Monday 31 December 2012

2012 Review and Appologies


sorry I've not been on much this year, it's been a hell of a time..... we've withdrawn Minime from school, moved house and I had to leave some of my beautiful plants behind. If anyone fancies sending me some Ramsons bulbs, I'd appreciate it lol. I had a lovely patch going at the old house.... anyway, here's an update from Casa De Flibble:

Early on in the year we'd been getting offers from the council, but all of the flats we were offered were postage stamp sized. We did apply for a few though just to try and get out of the mould infested rat hole we lived in.
then came march, and we'd not been informed we had to reapply for the council and would be knocked back down the list and spend another year climbing back up again. not necessarily what we wanted to do, but we'd not got enough money for another rental deposit, and knew getting our old one back would involve a fight as the landlord was a dodgy... person. more words could be used, but this is public and I can't afford a slander case.

anyways, we sat tight whilst trying to work out what to do.

in april we withdrew Child from school and began home educating her. within days we were seeing the extent of her problems and having a hard time working out how to fix them. getting a proper dyslexia/dyspraxia diagnosis has helped though because now we can tailor education to her, but we're still trying to get her over the idea that if she does something wrong she'll lose her break times, or that she needs to sit still for as long as it takes her to complete work, or that we will be angry if she doesn't understand something. patience and love will help lol.

through a local home ed group I met a wonderful woman, Cookie who has sort of become our guardian angel lol. We became friends as we're very similar people, and Child really gets on with Cookie's two children.

one lunchtime, Minime and I were at her house. Minime was playing with the little Cookies, and Cookie and I were chatting and knitting, full of the pasta lunch she had provided (bliss)... I told her about the place we lived in. I told her all of the problems. I cried. nothing more was thought on my part about it until a few days later she mentioned her neighbour was doing up his property to rent out. he'd just had some particularly nasty tenants move out and was fixing everything they'd destroyed. she had asked him for his phone number and wanted to pass it on to us!

So James rang Mr M and had a good long chat with him. he seemed... well, a breath of fresh air compared to Mr C and his agent that we'd been renting from for the last 4 years. We came to view the house. Mid century mid terrace, good central location, excellent bus routes, driveway, two sheds, big garden (overgrown at the time but I could see the potential!), two bedrooms, nice bathroom, new kitchen, new carpet in one bedroom, carte blanche to decorate if we wished........ We'd brought with us a folder of bank statements going back 5 years as we knew the ex landlord would not give us a reference (how dare we hold him to his legal obligations!!)...these showed rent paid every single month. We offered Mr M full paroosal of this folder and he declined, and offered to rent the house to us directly rather than via an agent. he cut £75 per month off the rent as he'd not be paying agent fees, and gave us £200 off the first month in return for us decorating the livingroom!!! he let us have the keys 3 weeks early too to complete the works and have a phone line installed!!!! did I mention he's an all-round good egg?! I think it helped him to trust us that on our second viewing (when we knew we were getting the place) I asked if I could head into the garden and start clearing some for him. it was in a terrible state and I couldn't stand by and watch him have to do all that himself as well as do up the house. I'd brought tools in our car boot just in case.... I was excited!!!

So anyway, notice was given on the mould hole as soon as we'd signed forms with Mr M and the move began. we heard nothing from the agent. nothing at all. so we did everything by the book so to speak, all legal and above board. all traceable just in case. keeping to legal time limits and so forth.

we moved in to the new house, which is situated between Cookie's house and Mr M's parent's house :D (they're lovely too, I can see where Mr M gets it from).
The new house is smaller, but better laid out and mould free. incidentally, this is the first winter minime's not needed an asthma inhaler for night times. every other winter since age 2 she's become wheezy in november and needed the ventalin until about march. this year? nothing. coincidence? I think  not. she's still getting the odd fevers, but that's also being looked at seriously now... back to the house....

We ended up posting the keys back to the agent as still no contact was given at all.

