Yesterday...

Long time, no blog.....(thanks Sarah for reminding me!)...
Yesterday was my daughter's birthday party....this is a photo of the cake that Ellie made (it's absolutely huge!!)....for the bakers amongst you, you may recognise it as the same as Martha Kearney's effort in the Comic Relief Great British Bake-off  which was on TV a few weeks ago.

Yesterday we also went to see three houses.  We still have our eye on our dream home too.

We're trying to be more purposeful about finding a long term family home...this rented house is lovely size-wise but it's cold and expensive.  We're all getting a little more chilly and poorer by the day !  Whatever happens we really don't want to be here for another winter.

So here's the housing dilemma...
Ideally we would like everybody to have their own bedroom (ie 6 bedroom house or 5 bedrooms with an extra downstairs room that we could use as a bedroom), we also need to get children to/from 3 different schools in Reading town/Woodley/Earley which is logistically a challenge.  Ideal locations would be Earley, Woodley or Shinfield (where we currently are).

Possibles are -

House #1 - Dream home.
Pros : Good location (Shinfield). 6 bedrooms, lots of space, ready to move in and go, lovely inside, big and beautiful garden.  Possibility for future use as a respite retreat for people widowed young (we'd love to do this).
Cons : We can't afford it (without a huge mortgage and with kids potentially going to university starting in 1 years time, a large mortgage seems foolish)

House #2 - Country Bungalow
Pros : 6 bedrooms, good size garden, lots of reception rooms, ready to move in and go, lovely inside.
Cons : Not-so-good location (Barkham - 6 miles out) - 1 hour out of Reading on bus route (middle of nowhere). Ellie will become Mrs Taxi for 4 children on schools run, 1 child will get lift with me then hop on the bus for final bit into Reading.

House #3 - Wokingham commute
Pros : Close to Wokingham train station (3 children can get themselves to/from school on train), lovely inside, big garden, big kitchen/main living area, close to Wokingham town centre, older house.
Cons : Need to use downstairs room as a bedroom, close to road, 1 reception room to provide escape from noise, some slightly concerning cracks in the walls

House #4 - New build
Pros : new build (3 years old), very tidy, warm, nice dog !
Cons : Not-so-good location (Barkham-see house #2 for school run details), need to use downstairs room as a bedroom, quite overlooked, small garden, strange "juliet balcony" from main bedroom (suitable for child suicide attempts!)
  
Confused !?!


Matthew 28:20 (Jesus said) "and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age". Amy Carmichael writes :
He does not say simply 'always', as of a uniform duration, but "all the days", as if he would take account of the changing aspect of storm and sunshine, of light and darkness, which chequer our course, in other words, "all the days and all the day long"

Today it's the Reading Half Marathon...my training has been somewhat fitful and I have done no running for the last 2 weeks due to pulling my calf (doh!)....I will be pondering all of this as I trudge the streets of Reading....

If you have any suggestions on housing, please feel free to comment or email us !