Thursday, July 24, 2014

Chateau Gnomadville

The Gnomad finally owns a house and the land on which it stands. Huzzah!

It is not, unfortunately, in the Mundane Kingdom. The Gnomads' have come to the conclusion that they really have no realistic prospect of owning property in the UK in the short to medium term. Life in the Land of Sand lacks stability and so it is necessary to have a "country retreat" to retire to in case of emergency, calamity or final failure of sense of humour. This is less of a concern in Peninsular Gulf State (where the Gnomads currently live and work) than in some of the other places they have been, but it is a comfort to be established elsewhere.

The Gnomads' Pied a Terre is situated in the Philippine Islands in a suburban region of the province of Cebu. It is ideally located for the Gnomadette's family, international airport, shopping malls and all of the first world amenities that the Gnomads like to enjoy. It is, however, a little off the beaten track as far as public transport is concerned and so private transportation has taken on a greater urgency. 

The Gnomads' have been quite fortunate on this trip to the Island Republic. The intention was to find and buy a house and lot and furnish it to a reasonable level with a view to this being the permanent Gnomad residence. The Gnomads have been able to find a suitably sized house, albeit with rather small bedrooms, with a large adjoining plot. The property is sound but in need of some cosmetic renovation and so was at a much more favourable price than expected, which the Gnomad bid down still further.

This, fortunately, left just sufficient funds to purchase a car for the Gnomad and a scooter for the Gnomadette. The purchase of transport had not been budgeted for in the original plan but was made possible by the reduced price of the property. Buying a car and scooter did bite into the refurbishment budget somewhat and so the new furnishings for the house will be limited but it does mean that the Gnomad's are now properly established.

The Gnomadette's younger sister will be living in the house as housekeeper, along with her husband and their daughter. This has a lot of advantages for the Gnomads as an empty property is too much of a temptation to the ne'er-do-wells of society and the sister's daughter is of an age with Hababi and so they are playmates.

Holidays to the Island Republic now cost nothing more than the flights to and from, and since these are paid for annually by the Gnomad's employer, the Gnomad's expect to be here quite often.

Guest rooms will be available, by arrangement, once refurbishments are completed.