Feb 26th

Coincidences.  Don't believe in them personally.

I was discussing the meaning of this word with Ben today on our drive out to the country.

See, he called me on using it in yesterday's blog post.  Which is fair enough, seeing as how I go on about not believing they exist (everything happens for a reason you see, nothing is 'by chance' *grin*).

I asked him to remind me of the context.

On discussing it further, I maintained that I had used it in its correct sense.  The correspondence in time of occurrence: our parents were due to be staying with us at the same time.  Rather than in the more commonly used reference - a remarkable concurrence of events without apparent causal connection.

Both are linguistically correct.  I just don't believe in the latter *wink*.

Speaking of coincidences, one may consider that one occurred today, if one believed in that sort of thing.  The two properties we were scheduled to view this afternoon were being shown to us by the same agent.  He asked us to meet him at the location of his appointment directly before ours, an open he was conducting on a wee acreage.

We turned up at 2pm on the dot, announced our arrival by introducing ourselves, then waited in the car until he was ready to go.  He asked casually as he was collecting his open sign, if we'd like to view this particularly property.  Ben looked at me, I glanced over the road towards the house and made a quick visual assessment of what I could see and thought "why not!?".  I do so adore perusing real estate.

 

On finding out the size of the parcel of land (less than 2 acres),  I was fairly sure this exercise was going to be purely academic, as we were seeking closer to five minimum.  But then I saw the lemon tree.  Every bough heavily laden with fruit!  I have a weakness for citrus.  I go through at least one lemon every day with my water.  

The savvy agent, seeing my delight swiftly detailed the myriad of other mature fruit trees on the property - mulberry, nectarine, peach, a variety of apple, pear - not to mention grapes and raspberry vines.  Then we saw the vegie plots.  Fewer now than there had been in the past, as the owner in her sixties, was slowing up - but evidence of the dark, rich, fertile soil remained.

 

My enthusiasm was growing.  The 100 year old house, with high ceilings, original fireplaces and original wooden flooring contained three tiny bedrooms and a tacked on kitchen.  Perfect for just now, with lots of materials to recycle for the energy efficient home we are planning.  

A semi-detached studio already in place for the home office, with two large paddocks unlandscaped and untouched (with the exception of 20 years of sheep pooing in them and turning notoriously barren and clay soil in this area into something useful!)

And the final "oh my heavens, how perfect is this spot" moment, was peering down towards the creek running along the eastern boundary.  Even dry, I could see the hours of delight and discovery that awaited small people (and their followers *smile*).  And we were told an old kangaroo often rested along this part of the creek whenever he was in the neighbourhood *melt*.

So how many boxes did this property tick?

Well, it ticked a fair few, but it created some new ones with ticks we hadn't considered before.

No existing firewood forest, but the food forest was already well underway.

Trees for wood take time to grow, as do trees for food.  But a little local discovery found that a wood collection permit would cost us $35 for enough wood to see us through a winter.  We currently spend on average, $70 per week on fruit and veg.... if we had to choose one over the other, this was a simple one.

There was no dam, spring or bore.  But some earth moving equipment would assist us with that and we know exactly where it would sit.  A large water tank is already in place, as is solar electricity.

The section is north facing and contains a gentle slope on the undeveloped half of the land.

The more I thought about the size of the land, in comparison to the other two properties we were booked to view (and another we investigated later in the day), the more I enjoyed the idea of small.  The larger sections overwhelmed me after seeing the acreage.  I've lived on a landscaped 2 acre property before, so I'm aware of the work required - it wasn't a naive or unthoughtful requirement.  Most was planned as a firewood forest and only a small amount as cleared for growing food and living.  So, it was an achievable goal for one family.

But seeing how this section was currently utilised - the intensive fruit tree planting and vegie plots all so close to the dwelling, to one half of the land.  The chook sheds and bare paddocks making up the remainder - it was all so well planned!

So, after sitting on it for the afternoon and doing our pros and cons whilst wandering around the public gardens for a couple of hours, we made an offer.

Our maximum limit.  And advised the agent as such.

$15K less than her asking.

But we did notice that the section 32 was signed in November last year and prior to that, it was listed with another agent for $5K more than she's asking now.  So perhaps she's flexible.

We also know she's paid up in town on another property and is ready to go.

We're offering a 45 day settlement, which tends to be very attractive for folks in a hurry.

Time will tell.

So no, I don't believe in coincidences in this sense of the word.

But I do believe in being in the right place at the right time and the universe working in alignment with you to help you achieve that which makes your heart sing.

In saying that - a little whisper of luck never went astray, so if you feel so moved.... we'd be mighty grateful *smile*.