Mercury retrograde house shopping trip

Just returned to London after a wonderful 5 day break in the west country (Devon) where I needed to view a property before it got sold. Despite the so-called recession it is not a buyer's market as there are still too few houses being put up for sale, and anything half decent gets snapped up straight away. So in full awareness of the adverse astrological conditions, with Mercury being retrograde until 11 May (can't wait that long!) and therefore not favouring short journeys or signing contracts, I bravely booked a greyhound bus to Portsmouth only to realise prior to my arrival there that it should have been to Plymouth. This was after delays in London and calls from the driver to the mechanic as the bus wouldn't start. After I arrived in Portsmouth I had to pay an extra £50 to make the 4 hour train journey to my true destination, via many different counties en route.

I really felt like just turning around and going straight back to London, but I had made appointments with two estate agents and one guesthouse booking, so I reluctantly continued my journey after having fish and chips at the wrong port. When I got to Plymouth I needed to get the bus for the last 30 min leg of the journey, but I had missed the last bus by a few minutes at around 6pm. A local girl told me there were two other buses I could get, but not from the station, and as she was getting one of them herself I just followed her on the other buses and eventually made it to my destination. It's amazing how a friendly helpful local is always there in the right place when you need one.

The guesthouse was really nice and friendly, yet in keeping with Mercury retrograde affecting electrical equipment malfunctioning the TV in my room didn't work. The owner did kindly deduct £3 per night for this inconvenience, and although I don't possess a TV at home and haven't wanted to own one for some years, it would have been handy for when it rained all day on the Thursday and I had no computer with me nor the headphones to listen to music on my iphone, nor the eyesight to squint at the internet on my phone. The effect of Mercury retrograde (which I always assume I can override) became a distant memory by day two, and I enjoyed two glorious sunny days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

There were only 3 houses to view, and the first one I liked straight away but needed to see the other two (or I'll always be wondering), the last viewing being at 4pm the following day. In between house viewings I went on walks to discover the local area, shops, the riverside, cafes and a particularly magical walk following the canal which went on forever through pretty woodland. It was on that canal walk that I just knew I had to move to this area, even though I had already subscribed to Cotswold Life magazine when I thought I was definitely moving to the southern Cotswolds. There had been no suitable properties there really and the house I would have gone to view there was already under offer within days of it coming on to the market. So on this trip I knew I had to act quickly.

The following are some photos from my walks around town, both by the river, and also following the canal out of town.

RIVER RUNNING THROUGH TOWN
PLENTY OF SEATING BY RIVER IN TOWN

THE MAIN HIGH STREET
START OF THE CANAL WALK

FABULOUS VIEWS FOLLOWING CANAL OUT OF TOWN

After my last viewing appointment I decided to buy the first house I saw. The agent said someone else was interested but that they needed to arrange the finance first. So I was in a stronger position, plus didn't have a place to sell first, and also offered the asking price as it seemed reasonable to me especially as the owners had just reduced it by another £5,000. While I waited for the agent to talk with the owners, and the wife had to also confirm with her husband at work first, I went to the bar to await the agents phone call - it was the most emotion charged wait I ever had.


I wasn't even sure if the bar would be open that early in the morning, and as I walked through the doors of an empty bar asking if they were open, "for what?" he enquired, "well, a drink of course" I replied puzzled, "I'm waiting for an estate agent's call". He said "yeah, they have that affect on people". So I sat there sipping my lager and finally got the call confirming they accepted my offer!

So, although I'm not counting my chickens until they are hatched, I'm pretty sure this house purchase will go smoothly now and quickly. It was worth all the hassle of getting there. And Mercury retrograde can kiss my arse.

