Mar 29, 2014

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR….OR SALE

We are planning to move. Not downsizing other than the yard. We just don’t have the time to take care of the large yard and garden we have now.
We know what we want and what is a deal breaker. We have come close a few times to finding something that meets our criteria. It can be either a house or a townhouse.
  • large rancher – with or without a downstairs. All that matters is that the garage/entry, kitchen, master bedroom and laundry room are all on the same level.
  • somewhat private
  • modern
We have viewed a few places. I do a lot of research online before choosing a place to see. I make up my mind very quickly.
The first place was a townhouse in a gated community perched on a hillside. It was very large with two levels but all the main stuff is on the entry level. The master bedroom had two huge walk in closets. The view from both levels was fabulous.
HILLTOP
Then someone made an offer on it before us. I was very disappointed but then the deal fell through…because there are 2 conflicting engineers reports. Seems like there was some cracking in the adjoining unit and the first engineer said the hillside erosion was the reason. The second engineers report said it was just building material failure. We were not willing to take the chance.
Keep on looking. Okay. Not too far from the first one I found this one. It is a house with a small yard. I figured the yard upkeep was doable. Beautiful windows, nice kitchen with an interesting stainless steel backsplash. Hmmm maybe. EMPRESS HOUSE
Oh wait… what is that? Big cracks at the ceiling. Even bigger cracks in the slab patio outside the lower level. My husband didn’t like the slanting lot and I had to agree but the real kicker was the awful odour of natural gas outside. Not coming from the house but not sure where from. Well another one bites the dust.
So many that just are not suitable. They are too small, too close to their neighbours, too old and dated. I start to get panicky and start to look further away than we had planned.
I found a beautiful place. It is on a golf course. I located some virtual tours and the house is great. I was decorating it in my head but the reality of my husband and I both having to drive an hour to work and an hour home again knocked this one off our list. For a brief moment though I thought I would do be able to do it.
CHILLIWACK
Time to move on….just not moving in.
Oh look what we found. Beautiful. Big. Modern. Close enough to work. What could go wrong?
Power lines! This beautiful home is right next to the giant power lines. I know!!!!! Just not something we can overlook. Even if we put something on that side of the deck so we didn’t really see the tower what about the health issues associated with these towers? So many conflicting reports on their safety. Just too close for comfort.
SUMAS So the search continues. We are not in a hurry but in my mind I really am. I want to move and I want to move soon. It is hard to be disappointed each time. There have been a couple more I have viewed but didn’t include them here because they wouldn’t have been suitable like these would have been if not for the deal breakers at the end. 
So we will keep looking. I am not going to settle….yet. 

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.ca/2014/03/mosaic-monday-food-photography.html
 

Mar 22, 2014

INSPIRATION ON AN ISLAND

Many of you know I love basketball. I especially love university, college and high school basketball.
I enjoy the growth and positive outcomes for many of these kids. I enjoy the camaraderie and spirit. It is a different game when it isn’t an overpriced pro league.
The teams from different schools travel a lot and do all kinds of fundraising to pay for their travel costs.
I have bought the chicken, the pie shells, the poinsettias, the wrapping paper and yes, even the manure.
But imagine you live in an isolated community. Who do you play against? Who comes to your school to challenge you in a game?
Haida Gwaii is off the British Columbia coast and is a group of islands commonly referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands. You will get here by boat or by plane. For them to travel to play any other teams it can mean multiple, long ferry rides. If the weather turns bad it means longer stays in hotel rooms as well. 

These boys needed to raise about $40,000 – $50,000 to play this year. It is worth it. There has been a basketball scholarship for one of the players, Nathan Vogstad, to go to Simon Fraser University.
“It is showing they can make it to university too. It is not impossible being on Haida Gwaii,” says Vogstad. “If you work hard enough and keep going to the gym, you can do it too.”
Hats off to this small community for supporting their basketball team so they can compete against other teams and improve their games and their futures.

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