WE HAVE A HOME!!!

Hard to believe, but true! As of May 1st we FINALLY have a home.

It is one year old, all white walls and white tile flooring except the bedrooms. It has a huge open kitchen-living room-dining room area. The kitchen is very big and to-die-for. There are tons of cupboards and drawers for lots of cooking utensils, a 5 burner gas stove, a huge oven that can hold a North American sized turkey and a dishwasher. It has a fantastic outside dining area for the ever popular al-fresco dining. It really is a shame I can’t cook.

It is 1 ½ blocks from a big park – Wireless Hill Park – and I can walk through the park, cut across Canning Highway (“Highway” is a bit of a misnomer – it is really just a 4 lane divided road) and walk another block and I’m at a park on the Swan River. So all in all, it’s a about a 10 minute walk to the river.

It really is a landlord’s market – they would only let us sign a 12 month lease, and, in 6 months they can review the rent and increase it (to whatever they want. It’s a good thing we “signed a lease” to lock it in for 12 months…..) We can refuse to pay the increase but then we’d have to move out, and still be liable for the rent, at the increased rate, until new tenants were found, all of which would be at our expense. So basically, we don’t have a lot of options. We compare and contrast it to all the things and costs we bore in preparation as landlords in Houston…… (the highlight being John’s flash of brilliance to “relax over the weekend” by repainting the house… We won’t embarrass John by reminding him!)

Ironically, the owners are Australian but currently living in Toronto.

But why let the saga stop there? They finished packing our home in Houston January 30th and we had been told it should take 8 – 12 weeks for our shipment to arrive in our new home. Perfect timing… one would think….

Except, our furniture spent 3 weeks in the Bahamas, a week in Germany, a short trip to France and then on its merry way to Perth, Australia. (We are hoping we can collect travel miles.) ETA in Perth (Freemantle) is May 22nd. It will then have to clear Customs, Quarantine, etc. So I figure if we have it the begining of June we will be doing well. So the saga continues…..

Meanwhile, we are now in our 6th home and are house/dog sitting for friends that have returned to the States for 4 weeks. We believe we have won the lottery – once again! From the front of the house we can gaze over the sparkling pool and fragrant gardens and cast our eyes over the shimmering Canning River across the street. It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it.

As our comrades in the northern hemisphere are heading into spring the southern hemisphere is heading into fall. The evenings are quite cool (about 8 C or high 40’s F) and the days are somewhat warmer (15C or about 60F) but only when in the sun. This is proving to be challenging since our wardrobes are limited to the clothing we packed in 2 suitcases the last week of January – another shipment issue that I will not comment on any further…..

My limited understanding is that to get heat in a home you have a furnace and you light a gas flame and blow air over it and the house heats up, and stays that way according to the thermostat. Growing up in Canada, I have no idea how air conditioners (AC – or as they call it in Perth – Air Con) work, but I assume it is reversed with air blowing over ice cubes to cool the house. Not being technically minded (obviously), the heating and cooling systems in Perth baffle me. There is no such thing as”central heating.” Rooms are heated individually with electric heaters, or these contraptions that hook into a propane nozzle in the room. And the cooling system is something about reverse cycling and swamp water.

I really think this is something that John, by popular demand, should explain. I have been trying to get him to do a blog entry, so perhaps you can request his blog input on the technicalities of heating and cooling in Perth. You can request by e-mailing: kealey.john@gmail.com Otherwise you will just have to know that it is getting cold INSIDE the house and it makes getting up in the dark mornings tough. For a visual tour of home building in Perth click on our pictorial web page at: http://picasaweb.google.com/frederick.linda/2008AprHousesInOz
Supplied courtesy of John.

Wish me luck not blowing up the house trying to keep it warm.