Blog Posts by Zefi

My three weeks of summer holidays are almost over. Just the weekend to go then back to work. Time, which seemed so plentiful three weeks ago, has gone by in a flash.

I had so many big plans for the break and a To Do list as long as my arm. Finishing the painting of my house was top of the list. I managed to paint half of the back wall of the house. Then it started to rain. Its been raining on and off for days. Probably most of the first week of my holidays, then most of the 3rd week.

Somewhere in there was Christmas and New Years and all the fun of having friends around and celebrating.

I've done so much yet achieved so little in terms of actually crossing items off my To Do list. But that's ok, cause the 'new Zefi' is learning to enjoy the journey and not focus on the end result.

What I've done on my break is have fun, relax and spend tons of time cuddling my poodles. I've gone out for lunch and even breakfast. I've found time to read again and spent a lot of time talking and

I'm finally starting to get things done. Today I made a good start on finishing the house painting. Previously two sides had a new coat. Today I tackled one more side. I feel good!

I also decided to start going through some cupboards and start sorting: keep this, toss this, give that away etc.

Turns out I've been too well organised and there's not much I have which I dont want to keep!

Of course, there's still lots to do, but I'm feeling better about it. I'm no longer held captive by an inability to move forward. Procrastination - I banish thee!

I feel more positive. I know that things will work out. Still haven't heard from the bank but now its not frustrating. As Doris Day once said: Que Sera, Sera.

If the farm isn't the place then that's cause another is just around the corner. That's how I found both my houses in the past. They were just there for me to find. It will happen again. I have faith.

Meanwhile I'll just sort, paint and organise. And look at horses for sale!

z

Ok. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

I'm about to explode.

First it was that we found the prats to act on our behalf to secure a loan on the farm. Next it was the endless delays on the application, promises not kept, deadlines not met. Last, just when we thought we'd gotten over the last hurdle... comes the latest update from the prats:

Seems the bank has gotten the idea that the farmhouse needs SUBSTANTIAL work.

The valuer told me he'd seen the farmhouse and it was in good condition, no problems there that he could see. We have the building inspector's report to prove it. The house was in good condition, only minor things needed attention.

Yet somehow the bank seems to have grabbed onto some information that makes them think the place is a wreck...

We think we know what's happened: they seem to have somehow looked at the old house on the farm, the original settler's cottage, and thought 'Hey! That place is structurally unsound'...

As if anyone can walk

As Clint Black said...

Waiting to hear from the bank is just hair-pulling frustrating.

Yesterday the bank valuer came out and looked over my house. Wayne's plan was to be there to pick his brains, read his mind or even ask him blunt questions outright. However, the valuer was early and Wayne was late so all Wayne managed to do was wave 'see ya mate' as the guy drove off in a cloud of dust.

The inspection went well I think. He looked over the house, commented on how nice this or that was, nicely rennovated bathroom, neat kitchen, big house, nice large bedrooms... he measured things and jotted notes and took photos on his whizbang phone.

Apparently he'd already done an inspection on the farm house and his comments on that were similar - good condition, nothing bad there. All good. He was going to email his report to the bank last night.

As far as I know, all the bank wants to know is that, in the event of you not being able to make your payments on the mortgage, they can sell both

As long as I can remember, I've wanted to live in the country. on a farm.... so after many years of living in Tasmania and thinking that 'my next home' would be planted in the middle of lots of land, I think the dream may finally come true.

Not that I know for sure yet... sigh...

However... since I cant keep a secret for long and since I'm itching to get started on my new adventure (complete with photos, blog entries and upcoming photobook!) here it is.

I'm in the process of buying a farm with a partner in crime.

The back story:

Two friends meet and over dinners and laughter discover that they both dream of owning land. A throw away line about 'lets do it together' starts to take root and soon they are off in search of a property with their name on it.

The search parameters:

Land to keep horses, dogs, some livestock. In an area closer to work. Closer to a town for a social life as well as the potential for making money from home. Situated in an area with access to riding trails

So... here is how I've spent my spare time in the months after the holiday in Greece. I made a photobook/scrapbook/album of the trip with excerpts from the blog and photos Merrill and I took. The result is a fantastic looking coffee table book which everyone thinks is stunning. And I'm pretty darn pleased with it myself.

In case you're wondering about why I kept this under wraps for so long (it was REALLY HARD i admit!) it was cause I planned to give the first copy to Merrill for Christmas. And that was totally worth the look on her face when she opened the present!

I've had suggestions that I should start a business making these books for special events. Unlike scrapbooks they can be printed in different formats so that you're not limited to one copy only.

Some friends suggested that a photobook done in my own inimitable way would make a great souvenir of an event whether its a wedding, a 21st or a club event. I agree. Now the problem would be HOW to get around doing something

Its been a long time since I logged on here and actually wrote something! I have had a few complaints from my die hard fans. Namely, my cousins! (you know who you are!)

But I have a good excuse. I've been busy!

Yeah, yeah, poor excuse. Not at all imaginative like Jake Elwood in the Blues Brothers when explaining why he stood his fiancee up at the altar:

"I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD. "

So, I wasn't abducted by aliens, I wasn't swallowed up in a freak mudslide, I wasn't lying in a ditch with all my typing fingers broken.

I was just.... BUSY.

And frankly, not the kind of busy I think anyone in the world, except myself, really cares about. I mean, what do you really care about the traffic on the way to work last week, or the fact that the tap

What is it with TV programmers? Is their job description to make things hard for the average TV watcher? And what's with programs running overtime ALL the time? Just cause someone thinks some shows are more 'popular' than others, does that mean that the rest of the world, who may disagree with the ratings, doesn't matter? We have to wait for 10minutes or more for our program to come on while the previous show goes on and on and ON.

Have you ever noticed how the more technology is supposed to make life easier, the more they stuff you around?

We can now get TVs with built in program guides. TV magazines which give you a code which you scan in to program the recorder to tape them. You can do just about everything you can imagine... EXCEPT actually tape the end of the program you wanted to watch cause some previous program ran overtime and the guide said your show was on from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, but in reality it was more like 8.44pm to 9.40pm. And unless you had the foresight to add