We've got a new home!

HOLY MOLY!!! Our offer on our dream home has been accepted!

I can't go into too much detail right now because it still might fall through... we haven't completed the contractual element of the purchase... but for now the main thing is WOOOOOOT!!!

It's been such a long haul to get this far, so I really can't tell you how happy we are that the offer has been accepted. We've done everything we could to buy this place, despite the oddities of the Scottish legal system and what can only be described as misunderstandings between ourselves and the vendor.  I really dislike having to communicate through multiple layers of solicitors and estate agents. So much is lost in translation and it's too easy for friction to generate unnecessarily.

Anyway, please keep your fingers crossed for us. In the meantime here's a taster picture.

We're looking at that barn again.

Two posts earlier we talked about a property that we put offers on, which were rejected.  The owners have now set a closing date (Scottish legal system), which means that if we do want the house we need to submit our best offer.  Sealed bids, so we won't know what other people have offered. Therefore, you bid the maximum you're prepared to pay... or to put it another way, the maximum price at which you'd be happy to lose it to another bidder because you wouldn't go any higher anyway.  Such a crappy system for the buyer, but great for the seller.  Even in today's terrible property market, where few people are buying, it's very hard not to overbid because properties like this are rare.  Anyway, we've revisited the place and decided that we want it!

So we now need to do several things:

1. Get a survey.
   We can't get a mortgage offer without a survey. But the crap thing is we have to fork out for a survey when we haven't even had an offer accepted, and might not win the sealed bidding process. So the £500-900 could just be wasted.
   We also need to be sure that the place is structurally sound, since it's an old partially-converted barn,
   We could make our offer 'subject to survey' but that would make us a less appealing buyer to the seller.
   
2. Perhaps get building estimates. But perhaps not. We want the place even if the work needed exceeds our current budget. We'll just take longer to do it.
   
3. Find a mortgage.  Which financial institution? What kind of mortgage?  What is going to happen with interest rates? What can we afford? Aaargh!  It's all Questions and no Answers!!
   
4. Get hold of (and read) various legal documents from the seller's estate agent. Urgh.

Good job I've resigned from my job at the local cafe.  It was taking up too much of my time, and I was training other people more than I was learning stuff so it was no longer beneficial to work there. Good experience for a while though.

Also, whilst up in Aberfeldy we spotted an existing cafe for sale.  This is potentially good news, as finding an appropriate unit in the right location, at the right price, with the right planning approval, etc etc etc is tough, particularly in a small village.  We need to investigate.

Exciting Birthday Presents

Today was my (Mike's) birthday. We spent the morning recovering from a great curry and what felt like about 20 bottles of wine with some friends Mark and Marion,. We managed to pull ourselves around at about 3pm and set off to our storage unit in Glasgow. We had a van full of equipment, bought yesterday for about £3500, but that's a bargain really since it's second hand but hasn't been used much. New, it would have been about £7000. Really exciting to be buying this stuff, as it kind of mentally reinforces that we're actually definitely going to open the café.  


Especially pleased about the espresso machine and a bit gutted to be putting it in storage but it needs a special type of electricity supply and also needs plumbing in, so I can't use it at home.  Tough work lugging around things like fridges, a jumbo electric griddle, and a panini grill that weighed like it was made from gold. Jan is a strong little lass! 

When we eventually got home the sun was shining so we gave the new hammock it's maiden outing (my birthday pressie from Jan... been wanting one for ages).  Aside from the midges it was a dream! A big handmade brazilian one ... the mercedes of hammocks!  A far cry from the pathetic one I tried in Indonesia that suddenly bust when I was just getting comfy, spitting me head over heels backwards... much to Jan's delight!

Offer made on a house

We've just about completed our location scouting, and decided that Highland Perthshire is the place for us, specifically around the Aberfeldy-Pitlochy-Dunkeld triangle. Glen Lyon is a beautiful valley just up from the head of Loch Tay, and we've seen a few plots/development opportunities. The most recent one was just about perfect, we reckon. It has about 20 acres of land, an old partially-converted steading (which would become our home), a 2 bedroom cottage (which would become the beginning of Jan's self-catering empire), and an outdoor swimming pool! (Oh, and a sauna, but we'd ditch that)

The Scottish legal system works in the favour of the seller. It works like an auction, with sealed bids from interested buyers. However, since the housing market is currently dead, buyers have more power. We therefore did what most buyers are doing at the moment and made an offer, just like the English system. Rejected. Another offer... rejected. A final offer.... "Yes", the seller said. "We would accept your offer at that price...." (hurray) "... but we're not going to. We're going to let it go to a closing date (i.e. auction)."
Unbelievable!
So we withdrew our offer, as we're neither willing nor able to take part in an auction, for various reasons.  Shame to see this property go, but there'll be others.

On the other hand, Jan and I have both been working at a local cafe to get experience before opening our own place next year. Great fun and very educational.

Location Scouting

Now that the weather has warmed up and Easter has passed, we've been spending some time viewing properties and building plots for our new home.  We have a good feel for The West Highlands, Stirling and Perthshire now, and are leaning towards the latter. There are some really good places around there, like Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Dunkeld, as well as some nice big moontaaigns.  We're also going to look around the Cairngorms over the summer.

Of course, finding a house is coupled with finding a site for the cafe business.  Last weekend we looked a a place in Aberfeldy.  Great location right in the middle of the town square with a big pavement just ripe for a bit of outdoor cafe culture.