We waited for contact from the agent. a week after we moved out, jim got an email from someone we'd never heard of, telling us she'd taken over our agent's properties and could jim please meet her at the house to hand over the keys. well, no answered he. he couldn't.  he'd posted them back due to no contact. he then got a call from someome at the original agent's asking for the keys....... all weird. he gave them the parcel tracking number and told them very politely to sod off. we've since heard a lot of things about the agent and done some digging ourselves. I'll get to that....

after a while we applied for the return of our full deposit (£975) from the deposit protection service and were then informed the landlord had done the same thing, so it would be put to arbitration. we were sent a copy of the landlord's statement. 3 a4 pages in size 10 type of lies upon lies upon lies. we'd expected no less, but although it falls to the landlord to provide burden of proof, we still wanted to answer his claims in order to give ourselves a fighting chance of getting our money back. so we spent 2 solid weeks gathering together our evidence. I don't think Mr C realised that as soon as he and his agent started acting dodgy back in 2007, we became avid record keepers and were able to send 1.5lbs of evidential paperwork and photographs to prove the lie to almost every single one of his claims. It was well worth the courier fee.

21 days it took the arbitrary commission. probably a lot of that was trying to word his report so it didn't come across as sarcastic because it reads like he took a look at the landlord's claims, then at our counter evidence and saw what a dodgy effer the landlord really was.....
did we get it back? most of it. We're getting £825 of the £975. he's getting £85 for a door (we couldn't work out which one his report was talking about so couldn't counter it with anything), £55 for half a mirror (again couldn't work out what mirror, the report says it's giving half because they can't guarantee it's not in the house still) and a tenner for polyfiller which I nearly wee'd myself laughing at.

We were worried not only that the landlord would be found in the right (I know, seems silly looking back) or that he'd be able to take us to the civil courts and claim more lies, but he can't. as a government agency, the DPS has the final say. As he agreed to arbitration, he has no further legal recourse. apparently if he intended to take us to court and lie some more, he'd have had to inform the DPS and they wouldn't have allowed arbitration. we were worried that if he was granted the full deposit, or near the full deposit he'd still have recourse but nope. arbitration is final. it's over!!!!

guess when we found out? christmas day! it was the best christmas present either of us has ever had. I cried. I hyperventillated, as I was the recipient of the email informing us of the decision. I couldn't tell James why I was in a state, Childwas scared and all I could do is hand jim the laptop and run upstairs before I pee'd myself.

once I'd calmed (thank you Harvey's Bristol Cream!) I rang my mum, cried more then popped to Cookie's  house to give her the good news!!! I was pleased to see Cookie spends christmas the same way I like to, in her jammies.

so this is us ending the year on a high note. the money will be in our bank on thurs/fri this week. we're starting 2013 nearly debt free. We're having Mr and Mrs M and possibly their two teenage kids over for coffees in the new year!! this was their first family home, I want to show them that we're taking good care of it. Mrs M refused to even visit Mr M's parents next door while the ex tenants were here because it upset her to see them ignore the garden and not take care of the house.

now, to the agent from the mould hole....... hmmm where to start? in 2011 they tried to claim we were behind on rent, which is how we ended up with a folder of bank statements to show Mr M. their first comment was we'd made a msitake. their second was "I'm sure it happened when you changed jobs" to James. he's worked at the same place, on the same pay system, and we've had an account with the same bank since 2004. We tried telling the landlord what a dodgy person his agent was back in 2009 but were told in a sharp tone "I've worked with this man for 15 years!".... ok. so how do you explain that he's now done a runner with over a year's worth of rent from each of your properties, disappeared and you've had to hire a private investigator to find him then Mr C? ah! so you see, you're not the only one with lifelines into the local parish gossip train!!!

