Still recovering from Saturday's househunting.

The second house we looked at ... well, let's just say that the sellers appear to have an unusual attitude to house presentation.

The huge pair of muddy boots by the front door might have given us our first clue. But we were still taken aback when the estate agent opened the front door and we saw ... chaos. A muddy, dirty carpet, which may once have been cream-coloured but which had clearly been given up on long before. A ratty looking sofa, complete with surly looking dog. And, oddly, at the other end of the room, a brand-new diningroom table and chairs. We knew they were new because they still had the tags on them. The TV was on and we could hear music coming from upstairs, so at this stage the estate agent got a bit uneasy, started calling out to see if the owner was still home. Sure enough, a few moments later a dishevelled looking man ambled downstairs. He seemed amiable enough, if a bit disoriented; said hi, scooped the dogs up and disappeared off.

So, with the owner out of the way, the estate agent set about showing us the rest of the house. He went up the stairs ahead of us to the top floor, and visibly flinched as he opened the bedroom door. It was obviously a pre-teen girl's room, lots of pink and young girly things - and it was messy. Messy like my kids' rooms on a really horrible day. Can't see the floor for all the dismantled toys, bed's not made, crumpled clothes on the floor kind of messy. Across the hall, a boy's room. More of the same, but with a heavier emphasis on muddy boots and dirty socks. The two bedrooms on the floor below were in a similar state, and the bathroom ... well, this is the first house showing I've been to where the owners haven't bothered to give the loo at least a token going-over. Back downstairs, through the living area, and down another very steep flight of stairs, to the kitchen/breakfast area, which is on the basement level. (The house is spread over four floors). Here I started to feel the need for Lysol wipes, which is quite something for me, as I am not remotely germ-phobic. Some of the cobwebs were sort of picturesque, though. The way they dangled over the old green bottle collection, for instance. (I swear I am not exaggerating at all. Also got a fright when something screeched behind me - turned out to be a large cage containing two hostile-looking macaws. And out of the kitchen to the garden ... well, the ad describes the garden as follows: "There is an area of patio immediately to the rear of the property with steps leading up to lawn surrounded by a variety of shrubs and plants. There are 2 toolsheds and an outside light". A more accurate description would be "Some broken paving stones lead up to a large mud-patch, where there is also the decaying remnants of what may once have been a garden shed."

I won't go into detail about the dodgy-looking electric radiators, the lack of double-glazing, and the fact that there is only one loo in the entire house. Oh, and the complete lack of parking. Not to mention the fact that because the residents of this street have to park each side of the road, you may find yourself having to back all the way down it if you start out and meet another car trying to drive up the street in the opposite direction.

Despite all this though, and totally against our will, we both find ourselves rather liking this house. Underneath all the grime, it has immense charm. It's quirky and fun and characterful, has enough space for us and is in an excellent location. If it were fixed up, it could be really amazing. The question (setting aside the cost issue), is whether it could be fixed up by people as unhandy as we are.

So that was Saturday.

On Sunday, I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Something about seeing all that dirt the day before; I felt a strong urge to sanitise my environment. So I did. And was very angry when people dared to actually cook in my freakishly clean kitchen that evening.

Some pictures from the long walk we took after dinner (the longer evenings are the hug plus to daylight savings):

Daffodils in the woods. The daffodils came out last week. On Monday, there weren't any. On Tuesday, they were all over the place.
Daffodil closeup
Me looking pissed off with Bobby's "short-cut" which had already led
us through a giant bramble patch
Sunset
Us with creme eggs. Bobs hid some for the kids at the top of the hill.