Baby Born ~ September 2007 # 73

[Trillian]

P is doing OK. A bit peeved she missed her first netball game yesterday, but they have two weeks off now due to the next team we play having no junior sides so she'll be back on deck for the next game.

Other than that there's not much else going on.

[Cassius2]

Hello lovelies!

Trill: that seems good that it will heal so quick! does P have to do any follow-up phsyio or anything like that (can you tell that so far i havent broken a bone )?

Arte: what?? no second prize?!! darn it! we used to have as first prize a crap bottle of wine and as second prize an undrinkable bottle of wine and third prize was a jug of beer...so everyone wanted to come third PMSL.

All good here. off for a night away in castlemaine. trying to convince DH of a tree-change lol.

[Artechim]

Cass, how far away is Castlemaine?

Not much happening here. I thought next week was holidays but realised yesterday that there is still another week to go. Must be the longest term ever!

[Cally]

Wow Arte, that is long. Holidays started here yesterday. I'm already feeling relaxed, even though I've still got work next week. Don't have to make lunches and only have to worry about myself in the mornings.

[Cassius2]

we back to school on Monday and here i was enjoying the not having to get up at bum crack of dawn to get the household ready to walk the entire 5 minutes down the road

Arte: castlemaine is about 120kms from Melbourne. so a real change. but one that i think i would really like. although i love so much about melbourne, we really arent in a position to fully enjoy all it has to offer IYKWIM. with housing so expensive and lifestyle so dependent on accessing things that cost money I dont know, feeling quite jaded about it all. we looked at selling here and moving further out. but once we did the maths of how much it would take for us to sell in terms of fees and then stamp duty we were looking at being close to $75,000 out of pocket...and that is just not a good move (ie., a still stupid expensive house, much further out from work and an even bigger mortgage lol). so the plan is to see what wonders the architect can do with a budget of $0 on this place to have us all kind of fit as the girls get bigger (it works for now) and then reassess. but in all honesty i feel ready for a more real change. a small bit of land to do our own thing while still tapping into the benefits of a close by like-minded community....dream dream dream.

made the YUMMIEST cake ever today. got it from the gourmet farmer guy (the IMHO slightly annoying guy on SBS lol). ANYWAY, i do love his cooking and found his book in library and got it out and just made his lemon yoghurt olive oil cake....Oh Em Gee. sooooooooooo delicious. my house smelt wonderful for ages. om nom nom.

[Artechim]

Cass, can you do the rent out/rent thing? But I guess the distance isn't great if keeping the same job, that would be nearly 3 hours of drive time each day. Where is Albury? DH has a confidentiality agreement so he can't work in his industry in NZ for another 3 years so if he wants to change before that that is our Plan B.

We went up the mountain on the ski lifts to the highest cafe in NZ today. We have lived here for 5 years and hadn't got around to doing it yet so finally managed to get it off the to do list. I stumbled while getting off one of the lifts and then it hit me so E and I tipped over onto the ground. I wish I was one of those people with grace and style!

[Cassius2]

Albury is on the vic/nsw border. from memory about 3.5/4 hours from melbourne?? TBH...not the biggest fan of the place. just not my scene. i like either small country towns or big cities. big towns kinda freak me out...which is why i am worried that DH has just applied for a massive promotion...in wollongong. i have been trying to fall in love with the place, but it aint happening . it has so many lovely things but i dont know. big towns can be just a bit mono without the community ITMS....

BUMMER on the lift! that would so be me. those lift thingos freak me out lol.

[Ginger]

ooohh castlemaine is beautiful. our dream is to move to echuca in a few years. if dh could get his hands on a maintenance position there in a few years time, then that would be our next move. for now though, we are staying put.

tbh i used to think the gong was really nice but the last few times we've been there (or the towns near there) it has totally freaked me out....

[Cassius2]

tbh i used to think the gong was really nice but the last few times we've been there (or the towns near there) it has totally freaked me out....

me too...there is a vibe there that I dunno...I'm just not sure that I want to bring my girls up there IYKWIM. I just think that our life choices are changing so much and for the better that to go there will not fit anymore...wah. i dont know! whatever move we make now will be a big one and i dont want to stuff it up. i feel safe where we are ATM but also know that it isnt life nourishing ITMS??

[Ginger]

yep totally get what you mean about the vibe. don't want to offend anyone, so i won't say what i really thought about it all....just not good. i did see northcote on the news last night as having the biggest growth or something? so at least you would get lots for your house? would dh commute if you lived in castlemaine?

[Trillian]

If you moved to albury you'd be closer to me Cass It's such a hard decision isn't it? I totally understand though when you reach the point where you are wondering if there couldn't be a better option. Look at us, we are both working now and travelling to do it, so it would make sense to move to town, but we just can't do it because we wouldn't be happy and probably not a lot better off.

