We have mice in the house one strolled passed Helen while she was cooking tea and went down the back of the range as cool as you like .. also she found two dead bodies when she took the washing down to wash in the cellar where our washing machine is plumbed in.
They looked like that they must have died from hypothermia as they were only babies and no poison is being used .

A while ago the rabbits hutch had mice in the bedding so we knew that they was around and about our garden backs on to fields and hedges and with the cold weather we have been having recently they have no doubt headed for the warmth of our house more than likely getting through the footings and the void of pillars and joists that the conservatory sits on.

we have decided we are going to place traps which are to be baited with either milky way bar "we have been told that mice find them irresistible "or my choice is to bait the traps with raw bacon but as long as we get a result who cares.

So today at lunch time i will have to go to the Market in Leeds and buy some mouse traps think i will need minimum of half a dozen trouble with that is if each trap gets a mouse then i would say we had a major infestation this is going to freak Helen out even more she hates the little blighters.

One good thing about this is it might now be good time to explain to the landlord about the reason that we have had Bobby our cat with out asking his permission for the last few months.
The cat resides upstairs and never ventures down unless we bring her down to play with our dog which has the bottom use of the house , our dog Ellie has only just figured out
this week how to use the stairs she can now make it to the top landing but cant get back down as of yet we have to carry her down .

Had the reports done for damp and wall ties work that will need doing for the damp it will cost around £750 to put right and for the wall ties £950.
We have not got the funds to pay for this work doing if its down for to us to pay it we cant get the work undertaken as we don't have any spare money and if the mortgage does depend
on it then we cant buy the house.We will have to decide what to do next it might be that we wait until after Christmas we need to talk and discuss our options .Nothing in life is straight forward but everything for reason and what will be will be we cant do any other than get on with what is thrown at us.

Woke up before the alarm went off Helen talking in her sleep again she still cute first morning i had to scrap ice of the car window hope we don't get any snow until its nearer Christmas and i am off from work .Got the second part of the yearly water bill to pay £117 to fork out , everything is getting so expensive no wonder we are having a major recession and a credit crunch , just to keep yourself housed , clean, warm and feed and clothed and run a car is the best part of a wage a salary and earnings.

Need to start looking at Christmas trees and decorations we bought a Father Christmas train and three carriages for £14.99 from a wholesalers last week, when we opened the box yesterday there was two packages in the taped up box , so we got two for the price of one and no we ain't taking one back it might end up on eBay , its to go circle around the base of our Christmas tree when we get one rigged up hopefully in the bay window of our new house.We need loads of Christmas things we have nothing need a tree was thinking of getting a real one with a root ball then after the festive season we can plant it in the garden of our new home as a reminder of our first Christmas in the home that we are buying together . We also need lights for the tree and Windows decorations for the tree and i would like a manger and a wreath for the front door .

Took the eBay packages with me to work , i went in to town at dinner time to get them all posted to the lucky bidders , after queuing up for a good half an hour and a total cost of £9.76 five packages are now going to different parts of the country.
Finished work at half past eight i picked Helen up from our house at Rodley and we drove over to my old house at Swillington i had to pick up two letters that i had been waiting for,they were being mailed to my old address , i saw the Ex - wife first time in ages , i felt nothing and had no feelings for her what so ever there was nothing there all my feelings were dead . The woman i love and want was sat in my car outside waiting for me.
Saw my son Guy he was just finishing walking my dog Bandit who i have not seen for a while i was glad to see her and she seemed happy to see me too , missed the dog more than the ex that should tell everyone something .
Went to the fish and chip shop near home bought two fish and two bread cakes and ate our fish sandwiches in the car before we went home .

WEEKEND
worked until one on Saturday went over to Crown point industrial estate and bought some jiffy bags from Staples , Helen has sold her first few items on eBay it took a while for us to transfer funds from pay pal to her bank account but we finally did it after a few phone calls it was finally configured correctly and we was able to transfer money out of pay pal in to Helen's current account , which was just under forty pounds .

