Bricks and Mortar

With the banking system seemingly looking as stable as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, standing but being propped up, we decided we would like our worldy savings transferred from pounds & pence into bricks a mortar.  Having something 3D - that you can touch just seems a little more tangible at the moment.  So summertime I sent Mrs T off on a mission to filter all the house/cottages in Suffolk and provide a short list for when I returned.  House hunting, we have found, can be like one of those long Norse Sagas, with wonderous worlds, strange beings, both good and evil (estate agents) and incredible plot twists - heres our potted journey - names and places changed to protect the innocent:

House 1:  Nice house, next to football pitch, somebody wants it more than we do. Fail.

House 2:  Converted barn that used to house pigs.  Very nicely done, way over priced.  Owners "It was on the market for 485k last year".  Well, hello, thats why its not been sold! Fail.

House 3:  16th Century listed house in lovely village opposite Church.  "Access to upper floor bedroom is from a ladder" could optimistically mean a small 2-3 rung set of steps.  In this case it was a 8ft high vertical climb that fireman Sam would have struggled with.  No option to change as it is a listed cottage!   Agent "Yes I know about the upper floor, did you need to use the third bedroom then?" Fail.

House 4:  Old Bottle Cottage, beautiful views over lovely chalk valley with terraced garden, in village close to town.  "A lot of house (and garden and garages) for your money" sez agent, and she is right.  Needed work but had the scope to extend and for us to play around with walls and room sizes.  Somebody had spent a lot of money outfitting the stunningly large bathroom however it was styled by Captain Birdseye who went overboard  (pun intended)  on the nautical theme.  Still tastes can be personal and we can send said bathroom to davy jones locker.  "Two offers have fallen through on this for personal reasons" said agent, rubbing hands like Scrooge and looking rather shifty.  Prompted by every relative we spoke to who collectively said "You need to check where Snoasis will be built".  We did indeed check where Snoasis - europes largest indoor Ski and snow centre-parc like resort is to be built and the answer was not far away.  The images of an 85m (14 buses) 425m long ski run behind the house look pretty impressive..  this is how it will look.House was close!

Thus no 3 offer fell through due to "personal reasons" - bullet dodged. Fail.

House 5:  DIY enthusiast on speed.  Words or even pictures could not describe. Fail.

House 6:  Converted Victoria school house in very quite (2 street) village.  Needs plenty of TLC unless you are a fan of 1970s features and fittings.  Great gardens and backs onto village field with football pitch.  Offer in and accepted - now going through all the rigmaroll of solictors ("cha-ching" 150 pound per hour), surveys "cha ching", ground searches cha-ching, mortgage arrangment, cha-ching, cha-ching cha-ching.

Once we finally get it Mrs T will act like a whirling dervish desgining and planning and project managing the dragging of the property into the 21st C.

As a certain Bush would have said on efforts to get my money out of the bank - "mission accomplished"

And lastly....Anyone know what this fruit tree is in the garden - best guess is quince but grateful to be educated....