Question of the Day

QOTD: "Mommy, why do the presents that Santa brought us have Made in China on them?"

Answer: "Ummm, ummm, ummm"

Illuminating

It won't win any awards but here is the result of my weekend's labouring. Classic white icicle style lighting says 'elegant and stylish' not like some of the neighbours with their coloured light displays, inflatables, flashing light shows and music. It may be Florida but it's not Disney and I won't stoop to their level.

Turkey soup for the soul

Thanksgiving has come and gone which is more than can be said of the turkey. It's still hanging around and it's been non stop turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey pot pie ever since. It was a 20lb bird so it's going to take some eating. Here it is in it's uncooked state just before it went in the oven.

Here we all are ready to tuck into the assembled feast, and yes we are dining al fresco at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Even baby enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. In just seconds the Magic Bullet turns a home cooked meal in to a 'delicious' slurry fit for a baby


With Thanksgiving over it's now on to the next holiday which is just around the corner. Yes it's Christmas so now it is time to light up the house. Here's a tip for you, buy NEW lights and don't borrow someone else's lights as the time taken to track down the blown or loose lamps can never be got back! Took me most of the day to put up 8 strings of lights and I've still got to get more for the second floor roof line. Mrs P wants the dormer windows done too but I've many, many excuses lined up to ensure I win that argument.


As promised here's a photo of Mrs P from Halloween. I have now discovered Wonder Woman's Achille's Heel...alcohol. It reduces her to a stumbling mess and takes her a whole day in bed to recover!

Randomness

AC/DC ROCKED and even Mrs P enjoyed it. One thing that I've never understood though is the need to wear other band's T-shirts to a gig. There were people wearing T-shirts with Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Panterra and even Foreigner ! I mean who wears a Foreigner T-shirt? and to an AC/DC concert???

Halloween was a lot of fun and costumes worked out well (pics to follow). Charlotte didn't have such a great time as she was scared of both me and Mrs P when in our costumes and burst out crying uncontrollably. The big kids got tons of candy and Mrs P has been doing her best to limit the amount they eat by scoffing it after they've gone to bed.

I've accepted an offer on my house and I'm hoping to close by the end of the year. As Robert Redford says at the end of my favorite film "You're right Henry. It's not enough. But....it's close!"

We also watched the pilot for the remake of V. I was never a fan of the original but Mrs P was. Not sure I'll watch the series but I'm sure Mrs P will give it a chance.

For those about to Rock....

Guess where we're going on Friday??? Not got it?

Here's a clue...



That's right,Mrs P bought me tickets for my birthday to the AC/DC gig in Jacksonville, to say I'm excited is an understatement.

Also just around the corner is Halloween and this year we're doing a theme across the whole family. We're all going as Superheroes! I plumped for Wolverine and I spent the better part of yesterday crafting a 2 sets of claws from a length of 7/8" broom handle and some 1 1/2" x 1/4" trim. They look the business now that I've sprayed them silver. My next part of the ensemble is to somehow shape an Elvis wig in to the correct hair style. Pictures will follow but not until I've got the whole outfit sorted.

Don't blame me...

if you spit your coffee everywhere when you see this. I'm not paying for your new keyboard and monitor....you've been warned

Caught a blighty one

Well we did it! Mrs P and I successfully managed to get 3 kids across the Atlantic and back again safely. We all had a great time visiting the former colonial masters, although we didn't get to do half the things we had hoped to. Apologies to those people that I didn't get to meet up with and it was great to see those people that I did even if it was only for a short time.

My parent's house may look quaint and all the Americans LOVE it but if you're anything over 5' 7" then the ceilings and wood beams are just too low. My "bruised bonnet" is testament to this. But many thanks for my parents for allowing us to come over and stay and trash their house!

The British weather did it's best for us, with 5 days of dry weather followed by 3 days of wet stuff. Mrs P loved the coolness of it but I was much happier with the 90F temps that we've returned to since.

My Brother's wedding went well, great venue and the weather was very mild for October. They flew off to the Maldives for a on honeymoon on Sunday.