Didn't work Sunday but i still got up and dropped Helen off for her shift , got back home water pouring out from above the roof over the bay window and front door checked bathroom nothing was left overflowing or any taps running thought it might be a problem next door , flushed the toilet and the water stopped until the cistern filled up again and the water was back pouring out , checked the cistern the ballcock had snapped off and the cistern was filling up and running in to the overflow switched switched the water of to the cistern went to Wickes bought a new ballcock and fittings problem sorted.

Did all the ironing which was in our bedroom whilst Helen was at out at work , i am getting better but need to get a lot faster its amazing how much water i had to keep putting into the iron it was annoying.

Sunday night went back to the Toby carvery over at Rothwell pigged out but we didn't have any desert this time just had the one plate of main course both had roast turkey had loads of roasted potatoes and parsnips .

Wrapped and labelled the packages for the things that we have sold on eBay we sold four items then someone was offered a second chance so we ended up with another sale so now we are totalling nearly fifty pounds transferred the money this time without a hitch.

Watched London ink then two episodes of Miami ink before going to bed just after half twelve.

I have missed Helen a lot today , work seemed to have dragged more than normal i just want to be with Helen in our new home and i cant Wait until we get the house finally sorted and moved in .

i cant ever see me ever not being in love with Helen i adore her too much . We have endured so much together and giving up everything to be with one another Helen has done everything she can to be with me and more than i ever expected i have done everything i can and will continue to do what ever it takes to be with her..... i think we now both want a quite peaceful life just to be happy and to be in love and to make a home and to finally live every day without any argument grief and upset and turmoil.To have our new home filled with love and happiness even if we have very little in the way of material possessions we will have everything that we need to live life which is a lot more than some have.

Today is my birthday and my twin sister's Anne i was born first by ten minutes .Woke up to a warm house with hot water the gas boiler got repaired yesterday.Went to the solicitors to complete some paperwork and take proof of I.D in and to pay the fees for the search .

Helen went for her sickness monitoring meeting at work she is now on stage two and will be monitored for the next four months .

Went to DFS and Helen ordered a two seat and a three seat sofa in fabric and leather to be delivered in time for Christmas.

Went over to Curry's on the industrial estate and priced up an electric cooker , washing machine, dryer and fridge freezer .Helen bought me this Morphy Richards coffee maker whilst we was there i have been want one for ages to replace the one i left at the house when i moved out.

Bought two different bags of filter coffee one Colombian and the other from Kenya , so has soon as it was out of the box i had freshly made coffee within eight minutes of switching it on . our house now will constantly smell of freshly made coffee i do drink loads of coffee it will never be off .

Went to Ikea bought a few things including a plant and Christmas stockings to hang over the fire place and a red throw went to the restaurant and pigged out on meatballs fries and gateau .

Helen goes for another viewing to the house that we are buying this afternoon , when we first viewed the house , buying it was a bit of a pipe dream now its reality and we are going to purchase it.

So viewing it will be in more detail with a different perspective also Helen is taking our camera with her to photograph of all the rooms , landings and hallways and other living space including exterior shots off the out buildings and gardens.No doubt there will be loads of details we never saw when we first saw the property both good and bad .There is no one from the estate agents office to show us round so they are trusting us with the keys to lock up and make sure all lights are off and its basically left how we find it.

I have the had to take the afternoon off to wait in for repairs to the boiler so we can have the heating on and use hot water again had a wash at work this morning and brushed my teeth when i got to work.

Finished work at eight thirty went home at the moment we have no central heating or hot water due to the boiler packing in , think its electrical fault rather than the gas side of it .So nothinmg is getting hot the radiators and water both stone cold.



Took my shaving gel and razor to work so i wouldn't have to boil the kettle this morning going to buy some shampoo and wash my hair tonight at the hospital job when everyone have gone home and i am on my own.



Don't know how long we are going to be with out hot water hopefully only a couple of days , least the kitchen utensils and crockery can go into the dishwasher so we don't have to worry about the plates and cups.


Helen hurt her back cleaning out the fish tank she lifted the tank full off water and moved it to over to the sink to empty it , she was suffering with back pain when i got home last evening.

