It’s been a week of work, hope and holding our breath, but tonight it’s official: we’ve found a house. We made it through the application process, our references have all been checked, we’ve now got a rental agreement in our hands and we can really begin to imagine what this next step will look like – and where. That’s our lovely new kitchen at the top. Or a slice of it. What you can’t see is the table on the other side, sitting under a long window, or the other counter where I’ll keep the radio and the bread box. But even from a slice, I think that you’ll agree it will feel like home.
Which is a relief and a blessing.
It’s a relief because, as it turns out, the middle of June is a terribly busy time in the Cardiff housing market. Several of the places we’d arranged to view vanished from the market before we even got through the front door. Rental agents told us that we should have been there last month. But the ink on the job offer wasn’t even dry yet and we were there pounding the pavement as soon as we could be.
The first day was filled with places that didn’t fit the bill. Too far out. Too inner city. Too small or just not right. We kept looking and looking and kept on making appointments, knowing that we didn’t have much time on this house-hunting jaunt and worrying that we’d be heading home again with little to show for our efforts. There really were two sides to the work of looking for a home: the actual looking and the work of keeping a good clear focus. Feet work and heart work, you might say. And both were exhausting.
Through all this, Plum was super. He provided charm and distraction in equal (and usually helpful) measures. Thanks be for toddlers. We ate our necessarily early supper on a pub patio just down the street from our bed and breakfast, and, after gobbling his food, Plum had a good long game of tractors around the picnic tables, giving the Spouse and me space to let go of the worry and enjoy the early summer evening. Later, with Plum snoozing in a playpen, we went back online and scoured all the new listings that had been added to the rental sites during that day. Five new possibilities. Lots more neighbourhood reviews and school evaluations to read through. Work enough for the next day.
That evening, we came to the more-or-less peaceful realization that even if we did walk away without a firm decision, the very act of looking had taught us about our new city. Now we knew what neighbourhoods looked like and felt like, and we’d learned a bit about some of the adjectives that the rental agents liked – and those which may just mean something quite different when you actually stood in the described room. Hmmm. That was something, wasn’t it? And even if it was only a small beginning, we were getting a feel for the place.
We slept well that night and woke feeling hopeful and business-like, despite the grey and drizzly weather and the fact that on our way to our first viewing, we got yet another cancelling phonecall. So we found a misty park to linger in and Plum scouting for crows and dogs while the Spouse called more agents setting up more viewings for the afternoon. Time ticked. We breathed deeply. The Spouse suggested that we play tourists and pop in on the local cathedral. It wasn’t far away, we knew nothing about it, and so it seemed a perfect place to fill some waiting time. And it was. We found beautiful old stones, new art, and a warm welcome – all of which was just what we needed. Followed by delicious (and also required) Welsh cakes in the cathedral cafe. (Yes, I will experiment with recipes and yes, I will share that with you when I do.)
Then, just like that, we found the right home.
A relief and a blessing.
It feels like a blessing because we can imagine home now. I know what our kitchen will look like – so I can imagine making those Welsh cakes. And Saturday morning pancakes. And Sunday roast chicken with roast potatoes, too. Apple pie and spice cookies and pots of tea with new friends at the table. And then dragon bread for Michaelmas. Imagine that – making dragon bread in dragonny Wales!
Isn’t that a lovely thought?