Other news: Am going to try selling my house in the UK again. I don't want or need the hassle of being a landlord and to be honest I could use the cash. Mrs P wants a new car, as her Subaru isn't big enough for the school run. She wants a Honda Pilot.

Talking about big and brash look at the size of this hotdog! And amazingly she did eat it all too.

We've got 3 busy weekends coming up. This weekend it's Biketoberfest in Daytona and I'm hoping to make it down during Saturday afternoon. Next weekend it's my birthday (when I intend to do NOTHING but I know I'll be rushing around as ever) and the weekend after is Halloween. We've not got costumes sorted yet, nor have we bought the mountains of candy needed but there are rumours of 2 Halloween parties. One for the kids and the other for the adults.

Watching the pigskin

Went to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars final preseason game last night against the Washington Redskins. A neighbor came by and said he had some freebie tickets and boy were they good seats. We were only 16 rows back and on the 30 yard line and it was great being so close to the action. I completed the all American action with a giant 12" hotdog.

Swing when your winning

Finished the last few jobs on the swingset just hours before the deadline of Sofie's 5th birthday party. We had about 20 kids plus parents round and it was CHAOS and matters weren't helped when a passing thunderstorm came over and so everyone crammed on to the back porch and then inside the house.

Kids go back to school tomorrow not a moment too soon either. I'm hoping that the house no longer resembles Beruit when I come home from work every day, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Construction day 2

Busy busy day again and after another 10 hour day it's still not finished. It's not totally my fault and there are 2 very good reasons why progress was slower than expected. Firstly the rock wall didn't come with any instructions on how to install it. The company's website offered little help although they did have instructions for a different model of rock wall and this require a supporting frame. I didn't have the lumber to make this so I had to make a trip to Home Depot to get more supplies.

Secondly and more importantly SNAKES. Mrs P came out to look at my progress and saw a snake in the grass at the marsh edge. We watched it slither along and it was a harmless Southern Black Racer. All of a sudden another snake shot out from the water's edge and the two fought it out. There was a ton of thrashing around but the Southern Black Racer stood no chance against the viscious and VENOMOUS cottonmouth. We watched as this snake started to eat the other one whole. All this took place about 10 ft from where I was working and trust me I'm no fan of snakes in general but venomous ones are just a big fat NO. The kinda slowed me down as I was on the constant look out for more hissing Sids.

Anyway I didn't get time to put the wood roof on so the coloured tarp was installed instead, I still need to stake the whole thing to the ground, stake the bottom of the slide and drill and install the swing chair for Charlotte.

Construction day 1

Started work at 8:30 this morning and by some time late morning I'd got the basic struture in place. I needed to create the 2 side structures on flat ground so I did it on the driveway. Trouble is they are heavy as hell and Mrs P and I could barely move them round to the garden. But we managed althought getting them upright was no easier.

Several hours later and we're at this stage. Tomorrow's work is to construct an A frame for the swing rail support, fit swing rail and swings, construct the stairs, attach the rock wall, attach the slide and if I get a chance construct the wood roof. If time is short I'll be using the tarp that the send with the kit, the wood roof is considered optional but it will last longer.

Well construction begins...

Actually I only got as far as pre-cutting the lumber and didn't get that completed as I used up my 3 batteries in the circular saw pretty quickly. The pressure treated lumber is very dense and pretty wet so cutting it requires "mucho" power from the batteries and they drain pretty quickly. And because they got so hot I can't recharge them until they cool down. Here's a pic of my work area in the garage, some lengths of 2 x 4 as a cutting platform, a strip of carpet to protect the knees and a can of Bud to keep the spirits up.

If you're wondering about the tenon saw it's because my circular maxes out at a 2" cut (and I'm not sure it really cuts that deep) and anything slightly over this requires some hand intervention.

I've got another problem too, I used the list of required lumber on the website and it's different from that contained in the construction manual. I'm supposed to use 5/4" x 6" for the roof but the website said use 2" x 6" and this is what I've already bought. I can't face taking it back so the roof will be solidly constructed and possibly a little top heavy.

This weekend's work..

...is to turn this

into this..

and I have to finish it by 22nd August in time for Sofie's 5th birthday party. The pressure's on for sure.