At dinnertime bought some shampoo razors and lynx deodorant get sorted out at work to night before i go home , Helen had her haircut and coloured today so at least she will not need to wash it till tomorrow .

Work is still a toil at the moment at least doing it for a good reason hopefully to buy our new home the survey will be complete today .

some photos of our house we are buying these are taken off the estate agents page Helen is calling to view it again on Wednesday and hopefully will take more pictures of kitchen bathroom cellar hallways landings etc the picture above is showing the front garden its not looking like this at the moment it wants mowing and the hedge cutting with new plants and window box's and hanging baskets .We look on to a church which is directly opposite so we have decided that we are going to call our home Church View.

the rear garden garage and shed this too wants tidying up no one has been looking after the garden since March but come next summer i can see us having barbie-Q's and sitting out on an evening be nice to have a pond as well and some gold fish and pond life maybe some frogs and newts

The rear bedroom at least we wont have to buy wardrobes straight away will need curtains and a carpet in time .

Our bedroom same again fitted wardrobes these will have to put us on until we can rip them out and buy new ones , its nice to have a bay window , i have never owned a house with bay windows before it makes the rooms look a lot bigger be nice to do a window seat with storage boxes under neath maybe.

At least it will be warm if nothing else hope them logs last through out the winter , its another wicked carpet too lol.

the front room with another bay window be nice to see our Christmas tree and decorations up in this room and tree lights around the bay window on dark cold night i reckon this will look quite homely.Do like the stain glass in the top sash windows which when we replace with PVC double glazed units will some how have to have this glass incorporated in to the new units if we can.

The fire surround in the front room looks like i use to have years ago but at least the fire looks newer and should put out some heat in the coming cold winter nights it looks better then the other fire .

The carpet might have to come up and strip the floor boards maybe stain them a dark teak colour .

Helen would like a rocking horse for a feature in this bay window, we have been looking at some on eBay .

WEEKEND

End of a busy week been lots going on this week with visits to the Mortgage advisor estate agents time of work sorting paperwork out signing documents and waiting to organise our new home purchase.

Both of us worked 7.00 am until 3.00 pm over both days , Saturday night went to the Toby carvery for tea really pigged out we both ate too much had two giant Yorkshire puddings two meats beef and turkey plus loads of roasted spuds and roasted parsnips plus we had desert as well , tried out a Jacques orchard fruits cider which comes in 750ml bottles which served over ice went down too nice , Went to Methley to visit John Helen's brother on the Saturday and on the Sunday went to Crofton to visit Martin , Helen's younger brother.

MONDAY
The surveyor goes out tomorrow to inspect the house we are buying , hopefully is report goes in before the end of the week and finds no defects or major faults in the structure of the house.

After working the weekend and being at work with Helen its weird working through the week without her beside me especially in the car driving to work and coming home from work. Without seeing her at break time and lunches .

Still not sunk in that we have a mortgage to be repaid over the next twenty years , i never thought that i would be happy that happy repaying another mortgage and starting out again .

Helen has been a superstar in the things she has done so we can get this house i will always appreciate what she did for us.

its now saying sold on the website of the estate agent and there is a sold sign subject to contract on the for sale sign in the garden of the house hope full by the start of December that will be ripped out laying in the garden.

We have been offered a mortgage it took a while to sink in still cant believe it , we can buy our house and home that we have been chasing . Its going to stretch us for a few years but we can manage it between us we will have to keep a tight rein on money and watch all the bills we have already discussed getting a payment meter for the gas and electric so we have no big unexpected bills dropping through the letter box.The mortgage will be paid on the day my wage goes into the bank so there is no way it wont ever not get paid.We paid for the search doing and the house has been sold subject to contract .We have instructed the solicitors to go ahead with the purchase .
We have arrange contents and build insurance and life cover which decreases what it pays out has the house is being paid off over the next twenty years.

