Friday 9 October 2020

I am having to be a Grown Up Now!!


 The river Wye at Builth.


Oh gosh, no place to hide right now.  I am having to make phone call after phone call, knowing BT are ripping me off as I haven't been able to negotiate a new contract as we are moving and I do NOT want to be tied to them for 2 years after we have moved.  We will have to sort out Sky nearer the date too.  Plus change energy companies - possibly to Octopus, which as good reviews. Currently with the Green Energy Company, who have been good - they are also up for renewal but I will let that hang too.

    We had a removals chap here yesterday (one Keith met when he was moving our neighbour at the bottom of the hill and he came here by mistake).  I was NOT impressed - he seemed to rely on the brute strength of his workforce and really, I want unbroken china, careful transference of antique furniture, and sufficient insurance cover! which he did NOT have . . .

    So I have found 3 local companies recommended in the local tradesmen listings, and two are coming out in the next week.  So it will be masks on again as we have to show them round.  Moving in the middle of a Pandemic is not ideal, I have to say!

    I'm off out to the pony stables this morning, and then Tam and I will do a Tip Run.  We need to get hold of a charity shop so we can offload various boxes of books and bags of good clothing.  I think the books are best going to the Red Cross bookshop in Llandeilo, so I will phone them first thing.  I will try the Salvation Army shop too.  No-one was answering the phone when we tried on Wednesday.

    I may also call in Leo, who has the bookshop in town, and get him to give me a price on the archaeology books I want to part with.  I am about to go through them and put all the ones I am going to keep on one shelf.  I need to find a Ruthless Streak I think!

    Then I must photograph all Danny's books and DVD's and see what he wants to keep.  It's all go here!

37 comments:

  1. That horrid moment when you know there's no time left to procrastinate...

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    1. Well, as my daughter says, I should have gotten rid of many of my books earlier, but in my defence I didn't know where we would end up or if there would be room for them. I could store them in the dry attic in the new house, to sort at leisure, but will try and offload as many as I can before - they still need carrying upstairs if I procrastinate!

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  2. Just catching up with some blog reading as I have been busy elsewhere for a while.........I am glad to read the things are moving forward for you albeit one step forward and two back at times. I hope you have managed a better sleep last night a rest is always good for the head isn't it.

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    1. Friday is wine night - and I woke up and had to read for an hour. Not ideal, but I'll survive!

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  3. Make a list!!
    I have had no problems staying with BT and moving..in fact every now and then they phone me to see if all is ok..and if they can reduce my bill (as well as try to well more..it's their job!) It gets tweaked down most times.
    I would recommend the leccy supplier we use. Ecotricity. The original 100% renewable producer, and the same easily understandable bill and same price however you pay. Nice people to talk to as well. In Gloucester I think. On top of that they have just frozen prices for 12 months.
    Good you had a chance to see that removals man in action. Good to know who to avoid as well as who to go to!!

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    1. I have. I want to dump BT as not impressed by them - we just had no alternative here. In the new place we will see what is what - mobile phone signal is good there. Will look at Ecotricity, thanks for the tip.

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    2. If you don't need the landline for internet, just go mobile!

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    3. That is what we are hoping we will be able to do. BT have been a constant thorn in our sides all the time we've been in Wales. Mind you, it doesn't help being the very last house on this phone line, hence the furthest from the bloomin' exchange!

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  4. Whoever first said moving is stressful told no lie. All the charity shops around here are closed and have been since the start of the pandemic so perhaps that is why you can't get an answer to your phone calls Good luck with your removal men. When I moved I ididn't bother fgtting quotes I just had the local one which had a good reputation and was used by all the locals.

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    1. Some of the ones here are open and I have booked us a slot with the Salvation Army for Monday. Many rely on pensioners to run them, hence they are shut. Another removal company here today for quote.

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  5. Gosh there really is so much to do isn't there!! Luckily my move should be a lot less stressful and if anything gets broken it will simply be down to be and my slap dash ways and squishing much too much into a Fiat 500. I hate it when I have to be a grown up :-(

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    1. I am sure your move will go fine as you have already offloaded everything you don't want/need and pared it right down. We are moving from 4,500 square feet into barely 2,000 so it is a different matter!

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  6. You may find it cheaper to use a mobile phone for all your calls. I never use our landline these days.

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    1. That's what we are hoping Tom, there is a very good signal at the new house.

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  7. Oh gosh! It all sounds incredibly stressful especially in the middle of a pandemic. Still it will be worth it in the end. Thinking of you and sending positive thoughts!

