Miracles Happen!

After months of searching a place came through the internet last Thursday. I didn't ring at first as it was way down in Central Hawkes Bay where I'd never thought of moving. However apart from the location it sounded it had everything I needed so I rang for an appointment to view.

It was a cold grey morning last Saturday when my brother, sister in law and I drove up into the hills. The cottage was easy to find and as soon as we went inside I found myself in a peaceful sitting room looking over the fields with two beautiful cats lying on the chairs as the welcoming committee. The kitchen was twice the size of mine with a large sunny picture window and masses of bench space which I'm not used to. There are three bedrooms, one is presently a computer room and the wardrobe in this has shelves for papers (in fact there is masses of storage throughout the house). One small bedroom gets the afternoon sun and like the much of the cottage is painted blue. There is a Lady Kitchener Stove in the sitting room attached to a wetback to heat the water and apparently the whole house is lovely and warm in the winter which will be a great change for me.

Right at the back door is a large covered in car port which would be ideal for the rabbits (it's larger than where they are) and so the only thing I'd have to think there is about manure as it's a concrete floor so I may need to get trays with dirt or shavings. There is also a single garage and tack room and one hectare of grazing with Smedley Station surrounding the property. There is a cottage garden and lovely big trees on the western boundary and on the front lawn.

After looking round Cathy (the owner) invited us in for a cuppa at 11am- we finally left at 1.30pm after talking animals all that time with a cat sitting on each of us (watching Richard cuddling an Abyssinian was something else!) As we left Cathy looked at me and said "It's yours if you want it". Well we talked ALL the way home about the pitfalls but they were all insignificant compared to the fact that this is a place that seems so "me" so in the evening I told Cathy I would take the place. She said several people were after it but she had really wanted me to have it. After all the recent experiences I had with negative landladies telling me no one would want me as a tenant I nearly cried.

Now it's very COLD in Tikokino- in fact sometimes it snows. This is going to take some coping with for a woman who wears jerseys in the middle of summer. However although it feels isolated out there I am only 30 minutes from Hastings, 20 from Waipawa and 25 from Waipukurau. I'll just continue shopping once a fortnight to save petrol. So to cut a long story short at the end of next month I will be moving.