Yesterday went really well we saw the new advisor and she was a godsend she will get us a mortgage she phoned the estate agents and told them she was using the Nationwide and the sale was to go ahead the trouble with the nationwide is you have to do a paper application and post it to them they don't do applications via online but she is adamant they will give us it.

our credit score is fine its to do with our other commitments to loan companies other and my mortgage , credit cards we just come in at 200k which is four times are combined salaries so we are borderline.

If we get this mortgage we will be paying back £805 each month over the next twenty years. We pay at the moment £665 rent it make sense to buy the house we are after was originally on the market for £140k we have made an offer of 115k and its been accepted.

Hope today are destiny is sorted out that we can be granted the money to buy the house we have been after since we first saw it being advertised for sale online.We go today at twelve to sort it all out fingers crossed.
Cleaned out button our pet rabbit's cage this morning so its house and home is in order no rent to pay or mortgage outstanding on that residence. maybe today we get to know one way or the other if our wishes have been granted .

Helen was back at work this weekend the both of us worked until one o clock.When we finished we went round to her parents house to pick up her wedding dress and a copy of her marriage certificate , her father had called round to her old house to collect them on her behalf , i think she is going to sell the dress on and the marriage certificate i hand delivered this morning and posted through the letter box of our solicitors office in the city centre.



Our offer of £115 thousand on the house that we are currently looking at buying as been accepted. We are now seeing Jill or new mortgage advisor tomorrow at 12 noon , who hopefully will sort us out a mortgage, we just know she will.Both parties are looking at the sale going through as quick as possible we have the deposit we just need a lender to agree to loan us the cash.

Have been refused the mortgage our advisor still does not know why?, i thought we was waiting to find out why and what the problem was ,we knew there was something wrong he told us that now we have to get two Experian credit checks done to see what has come up,THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE FOUR DAYS AGO.
we are changing mortgage advisors WE FEEL WE HAVE BEEN LET DOWN ,we will some how get this sorted out and at some stage soon get this house we so desperately want. We have a meeting this coming Tuesday at twelve o clock with the new mortgage advisor hope she is better than him.

Kept phone up all day about the mortgage i finished work at ten to three to pick Helen up and go round in person to see what was happening the advisors phone was going straight to his voice mail.

when we got to his office in Pudsey he told us in person that no decision had been made yet still not a yes still not a no, that he was waiting for them to get back in touch .he said the current climate of the banking situation stocks and shares is taking its toll and time to sort things out, that the banks and building society's are having their worse financial period period since the 1930's .We will now hopefully find out by the close of play today .

Helen goes back to work this weekend for the first time in four months we are both finishing at one o clock.

Today is the day we find out about our mortgage application and if its been finally approved , if it as we put in a offer in for the house that we are have been chasing and the ball starts to roll to get us back on the property ladder.

It is hard waiting everything so far everything as gone our way so far so good , it would be ironic for it to fall at the last hurdle . Neither of us have had much sleep since Tuesday and even if it is approved then we are going to be far too excited to sleep and if its turned down far too upset to sleep.

Woke up this morning well before the alarm went off been thinking about the mortgage application and hopefully it be some minor technicality that is easily sorted out, and will still let us go ahead with the buying of the house we both want.

we have hardly any furniture to move in to when we do get our new home the house will be quite empty there is fitted wardrobes in two of the bedrooms , but we will beg and borrow and buy from eBay we can visit car boots sales and look for decent second hand shops and other bargain outlets to hunt out the things we will need and want and until we have everything that we need ,we will save and try and get items every month and we will save every penny we can it will be hard work but fun as well and we will look on it as a quest and each item that we do get will be will be for our home.

The main thing hopefully is that we will have the HOUSE that we went after with a vengeance and got at a rock bottom price with its three bedrooms , two reception rooms , kitchen , bathroom , and cellar and out buildings plus loft space and front and rear gardens.It will make money in the long term as it is well under priced by around 50k.

