I remember being off school Ill many years ago now and watching crown court at lunch time as this was before the days of sky+ or even VHS only those of a similar age or a mother will probably know this show but in its time it was quite addictive as the tension grew towards the verdict on Friday when the jury came back and either gave you a smug glow or dashed your views.
Well I don't know about you but the waiting for this verdict is driving us mad it's been 4 weeks now and we have just chased the town hall about the letter of intent for a swimming pool at the Cortjio we are hoping to buy , the answer yes you guessed it " we'll let you know " we have been promised an answer by the end of the week ! Mind they didn't say which week !
While we have been here in Spain sorting out our NIE then a new car , then looking for a place to buy we have felt like were in limbo, no longer driving our own road . We have always been very straight forward people lucky enough to be able to address house hold repairs directly when required , this rental game is not sitting well with us our lease actually says we are forbidden from hanging any pictures by any means without written permission !
Now you land lords out there are saying too right , don't want the villa back like a Swiss cheese , we took this to mean that the owner would be house proud and wanting to protect his villa but no . As regulars are aware there's been nothing but problems and they have been very difficult to address rubbing my irritation bone to distraction going cap in hand each time there a fault and we've had a couple of dozen of them at least , I gave up with the bath tap that won't pass hot water and replaced it myself and bought the part I thought 6 months was enough of a wait, I will swap it back when we leave :-)
We're currently getting the strong drain smell again that's a precursor for the drains to over flow for the third time since July. The drain man says he's been many times before as the drains are damaged and run up hill a little thus collecting " solids " until the liquid will no longer pass. He charges €100 to jet it out and the owner thinks this is better then replacing 12m of drain ???
A few weeks ago we had a burst under the kitchen sink from a split hose , a new tap was fitted a couple of days later but in doing so the isolation valve was damaged and hardly passes enough water to induce the gas heater to kick in , new valve , no chance .
All these little things that would normally have been addressed by us have been giving us the irrites and we need to move out of here hopefully into our own place and gain control of our lives again.
Thursday , Friday , Monday all came and went on Tuesday after 35 days we had news and it was great the town architect had replied in writing under the ayuntamiento seal that after investigation and subject to the appropriate licence fees and application a swimming pool could be built . WERE ON !
With this news we felt the need to celebrate so two very large steaks and a bottle or two of cava were consumed as is our way !
So to move things on we have paid the remainder of the deposit and have had the Cortijo remeasured to bring it into line with the deeds since the upstairs is half missing , having been so for many years . This is of course at the sellers cost as he chose not to do so 15 years ago for some reason ?
In doing this we had some debate re the actual size of the place becoming confused by the difference between the internal floor space , this being about 150m2 and the foot print of 201m2 the difference being the thick walls, these actually counting twice in some parts as the walls around the upstairs are counted again in addition to the same walls around the lower floor ! Foot print ? It's like saying my belly makes my feet bigger LOL
In the exchanges by e mail trying to under stand the measurements we were sent copies of previous measures , by the owner, the rate office and the dept of agriculture ! This has caught my eye as the document gives details of the land use and the area of each use , yes you've guessed it some's missing , not the garden , or the drive way or the bit behind the wood shed , no it's the 22,000m2 with the 300 almond trees on the only bit out of the 70,000m2 marked on the agents map that shows any sign of potential or attractiveness.
So we have a meeting to look for the 2.2 acres , I think they are still behind the house but the dept of agriculture say NO . So if you see 300 trees with pink blossom wandering the side of the autovia looking for a drink please let me know :-)
As they say check everything , I don't want the burden of 300 trees but neither do I want to pay for them if there not mine , I'll let you know.