lost in the forest

So. I don't usually dedicate a whole post to my personal day to day life...pretty much because it's usually fairly mundane. But I really think I need to document yesterday, just so I can look back when I'm having a shit day and remember that some times things just work out perfectly.

Some of you may know (I think I have blogged about it) my dislike of my current abode. It was not carefully selected, it was desperately signed up as a last resort....this was all before 'the crunch' - rent was high, people were moving...I live in Edinburgh, well known for it's student population and festival - both of which start to rent flats at a rate of knots around June when we were forced to move last year. Added to the less than ideal flat is the fact that slowly over the past couple of months things are falling apart (the ceiling being the main thing as there is a hole in the roof), getting damp and generally not working. Letting agents notified, nothing gets fixed - or in the case of the ceiling - they spend 3 weeks fixing it, only to find next time it rains that the roof STILL has a hole in so renders the repair job pointless.



Anyway....in a moment of 'I hate this flat and can't stand to be in it a moment longer' last week I started looking at all the rental websites. I found a vague listing for a flat, in a beautiful location (I will just mention that I am currently sat here at 8am with pneumatic drills outside which have been drilling for an hour now as part of the Tram works) it sounded bigger than our current flat.....sounded perfect, but there were no pictures so we had no idea what it was actually like. I was undecided whether to bother even getting the full details...can't really afford to move....where we are is not soo bad...why is it so cheap? It must be horrible.....etc etc....Curiosity got the better of me in the end and I went to enquire and came out having booked a viewing... OK....so I'll get to the point. The flat was beautiful. It has a private patio....leading down to a beautiful mature garden, it has a 2 double rooms so my poor sister doesn't have to live in a tiny room any more..it has a utility room - which is huge and can easily double as dyeing/painting/messy room. It has STORAGE!!! Oh my, how I have missed cupboards...one of the cupboards is actually massive and has a desk and power inside....so we have renamed that Emilys studio. There are big antique mirrors and things all over the place....Perfect for me and my sister to live in perfect harmony! No more clutter, no more papier mache, fabric and jewellery supplies all over the flat, no more cooking in my studio!


We rushed to the letting agents to get a holding deposit in....2 minutes later so did somebody else. They put it to the landlady for a decision.....So, yes, the point.....Yesterday..... I was on the bus to work yesterday morning and received a phonecall asking when we could move....we have to give a months notice on this flat, so a month. She asked if we could possibly move any earlier as this would probably swing in our favour. In a moment of utter madness we said yes. 2 weeks time was fine..... Crazy ladies!! Our mum agreed to lend us the holding deposit and apart from that we would scrape by, and possibly have to scavenge in bins or pick grass and eat that rather than shopping for food.....3 tense hours later we got the news.....YAY!! new flat :D An hour or so later I got another phonecall off my sister, who not only got promoted at work - but they have also moved her to the shop closer to our new flat! Then, a little later, I got confirmation that I would be doing an art residential weekend.....and then heard of another 4 days artist work that I will be doing...and at this point I was grinning, slightly hyper and really rather happy! Just thinking about what if we'd said no to moving sooner because we didn't think we could afford it, not got the flat, and then 2 hours later got better jobs/more work. I'm so glad I'm a little silly and don't think about the whole consequences sometimes!

Images via desire to inspire