OneGuyFromBarlick

Called in at a Family History Fair at Astley Hall over lunch, I don't think it was just as busy as it has been in the past.
Sue, did we once meet at the Briercliffe History Society? or am I thinking of another Sue?

Yes we did. Bob and I came over for a particular talk but I can't remember what it was now. I met Mel too. I haven't been since. Life is so busy something had to go.

We should all have a get together up there sometime...you can get a good lunch at the visitor centre at Happa.

I can't remember what it was about either

Working on LTP if the site will let me!

Keeping dry as Jack and I take our exercise and working on the LTP. Good writing weather!

Cleaning and catching up with the history society accounts ready for the committee meeting tomorrow.

On the ferry to Caen. Looking forward to a long break in France with friends visiting.

Sounds good Sue.
I'm going down to Earby Youth Hostel this morning where there is an "advance publicity" event for the Pendle Walking Festival. There is a Pendle Marathon this year, which is a 23 mile walk from Earby to Slaidburn,over Pendle Hill. I certainly won't be taking part in that, but our four mile History Society walk from Earby to the church at Thornton in Craven on September 2nd is all planned & ready to go.

Dads house goes on the market today. 3 bed detached in Reedley, anyone interested. Fully refurbished. It feels like just the outside walls haven't been replaced!

Arrived at chez nous just after midnight. Would you believe the lawn hasn't grown at all in two and a half weeks.

Sue wrote:Dads house goes on the market today. 3 bed detached in Reedley, anyone interested. Fully refurbished. It feels like just the outside walls haven't been replaced!

Good luck with the house sale Sue. With my dad's situation having deteriorated twice recently we moved him to a house in town then had to find him a place in a care home, so we've had to sell houses twice in quick succession. Had to take about 15% drop on the asking price on the first (which was a quirky old rural bungalow needing work) and 10% on the second which was a desirable 2-bed semi in town. It took about 9 months to get a buyer for the first (elderly couple) and about a month for the second (young first-time buyers)...but the news this morning is that house prices are rising, so keep your fingers crossed! We used independent estate agents which we find better than the chains, and a long-established local solicitor rather than the new bucket-shop conveyancers - the latter have been causing a lot of hold-ups in chains because they seem too remote and not customer-oriented. The big estate agent chains have been setting them up as well as the Co-op and other organisations. They claim to be cheaper than conventional solicitors but not so in our experience.

Thanks for the tips Tiz. We are asking less than the valuation and using dads solicitor as it is part of dads estate. We are pleased with the valuation and we have had a couple of local enquiries. Fingers crossed

If you get an offer from a couple (ie. man & wife, partners) make sure both have viewed it and both are positive about the purchase. There seem these days to be more instances, especially where it involves long distance, of one of the couple saying they like the house and making an offer...but then it falls through when the other of the couple comes to see it. Make sure both have viewed the house before accepting an offer. I suspect that in some cases it is actually a deliberate way of trying to `hold' a property (prevent anyone else getting it) for a time. In other cases it's just down to couples not making sure they agree before proceeding! And it's probably more common now that people often buy houses a long way from where they currently live or work.

On the more desirable town house we rejected the low offer initially and asked for more. They came back with a bit higher offer and said it was their `final and best offer'. We accepted it but countered with the qualification that it was on the condition that they proceeded with the agreed new price and didn't try to lower it at any later stage (a common ploy, often based on some relatively minor thing raised by a surveyor). They accepted that and we informed the solicitor that the qualification must be part of the transaction.

We have been through some of that when it was on the market last time and other such ploys, hence taking it off the market and doing it up. It was at a reduced price because it needed work but then buyers tied to knock us down because it needed work ! Or indeed because it only has one reception even though it was advertised as such.

Good luck with the house sale. How glad I am that I will never go through that again....
Nursing my mate's sore bottom and working on the LTP. (I know! But these things have to be done!)

Going to Southport today as it would seem they are expecting the best weather. We are like sunflowers following the sun. Eileen

Today I'll be itching and suffering in general as I've been diagnosed as having shingles :-/
It's sort of like having Chicken Pox and a bad bout of the 'Flu at the same time.
Woe is me...................

Sounds very unpleasant Mick, hope you are better soon.

Not nice Mick. Be a good patient!
Not trying to catch up on the fact that I have slept two hours more than usual. Might have an easier day.....

Can life throw anything more at my dear wife. Still uncertain as to how mother is settling in her new home she ends up in hospital herself 35 miles away from where we are staying. After severe stomach pains yesterday she managed to see a local GP who immediately referred her to Gt Yarmouth A and E where she has spent the night on a surgical word "under observation". After a 6 hour wait in A and E and a surgical day ward she still had not seen a doctor. Somewhere on the line someone had decided that she had to be seen by a surgeon and those on duty were in theatre. As the nurses knew there was something wrong with her from hourly obs - raised BP, pulse and temperature they appeared to communicate with the surgeons and decided on admission.
Obviously I'm worried but I'm hoping that she is OK and that she can enjoy a little bit of her well earned holiday. Nolic

Oh dear Nolic, your holiday isn't turning out to be very relaxing. Poor Cath...fingers crossed that all is well.

I've got a day off from Barlick Beach today, doing a day's refresher first aid course.

Up to yesterday afternoon, the beach had attracted over 900 individual children. (With repeat visits and adults, that's over 2,000 visits in four days.)

Sorry to hear about Cath's problem Nolic, puts my broken car into perspective. I do hope she's OK.

In the garden, hopefully picking peas & beans and getting some in the freezer.