It's been a couple of months since the last post and some folk have asked how the croc wrestling went and wanted to see the fotos. Well, when it came down to it, I just didn't have the heart... The time sure does get away. We're 3 days out from Christmas and by New Year's day we will have been living in this apartment for 5 months. Whoever said “Man makes plans, and the gods laugh” must have had us in mind, because they sure have been having a merry old time at our expense. |
A year ago we had the house on the market and believed it would sell at any moment. We’d slaved away and had it looking terrific. We almost felt sorry to be selling it.
Then, just as we had an interested buyer, we found we had termites!! It took a couple of months to locate and destroy the nest, and then I had to rip out the damaged timber and replace it.
I don’t mind doing the work. I’d just rather be fixing up a boat we’re going to live in than a house we’re not.
Eventually some buyers came through, 4 times, and threw a few coins on the table which we grabbed with Fagin-like glee. They got a good deal and seem like nice folk. We got a step closer to freedom.
As soon as the house was sold we started advertising the coffee business again in earnest. We’d stopped advertising it when the house was taking so long to sell because we didn’t want to lose the income and have to live off the capital waiting for the house to sell.
Murphy’s meddling was immediately obvious, or was that peals of laughter from the gallery of the gods… no sooner was the coffee business on the market than I lost 2 very profitable clients, as happens in business. Not that it made any difference. Nobody was looking for businesses anyway.
Eventually we dropped the price. Still nothing. Then, a few weeks ago, an ex-accountant started asking for all kinds of information and coming up with a hundred reasons why the business was worth a fraction of the asking price.
BUT… at least we had a live one on the line!
After a fair bit of haggling and brinkmanship, we’ve agreed on a price and solicitors are drawing up contracts. Once again we had to settle for less than it would ordinarily be worth, but it's a buyers' market. If the gods can just control their mirth we should be all finalised and on our boat hunt by the end of January.
In the mean time, the Aussie dollar has soared and fallen back a couple of times. Each time it goes up we scramble through our favourite internet sites and earmark a few better, normally out of reach gems, and then feel like we’ve been robbed when the $ drops again.
We’ve heard anecdotally that there is so much that doesn’t ever get online that our best plan would be to get over there and shake a few big marinas and see what falls out.
USA’s currency is a basket case, but still the global movers and shakers cling to it as the best of a bad lot, propping it up with wishful thinking. The Euro’s fuse is burning and everyone is running around with fingers crossed and eyes closed. And we’re trying to make intelligent decisions about which boat to buy in which country, and for how much. And will we find we’ve over paid a month later when the Euro or dollar crashes? It’s not easy being a very little leaf in the winds of change.
Unfortunately the Agent had taken a long weekend booking for a bridal party and we thought we’d be long gone by now. But fortunately we managed to find someone in the complex who doesn’t have a car and they agreed to lend us their garage. It still took nearly 2 days to pack up everything and move it into the garage, and another day to move it all back into the apartment again.
You see, last Christmas I gave Sandy a book on making jewellery. She is good at creative activities and I thought it would be something she could do on the boat and who knows, it could come in handy to trade our way out of a cannibal’s cooking pot somewhere.
We now have various clays being imported and turned into amazing, beautiful beads and pendants. Gold and silver wire, and chains and leather thongs, and fine Italian glass beads from Venice. Coloured glass marbles that she fractures internally so they reflect light all over the place… and all the tools! We'll need a bigger boat!
‘Gypsy Gems’ has been born and stuff is being bought without even advertising. Sandy's sister and brother in law have a service station in a small town where they also sell gifts and coffee etc, and Gypsy Gems. It seems everyone that sees her stuff buys something.
Well, she decided she needed to do some ‘guy stuff’ too, and when we moved out of the house I unearthed a container of old bullets from some rifles I had in a previous life. Getting rid of them safely was an issue so I was going to bury them in a deep hole on the farm.
Even through all the old mouldy water damaged boxes, Sandy caught a glimpse of the brass casings and my fate was sealed.
Within a few hours of getting her hands on the first stripped casings she’d made a pendant for Russ, and 2 of the girls who work there had placed orders.
She really must set up a website, or at least put some fotos in the place we've earmarked for them on this site.
Roll on January... we should be in the final stages of handing over the coffee business, and planning our boat hunt!
Until next time!