Looking for a home in the Cotswolds

STROUD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Just returned from 5 days of walking in the rain in the Cotswolds, looking for a home to buy. One particular house had called to me from the internet and I decided at the last minute to at least explore the area regardless of having only one house to view so far. Never having been to Gloucestershire before, it was fun seeing a whole new county. My holidays have usually taken me abroad to far flung places or exotic locations, so I am ignorant of much that exists in my own country and even in Europe. The last couple of years have seen me travelling closer to home, mainly to find a place to re-locate to, and for much of that time I thought it was going to be in France. Still, I have a France blog to show for it, even if I don't yet have the house. The fact that I feel like I've been searching for the right location for so long is making me a bit unsettled and even emotionally wobbly at times, but I'm generally positive that I won't feel rootless for too much longer. My current projects feel meaningless to me and I've now put much of everything on hold because the change of location feels like it needs to come before everything else. One particular project cannot begin until I obtain a larger home anyway, and my heart is not really in anything else until I can at least get Chapter Two of my life up and running.

Although happy for most of the years I've been living in my London flat, and blessed with having the river and two beautiful parks on my doorstep, this place represents my old life, and most of me is already living in the new energies. It is as if this one last thing has to catch up with the rest of me, and I know that I can finally complete any healing that I need to do once I have the symbolic new start in a new place, preferably surrounded by the rolling green hills of the countryside and forest walks nearby. I also now realise, from what Karen Bishop said earlier, that for many of us our new lives were put on hold for about two years when it was collectively decided by us on other levels that the forerunners of the ascension process would stall moving forward into their higher vibrational or higher dimensional new lives because not enough of humanity had awakened and we needed as many as possible on board to obtain critical mass. Like Karen, and like many others, I also wondered why it was appearing to be so difficult to move my life forward to live my dream, but which somehow eluded me despite all activities in that direction, because I was needed to stay at the dimensional border for a while longer. And how awful that felt too, along with doubts about my own creator abilities with my seeming failure to move on to what I wanted and needed, and not knowing why at the time. Talking to other kin on the ascension path, I saw recently how they too had become as frustrated as me with all these delays, and that as soon as the two worlds finally began to separate in September (which I felt in a shift of the energies in my body, giving me some relief and freedom) and we were no longer delayed in our tracks, many of us now feel like a horse at the races after the pistol shot had been given. We just wanted to race ahead and make up for lost time. As a result, I currently find it hard to focus on anything that is not part of my new life (whether actually manifested and grounded yet or not), and I seem to have a very low tolerance level for the old energy ways of doing things, which feels almost painful to my sensitive nervous system, like hearing nails being scraped on a chalkboard.

So with that context in mind, this short trip was to at least start the ball rolling before Christmas got in the way, as I was feeling a sense of urgency and frustration with not having completed the move two years ago as originally planned. This forward movement would at least get the energies moving again regardless of whether I was to find the ideal house on this short trip. So I based myself in Stroud in Gloucestershire as it at least had a train station and I can't drive (yet). I had the option of taking either buses or taxis to any of the outlying villages, and had decided to avoid the more expensive places to live such as the popular and prettier 'chocolate box' villages that were outside of my budget anyway, at least for now. As it turned out, I really liked Stroud itself and only took one bus journey to a village 4 miles away called Nailsworth, where I had previously seen an interesting property on the internet, but which the agents didn't seem that enthusiastic to promote, being reluctant to provide me with photos of the interior or to arrange a definite viewing. A curt email from me about the attitude of estate agents, and do they actually want to sell any houses, and why doesn't someone get off their butt and take a few more photos, had brought a phone call from the manager that evening demanding an apology from me as I had upset one of his staff. OK it had not been personal, just frustrating for me and aimed at estate agents in general, as I couldn't understand the brush-off when an enquiry that could have turned into a sale had been responded to with just a "sorry we don't have any more photos". So, we just forget the whole thing do we? There was no offer to help beyond that reply, which didn't help me at all. I never viewed it, even though I visited the agents in Nailsworth. Forgot all about it by then actually, and was past caring. My bluntness in general is brought about by shock at bad treatment or customer service, and speaking my truth without putting it through all the social filters - I can't seem to help myself being too 'real' these days and speaking my mind, despite knowing what the rules were in the old energy world. Something within me reacts to energies that are either out of balance or not pure in their authenticity or integrity, and I end up sending those energies back rather than playing along with them or making them my own. I still don't understand what is going on with me in that respect, and hope I'm not just going a bit crazy.

Perhaps all will become clear a few months down the line as is so often the case. On a positive note, the genuine and helpful interactions tend to be more authentic, fulfilling, enriching and wonderful, rather than just surface politeness between people.