It never strikes twice

The weather pattern for the past few days has been blistering hot sunshine in the mornings and early afternoons, followed by heavy thunderstorms in the late afternoon and early evening. Today it poured down (and I mean the heavens opened) bang on 4:30 i.e. knocking off time. I got completely soaked in the 100 yard dash to my car.

On the way home there was thunder and lightning going on and as I stopped at a set of traffic lights I saw a lightning bolt strike a power transformer on a telegraph pole not 50 yards from me. And yes, just like in the films, there was a big puff of smoke, plenty of sparks and then it caught fire!

Lost the will to live

Took a day's vacation yesterday and Mrs P, Baby C and I went to Orlando. The purpose was twofold, first to get her engagement fixed at the jewelers as she had lost a diamond. Secondly a visit to the new Ikea store. Mrs P is an Ikea virgin and was overawed at everything. We spent about 4 hours in the store and by hour 3 I had lost the will to live. Mrs P was asking my opinion on things and I was unable to utter anything except a non-committal grunt. I should have grunted louder as we managed to spend $1000 on stuff.

Today has been a day of flat pack assembly and 3 bar stools and an end table later everything has gone together ok. Let's hope the 2 bookcases are equally easy.

Brake in the weather

Less than an hour after I finished replacing the brake rotors and pads, a massive thunderstorm has rolled through town. I had sweat pouring off me while I was doing the work and now it's black as night outside.

The brake job was no problem and picked up all the parts for $130 but I had to order a new sway bar link bolt from the stealership and it won't be in until Thursday. In the mean time I went to the local hardware store and grabbed an M12 bolt, a couple of washers and a nut so that I could get the Beast on the road. Only one other problem to note; as I removed the drivers side inner brake pad from the caliper I noticed that the piston has a chip in the rim. As I picked at it a piece of the piston came away. Luckily it didn't extend into the caliper itself so it shouldn't leak but it looks like metal fatigue so I'll order a new caliper as a precaution. I certainly don't want to have to stop suddenly and have the piston crumble.

On a different note Mrs P is back running and entered the Bridge of Lions 5k this morning. Start time was 0730 so we all went along and I took the 3 girls and waited at the finish line. Mrs P came home in 25 minutes and was 4th in her age group. Not bad for someone who had a baby 5 months ago. Well done Mrs P

Shake, Rattle and ROLL

The Beast is in trouble. We all went out tonight for dinner to The Prince of Wales pub and on the way there the brakes starting grinding. We ate an excellent dinner of fish and chips followed by chocolate sponge pudding and Bird's custard and we got home and I checked under the car. I was trying to see which side the pads had worn out but while I was under there I noticed that the bolt holding the passenger side sway bar link had sheared off. I had heard a couple of noises when turning sharply to the right a couple of times recently and thought my CV joint was on it's way out. Now I guess I know what the sound was and also explains the body roll I've been aware of recently.

Decorating is on hold tomorrow while I go to the auto store and get new pads, rotors and try and find a new bolt. It's supposed to be 88F tomorrow but with the humidity it will feel like 98F apparently. That should be fun then.

Changing Rooms...

From this....


To this!

We the kids happy? You betcha

'Genial' Harry Grout

This weekend Mrs P set me to work on one of the upstairs bathrooms which is now to be known as the Girls' bathroom. First job yesterday was to regrout the tiling around the bath/shower. Mind numbingly tedious that's the only phrase to describe the job of removing the old grout. Thankfully the tedium was removed by a trip to HomeDepot to get some new grout, only to "drop" $600 on new locks and door handles as well. I wish this was all but we still need another 10 handles for the remaining doors.

Today's work was to paint the remaining walls in a pink that resembles Pepto Bismol, rehanging the mirror, constructing a flat pack bathroom cabinet and installing the 12 new locks and door handles.

The kids arrived back today having spent the past 10 days in North Carolina with Grammy. It's good to have them back and they LOVE their new bedroom and bathroom. Pics to follow soon, I did take some before they got home and messed it all up.