School holidays only just started on friday, so I have 2 weeks to catch up on everything before it all starts again LOL. Are, does NZ still only have 3 school terms or do they have 4?

[Cassius2]

man. Northcote is going insane. I have no idea why. we looked at a house the other day (thinking that maybe we will sell here...we live in a more uppity pocket of northcote) and look at a bigger house in northcote but further up ITMS) ANYWAY, this house we looked at had been a rental for the last 20 years (!) and the owners were selling up so did a quick bunnings reno...all ok, not offensive really...until you came to the kitchen. they had tacked on (as in literally drilled it on with no real connection) the rangehood, there was NO space in the entire kitchen for a FRIDGE. like none at all. the stove was a small upright $150 job (yanno, the rental ones that we have all loved and loathed since time in memorial lol). and once you looked a bit closer you realised that there was not one bit of heating, could assume that there would be no insulation and the whole front and back 'yard' was concrete. all i could see were the $$ signs stacking up in what would need to be done. BUT, i thought that maybe the sale price would reflect those things...W.R.O.N.G. first of all they wanted around $830k took it to auction on saturday....sold for $950k!!!!!!!! Oh, and it was on a main road...

I actually couldnt believe it. i was like 'whaaat'?? i have seen crazy auctions, but this was insane, especially for what you were getting. and TBH the lifestyle may be really nice here, but dude, it aint really my cup of tea...mostly 'cause i cant afford it PMSL.

(sorry for the rant...i just feel pushed out a bit IYKWIM). there is no hope of bigger (ie more than a 2 bedroom terrace here). i could cope with that on many levels but i am not sure that i respect the housing market at all lol. sure, my house has just been valued at around the 800k mark, but if i have to buy back in the market, it still is worth nothing in terms of buying power in the area ITMS. thankfully we have a few inspections lined up in woodend (a small town 1 hour from us) and castlemaine...and they are all BIG and on at least half acre lots...

[Ginger]

I was going to suggest woodend to you! I absolutely love it there. Totally beautiful, and imagine what you could buy with the money you would get from selling your place!!!

[Cally]

There's not much growth in real estate around here. Has been stagnant for about 5 years. DH is eyeing off a block that is on the market for less than it sold 4 years ago.

How would moving out that way affect work for your DH Cass - lots of travelling? Have little idea of the areas around Melbourne.

Must say, I loved Wollongong - but that was from a uni student POV, moving out of home for the first time. I have some academic friends there now that work at the uni - they're up in the northern area, always looks so nice on their shots of the beach.

[Cassius2]

i totally LOVE woodend...we are looking at a really idyllic place there on thursday....just to convince DH lol.

Cally: the commute is Ok. has a train that runs quite often and takes about an hour to get to the city. DH would go in 3 days a week.
that is crazy town about the block of land! would you guys build on it i presume?? that would be cool...get exactly the house you want!

Ginger: move to woodend too. that would totally seal the deal for me hahahaha! if you are curious we are looking at 8 romsey road...soooo cute!

BUT, i am concerned about caring for 1 acre (trill, feel free to LOL at me hahahahaha!). sooo many of my friends are telling me that it will be too much work. i know that there will be work involved, but that's kinda why i want to go there ITMS.

[Trillian]

I was going to post earlier but I've only just stopped reeling at the price of that house!!!!!!!!!!! Far out, people have more money than sense don't they? that's just an insane amount to pay for a house like that. 1 acre isn't all that big really, I don't see why it would be hard to care for? If you're not the flower-gardening type you keep it low maintenance and just have lots of grass or large paved areas. But think of the vege patch you could have if you had a block that size...

I totally understand how it would make you feel a little depressed about the whole situation. I don't know how people in cities can manage to do it. It just seems so much easier out here. You see a house you like and you buy it. I reckon 95% of houses out here are sold without an auction. auctions just aren't the done thing and if they do have one, there is never a bidding war kwim?

[Cally]

Oh Cass, that place is just gorgeous! Love the flowers in the garden. Doesn't look that hard to look after to me, get a ride on mower and you're set. So much space for the girls to run around and Trill's idea of a vegie garden sounds awesome. My boss has a block about that size and he's got chickens, vegies and an orchard with all sorts of fruit and nut trees.

Trill - you probably can't imagine this, but the block DH is looking at is $546k. 1700m2 with views over the water...

We have an investment place that the long term plan is to knock down and rebuild a dream home unless something else pops up in the meantime.

[Ginger]

Omg Cass! That house is totally amazing! Right up my ally. Love character houses, and the garden looks quite established, and the block is flat!! Do it!
We are stuck here for the long run, but the school L is at is so cool that it makes it all worth it. I love going for a drive to woodend though and checking out all the little shops and cafes