At Last!

I have been to see three houses in the past two weeks. Two were very old and pretty run down plus not in areas I want to live in, the third was in good order and still in the Tikokino area. Yesterday Gine, Gay and I went to see it on the way home from a surprise baby shower for Gine at a friend's house in Onga Onga. It is situated behind a large hedge which shelters it on the west side and surrounded by a large garden which is overgrown at the moment as the previous tenant vacated a while back.

The house is painted a lavender/blue shade and has a concrete patio at the front with a pergola covered in a grape vine. This looks to get all day sun which will be a bonus in the harsh winters here. There was a large outside room at the back door painted neon green with navy trimmings. Gine thought this would make a great art studio. Inside there were three bedrooms as well as a kitchen/dining room and sitting room facing north. The girls laughed when I bent down and kissed the Lady Kitchener stove in the kitchen. I have missed my one at the last place SOOOOO much. The carpet throughout is in excellent condition and a soft moss green colour while most of the walls are a pale peach. Walls- well there are more windows than walls which will make for creative furniture arranging.

At the back there is a large carport open on two sides which will have to be adapted for the buns. Also a good sized woodshed plus a small sort of implement shed attached to the outside room. I rang the landlord to ask more questions that evening and he offered the use of three small paddocks for grazing plus a chookhouse which is quite a distance from the house but will be good temporarily. Hopefully I will be able to move in the next four or five days- two days before "The Deadline".
Now to finish my packing. The yellow spare room is unrecognizable as it is full of packed and empty boxes. Hopefully I will be more settled in a week and can pick up my life again as I have been in a terrible limbo these past weeks. Added to all this I learned my aunt died a week ago. Her funeral was yesterday in Wellington so I couldn't go. She was only 54 and such a lovely gentle person. I wish I had known her all my life instead of just the past twenty years but that's adoption for you.

The Three Bad Things

This week has been like a journey down a dark hallway- much like the one here. Firstly on Tuesday morning I went out to feed the chooks only to find a pile of feathers near the shed. On further investigation I discovered a demolished bantam that I recognised as being Little Gay, one of the chicks born in December 2007. I remembered the previous evening that Briar had been acting disturbed, running around and snorting. Just then Peanut, the farm manager's little fox terrier ran out and along the fence out of this place so it looks like he was responsible for killing the hen.

Then I received an email from my aunt to say her older sister who was diagnosed with cancer a year ago is very ill and bedridden. Karen was the first person from my birth family that I ever met and she had always been very kind to me so this news is a great blow, especially as she is still so young.

I was still reeling from that news when late yesterday morning a message was left that the property manager was coming out to see me at 12.30pm. I had a bad feeling about this as a tenant is meant to be given 24 hours notice when an inspection is due. I rang my friend Gay from down the road and she came to keep me company.

At 12.50pm there was a knock at the door and my landlord was standing there. The first thing he said was that I better not lie about things as he would think very little of me and I better not go the "Tenancy Tribunal way" either. This was referring to the fact that he has never put it in writing that I need to leave here which legally means I don't have to although I have never stated this to him. He said the property manager was bringing a letter which I was to sign in front of them stating that he had told me to leave in October "and you better not lie and say I didn't say that". He went on to say that he had been "very good" to me yet further on he stated that he had not fixed the broken window or done any other repairs while I was here as he was going to renovate the place for the new resident anyway and didn't want to waste the money. He also said he had given glowing references to three different people about me but when I asked him who he stuck his chin in the air and said he wasn't going to tell me. However he was now "over it" and over feeling sorry for me.

The property manager then told me the landlord had not put anything in writing as he was trying to be a gentleman. She handed me the letter which I tried to read although my hand was shaking so much I could barely see the writing. I asked if I could read it on my own and she said she would send me a copy so I was made to sign my own eviction notice with them both standing over me. The landlord told me to move into town if I couldn't find somewhere suitable. There was alot more that he said and fortunately Gay was behind me listening so I have a witness as to the illegal behaviour that took place by my front door.

