Things didn't go as we hoped (a bit of gazumping, for want of a better word, took place), so continuing in the day job was needed and we succumbed to a place on the edge of a town close by the place of work to make life a bit easier.
While work continued to keep an income coming in, renovations on the 'new place' were under way. Some things needed tradesmen, such as electricity consumer unit and wood burning stove installation, but the rest was mostly done by Mr CTL with a bit of input from me.
After 18 months of continuous upgrading to the 'new place', we had had enough of this lifestyle and knew we needed to go to the final stage of our life together. The property went on the market and we had hopes of moving forward. Life could start down the track we wanted.
Then Coronavirus struck and we were in limbo!
Move forward to December 2020 and our buyers (the last of many pseudo buyers) actually went to the finishing line and we were being pushed to move out as soon as possible.
Finding a property to rent (with a dog) was an almost impossible task under normal circumstances, but with coronavirus-covid-19 in the mix, property to rent with pet permissions was like finding a shooting star in a hay barn!
A likely bungalow in a nearby village seemed an ideal choice, especially as pets were allowed, but the owners picked the other applicants and we were left back in limbo land.
As close to Christmas lockdown as you could get, we managed to find a flat in town that we believed would allow us to bring our dog with us. And thankfully, it turned out that the landlord was persuaded. Getting all the paperwork completed with furlough in place was not an easy task though and we still didn't know if we would be able to collect the keys when we needed.
We stuck our necks out and agreed a completion date with our buyers, keeping our fingers crossed behind our backs that we wouldn't end up homeless.
A to-ing and fro-ing with the letting agents continued and finally we were able toget confirmation that the dates were all in alignment.
To say that information on what needed to happen with the rental was on a 'drag it out of me if you must' basis is not an understatement. But it all happened as it should.
Mr CTL managed the move out end and I managed the move in end. And we managed to get everything out of the 'quite roomy' house into the 1 bedroom flat!
