We have Exchanged!!!

Dad is leppin' around like a lunatic and possibly drinking that wine a bit quick. The reason for this celebration is that the legal beagles have finally trudged through the minefield of questions, searches and investigations and declared that Mum and Dad are actually legally allowed to sell this house to the buyers. They have now officially (as at ten to four) EXCHANGED so that the sale is now legally binding on both sides.

Dad heard this while up to his oxters in grey zinc chromate paint painting the insides of the 2CV rims down at 2CV Llew's workshop. 2CV wheel rims, like many others are made of 2 pressings welded together and the integrity of the weld determines the air-tight-ness of the wheel/tyre. When they get old (and Clara Bow is a 1986 car) the rust can get into the weld and blow the two pressings apart. The rusty area can leak air or, worse still, split in two, which is nothing you want to happen even at 2CV speeds. So the wise and careful periodically whip the wheels off, lay them inside up and have at them with scrapers, whizzy wire brushes on power-drills and gloopy grey zinc paint.

Unfortunately, if Estate agents pick this moment to phone asking whether it's OK to "exchange contracts" there's not a lot you can do in a hurry. We have the UK-to-Ireland removal firm Dempsey's on hold but with no fixed date and we also need Jezz-the-Windows to pull out the main glazed panel of the bay window out front in order to evict the big leather sofa. Dad had to quickly finish the car job and round us up (we like a nice charge about in 2CV Llew's work area) before racing home to grab the phone numbers for removal guys and Jezz, get all the dates approved and then call back the legal beagles and Estate agents. As an added complication, our buyer would like to move some of her stuff in before, potentially, we can move out, which could make for a crowded house (isn't that a band?)

Anyway, it all got done. Phone calls flew back and forth, questions asked and answered, dates settled and then at ten to four came the announcement that we had exchanged. We could then fire off emails to the Irish side of the equation to start the ball rolling over there and we are confident enough of our footing to publish these two pictures of the target house. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 storey place in the middle of 2.454 acres of cattle grazing fields (at present) quite near to the Co. Roscommon agricultural market town of Ballaghadereen and to the bigger town of Castlerea (Castlerea, Co Roscommon, not Castlereagh near Belfast).

It's been an exhausting day

Deefs