Moving house, then going to Turkey.

One night a little over a month ago, I was sitting on the sofa idly browsing though realestate.com. Not with any purpose, mind you, just idle curiosity. It would take a lot to prise us out of our home of 25 years. If the dog had jumped on my lap at the critical moment, I would have missed it. 

There it was, buried a long way down the listings. A big house, four bedrooms, and an internal GARAGE!  Gold!  Hen's teeth!   Only 600 metres from our current house!  To cut a long story short, we bought it and moved in, in rapid quick time. 

Thank heavens for packers and movers, our wonderful solicitor, the bank, and our real estate agents. 

Why so quick?  Because we have a holiday booked and paid for, to Turkey. Today is the day we leave and we had to be organised either before today, or leave it until after our return. Moving heaven and earth (and even harder, ourselves) we got into the house less than two weeks before our departure. Our old house, the lovely Number One, has been spruced and cleaned and styled within an inch of its life.  It will be videoed, and the advertising copy has been written.  Recognise this?

Character rich lifestyle in leafy cul-de-sac

Behind its picturesque facade of classic character, this freestanding brick home is a well preserved period residence with a refined sense of history. ‘Manafield’ c1909 is full of original charm and showcases a generous interior layout with fresh, bright living spaces and lots of scope for modern improvements or redesign. It also offers a very convenient lifestyle, set to the end of a tree-lined cul-de-sac within easy strolling distance to Erskineville and Newtown attractions.

 

High pressed metal ceilings and polished floors

Lounge room plus light filled casual dining space

Sunlit rear courtgarden and decked alfresco area

Double bedrooms include two with built-in robes

Full bathroom with 100-year-old clawfoot bathtub

Tidy gas-equipped kitchen plus extra w/c at rear

Original fireplaces, air-con and lots of storage

The styling makes it almost unrecognisable

 We are sad to go, but happy to have moved. Welcome home, Michael!

It looks huge when empty, but we have managed to fill it up nicely. Thank heavens for unpackers. Jackie and Manka were wonderful. 

Majic is coping well. For some time he looked like he was saying 'can we go home now?'  He has settled in reasonably well, especially as he gets to go to Camperdown Park in the evening as well as the morning, and he is constantly being patted and cooed over. 'Ooh, he is sooooo keeeeeee yooooooot!  Can I pat him?'

And now we are leaving it. When we get back, our housesitter Clare will have lived in it longer than we have!  

We are off to Istanbul tonight for three weeks with Academy Travel. We will see a lot of Turkey, and will regale readers with tales of our adventures. There is nothing quite so invigorating as throwing your life up into the air and seeing where it all re-assembles.