We don't have the money for a PI, but we do have a lot of very trustworthy but slightly dodgy friends with more friends in high places. On of my friends has managed to find out for me that the agent goes by at least 3 names, and I myself have found out he's been the director of no less than 12 companies which have either gone under, or disappeared and stopped trading. all property based. all over the place. all running from mail forwarding centres and "virtual offices". places you can hire by the day, week or months to make it look like you have an office somewhere, but are actually a glorified PO box. I'm now doing this investigative stuff for fun, but think I might give up. I have enough vindication in the form of the huge sum of cash being plopped into our account this week.

in other news, I made the craftster hit list a few times this year with various hand made items. I still knit, though not as much since the diagnosis of arthritis in my hands (ffs!!!). I'm undergoing tests as the dr isn't sure if I have rheumatoid arthritis in my large joints as well as hands, or if I am the sufferer of the fabled fibromyalgia. you never know, perhaps now the major stress from my life is gone things might start to look up. I'm looking forward to the change in road law which means I may be able to find a vehicle ad get places under my own steam next year.... (as long as it's less than 350kg in unladen weight, has a top speed of 28mph and I display L plates.)

I made James a festive jumper and due to the landlord crap, the move, arthritis and forgetfulness (I left it and my needles at my mum's house for a week) I didn't get it finished for Yule, but he got it at 11am on christmas day. I think the neckline needs work though...

2012 is ending on a much higher note than it started. and I am more than happy to see the back of it.

oh and some of the best news? I got a greenhouse for my 30th birthday!!! :D Jim's built me a little staging from the bits of wood Mr M had in the shed too, left over from the improvements! he said we could do what we like with the bits and bobs in there, or he'd remove them for us. we picked through, kept things we can make stuff out of and he disposed of the rest :D GOOD EGG.

I'd sort of like to frame the arbitration report. I keep reading it and smiling.

Much love! hope your 2013 starts as well as mine!!!


Dave, our first living Yule tree.


The cake I originally designed to give to my mum... I had a change of heart, but gave this one to my brothers an sister instead!!


Mum's cutsey cake. penguins. awwww!!!


"ERMAHGERD! TERBLERT!"
(Child liked her Yule gift of a tablet computer)


The Man. In The Jumper. With a christmas kebab in one hand and Advocaat in the other.


Twoo. available for sale if you want him.

Wednesday 15 August 2012

The Weekend Away

Child, Husband and myself all needed a break from the general drudgery of moving house. We've been able to have a month's overlap of houses thanks to a very understanding and kind new landlord. He gave us the keys early so we could decorate and get a phone connected etc... But we're not officially moving in until near the end of the month.
Anyway, this all meant we were able to take some time out to reconnect, have fun and be a family again. And also to escape the mould and damp of our current house. uuurgh.

So we spent two days in Norfolk, doing this....


and this:

and I did this





I've made Sophie a souvenir jar, like a scrapbook. but in an empty duckfat jar.
it contains:
Sand (just what was left on our blanket and beach shoes), stones, mussel shells, pay and display ticket, amusement token and a 2p coin. The yarn holding the label on is the same handspun, home dyed stuff I'm currently knitting and was knitting on the beach.
The little poppet saved any 2p coins from mine and  hubby's change, and any pocket money she's earned since march/april so that she could go on the amusements and ride the gokarts at Sea Palling because she knew we'd be there at some point this summer, awwww!!





Thursday 2 August 2012

Sorry for the disappearing act!

It's been a busy few months for the team here at Casa De Flibble.

The year started on a low note really, the weather was terrible, the Child was having so much trouble at school with bullying and school not keeping up with her medication that the decision was taken to withdraw her and teach her at home. she's getting better, but she's still acting like a 30 year old depressive with anxiety issues...

