The waiting game.

So, we are still waiting for our barn conversion.  Apparently we are close to starting building, but I have heard that many times before- and we are currently looking at saying 'in by christmas', but for the 3rd christmas so I'm not so convinced.  Hopeful, but not convinced.

Baby three is due in August and kicking like a bucking bronco.  The bump is definitely growing and I have already had several total strangers call to me across car-parks, and at checkout queues, etc amusing things like 'look at your bump, its massive!' 'are you having the baby today?  'are you sure its not twins'... Naturally I find this both flattering and hilarious.

As the barn was taking so long, we decided to move to somewhere a bit bigger.  Living in the cottage next door to our homing heroes was fabulous, but with number 3 on the way, we just needed
                                             m     o      r      e               s    p    a    c    e .
We have been in our new place now for nearly 3 months and it's great.  Having a playroom and a grownup sitting room is the most luxurious thing I can think of.  Well, one of them.

So, we wait on.  Is patience a virtue? or is life what happens to you when you are making other plans (as a very wise man once said)

Waiting for our baby, waiting for Handsome husband to finish his course, waiting for Downton Abbey series 3 (exciting people, very exciting) and for the new John Lewis in Exeter to open in December.  We might even be in the new barn by christmas?

There is so much in the pipeline, we just need to remember to enjoy the waiting game.

And the good news is....

And the good news is that the council have f.i.n.a.l.l.y said YES.  We are so excited.  Our dream, forever-home is now the shinning light at the end of the tunnel.  And although we feel like the waiting game is over, really it has only just begun.

Now we wait for builders.  Quotes are yet to come back and the work is yet to start.  But, we are excited and hopeful.  Interiors are being planned, samples are building up and my scrap book of ideas is bulging at the seams.  I  don't just have a mood board, I have a mood file, with separate sections for each room with additional sections for things like 'style' and 'storage'.  Geek?  moi?

But, we aren't there yet.  There is still a lot more waiting to do and once the builders start there will be more things to wait for, but it will be exciting things, like plaster and paint to dry.  Who would have ever thought that waiting for paint to dry would be exciting?!

And the news is...

There is no news...turns out there had been a delay we didn't know about...more information is required by the conservation officer.  Deep breaths and more waiting is needed from us.  Passions are flaring over lime plaster, who knew passions could be raised over such topics?

So, what do girls do when the going gets tough?  girls go shopping of course.  Look! I have a nice new purse.  Well, my old one was broken and now I am mildly and temporarily diverted from the agony of waiting, my cards and whatnot have a pretty new home and Darling boy is as pleased as punch as he gets to play with my old one.

In the meantime, we are still waiting, waiting, waiting...

Only 24 hrs from meltdown

Tomorrow we are due to hear from the local council if they have approved our planning application.  It has been a long road, and we haven't even started yet!

We first met with our architect before Christmas and had hoped to be building by March.  As the sharpest amongst you may have noticed, we are in fact, just at the beginning of July and not so much as a spade has been lifted (apart from the holes Handsome husband dug to see if there was any foundations to the barn)

So, we have waited and waited and waited and tomorrow is the day the council have said they will get back to us by.

It's nail biting stuff...

(and by the way, Handsome husband found some foundations, just 'some'...not the words you are wanting to hear when renovating a barn) 

Fairytale plans

It has been our dream for years now to renovate the barn on the farm to live there.  It's more than a dream, it's a plan.  The planning application has been in for 4 weeks now, and we have another 4 weeks left to wait till we hear if the planning officers and conservation officers agree to our design.

Although it's an actual proper plan, written on actual paper, with all the various structural reports, wildlife reports and whatever needed, at times, it seems so distant it's almost a fairytale. We had hoped to be well into the building process by now, but for various reasons, we have been hugely delayed.  

Each night before I go to sleep, I imagine walking around our barn.  I've been imagining it for so long, I can see every nook and cranny.