well equipped to deal with the winter cold. Are you feeling the relaxed vibe of the place yet?

Let’s keep walking and turn right. Look at the scene which reveals itself in all its stunning glory.

I can’t believe this spacious, pristine, fabulously designed kitchen will be mine! It has heaps of built-in storage, brilliant deep drawers everywhere instead of poky cupboards – it’s all so convenient and accessible. I’m excited to have a gas stovetop again. All I might add is a couple of floating IKEA Lack shelves on the far wall for my cookbooks.

Here’s a view from the other end of the kitchen. Hmm, loving the oven and the dishwasher.

But let’s not overlook the loveliest feature, dear Planetarians. Look at those bi-fold windows!

Yes, these ones which open up all the way along to overlook the deck. Can you imagine the fabulous summertime entertaining we will have there?

Here’s another view of the deck. Those steps on the right lead down to the enormous garden.

Here’s the only shot of it – it’s hard to fully appreciate the potential with that trampoline there but we envisage having a cubby house, sandpit, swings, raised garden beds, box hedges, hydrangeas and fruit trees. Oh, and lots of lovely soft grass for the pixies to roll on. Sigh. Maybe later on, we might even build a verandah around the back to take full advantage of the sunny northerly aspect.

An apartment sale

In order to buy the house, we are now in the process of selling our 2 bedroom Sydney apartment. If it sells at the market price, we will actually be trading up from a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment with a single garage to a 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom, lane for 2 cars and huge garden for the same price! We'll be swapping 120 m² for about 800 m². Unbelievable.

Now that, my dear friends, would just be the best outcome we could ever have hoped for. The timing, especially now that my Dad is so unwell, is perfect for us to be settling down in Hobart. It was a big call to decide to leave Sydney for good but we’re confident it’s the right one for our little family.

What lies ahead

Settlement is due at the end of May so very soon, we’ll have to start thinking about giving notice to our landlord, working out whether to change the pixies’ school and daycare (they’re only 15 minutes’ drive away) and all those practicalities. Meanwhile, we’re hoping our Sydney place sells ASAP. So we have lawyers beavering away for us in 2 states, nutting out the details while we’re just pinching ourselves at our luck.

So, what’s the verdict, trusty Planetarians? Do you fancy joining us for a celebratory champagne on that fabulous deck? I can’t believe that after all this time of reading your brilliant posts about home decorating, I’m actually going to be able to do some myself! Ah, exhale ☺. And time for bed – hmmm, bloggy rehab…