WE ALREADY HAVE

Four wooden chairs
Coffee table
TV stand with TV and DVD player
2 bed side cabinets with lamps
One double bed and top mattress
Double wardrobe
Bathroom drawers
Bookcase
Blanket box
and loads of candles ornaments and accessories
Fish tank
Kettle pots and pans kitchenware
Grandfather clock
Computer and CD player
Patio table with chairs (which will do as a dining table)
pots pans and cutlery
bedding duvet and sheets


WE WILL NEED

Dining /Kitchen table
Gas cooker
Washing machine
Dryer
Fridge freezer
Double mattress
Double bed and mattress
Sofas
Drawers
Microwave

WENT- in to town at dinner time as i desperately needed my haircut , its always time to grow but never time to get it cut .I eventually found a barbers with no one waiting there was two sat half way through having there's cut so i waited i have got to admit it was cut better than i thought seeing as i had not been there before its always raises the question will they cut it as i want it , but i did walk away a happy customer but of course i will have to wait until i get home to see if Helen agrees hehe she did text me she was trimming her bush , she did borrow her Fathers hedge trimmers especially to do the job ,i said i will be happy to go over it and inspect it when i get home cant wait.

Went to the ATM close to where i work to withdraw some cash mainly so i could do tonight's National Lottery, it was out of order with no other machine close by i had to walk back to work so i could borrow a pound and then walk back to put one line on , i do hope it was worth the hassle enough to be mortgage free would be sufficient.

Helen at three o clock today..... as i type this is signing for her, cash settlement from her husband and the , paperwork so that her name comes of the joint mortgage .

Yippee what a result we have the money sorted from her ex-Husband its all going through he goes to the Building society and to his solicitor to get it all signed up sealed and transfer the funds to Helen hopefully by this Friday.

There is a hitch with the mortgage application the computer that processes it has thrown a query that needs a business advisor working for the lenders to look at the application and make a human decision the computer wont accept the application or turn it down so its not a yes and its not a no , we wont now find out until Thursday afternoon so its crunch time.

Got home from work at half eight and we had tea together ,we then drove to the other side of Leeds from where we live and went to Tesco to kill some time , bought some bread and eggs and bottled water and yogurts when we got back home Helen did the tarot cards from the cards dealt it looks positive that this house is ours we will have to wait and see.

Yesterday i finished work at dinner time both of us went to see a mortgage advisor in Pudsey Leeds and was told that if we can get a 10% deposit on the value of any house we want to buy then we can get a mortgage offer to enable us to buy the house that we so desperately want.


Went to the solicitors with Helen at four o clock she has the same solicitor as me, he thought i was her husband coming down to argue his case with him he did not look amused when the penny dropped who i was he looked relieved then smiled and laughed i think he genuinely was happy for us both , nothing to do with the two sets of bills and costings .

He has draughted a letter to her Husband and his solicitors and started her divorce proceedings


Helen is asking for her name to be taken of the joint mortgage and for 15k from the equity of the property it is written that she would seek nothing else and no other clause's would be drawn in to this it would be final. This is a extremely good offer for her husband to accept he would not get a better deal ,


If this happens and we can buy this house we are after then we are back on the property ladder the house we have chosen will make us a profit further down the line and we would be sorted settled and more then happy and would make this Christmas and the new year the best ever.


When i finished work we went to visit two people that we work with at the Hospital Linda and Dave they was told that they had no chance of getting a mortgage and was turned down a few weeks ago because they had no credit history, and was not on any electoral roll but they battled on and last Friday they moved into there first house together that they are buying after getting a mortgage advisor and finally a offer from a lender to lend them the money to buy their new home and house .
The mortgage advisor is now doing a credit check on both Helen and myself , if we both pass this we than have the mortgage we will find out later today if this has gone through ok i must have had one done when i bought the car so i cant see there be any issues.

SATURDAY

Finished work at one again went to Startforth in the North Riding of Yorkshire where Barnard Castle is situated its a small market town if the weather had been nicer we would have walked around more we visited a couple of antique shops and a craft shop we had tea and cake in Penny's Cafe

and headed back home to Leeds where we bought fish and chips for supper.