Sad, sad day

Forget Farrah Fawcett, forget Michael Jackson, a true legend passed away this weekend,Billy Mays of infomercial fame. Before Barry Scott and his Cillit Bang there was the "original salesman". Check out his best and most famous work here

And if you can't be bothered to fix it right then use this stuff. Mrs P bought me some as a joke but I've yet to find a job that I've needed it for it so can't comment on it's effectiveness.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

8:24pm and still 90F outside....(that's 32C in new money)

The move is done

Here's a tip for you all. If your planning on moving house in 105F temperatures pay someone else to do it and don't be stupid enough to try it yourself! This is a lesson learnt from experience after yesterday as it's hotter than Hades here. However we managed to get all our stuff across to the new house and even got the rental property cleaned too. We couldn't have done it without the enormous help from Grammy.

The new house has loads to keep me busy. I've just fixed the dishwasher, albeit in "Heath Robinson" way with some tape. Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together. The handle is broken and also the compartment that holds the switches that tell the machine the door is open/shut is broken. This compartment is built into the front facia panel and a new one is $90. A new handle is $7 so I'll do that then superglue the compartment shut for a more permanent fix.

I had to install a new fan in the master bedroom yesterday afternoon and don't believe what it says on the box when they tell you it's 90% pre-assembled and a 5 minute installation. The 10% that I had to do included installing the mounting plate to the ceiling, changing out the down rod from the 3" supplied one to a 12" one, threading the cables through the down rod, attaching the fan to the ceiling mount, connecting the wires, installing the lighting fixture, installing the lightshades, attaching the fan blades, installing the light bulbs and finally attaching the pull chains. It took me about an hour to do. I had to go up in the attic space twice to locate the fan brace (remember it was 100F outside and probably 120F in the attic. The instructions didn't say which wire was the for fan and which wire was for the lights. I guessed and of course got it the wrong way round. However it was job done and Mrs P is very happy.

All painted out (me, not the house!)

Manual labour is way too hard a way to earn a living, that God I'm a desk jockey as this painting lark is killing me. In the past 5 days I've painted the kitchen, breakfast area, lounge, hall, stairwell, landing and the double height entrance way all with 2 coats of paint. I've also hung a new lamp, changed out numerous light bulbs with the aid of this fancy piece of hardware (although I really want the motorized version), removed a broken tile in the shower and cleaned out the grout, fixed the refrigerator door, installed a new water filter, cleaned all the light switches and electrical sockets, oh and moved most the contents from our garage into the new house.

Everyone (that's Grammy, Mrs P) have been super helpful in doing their bit to allow me to get on and do what I do best. This is the kids first week out of school for summer and it's fair to say that the lack of structure in their day hasn't been easy for anyone.

Tomorrow we are planning on taking the scaffolding done, as I don't intend going out on that again and it will allow the front door to be opened so that the carpet fitter can get in on Thursday and Friday. I've also got to measure and cut a new tile for the shower and then silicone round the corners to make it water tight again.

High drama

Here are a few before shots of the kitchen and living areas, unfortunately my camera doesn't capture just how dirty and marked the walls and carpets are. The "highlight" of the day was figuring out how I was going to paint a double height entry way, I measured from floor to ceiling and it's 19 foot. I went to the rental store and came away with 3 sections of scaffolding and one walk board all for $85 for the week. A simple solution to a simple problem....

Here's the scaffolding tower, it only just fit in the entrance area. Yes I did clean the windows while I was up there.


I know how Michael Angelo must have felt now while he painted the Sistene Chapel. Why I didn't rent 2 walkboards I'll never know and I managed to drop my cell phone from the top onto the tile floor below. It bounced and seemed to work ok, not sure I'd fare as well if I took a tumble. And yes that walkboard is on the very top rung and no there aren't any safety or handrails. The Victorians were right....send the kids to do the dirty and dangerous work.

Mrs P wants a new lamp to hang in place of this one. She'd best hurry up and get one 'cos I've only got the scaffolding for a few more days and I'm not sure how long my nerve will hold out!