STROUD HIGH STREET

So the one house I viewed in Stroud was one I could imagine living in, and the views from the top of the hill were fantastic. I put in an offer, which was only 5,000 pounds less than the asking price. Being a cash buyer I didn't see anything wrong with such a discount and didn't feel the house was worth more, especially as it had no central heating plus the seller had not even started looking at houses yet, so it could easily have taken months between any offer being accepted and him finding somewhere to live. Being delayed from moving and being stuck for months in a chain is not something I want to do, and meanwhile I am paying rent on my flat here, so each month that goes by is costing me money which is eroding more of the capital. He hadn't started looking yet because he wanted the definite sale first, but was obviously going to be dragging his feet over it (as I sensed reading the energies) and not really wanting to go into rental accommodation if he wasn't ready to move yet. So the house could end up being much more expensive for me than my already generous offer.

When the agent phoned me next day, while I was walking in the rain, I felt upset over how it was all handled. I was told that although the vendor 'appreciated' my offer he was needing a little more. When I asked how much more, the agent didn't give me an exact figure, so obviously wanted me to play at guessing games. Normal practice I know, but I had no patience for it. I had wanted to offer even less originally, but didn't want to insult the vendor. Instead, I ended up feeling insulted. The agent seemed a bit taken aback when I said I'd wait until I got back to London before deciding whether to offer more. He had obviously got used to how this whole game is normally played, and seemed unprepared for my response not to play along.

I had the feeling the vendor would muck me around, and I was feeling too vulnerable for that.
I explained to the agent that as a cash buyer I didn't have to arrange mortgage finance that could go wrong, plus I had no property to sell first so was chain free. The agent was unimpressed and said that given their age this would probably be their last move. What's that got to do with it? I thought to myself. It could be MY last move for all I know. So what am I, a charity for the elderly?

When I got home to London I looked up sold house prices for that road on the internet, and even during the housing boom in 2007 when property prices were at their highest peak, most of the houses there didn't sell for anywhere near the price I was offering, so during a so-called 'recession' (which is more severe than just a recession) my offer of 30,000 more than the going rate at it's peak was not ungenerous in my eyes. Still, I wasn't willing to play mindgames and told the agent I was in no mood to enter a merry dance about prices. So that's how it got left. It felt like a bad omen, and I always know when I'm on my right path when everything goes smoothly and doors are flung open as I approach, rather than shut in my face. If it starts to feel like a struggle, then in the new energies it means you are either not doing it right or there is a better opportunity around the next corner. Houses on hills with views in the Cotswolds are not uncommon, and now I'm thinking I would perhaps prefer a stone cottage (instead of brick) even if it means I have to sacrifice an extra bedroom to afford it. I just love stone buildings, and there is something very exciting about a town or village made primarily of stone. Which is why I also loved Stroud as there was no shortage of stone buildings there.

ANTIQUES/COLLECTABLES SHOP


CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ART, STROUD

The other reasons I liked Stroud was the fact there were enough shops for someone like me without a car, but enough interesting places and villages to drive to once I get my driving license (or buy a bicycle). Stroud was surrounded by beautiful countryside, so even though a small town rather than a village, I still felt I could breathe as there was open countryside all around within walking distance. I just cannot be hemmed in by a big city or densely populated area any more, so all cities are therefore not on my shortlist. The train took just 1 hour 30 minutes from London, so it would be easy to get to London should I ever need a major shopping expedition or to get to a London airport.

STREET ART

PICTURE FRAMERS SHOP IN CANAL

I tend to 'feel' my way through life, as the energies speak to me as much, if not more, than anything else, and Stroud felt good. The people were also very friendly, and I felt I could just be myself here and feel accepted as part of the local community, and feel at home. I'll just have to be careful not to alienate too many estate agents in the process of getting here. According to some locals I spoke to, Stroud has more arts and crafts people living there than in St. Ives and other places where artists congregate and live. That may have been what I was sensing about it, and why the town felt comfortable to me as a place to live. As some of the villages had very limited bus services, I decided to stay mainly in Stroud and do a few walks. Not far from Stroud is Slad valley where the book 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee was based. I just loved that book and the whole idea of living in 'Cider with Rosie country'. I fell in love with the countryside after reading that book, it portrayed a whole different world, and I couldn't believe I was actually here now looking for a house and maybe living it for real. And some of the outlying villages still do have only one or two buses per day.