Helen had drawn up floor plans on A3 paper for all the rooms in the house that we are still trying and hoping to buy, we cut out from magazines and catalogues furniture and other appliances , kitchens , cookers , tables and stoves , wallpaper and fabric samples , bedding beds and wardrobes and stuck them in each room we want this house more than ever we have another appointment F2F with a mortgage advisor at one today Helen sees her solicitor also at four o clock today to try and get money owed to her released from her Husband for her share of the equity in her house and her name taken of the mortgage hopefully this will change our situation and we should then be able to get a mortgage organised and sorted out .

SUNDAY

Finished work at one went home Helen had a full English breakfast waiting for me when i got home after pigging out we went over to Knaresborough the sun was shining walked through town down to the river, form there we went over to Flockton near Wakefield to visit Sharon and Steve had tea /dinner at the local pub .

Today woke up feeling all is well and that life is great Helen as that effect on me and i am more happier for the simple reason that Helen is coming in to Leeds this dinner time and meeting me at lunch time on our bridge, the one that we use to meet on a regular basis like every dinner time Monday to Friday each week. This was before we left to be together and we was both in marriages that we didn't want belong in anymore with people we didn't love anymore.

Found out we have been refused a mortgage on are current circumstances that fact is that if we had another mortgage between the both of us we would have three mortgages running at the same time. Which is a problem because we don't earn enough between us to cover all the payments ,who does these days , even though Helen pays nothing towards her mortgage and i only pay three hundred pounds towards mine, so the options are we have to loose one mortgage or we buy to rent to enable us to buy to rent we need 15% deposit we would then be given the loan for a house so hopefully its still not all doom and gloom.Helen goes to see her solicitor Monday to discuss removing her name from their joint mortgage and the implications if she does before her divorce is final.

Helen called in to where i work and waited until i finished my job at four o clock , i had left her in town at dinner time, she went for her appointment with Tress Connor a spiritualist and medium she was given a lot of positive feed back for our future and our life together.

My daughter phoned me up whilst i was at my hospital shift and asked if she could come and live with us she is not getting on with her mother so in the space of one month i have had both my kids ask if they can come live with Helen and me.No doubt it will all quieten down and she will stay where she is,we would have either one of them or both of them live with us if that's what they really needed or wanted.

Made a offer on the house that we both viewed yesterday , and for now the offer as been accepted. We have a mortgage advisor today that is trying to arrange a company who is willing to give us a mortgage that we urgently need to buy this property.
We both have our names on other mortgages with our ex partners which i know complicates things , but the rent that we pay now is equivalent to paying monthly repayments on a mortgage.
We can only hope there is a lot of ifs but we both want this house it has a good feel to it and we will be happy there and we will hopefully move in before Christmas.
If we cant get this house then we will arrange more viewings we have already been offered a mortgage with the Halifax for 100k up to 138k if i sell my house and are mortgage free , so its not all doom and gloom things are happening about the sale of my house that i cant write about here at this time , but things will progress and hopefully solutions found and head way made. At the moment other people as always control our destiny,we should find out tomorrow the answer to the questions will any mortgage company lend us the money required to buy a home together as is our situation is at the moment, we hope they do.

went to view this semi detached house today with Helen at Bramley would be a great buy if we can get a mortgage sorted .

It does need decorating and in need of new carpets in some of the rooms . It only as a shower room and basin and is without bath but it has separate w.c that could all be knocked through to make one big bathroom .



It also as a very small but useful downstairs cellar which would make a great little workshop.

All the living rooms are of a decent size, and the back room room adjoining the kitchen we would also take the wall out and knock through to make one big dining kitchen area with a large fitted kitchen and appliances we would also fit patio doors where the window is and add on and a small conservatory .

We would fund all this when I sold my house and received the equity available from the profit.



All the front rooms have bay windows , it has three bedrooms and gardens to the front and rear and a garage with a drive to the side of the house.


If we got this property we would never need to move again and could be settled for the rest of our life's.

Helen is trying her best to sort out the deposit from her ex Husband he as agreed in princible to pay her out for her share in the house that she lived in with him, and he already has the money to do this and just needs to release it through his solicitor.So fingers crossed.