Hope, Bananas and Houses

Lovely if HOT day today!

With the country shows having fallen through, Miss Hope's first show is the 26th - Australia Day and we've begun her grooming routine to get her coat, such as it is (all puppy fuzz with a mini-mohawk of adult fur along her spine) all pretty for the shows. Actually, 'grooming routine' makes it sound way fancier than it is... she's getting some bath-n-blow-drys, a daily brush-out and misting, and some line-brushing every other day. A bit before the show she'll have her (very fuzzy!) toes and toenails trimmed up too.

This morning Laurent, after a good long breastfeeding session pulled off, looked at them studiously and pronounced them, "Anana!" (La-to-English Translation: Banana) Between laughs I told him no, that was milk but he just jabbed me again asserting, "Anana! Anana! Anana!!!" while giggling. Quite pleased with himself, he's called them such at every feed so far today. He still calls the fruit-type bananas the same though (he's a banana fiend, second only to watermelon or strawberries) so who knows what's going on in that noggin of his! Doubling the fun, he also started chanting "Anana!" today when we were out looking at houses. Real Estate Dude thankfully thought he meant the fruit and I was happy enough to let him keep that delusion to avoid explaining my squidglet was looking for milk... really! ~_~'

Which provides the segue for the next bit - which is that we were looking at houses in The Patch today, which is part of Monbulk out Belgrave way for those not familiars. Veeerryyy pretty area, we took the long way in on the tourist road winding through these rows of ancient looking gums, stately old souls going out as far as the eye could see. I got to see my first wallaby up close... cute little critter came over the road and hoped away! I still go geeky-tourist when I see wildlife! ;-) The town itself has a very small town feel (VERY) and of the two houses we were looking at, one on 5ish acres and one on 1 acre. It is of course very hilly, which worries me a little for La... it'd be easy for him to take a tumble and hurt himself.

The first house, on 5 acres, I have to say I *really* liked... it's at the end of a no-through road, GORGEOUS views of the mountains, it's faced so that it'll get sun in winter but not in summer, lovely period feel to the place (despite it being only 6 years old), a little green-house and veggie patch, a fenced off place for the dogs, lots of fruit trees (apples, pears, plums, lemons, limes, grapefruit etc.) and.... *drumrolls*.... they have sheep, which may well come with the place, so there are already a couple paddocks fenced in for them and go-betweens to move them from place to place! I almost fell over because one of my big things is that I want a place I can have sheep! It's so quiet and peaceful, just the birds and the wind. The house itself is green (!) inside and out with a gorgeous period-country feel, sort of twisty turny in how it's built and not too big! (My weird thing, I know most people like big ginormous rooms but I prefer everything cozy so I can feel nested! Homes with huge spaces make me agoraphobic...)

The other house is very nice as well... it's a lot bigger for one, pretty french windows, the living area is very central, to-die-for kitchen (Nic was DROOLING), pretty slate tiles throughout except the bedrooms. Overall I suppose it would generically be the more desirable "family" house, it's got more space for the dogs and La inside, the kitchen/living/dining area is beautifully central so I could be in one and still be part of what's going on and it goes out to the verandah, but I didn't "click" as much with it for a reason I can't quite pinpoint. :-? It's still got an acre, it's a gorgeous house, a nice big space in the front that's flat to lay out the agility yard, big garage/shed, more rooms like for example a small study and a laundry room that you could walk into (this was a big one for me because I really want a place other than the livingroom to put the dogs crates)... but it's dubious if we'd be able to have sheep. It's owner built, owner is a builder by trade and at the back it's left so you can add on if you want. (But gawds, it's so huge why'd you want to?!?) Nic thinks it's better for entertaining and he's right butttt.... butttt... no sheep and it doesn't click as much.

So, the plan is to get more information on both places, keep eyes peeled for other places in the same region, look at kennel permits for both, look at zoning permits, look at if it's possible to add on to the first place if we wanted to and then go back for a second look in a few days. Both are hooked up, mains, water etc etc. Both houses are well within budget for us, so that's no worry. AND the cool thing is, it's close to Belgrave station for Nic to take the train (8-10 mins) ANNNNDD both places have a bus that comes by and will take you into Belgrave, every hour so all you have to do is a short walk to the end of the road! So for Mr. I-Keep-Saying-I'm-Going-To-Learn-To-Drive-But-Never-Do it still works. :-D How cool is that?!?