Marty

Won't be long before I'll be joining @Bucket1 in sleepville....

Sweet dreams, B

Cheers, clo. We're heading to Frankfurt. That's where my friend's granny lives. I'm thinking we may do an overnight in Berlin, as I've never been there before. But if we do, we'll leave the car at his granny's and take the train. It's something like a 550 kilometer drive from Frankfurt to Berlin. Writing? I'm too excited about the house purchase news to concentrate on writing.

Cheers, Val! Unfortunately the cottage is not really in any habitable condition at all just at the moment. But, if I ever do manage to restore it.... I keep thinking of a trip across the pond as well. I've a very good friend who, a few years ago, moved to somewhere near Toronto. He keeps asking me to visit him. Maybe I will one of these days...

The way I originally heard that saying was as follows: If wishes were fishes, we'd all live in the sea.

Pity you don't live closer... But my other passenger might not be too happy if you did. But only because you'd be taking up space that he might want to use for all the stuff he wants us to bring back with us.

Cheers, bud. The estate agent reckons that the sale could go through in as little as six weeks, as basically all the important paperwork that needs to be done by the vendor's solicitor is really already in place. The only thing likely to delay that timescale may be me not being in the country to sign the exchange of contracts, if they're ready before I get back from Germany. But at least my solicitor is aware that I'll be away.

Belated hi back to you, young Albert!

Hey, Mr Gary!

Sounds like an ideal break for you, clo. I've had a bit busy today. I have had an offer on a house in the local village for a while now. It's about 100 years old and will need some work doing on it, but it's in fairly good condition otherwise. And it has a very large garden at the rear, which makes it especially attractive to me. There's also a two story cottage in the back garden, but that at present is only used for storage, and would probably need planning permission should I ever intend to restore it. The estate agent (I think they're called realtors across the pond) rang me around the middle of the day to say that my offer has been accepted. So I spent most of the afternoon arranging to pay a deposit, and talking to my solicitor and a Building Surveyor, who will inspect it and prepare a report for me. This place has been on the market for over twelve months, and I had placed an offer (much higher than my current one) on it, but then dropped out when another person offered a much higher price. Apparently, when it came to signing contracts a few months ago the person who was supposed to be buying it didn't respond to letters, emails, or telephone calls. So that person basically lost his (her?) deposit, and the estate agent got back to me. My bid (which was €30,000 less that the previously agreed price) has been accepted. I'm really excited! I've been renting a small house with no garden for the past couple of years, and am looking forward to owning my own property again. Especially one with such a large garden. It's just after 8pm now, and I have nothing much planned for the rest of this evening. I may try to get some writing done. Tomorrow I shall be giving a lift to another photographer friend of mine so that he can get some of his work printed. I may also see about upgrading my mobile (cell) phone whilst he is doing that. The store where I bought my last one a couple of years ago is in the same town as the photo printing place, and they rang me a few months back to tell me I qualify for a free upgrade... Have I mentioned I'm off to England on Friday? A week with my sister, and then a road trip to Germany with a young friend of mine. He's been living with his granny in Germany for the past couple of years, and wants me to bring a lot of his personal stuff back from there in the car.

Cheers, @Camy Glad you're enjoying it. (And, long time no see)

And, talking of weather and climate change... This is not turning out to be a good year at all. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/arctic-circle-wildfires-climate-change-greenland-alaska-siberia-photographs-a9015851.html

Hey, clo! Sounds like you're having a great break. Fingers crossed the weather stays good for you.

Morning, Xan Hope you have a great time.

Good morning, gang!

G'day, duggie Hope it clears up soon.

G'night, Gary! Sleep well.

Good morning, Page!

Pesky feckin' penguin!

Hmmm... Maybe I'll just go....

But.... But.... But....

It's okay, hun. All you said was "Good night and sleep well"