XMAS CAROLS IN MUSEUM IN THE PARK

One of my walks took me to the museum in the park. I had arrived in Stroud at the right time as the first Friday in December is called goodwill weekend, where everyone dresses up and the shops stay open until 9pm. The Xmas street lights were also switched on then, and the museum staff were all dressed up in Victorian costume.
After looking around the museum I stayed for the Xmas carol concert that was being held in reception, if only to rest my weary feet. I got into conversation with a man who sat down at my table while his wife was wandering around the museum, and when she joined us we talked about the Cotswolds and good places to visit. They lived in one of the neighboring villages, and he was interested to learn that I made jewellery and wanted my business card. As I'm not promoting my craft businesses until I move home (as I also intend to make some changes as well as have my new address on the cards) I as usual, had no card to give out. It amazes me that as soon as I lose interest in what I'm doing, everyone else suddenly becomes interested. There must be a lesson in there somewhere - perhaps not being attached to making sales? My style of business promotion seems to be no promotion at all. I just hope that when I move home I'll have the same outside interest in my work as I'm getting now, when not only am I not doing it but not even really wanting to talk about it while I'm living in London.

STRATFORD PARK, STROUD

STRATFORD PARK WOODLAND

The search for an affordable stone cottage in or near Stroud will continue in January, once Xmas is over with and more properties will be put up for sale by then, according to the estate agents. At least now I'm familiar with the area and know where I'll be basing my house search, which I hope next time will not involve many days walking in the rain and getting constantly lost. If I like an area after seeing it at its worst in winter, it's a good sign and can only get better.

Glastonbury Halloween

Just got home from a long weekend in Glastonbury, and meeting up with some like-minded souls who were only known to me over the internet. Being amongst those who are also awake and consciously on their own ascension journeys was the highlight of the trip for me, although I did get a little side-tracked by viewing some properties for sale. Not sure even now whether I'm planning on moving here permanently, but it seemed like a strange synchronicity that I was firstly 'called to be here' at this moment in time, and then I view a house that is at the right sort of price, that even has a workshop space in the garden that would be ideal for my arts and crafts projects. Since the separation of the new and old energy worlds on 9th Sept it feels almost urgent now to leave behind my old life in London, and this very small flat. So perhaps it doesn't matter too much if no particular place is calling me right now, because I could put down some intermediate roots until I gain more clarity about the 'where'.

VIEW FROM MY WINDOW

As well as meeting up with the others I also enjoyed spending some time doing my own thing. It was good that everyone felt free to join in or not and just follow whatever they felt like doing. So I was joined at the Halloween celebration at Chalice Well with just one witchy companion. I also went home on the Monday rather than join some of the others on the Avebury circle trip. Hardly any of my Chalice Well at night photos turned out due to the lack of light. Apart from the main fire blazing, there were only candles lighting the way. My left foot ended up in water as I didn't see one of the streams.
My witchy companion, Raven, was giving out free homemade muffins to everyone, and it was funny seeing some of them wondering whether to accept food from a witch.

I viewed four houses during my long weekend in Glastonbury, in spite of my plans to just have a relaxing break. I was lucky to find a B&B room as Glastonbury was full at such short notice, but my usual B&B made up a bed for me in their library room, at a reduced rate.

It is good to meet up with others who are also on the ascension path. Somehow it feels more natural to be in the company of those who are kindred spirits. I also enjoy getting out of the city from time to time and really need to do it more often. It was fun seeing all these people dressed up for Halloween, witches, warlocks and unidentifiable beings going in and out of the shops, although it never occured to me to do the same.

AT CHALICE WELL CELEBRATION AT NIGHT

HERB SHOP IN GLASTONBURY

CRYSTAL SHOP IN GLASTONBURY

THE TOR ON AN OVERCAST DAY

CANDLES EVERYWHERE AROUND CHALICE WELL