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    1. NOT an ideal time, that's for sure. Just have to be careful as we can.

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  8. Crikey that's a lot of clearing and you are up against charity ships apparently being inundated by people doing clear-outs during lockdown in the first half of this year. Good luck with it all, it's an incredibly stressful and at the same time liberating thing to be doing.

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    1. You're right there, but the Sally Army said a max of 8 bags so we should be ok this week! More to come.

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  9. You seem to give yourself a lot of stress. Removal firms supply boxes and bubble wrap so wait until you have appointed one before doing anything. Utility companies are best spoken to when you know the date you are moving. If you move into temporary accommodation you will have to bite the bullet and sever contracts completely anyway. Speak now to your solicitor first priority and make sure the deeds are in order and/or check with him if your house is on the Land Registry if you haven't already done so. Perhaps you have.

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    1. I think moving house is stressful without my doing anything Rachel! The most stressful thing is we are having to have a 2nd (in depth) house survey because the last chap was totally useless and his report had absolutely no merit - it was just out to slag out the house without checking the facts and cover his tracks so there was no come-back. I mean, if you damn everything, then you are in the clear. This fair put the wind up our buyer and was incredibly stressful for us, who have spent a huge amount (over £100,000) on restoring the house.

      We have of course been in touch with our solicitor (who hold the deeds) and filled out the information pack they sent us, and can even confirm that the septic tank has been registered.

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    2. I don't understand why as the vendor you are getting surveys done of your own house. Is the law different on house sales in Wales? Normally if the purchaser is having to get a mortgage, and isn't a cash buyer, then the mortgage lender will insist on the borrower having a survey carried out. As the vendor I have never had a survey of my own house done, that is up to the purchaser.

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    3. Sorry, that wasn't very clear. It's not us having the survey done on our own house, but our purchaser. The first survey was clearly a waste of his money as this chap just damned everything inside the house that could possibly throw up a problem at some time in the future - 50 yrs?! - and by that his company couldn't be sued for missing anything! It has put us RIGHT OFF house surveys, I can tell you! Our buyer is the sort who likes every t crossed and i dotted.

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  10. Stay strong...sending you positive vibes. You are doing a good job, it will all fall into place once you have apppointed a removal company and have got rid of all the rubbish.

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    1. Oh mm, today I have had to be ruthless with my beloved books, and over 200 are now on the side, and I have decided to also give up my lifetime's collection of Antiquarian horse books (I began collecting them aged 16, the moment I began work.) Letting go is hard. Clearing the stables was child's play by comaprison!

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  11. So your buyer is willing to fork out for another survey to keep you happy. All very odd. One assumes he needs to borrow money if he is having the surveys and/or he wanted to use a bad survey as a bargaining tool. It all has a bad smell about it.

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    1. No, it's to satisfy him that we haven't got galloping woodworm, or every sort of damp or rot or whatever, and that he won't be electrocuted or have a ceiling fall on him. He got his money back from the company who sent the last surveyor out. It is no more than most people do when they are buying a house - they want to know it is structurally sound and not suffering from subsidence or the like. He may well try to get money off - I am sending my husband in to bat as he stands no nonsense. . .

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    2. Some trust their instincts. He was lucky to get his money back from the first company. Perhaps the first man summed him up and thought he was trouble so took.no chances.

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    3. Wasn't he? TBH, the demolition job on our house was so useless it has rather put us off having a survey done of our next property. 2/3 of housebuyers apparently don't bother (probably for the same reason). The present owner has been there 20 years and taken very good care of it, and made some improvements, so we will ask her a few questions and see where we go from there . . .

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    4. I have never bothered. I trust my instincts but for those needing to borrow. they have no choice in the matter.

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    5. He's a lot better off than us, of that I am sure. He is a businessman and wants to leave nothing to chance. We normally rely on instinct too, but it's the things out of sight which need checking on older houses - and the one we have offered on started off life as a 17th C coach house.

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    6. My house is 17th century clay lump farmhouse. I bought it 5 years ago.

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    7. Is it thatched Rachel? I bet it has lots of character. We have lived in our rambling old Welsh farmhouse for 32 years now. Beams everywhere, a big inglenook and lots of character and ROOM - it is a hard act to follow.

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    8. No, I would never live in a thatched house, I have seen too many fires here. I often publish photos of it on my blog.

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    9. You have lots of beams too I see. Perhaps I didn't go back far enough, but wonder have you a photo of the outside of your cottage, or perhaps you like to keep it incognito.

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    10. I often show it. I am sure people are bored with it!

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