Soundtrack of her day

Enduring months of being under ther pervidious influence of the lingo of real-estate agents, over the weekend I reorganised my sunroom and carved out a painting nook! It is enclosed on three sides, with equipment arrayed within easy reach. The floor is easiy wiped tiles. There was one thing I did not realise, however.

It is within easy earshot of the CD within my computer. So yesterday, Alannah wanted to paint, and she wanted to do it to a soundtrack. I have copies here of some of the CDs her mother has at home, and the CD of choice yesterday was the 'Disney Classic Collection'. As she painted, she danced and sang, to the music. Here she is dancing and singing to 'The Cat Song' from 'Lady and the Tramp' - 'We are Siam-ese if you plea-ese ... ".

On the move again

It was about this time last year that my daughter put to me the proposition that we share a house, a three generation house. It could be a win/win for us all, she persuaded. It takes a while to come to a full appreciation of the magnitude of such a decision. It had been an 'annus horibilis' for each of us, but moreso for her. Much moreso for her. I am fixated on being 'useful' and not a typical 'mother-in-law'. I also did not want to take more than I gave. So within that range, we jockeyed for a while and reached general consensus about Christmas 2011. And we started scouring the real-estate sites nearly immediately.

By the end of January, we knew we were not going to find what we were looking for on the southside of the harbour. We looked: both virtually, and in reality. But the bang for yer buck was not there. By then, you see, we had established our criteria: A downstairs wing for Ma - sitting room, bathroom, and bedroom, outside access An upstairs for the family with at least 3 bedrooms and a bathroom A large grassed, relatively flat garden No pool Space for two cars Cul-de-sac 250 or less to public transport an area with 'buzz' which was defined as cosmopolitan close to bush-walks And then Darren accepted a new job in Lane Cove, which obviously focussed our attention on that municipality. As we tossed the possibilities back and forth, our tastes and requirements modified, and also became more obvious to each other. Since the beginning of August, I have Ma-sat on Saturdays, whilst Kirsten and Darren went on their shopping-list rounds.

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Then at the end of October, Kirsten found something she really liked. Darren and I had poo-pooed it from the listing. Too fussy. Twee. However, she persevered and put it on her list. It took one viewing, and they both said they liked it. IN FRONT OF THE AGENT! Three days later, Kirsten's father and I saw it. We both liked it. There were two interested bidders. The public auction was cancelled, and replaced by a blind auction. How nerve wracking. Once chance. You nominate what you are prepared to offer. Neither side knew the details of the other. Kirsten was prepared to release 5% of the deposity immediately, plus offer a 90 day settlement. Within 30 minutes of the close of bids, it was hers - by $4,000. And it is not in Lane Cove municipality at all but in Willoughby Municipality in the small suburb of Castlecrag, which is on one of the spurs into Middle Harbour. It is 5km to Darren's work, and 9km to work for Kirsten in the CBD. It is 100m from an express bus route to the city for me, or a slower 15 minute journey to the Chatswood shops. But you know that is not my sort of thing. It is a cul-de-sac, and a walking track - behind the rear fence - follows Sugarloaf Creek down to the harbour. The back yard is tiered to make it flat but has two good playing surfaces. There are 3 large deciduous trees, so I shall need a good compost. Kirsten has said that I can have a vegie patch in the front yard, but I suspect that may be retracted when I submit my concept plan! I am downstairs on the left with the front-porch. The main entry is from the side near the car port. The garage is actually a men's shed. The only room that I have included is the upstairs family room. It is massive. The front faces north. Settlement date is 29th January.