Did someone put that light out?

Damn and blast. The valuation report has arrived from the surveyor and the property's valued at around fourteen grand less than the seller is asking. Fourteen grand. We're a bit stuck now as that would mean putting around twenty thousand pounds towards any purchase, leaving nothing to do upgrading work...and even then that's assuming we'd make enough on the sale of the flat we're in.

This is a real low point. It feels a lot like opportunities are being snatched away again and that we're really up against it. Anything worth having's not going to be easy I suppose and the struggle will just make us appreciate it all the more when we eventually get organised...but does it have to be this stressful?

On top of that, we'd hoped to get a removal company to come and move us...when we sold the flat in town after Ben was born, we had two moves in the space of eight months - both of which we did with the help of the in-laws and a rented Transit - and pretty much decided then that we'd not do it ourselves again. A few phone calls later and the thought of paying between 700 and 1200 pounds means that the in-laws and the white van may have to be called into action once again.

A bit new-age perhaps but there you go:

Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind.

Alice Meynell