Our House

Finaly after 4 1/2 months of waiting since we put in the offer, we've actually closed and the house is ours. It's a 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom, 2600 sqft "fixer upper". It was built in 2006 but I wouldn't have thought it possible that a house could be lived in so hard such that inside it looks like it 10 years old. I plan to detail the refurb along with pictures

The backyard and marsh beyond. Strangely enough I saw a dog swimming in there covered in duckweed.

Top 10 places to live in America

What more is there to say?

Home straight ahead.

Looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel as we're booked to close on our new house this week. If all goes to plan then I've got 3 days off work plus the weekend to decorate as much as I can before the new carpet (chosen but yet to be ordered) is layed. We've got a week's overlap with the place we're renting now so there's no mad panic to move in until I've done some brush work to make it habitable. It's a mess at the moment as the previous occupiers didn't seem to take much care of the place. Once we've closed on the house I'll upload some photos for a "before and after" transformation just like they do on the telly.

More meat and a driveway surprise

Last Monday was Memorial Day and we celebrated the holiday with the traditional grillout. Ribs were on the menu and boy were they good, slow baked in the oven first for 3 hours then thrown on a hot grill and smothered in bbq sauce!

Today we were sitting down to lunch when there was a commotion outside. We rushed out the door to see this snake slithering across the driveway. No idea what it was but I left it well alone!

Man, meat and fire...

What a difference a week makes, surburn last week and nearly drowned this. It's been raining here pretty much nonstop since last Sunday evening, in fact we've had over 9 inches of rain! However with the grill under the porch it hasn't stopped us cooking out at every opportunity. We got a GREAT deal on New York strip steaks @ $6.95/lb and so we helped ourselves to these 2 "little" beauties. At over 2 inches thick and weighing in at a hefty 20 ounces each you just can't get meat like than anywhere other than the good ol' US of A.


Good news on the house we've had written approval from the mortgage company that we can buy the house under short sale (that means we're buying it for less than the current owner owes on their mortgage). We had the inspection done yesterday and it threw up a couple of rain/water related issues but with the recent weather it comes as no surprise. We're now in the process of choosing new flooring and a colour scheme so that I can get to work on it. We're supposed to complete the purchase by mid June so that doesn't give us long to get the financials and paperwork sorted.

Lobster pink

Got a bit sunburnt yesterday, we went to the pool for an hour or so and then I washed both cars cars, all without applying any sunscreen. Shoulders, back and chest are bright pink and sore to the touch. Listen to your Mothers when they tell you to put sunscreen on!

Live long and prosper

Mrs P and I went to see the new Star Trek film today at the new cinema complex that's just opened in town. The theatre has stadium style seating which means that it's impossible for the person in front to block your view of the screen. They did have a few teething troubles as we watched the film and it must have paused between 5 to 10 times but upon leaving we were ushered into another room and given a free pass for another film!

As for the film it's great, really great and all the characters manage to portray their more famous namesakes astonishingly well. Go see it.

The rich and famous are in town at the moment, last night Snoop Dogg played a gig downtown and Tiger Wood's has his yacht harboured in the marina while he's competing at The Player's Tournament just up the road in Ponte Vedra. Also found out this morning that Judas Priest and Whitesnake are coming to town later this summer. Mrs P and I think we might have to get a couple of tickets.

Mother's Day tomorrow and Mrs P wants Eggs Benedict so I'm on kitchen duty first thing. Never made a hollandaise sauce before but I'm sure Delia's recipe will turn out just fine.

Grrrrs, Grills and Girls

Camping was a lot of fun although a "jobsworth" Ranger tried his best to disrupt our plans. If he'd have had his way there would have been a large sign at the entrance saying "No fun allowed". Any how here's a picture of the Beast in it's natural environment...Grrrrr!

I'm rapidly becoming assimilated into the American way of life with a new addition to the family. I'm now in possession of a propane gas grill which I was given for free. After a bit of cleaning and a new part it fired up first time ready to cook last night's dinner of tuna, mahi mahi, shrimp and grilled veggies.

Last week we finally got to see inside the house we put an offer in way back in January. We've been pressing to get inside since we put the offer in but the occupier (who's not the owner) was refusing to let anyone inside on the advice of their attorney. We've still yet to hear from the mortgage holder whether or not they'll accept our offer so the waiting continues. Let's just say that the place needs a lick of paint, new flooring and some new fixtures and fittings to make it liveable to Mrs P's standards. Good job she didn't come to see my house in England until it was nearly finished otherwise she'd have been on the first flight home again!

