The Right to Buy. Or not.

Here's a rub on the plans....

If I accept the new tenancy, I lose my right to buy.

The guy who currently has the house, has no such right, and to take it on I must accept that I can never own it.

What say you trusty folks?

Do I sit tight and let this opportunity go by, in the hopes that I might get in the position of being able to buy my way out of here, maybe, one day?

Or do I give up this right and just go with the new surroundings and accept that I very probably will never own property?

Papers can be signed tomorrow if I choose............................

I hate dilemmas.

Storms and tea-cups

I am just enjoying the privilege of watching a pretty spectacular, but largely silent lightning storm.

The thunder is rumbling now, but the silent light show that came for a good 30 minutes before it, has been stunning! It continues to be so now that it is going for it, and is in fact getting better as the minutes pass!
For those of you in Berkshire (Gav, Augustus) I expect you've seen it already, or it's on it's way!
It's raining hard now, the wind is whipping up, and it's got that lovely smell that makes you want to go out walking in it.

I have made a point of enjoying the view these last couple of weeks, as there are changes going on that might just mean it's not my view for very much longer.

I always seem to put the kiss of death on things when I post them on here, but there is a very real possibility that I might move.

There are few places that I would give up my view for; I've seen picture postcard views of rainbows, full moons, storms, stars and best of all, Mars ( I can see the factory in Slough in the distance from here, but I'm talking about the planet, when it was visible to the naked eye a couple of years back!)

But an opportunity is there to exchange to a house about 6 miles away, that is located in THE single most amazing location I can imagine a person in my situation, living.

I don't really want to wax lyrical about all the details, but believe me, this is a tiny bit special.

I'm happy enough here, and I have always felt safe. But when I look into the future, I can see what level of contentment living here will bring; I'm living it already. I am as happy as I can be here.
I have no way of knowing what a living environment more fitting to what I have in my head will bring. That all sounds very grand, but it's very simple things.

First and foremost, I've wanted a garden for a long time. This new little house has a garden, and much more. It has cows over the fence. It has the woods. It has peace.

Then there's the changing face of the place where I live.

They are mostly good souls, and I have been blessed with past and current neighbours. The problem is, they are all having more babies, moving on. There's always this tide of new folks, they stay for 2, 3, maybe 4 years and then gone.
There are lots of single men being given the one bedroom accomodations recently too, and I have no objection to that at all. But more often than not, they are transitional in one way or another. You never know who you're going to get, and even those who you live well with, the famillies who are peaceable, respectful and worthy of being given a decent place to live, seem to get moved on to pastures new when their families grow.
All the older people who used to be here are either dying, or are never seen by anyone other than the home help anymore, or have been moved to warden controlled places, bungalows, or old folks homes.

I've been a permanent resident here for 16 years, and this is the first real opportunity that has ever come up to move on myself.

Aside from all this, I like the idea of the change.

Like I've said, I know the limitations that living here puts on my sense of contentment, and it would be good to shake off the cobwebs of indifference and procrastination. Change is good, and when all pointers suggest it's a good thing, I think I'd like to see what happens.

I shall post more as the plan comes together or falls flat on it's face!

Those Chili Peppers are Reeeeeed Hot!

I shall be seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers tomorrow night, and am so glad there is finally only one more sleep!

This'll be the third time I'll have seen them now; once in Paris, once in Amsterdam, and tomorrow, London. I only have New York and Munich to go, and I'll have 'pop music'!!!

I decided months ago to make a proper old time of it, so we are going into London in the morning for a wander about Harrods food hall and then for a picnic in Hyde Park. The weather forecast is giving the ultimate in green lights, with a forecast 28 degrees, clear skies and a nice breeze.

We're booked into a rather splendid hotel on Buckingham Palace Road, and will no doubt make the most of the facilities before going off to Earl's Court for the gig, where we shall meet a couple of others that we know and love.

Now, if there is better way to spend a saturday, I'd like to hear about it.

The company will be great, the band are the most energetic thing I have ever seen with my own 2 eyes, and I'm sure will make me marvel again at the spectacle, and later, I can flounch about in fat, fluffy robes, smelling like a tart's handbag from all the Penhaligon goodies I've been dousing myself in!

Have I died or something?

More Tea Tree Vicar?

This is a fairly random post, but I have not yet imparted my opinion of Tea Tree.

No family home should actually be without this marvellous thing.

A good quality tea tree cream is what you need in your medicine box, for bites, cuts, stings, thrush (not the oral kind....ahem) cold sores, itchy stuff and all manner of physical discomforts.

For all of you that have young children, make no mistake when say that you will be, or please feel free to confirm that you have been, subject to the common Nit/Head louse infestation that plagues schools.

The single most effective and non-recurrence generating way to deal with the problem, ie not using things that help to breed immune beasties, is to use ordinary shampoo and conditioner, with just a few drops of good quality tea tree oil and a few of lavender oil in each 'serving', and just comb the gasping pests out with a nit comb. It is remarkable in it's instant effectiveness, and it also leaves a protection on the hair that wards anymore of the little darlings off.

The finest product I have found so far, for both tea tree cream and the quality of the oils can be found at justuk.net

Everything they sell is top notch and well worth the cost.

Just a little something for anyone who might be interested.

I'm allergic to work

Not just in the sense that my life feels like it could be so much better spent, than working for a bigoted, antiquated, clique-ridden set-up, but quite literally allergic to the place itself.

In the six months that I have worked on the farm, I have had a constant sore throat, a snotty nose, a chest that rattles like a lobster cage and a head stuffed with fluff.

Not once (derrrrrrr!) has it occurred to me that I am constantly sitting in a layer of hay, straw, shavings and feed dust.

With just a few days away from the place, I can feel it all clearing.

I should have realised that all was not well. I'm not a sickly kid, and generally get 2 colds a year (summer and winter varieties) that NEVER result in my chest and throat feeling like they have a cluster of oysters residing in them.

This is good news to actually identify this thing, but not so good for the CV or the equilibrum.

Six months doesn't look good, and I hate the whole load of poo that comes with leaving a job, letting people down, explaining to new employers......it really is a bit rubbish.

But I really have to also consider the fact that I'm really not happy to imagine myself in such a backwater shithole for the rest of my days, where email and accounting packages are considered devils work! Feels too much like getting left behind.

So, here we go again.

I've already applied somewhere else and if all else fails, will just keep on until I can find something that isn't going to give me asthma, ulcers or severe depression!

I'm sure someone once mentioned that I was a "princess", and I'm just wondering when the whole princessing deal will start and I can just flounce around in fine fabrics, sipping expensive, chilled beverages. And we can put all this silly talk of 'work' to one side..............