To buy or not to buy..

Yes, that is the question at the moment. We have seen a house we like very much. It's not what we thought we were looking for in that it is not surrounded by lots of land that might be 'yurt-worthy' but it's a house we could live in immediately, it's in an area I love, the children would go to a very nice school -  and it's about the right sort of price - and now that we're here, those things seem to be our priorities.

And we suddenly find ourselves very afraid of making a definite decision. To make things worse, the pound took a sharp drop against the euro today - I check everyday and in the last week the drop makes a difference to us of about £3,000 which is not insignificant. So, we are hanging on a bit longer to see who gives in first - us or the seller. It's always a case of who wants what the most, as we have found out with the buyers of our house. In that instance, it was us who wanted to sell more than they wanted to buy and we took the hit in terms of the price we were prepared to accept. I can only hope that the same will apply here.

Enough of that - in due course, we will make our decision and we will have really know it's the right one for us. This morning, we had mentally moved in and decorated for our first Christmas there; now we are not sure.

But didn't I say enough of this!!

I went into Valladolid on my own today to 'orientarme' - a good Spanish expression - and spent a good two hours walking around, window shopping, looking at the amazing architecture and people watching. There is always an immense amount of faffing with sweeping brushes and mops going on around you  - I don't know if it's just in this area or whether it's a general Spanish trait but I have noticed that wherever I go, someone nearby is sweeping or mopping or generally cleaning something in a fashion close to obsessive. I had thought that Cesar's mother was an atypical example because she never stops for a second - bustling here and there with either a brush or a duster in hand - her energy is boundless. She's not overly houseproud - it's not that - but it matches the need the Spaniards seem to have to talk all the time too. And they all talk at the same time - or seem to - without appearing to stop to listen. I will take note when I return to England to see whether it's the same there but I just never noticed before....... Anyway, this morning, there was definitely more broom activity that I have been used to seeing around Huddersfield! I have started doing quite a bit of it myself, just because I feel I ought.

I must away to bed very soon. Each morning, Mateo gets up first, then Cesar and they leave to walk down to the bus stop together, which is across a huge dual carriageway and we are not happy about him going alone just yet; then I get up to prepare the younger ones for school and we then walk down to their bus stop - to go in the opposite direction - where I am now able to greet and chat with about 5 other mums, including one woman who arrives with her SIX children!! I was amazed enough at that, but was informed by one of the other that there are two older ones as well, who go to another school. The woman has 8 children!! And they are all lovely - the youngest one is only one month old. And she comes down smiling and cheerful every day - and I feel ashamed for being stressed at all when mine play up a bit. Then the bus comes and we load our respective children on, wave them goodbye and then I walk back up the hill again - at liberty to sweep the house for a few hours to my heart's content! Our children stay for lunch so can't catch the bus back - I go to fetch them at around 3pm. Today they came out full of happiness, Ruy in particular has many friends already - Romy more excited that she'd eaten everything AND had ice-cream for lunch today. A girl who loves her food. By the time they've done their homework and been swimming, it's time for bed again in preparation for another day - time is flying by!!

So, that's where I'm off to now. It's another balmy evening - last week it seemed as though the weather had taken an autumnal turn, but today has been 30 degrees and very sunny. It's rather nice - but the question remains.... to buy or not to buy.