Wednesday 5 September 2012

Renovation Update + Stress = Friands

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. I think I'm suffering from severe cabin fever - our renovation is due to commence in January and we have been advised to allow 9 months for the build, however I don't know if I can take apartment living for too much longer.

We've seriously been looking at our options, and this is very 11th hour. Don't get me wrong, I still love the plans for our house - but having a slightly larger block is also very appealing and there are a few houses that have caught our attention.

You may remember a recent post about missing out on THE house - well as it turns out, it actually wasn't. The contract fell through, so I finally got an opportunity to inspect it, but the house just didn't feel right - so that got crossed off the list

Then I inspected another house (some most people would call it a dump.) However I could see it had potential, so I placed an offer on it - but it was rejected. Another one crossed off.

Since then, we have found another two houses which we are very interested in. Both are large enough without having to extend, so it would mean a simple makeover rather than a hard core major reno. So (and you won't believe this) we have put our cottage on the market. I still feel our house is in a better location, and we already know lots of people in the street so it would be very sad to sell up - not to mention the time and money we have already invested into this project.

So this is where we're at: if we can get either of these two other houses we will sell ours, but if that plan doesn't work out, we'll keep our cottage and continue with the impending renovation. Either way, westendcottage will continue (just not entirely sure which cottage it will be.) Ahhgg, the stress of it all!

Generally when I am faced with a stressful situation, I whack my apron on and start baking. Somehow it seems to calm me. In the past I have tried imbibing in a bottle of red, but that somehow seems to create it's own problems (how else did I manage to get four children!)

Raspberry Friands was the treat of choice:


I love the little flower shape which is embossed into the bottom of each cake


Hot chocolate and cake for afternoon tea!



9 comments:

  1. Who knew the contraceptive benefits of friands? Good luck with the two new houses, I can vouch for the benefits of more yard as that is exactly why we bought Betsy and we have not looked back ( except perhaps at my old kitchen), sob sob..... melx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Friands, pregnancy - they both wreak havoc with your waistline!

      Delete
  2. BTW your gang are so cute. And I hear you about the mess involved with creative children, the other benefit of having an unrenovated house, is a total lack of preciousness about floors etc. Bit sad but all those ride on's will be banished when these floors get polished. melx

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're on the reno/buy/sell roller-coaster. Yikes! Definitely don't hit the bottle and stick to the baking instead or else you'll be looking for a much bigger house!! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have been looking at boarding school options (just kidding).

      Delete
  4. oh gosh uncertainty is hard isn't it. we've signed our builders contact and have our loan application in at the bank - BUT we find out today if my husband is going to be made redundant which will scuttle all the plans...hence my lack of posts just not sure what is going on in my life!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm hearing you - it's not a good place to be in. I will know what our fate is by the end of the month.

      Delete
  5. We just got estimates back from the architect and because of the height of our house basically town planning is going to be a nightmare and cost a small fortune.
    So we are back to the drawing board.
    We are thinking of doing some mini renovations...enclose the front verandah to create another bathroom and open up the enclosed back verandah...so the house is more attractive to rent out or to sell.
    These things are never easy are they?

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm guessing you're on a small lot too - so coming up with a good design can be very tricky. My architects strongly recommend not to proceed with Impact Assessment applications as they are very costly, take heaps of time, and there are no guarantees of approval. However, I'm sure you can still come up with a suitable design outcome. Best of luck. xx

      Delete