The whole crap-year-thing culminated in the last few months with us finally getting sick of our useless letting agent/landlord combo and being given the opportunity of a lifetime to move to a house with a responsible landlord, and lovely neighbours. I also discovered Pinterest too. oh god what a bad idea that was! Anyway, on with the show and tell of craft 'cos that's what this is all about isn't it?! So, with moving house I wanted some nice, new things to go in the house. Pity I'm permaskint... oh well. this mirror was made using an old mirror found in a jumble sale for 25p. first off I got it out of its frame, then covered the whole face of the mirror with some Fablon I had lying about. you could use paper, but you'll need to tape an area for the next bit.


The lettering was drawn on the Fablon using a pound shop marker pen (pack of 4 for £1?! holy fricking bargain batman!) I then set about cutting out the lettering with a craft knife. an Xacto would have been better, but you know, this is what I had. I did put a new blade in the knife first. well, I say I put a new blade in... the HairyMan did it for me 'cos last time I did it, I cut myself. I'm a klutz.

So, that done, I added a border. Again with the marker on Fablon and again cut it out using the craft knife. I then painted the whole face of the mirror with an even double coat of gold spray paint and left to dry for 2 hours before removing the Fablon. I was soooo impressed with the results, and Child is very happy with it. remember when you were 6? didn't having your name on EVERYTHING just make the world a better place?! I then sanded the old frame and sprayed a coat of lavender spray paint, followed by a dusting of gold spray for good measure and extra "Bling".





So that's her mirror sorted. Now for a little extra home made art.
I had glass paints. I had a frame bought from the same jumble as the mirror for some other stupidly small amount of money (I think I got 5 frames for 50p!!!)

I removed the glass, cleaned it, then set it to one side while I drew an S on a piece of scrap paper. I laid the glass over the S, traced it with relief paste and left it to dry. once that was dry, I just kinda doodles on the rest of the glass. once the relief paste was dry, I flipped it over the paint the purple on the other side of the glass to give a bit more of a 3D effect. Again, left to dry and then flipped it back to the right fce, doodled on the centre of the S with a silver pen and added a little gold leaf (ok, gold-coloured-not-sure-what-metal-leaf I had leftover from xmas 2010 in my craft box) for good measure and again, drying time.

While the glass was drying, it was time to paint the frame. My goodness I love spray paint. this time it was black, and once *that* was dry it got some gold leaf treatment too.

Child has a suncatcher for her new room.








I am hoping that the move will bring us a little peace to enjoy life. And on that note, here's some stuff I knitted lol.





Those are, indeed, Owls. they're freaking adorable arn't they? the wonderful pattern I used for my awesome sweater was "Owls" by Kate Davies Designs. http://katedaviesdesigns.com/designs/o-w-l-s/






It's the first time I'd attempted to knit something so large, and I am very, very impressed with managing it. I do think a lot of the kudos has to go to KAte for her extrememly well written, totally fool-proof pattern.

oh, and Child got jealous. so I bought the "Owlet" pattern too. 'scuse the mess, we're moving lol.


Then came me trying to challenge myself a bit (what? more challenging than an adult sweater with a cabled yoke?!). It started with the Hobbycraft sale and Child finding a ball of yarn which caught her eye. she sat playing with it for a while while I dug through the sale box. she piped up with a little voice "this is thin enough for socks isn't it?"... bazzing. socks it is.









Finally for this episode, I just want to say how rewarding home education is, and how happy it's made us all.
It's not about sitting at a desk for 6 hours a day, it's not about forced association in the guise of socialisation. It's about learning in a way that works for you and your child. My child likes doing things and going places, so we do!


She takes literacy and numeracy work with her to do on train journeys!

and this is her making spray paint space paintings. expect these as Christmas gifts, oh members of my family who may read this Blog!!!


The one on the left was done with help. the one on the right was done on her own.


Well, TTFN. I'm off to knit something. Or spray paint something. Or just stare at a wall.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

It's been a while but...

remember those machine embroidered lace wings that broke my sewing machine?

Craftster Best of 2011 Winner
I'm a Craftster Best of 2011 Winner!

fricking worth it lol.

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