As much as we love where we live we 
won’t be staying here much longer. The problem with renting is that you are subject to the whims and difficulties of private landlords. In our case as soon as repairs that they knew needed carrying out were pushed for they became difficult and ended up serving us notice to quit after we had to get the council enforcement team involved.
It has become quite apparent that they expect the contract to work only one way – we pay the rent and keep the place to a good standard, whilst they do nothing for their income each month!
As you can see form the picture the walls are so damp the paint bubbles and peels off! It has actually got a lot worse since this picture, with water dribbling in when it rains, areas around light switches and power points unusable, and if it weren’t for our care to heat and ventilate no doubt we’d be riddled with mould too as it would be the perfect breeding ground. The landlords knew this was a problem long before we moved in, but of course they never told us this until it reappeared and started causing us problems.
It is beautiful where we are, stunning views, but I must admit moving to a property that isn’t riddled with damp, leaks, and temperamental heating systems will be a blessing this coming Winter. The place we are moving to is really quite teeny though. It is owned by a friend and makes for a good bolt-hole whilst Gary is applying for jobs all over (he recently finished his course with a Distinction and now the job hunting starts in earnest) as we may end up having to move again just a few months after.
De-cluttering and Down Sizing
Since the property we are going to is half the size we are needing to put some furniture and other bits into storage. I don’t want to pay though to store stuff we never use, so before we go we are “kon-mari’ing” everything again. We did this before the last move too, it is amazing how in 2 years so much more can be accumulated!
A lot of the stuff is Gabe’s – old clothes, baby bits and pieces, toys he doesn’t play with. A friend is due a baby soon so a lot of the baby clothes will go to her, his cloth nappies once he potty trains (at 3 I really hope this is soon….) will be sold on, and anything else will make its way to the local charity shops. We’ve a few bits of furniture that have been damaged by the rising and penetrating damp which sadly will only be fit for the tip – another reason to be glad to be moving since they have refused to resolve the problems that caused this.
Beach Time & Sunshine
The weather in North Wales is temperamental – although the whole of the UK seems to have had similar this Summer. One minute it is heavily raining, the next the clouds break and glorious sunshine. Quite often the weather breaks into sunshine and warmth in the early evening, it is as though we have a different weather system from 5-10pm!
We are lucky to live so close to a lovely little beach and harbour. Gabe adores going down there, hunting in the rock pools for fish and crabs, and playing in the little boats moored up on the sandy beach.
There are downsides to living so rurally – the cost of fuel to drive everywhere being a huge one – but the benefits of being so close to many gorgeous beaches and also the mountains of Snowdonia certainly makes up for it.
Leave a Reply