By the time I shut the door and went through to the kitchen I was a crying mess. I cried solidly for two hours. It never ceases to amaze me how callous and cruel people can be and how they think they can bend the law to suit their own ends.

Little Boxes

Kit loves the fact that I am packing as much as I dislike doing it. She loves boxes, empty or half packed, big or small, if you lose sight of that rotund hairy body you'll soon find it ensconsed in cardboard. I finished packing all my books today. No mean feat considering they are one of my addictions. I truly think that I actually will have enough boxes this time. Third time's the charm.

I have an appointment to see a property on Saturday which was once lived in by a friend of mine. I have no idea what state it will be in as it is as old as this place but hopefully this will reflect in the rent. It's a bit nearer civilisation than I would hope but still not in town. Hopefully the wiring is a bit safer than here and the landlord a bit more honest.

The Witch, the Switch and the Weird Landlords

Thursday morning there was a message for me to ring the property manager. Worried that perhaps my rent hadn't gone through I rang straight away only to have an extremely unpleasant conversation with her. Apparently my landlord had left a message that he had given me till October 2008 to get out of here but I'd dragged it out to November, December and so on. Of course this isn't true as he had told me late January but mid March at the latest. She mentioned that he had gone about it the wrong way (ie. hadn't written me a formal notice to quit) but that he'd only done that "to be kind". Her entire attitude was that he'd been this wonderful landlord who had taken me on when no one else would have wanted to. I brought up the broken window which thirteen weeks on has still not been fixed but there was no answer.

I put it back into her court and asked what properties she'd found for me. She only had one but said I would not be able to afford the rent. Just to make sure that I realised how low I rate in the scheme of things she told me that she'd never be able to find me a place, especially with my dog. She said he disturbed work on the farm. This is news to me as Mishka is usually at my side and will only bark if people come onto the property or too near to it. He never chases stock or is aggressive.

I came off the phone totally demoralized and confused as to why my landlord had changed his story. In desperation I rang the last number I had been given while searching for a place to live. I had not wanted to ring this particular farmer as he had a reputation. I can see why. He asked me the most personal questions. He was most reluctant to have a donkey on his property, in fact he didn't even want me but did say he would be in touch before the end of the day. At 5.30pm just after I had got into the bath the phone rang, then rang again, then someone began banging on the front door. Two hours later this man rang to say that he'd come to see me as he wanted to catch me unprepared so he could see how I live! He then went onto say he was considering my proposal seriously but wasn't sure about the donkey etc.

I spent much of Thursday crying. It really hurts to be talked down to, especially when you talk to other tenants and hear that they have not had similar experiences. I rang the Tenancy Advice Centre and spoke to a lovely lady who was actually a landlord. She told me my rights and generally bucked me up a great deal. However even now I am afraid and feel totally trapped as I know I may end up somewhere I do not want to be.

A huge downpour began Saturday night and by Sunday morning it had really set in. After I came in from my morning wander I turned on the kettle to boil a cup of tea and left the room. A minute later I heard the strangest buzzing and popping sound and saw Gypsy tear out of the room. By the time I got to the kitchen doorway I could see sparks and smoke billowing out of the power point. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before the wall caught fire so leant across the bench, reached my hand through the sparks and switched the kettle off before pulling the plug out. The power point was fried, black scorch marks around the switch and partially up the wall. I was shaking like a leaf.

The first night after I moved in not quite a year ago my brother pointed out green "stuff" coming out of the power point in the hallway and warned me not to use it. Likewise in my bedroom. All the power points affected look to have been installed in the 1980s and I think they may have been put in by an amateur. I always turn appliances off at the wall to save on electricity but now I will do so for safety as well.

I want my sense of hope as well as my sense of humour to return soon as it is hard to cope with life when they're both lacking. I stress then pack before falling asleep and waking to the same old situation. I need a miracle.