I know I'm biased but isn't this the cutest picture ever? Baby C is doing really well and is nwo sleeping from about 9 or 10 at night through to 5am next morning. Mrs P is ecstatic to be able to get 7 hours sleep a night.

I'm off on a course this coming week down in Daytona. It's called Income approach to property valuation and is heavy on the maths. The geek in me is looking forward to it.

Anyway must dash the grass is looking a bit parched at the moment and I need to adjust the automatic sprinkler system as it looks like it's missing a few patches.

Busy as the Easter bunny

It's been superbusy around here again and last Friday was Raina's 8th Birthday. We held a family party out our house as it's now big enough that we can do that. Dinner was taco's at Raina's request. We gave her a Nintendo DSi as her main present along with Super Mario Bros as a game.

Saturday we hosted a pool party at the Community pool and over 20 kids turned up.

Sunday morning the Easter bunny had turned up and spread tons of eggs around the pond. The kids next door as well as some friend's kids from down the street.



Sunday was our turn to host Easter for the family and this time we did an Easter lunch. Sunday afternoon I lay on the sofa and watched the conclusion of the Master's golf. It was about as much as I could do after drinking Poinsetta's (champagne and cranberry juice) and white wine at lunch time. I swear that drinking during daylight hours counts double.

After all of this the house looks like a disaster zone and next weekend we're all off camping too.

Oh and I've bruised or cracked my ribs. I was larking about with kids in the yard the other weekend playing ball and I took a diving catch (think Gordon Banks at his prime) and I landed rather awkwardly and dug my elbow into my ribs. I think I would have utter some foul language but I had the wind knocked out of me and couldn't breathe.

March in a nutshell

Apologies for not posting sooner but it's been a VERY busy time. Firstly my parents flew out for a week to see us and more importantly their first grandchild. They stayed in a wonderful condo just a couple of blocks away that overlooked the ocean. They were treated to some wonderful weather while they were here and had a great time with baby C. Mrs P's uncle and his family also came over from Texas for the weekend and so we all spent a fair bit of time together. We ate and drank like kings and queens and Grammy and Walter entertained the entire troop (all 14 of us) tirelessly.

Granddad enjoys a cuddle

and Nana has a little chat with Charlotte

While everyone was here the space shuttle Discovery launched from the space center and we all went down to the beach to watch it. Mrs P was most surprised at the number of people there too as she was expecting us to be the only sad losers watching.

Secondly we've moved house. We've not heard anything from the bank about the one we're trying to buy but we've moved into a PHAT house in the same neighborhood. It's a 4 bed 2 1/2 bath that has a big bonus playroom for the kids. We moved ourselves with tons of help from several friends without whom the job would have taken more than the 4 hours it did.

Thirdly we've closed Mrs P's house and so there's no going back now. Mrs P and Raina were understandably nervous and not sure the new house was them. To be honest the first few dasy were tough as we had boxes everywhere and nothing was unpacked and it felt like a house and not a home. However this weekend we'vw managed to sort a ton of stuff out and everyone is happy again.

Lastly we've had no landline or more importantly internet access from home but all that has been fixed. That's the orange flags you can see in the picture of the front of the house

Wish I could sleep this well

Well firstly Baby Charlotte is doing great with tons of eating sleeping and crying in that order!. She's gained weight and is now a 9lb baby.

On the house front our threat of legal recourse appears to have paid off and the seller has withdrawn the second offer. These buyer's are apparently interested in another house and have withdrawn completely, so our offer alone has gone to the lender.

In the mean time we've found a place to rent for 3 months in the same subdivision as we're trying to buy and it's a few doors along from one of Mrs P's friends. We're taking possession on 20 May and moving in the next day. We've got boxes and boxes of stuff packed up in readiness and it's all stacked in the hallway making it difficult to get around. We sure do need a bigger house.

