Why that house?

After showing various photos, which give some idea of what we're dealing with - and hint at what work we have to come - I thought I should show something about why we decided this was the place for us.

At this point I also ought to give a little back story. Although it may currently be mid-December, and if you live in England, you may have been enjoying all the miserable weather that has been bringing us lately. Lots and lots of rain (in our area, whole villages have been closed), freezing fog, always a joy at 6.30am, and half hearted snow, which very rapidly becomes icy brown slush.

It is an ongoing threat of ours to move to another country for the winter!

Anyway, my point is not to grumble about the English weather, more importantly, that wherever you are in the world, it is mid-December, regardless of what good or bad weather that brings. However, when we bought our little Victorian number it was actually July, and when we first saw it, it was May. We were in the process of selling our previous project, a 1 bedroom flat just around the corner from where we currently live. We'd bought it as a repossession, dirt cheap, and (with an interim of my younger brother Richard, living in it for a while) sold it for a bit of a profit. Between that and nearly 3 years of desperate saving we managed to upgrade the flat to the new place.

The aim of the new place was primarily to upgrade our home. We currently live in a terrace house which, once we're in the door, we love. Its outside that's the problem. The door opens directly onto the street, which is no big deal, but annoying. We also only have a small garden, again, not a big problem, but having acquired 2 large dogs (spotted in last post photos) a bigger garden would be a major bonus. The location is in a village, about half an hours drive along ever degrading country lanes before reaching any kind of sensible sized main road. Very frustrating when we have a 3 hour drive to my family in Kent. Also its in the fens, serious fens, or as I like to put it, the black desert. I'm very sorry to all those fen dwellers out there, but its just not my cup of tea. Too damp and too flat. I'm afraid Mat bought it pre-me for all the practical reasons, but frankly I'm just not always that kind of a practical person. Oh and we spend the entire winter doing battle with rising damp. So that is a practical reason to move!

So, as I digress some more, the point was we wanted a new place, with a better location. We'd heard great things about the village, its 5 minutes from the main roads and much more direct to Cambridge city centre. I wanted a project, and Mat insisted it have 4 good walls and a roof (again with the practical!). So although in terms of footprint the new place is actually smaller, its merits made it a brilliant option. And of course it was at the top of our meagre budget.

 Since we were also due to be getting married in September not a lot happened beyond making the purchase until after the wedding. And with it less than ideal house renovation weather. Not that I'm complaining, I love it in all weathers! However, whilst the weather was still good we did get over there a bit, and managed to take some more attractive pictures of the local area and orchards around the corner. Perfect dog walking territory. So, since it may be a while before I am posting beautiful house photos, here are some lovely countryside ones.

On your marks, get set..........