RamblingNana's Blog
RamblingNana's July 2008 Entries
Last Post 35 days, 5 hours Ago
Jul 27, 2008 | 9:51 PM PST
Tags: bed and breakfast , Seattle , Whidbey Island
Hi there!
Husband and I had a perfectly delightful few days at the bed and breakfast pictured above. It's located on Whidbey Island in Washington. It's about 45 minutes north of Seattle.
What a great spot! I am so glad we found it. Click here if you want to check it out further. We most certainly intend to go back and stay there again. Really nice, cosy surroundings. Secluded, very clean, quiet and lovingly cared for. We got to stay in the very top room you see in the picture. It's hexagonal. Eight windows so you can view in all directions. Lovely!
Thi
s was our first bed and breakfast experience. We've never even considered it before. Now we see what we've been missing! We will definitely be researching places like this around the globe when we take another vacation. I now feel quite secure now that we know someone "in the know" and I think we can get good tips on who to trust with our travel plans.
We toured the Langley area and found a really interesting little garden spot called The Chocolate Flower Farm. Brown flowers! Had a nice chat with the lady who owns the garden. It was really interesting. Apparently even Martha Stewart knows about it! We went to their little store front in Langley and purchased chocolate candles if you please!
Jul 13, 2008 | 7:05 PM PST
So, off we went to see how our new abode is coming along and subject ourselves to a little more mental torture.
When we arrived at the site the real estate gal told us there was a suite the same as ours, on the top floor of the building next to us for sale. She said we could go in and take a look at it. Off we went - very excited at the prospect of actually seeing what our place would look like, only a different colour scheme, the reverse plan, and 14' ceilings in the living room. Ours are all 9'.
Wow!!! The place is gorgeous. The view is lovely. It seems huge ... it's empty, so that's probably why. The folks who bought it bought it on spec with the idea of flipping it and turning a tidy profit. Little did any of us know the market would go into a nose dive just in time for us to put the homes we are presently living in up for sale. I feel for them ... but not nearly as much as I feel for us! Can you imagine if we'd sold when we should have sold? Yes, we'd have made a very good deal on this place ... but we'd be homeless and renting somewhere now!
We could see in the windows of our suite next door and one floor down. The crown moldings are up in the living room and dining room. They aren't painted yet. Other than that - it still doesn't look like a place anyone is going to live in for a very long time.
On our way out we spoke to a painter. He knew which suite was ours. When we asked him when he figured it would be ready for occupancy he started counting on his fingers and said, "mmm, October . . . November . . . definitely before Christmas."
OMG!!! BEFORE CHRISTMAS ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!
With that we returned to speak with the sales rep who confirmed that it will be October ... at least she says that is what they are being told by those at the top.
Can you believe it?!!! We bought this place A YEAR AGO LAST NOVEMBER!!!
Yes we ARE very depressed.
Apparently other buyers have had to put all their stuff in storage and rent houses or hotels or bed and breakfasts ... or if they are retired, just do some extended travelling ... and wait!
So much for moving at the end of the Summer! We are going to be like homeless gypsies - wandering the earth - looking for a place to lie down.
Silly I know - but with the market the way it is - we may be kicking ourselves around the block in a few months, wishing we'd accepted that first offer! Oh well, there's another potential buyer coming to look at it tomorrow. I have my fingers and toes crossed.
I have to change my attitude. I have to rise above all this, golf more, think positively and just be thankful that I don't have any REAL worries.
Cheers!
RN
Jul 13, 2008 | 12:22 PM PST
Tags: hanging baskets , fertilizing , watering
Minter Gardens are famous out here on the west coast of British Columbia. I just spotted this excellent article by Brian Minter regarding the care of hanging baskets. If you love hanging baskets as much as I do, I think you will find it worth a read.
Jul 11, 2008 | 10:55 PM PST
Tags: condo , moving , selling , real estate , market
Well, we would appear to have survived the first week of having our apartment on the market. I think I've aged at least 10 years in the process . . . at least my face certainly looks 10 years older. Can you say "haggard?" OMG!!! Talk about stress! What a production this is! I don't ever recall moving (or attempting to move as the case may be) being such a trial. I'm too darned old to move. I've got roots here for Pete's sake! I'm settled. I need to sit quietly by the window and just watch the world go by . . . maybe rock back and forth a little.Our real estate agent tells us to make sure the apartment is absolutely perfect. It is totally staged. We've put a ton of "stuff" in storage so that it's de-cluttered. Actually it looks very nice. I couldn't even tell you what I'm missing. I may be hitting Craig's list with a vengeance once we get moved. I'll try to sell off some of my treasures. That will thrill my husband. I just hope my Mother isn't watching.
We get sudden phone calls that announce "someone" is coming for a viewing in 30 minutes and can we be ready to clear out and go hide during this process. We've had 9 viewers. We've spent a lot of time sitting in our underground parking lot . . . waiting.
I can't believe the cleaning I'm doing. It never stops! I don't want to cook or bake because my stove and oven will get messy. I don't want to eat because I'll mess up the counters and the sink. I don't want to comb my hair because I'll leave hair somewhere for sure. I get up at the crack of dawn so that my bed looks like no one has ever slept in it. We never stop Swiffering and washing floors and vacuuming carpets. I dust and polish incessantly. There is absolutely nothing out of place. We even hide the laundry and our golf clubs in a janitorial cupboard down the hall. We don't want anyone to think we have any dirty clothes. Actually I'm thinking I may look into buying some disposable underwear (hee hee).
We are getting very positive comments on our place. We had our first negative comment yesterday from a really sweet couple who I think really suited this place. The condo was "perfect." Unfortunately our balcony was too small. They were coming from a big house and ... they were right. It would be too small for them to enjoy sitting out.
Unfortunately the market here has been affected by the real estate shmozzle in the US. It shouldn't be, but fact is, it is. We got our first offer today: $25,000.00 lower than our asking price . . . and our asking price is right in line with what it should be. Our price is what other condos in our building have gone for in the past year. I was choked! We were so disappointed. All I could think of was: How DARE she insult me with such a low-ball offer? How DARE she?!!! If she can't afford to pay the advertised price she should go condo shopping somewhere else! Grrrrr.
Whew! Got that off my chest. Obviously I'd make a lousy real estate agent.
So, that was the end of that offer. Now we start all over again. It's awful. There is so much product on the market right now. People just aren't buying like they were a few months ago. Of course if our new place had been completed when it was supposed to be completed, we would have sold our place in the blink of an eye . . . months ago!
Still no word as to when we can move into the new place. They wont tell us anything other than "the end of Summer." That may be a blessing in disguise if this place doesn't sell.
And the saga continues . . .