STOP PRESS: After 5 weeks of waiting we heard back from the lender late friday afternoon. They countered our offer and so we've gone back to them again. They gave us a totally unrealistic deadline to reply to them of the end of the business day and only told us this at 4 pm. It was panic stations here while we worked out what to do. We hope to hear more on Monday

Breaking the Law

Not us you'll understand, someone else. While Baby C was arriving in to this world, our other world of trying to buy a house was falling apart. We found out that our buyer has accepted a second higher offer on the house that we're we under contract to buy. Because it's a short sale the final decision has to go to the lender to agree and both offers have been submitted.

We're furious at this as our contract with the the seller stated that he wouldn't submit other offers to the lender and would no longer continue to market the property. He's now claiming that he couldn't read the line but as he's signed it any way that doesn't count. The listing agent is a BITCH and denies doing anything wrong, but as she's representing the seller and conveniently the other buyer she would get to keep the entire commission if she sells it to her buyer rather than half of it if she sells to us. Any how glad it's the most litigious country in the world as we're about to unleash the hounds of the legal system in their direction.

It's a.....

....a girl! Charlotte Louise was born at 08:04 on Tuesday 10th February and weighed in at 7lbs 8oz. I know it's cliched and everyone says it about their own kids but she is the prettiest and cutest baby I've ever seen.

Everyone is very happy with the new arrival and Mrs P and Baby C left the hospital and came home on Thursday. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can but it won't let me at the moment. The pictures will show you how happy I am much better than anything I can possibly write.









Mrs P is recovering slowly from her operation but she's up and about and doing way too much around the house. She thinks I'll get annoyed with her calling me all the time. I won't but I do get annoyed when she's up and about doing stuff she shouldn't be! I even rigged up a wireless doorbell so that she can chime me from the bedroom whenever she needs something. Only the very rich and famous can say they've got an English butler!

With President's Day today it's been a 4 day weekend and the kids haven't been to school. With that and a new baby at home it's been a mad mad mad mad time.

Crazy just crazy

Not really sure where to begin, it's been a crazy few weeks around here. Kate is totally to blame as she notified us of a foreclosure house for sale that was a steal at under $270,000. Mrs P LOVED the house and we set about getting mortgage arranged. Although we offered full asking price, the bank unfortunately decided to go with a cash offer and so we missed out. However things didn't end there and we decided to see what else is on offer at the moment. We discussed our options with the mortgage advisor and they told us how much we could borrow, but this was contingent on our current house being on the market for sale. I spent most of January (that's every evening and weekend) sanding, filling, priming and painting the house. I've repainted the master bedroom ceiling and the skirting boards door frame and window frames. Painted the ceiling in the hall, kitchen, second bathroom and dining room. Filled, primed and painted the crown molding, skirting boards, door frames and doors in the kitchen, hall second bathroom and dining room too. Outside of the house I've cut a forest of overgrown stuff out of the back yard.

You can see the virtual tour of the house here


We listed our house in the middle of all this decorating (and before it was really ready) but a couple of weeks later we had an offer. After much offer/counter offer/counter counter offer we all agreed on a price and we're closing on March 25th. We've no place to move into yet but we've offered on a house that's going to short sale. That means that the mortgage lending company has to agree to sell the house for less than the current mortgage and forego the difference. This process takes a long time and there's no set time scale for them to make a decision. In the mean time we'll look for short term rental properties.

Next week is the big event and the baby is arriving on Tuesday morning. Yes time has FLOWN by and we're all systems go here. We think we've agreed on names but that could all change in last couple of days. Mrs P has finished work now for the next 12 weeks and I've only got one day left then I'm off for a week. We have to be at the hospital at 5am on Tuesday with the baby arriving by 8am. Mrs P has a comedy belly at the moment and looks like she's swallowed a basketball.

It's been very cold here for the past week with temperatures near record lows, that's in the 20's F which is about -5C. Still things are improving and it's supposed to be back to the 70s tomorrow. Hopefully that's winter over with for this year.

I'll try and get online next tuesday with some news and pics of the baby, like its name, sex and weight. Who says you can't have a baby and move house at the same time??? Pah, I'll show you how it's done!