Rather than lease, we're hoping now to find a place that we could buy.  There was a leak from the upstairs flat recently in this one, which would help us negotiate the sale price downwards.  But the leak was still dripping, which is a big concern when it's coming from somebody elses property (we wouldn't own the flat) and we would have no control over it.  There are also some issues regarding the positioning of the stairs up to the upstairs flat... i.e. slap bang in the centre of our shop frontage! Who's silly idea was that?
So we've talked briefly, and it's not looking like a good option... certainly not to me.  We'll ask a few more questions just in case though.

Latte Art - Take Two

Haggie's Latte Art #2

Here's an interesting snippet regarding my best crack so far at what's called Latte Art (see pic).  Turns out it's not just about how it looks.  The art can only be done when the milk has been steamed just right - temperature, volume, texture etc.  These things matter because they do actually affect the taste of your cup of coffee. E.g. you need to make ultra-tiny bubbles. Big ones stop the coffee flavour hitting your taste buds.

If you get it right, the coffee's flavour, mouth-feel and appearance improve, and being able to do it shows a certain degree of dedication from the barista.

I'm not there yet, not by a long way. But I'm slowly getting there and loving the journey.

The Tourists Are Here

Thanks for all the comments and support on Facebook, everyone - it really helps to know you're all behind us in this scary and exciting adventure! (Don't forget, you can write comments on this blog too.)

It's getting warmer now, and Scotland is coming back to life after the worst winter anyone can remember up here. I was here back in December doing some location scouting and almost ran out of diesel four times, because garages were either completely closed or would only let me buy £5 of fuel.  They hadn't had a delivery for weeks because of the weather.

But it's wonderful to see the country start to bloom again. Every day you notice a new change.  We have hundreds of frogs in the pond, crawling all over each other.  There's a part of the garden where the buzzing of the bees is worryingly loud for early April. And already it is bloody impossible to get parked in Aberfoyle on a weekend, amidst the throngs of folks who are seemingly obsessed with wool and the procurement thereof! I never cease to be surprised at what attracts people on a daytrip to the countryside. I reckon I could advertise that the ash from our fireplace was actually Robert Burns' cremated remains and get 200 people through our front room every day.

Meanwhile, I've been continuing the cafe stuff.  I'll be meeting with several banks soon to discuss our budget for the business and our home purchase/build. Leasing appropriate retail property costs anything up to £50,000 per year where we're looking, so if possible we may want to buy the place instead. (It's actually more complicated than that, but I'm keeping it light!)  Also need to find a property surveyor, solicitor, accountant etc etc. Apparently it's best to have these lined up before finding the perfect site for cafe.

And on the fun side, more coffee and cakes.  This coffee lark is so complicated.  I want our coffeehouse cafe to achieve a reputation for the best coffee north of the Edinburgh/Glasgow line - to be THE place to go for an amazing cup of the hot stuff - so this barista training is serious business. At some point I'd like either myself or one or our staff to be good enough to enter the UK Barista Championships. It's a massive challenge and perhaps too high a target to aim for, but even if we don't make it just the process of trying to will make us a damn site better than 90% of cafes.

Cakes - I piped my first cuppies today. Frosting needs tweaking, and I overfilled the casings with cake mix, but these are minor teething troubles. What do you think?

First Espresso Equipment Acquired

"How hard can it be to make coffee?", I thought back in November 2010.  I soon found out.  Jon Skinner, one of the judges at the UK Barista Championships, came to our flat in Wimbledon to give Jan and I one-to-one training in basic barista skills.  I think it was a real coup getting Jon to train us - his credentials is the industry are fantastic.



We soon learned that it's not just about pushing a button on a fancy espresso machine.  There are tons of variables, and if just one of those is not right then the drink is bad - weak/sour/bitter/watery/etc.  It turns out that ultimately the biggest factor in making a good coffee isn't the coffee itself, nor the machine, but the person making it.  I guess that's why they have the rather glamorous title of "Barista" rather than just '"coffee-maker-bloke".  And if you're thinking 'what a load of smoke and mirrors, machines can do everything automatically that a human could do', then that's completely natural.  You're right where I was before I began learning all this stuff.  But I was wrong.  (At least I hope I was!)

There was a fair bit to go through in the session, and strangely I'm more proud of my Basic Barista certificate than I am of my MBA Degree one! But really it was just enough to get us started.  We still have a long way to go.  (I say 'we' but I'm not sure how much further Jan will take it once she can make herself a skinny latte in the morning!)  I always remember reading of the actor John Turturro saying of Cafe Arriba in Portree "the reason I keep coming back is that it is the best espresso on Skye".  That's very inspiring.  I want my espresso to be the best wherever I am.

So to continue the training process I've bought (aah...ebay) the Gaggia Classic espresso machine and bean grinder that Jon recommended.  Apparently the machine's design is a lot like a commercial machine on a smaller scale, which makes it perfect for learning barista skills.  And there are plenty of forums out there with helpful coffee geeks happy to share their knowledge.  I've discovered that barista-ing (a word?) can be fairly techy too.  The coffee machine and grinder have already been in bits, and I'm going to do some modifications today.


 But the best news of all is that today I achieved my very first Latte Art.  Its a slightly blurry rosetta, and there are bubbles on top that shouldn't be there, but I think its a thing of beauty!

Some days you need to blog twice.

Just had to upload this picture, as I think its essential to give certain moments the credit they deserve.  One of the things I need to do this year is come up with a menu for the coffee shop, which also means I need to learn to cook/bake it all.  I hereby unveil my first batch of cupcakes!

Personally I think they're wonderful... soft, light, and spilling over the top of the paper cup thingy.  Pipe a bit of icing on the top and that's a hearty meal for a weary granny before getting back on the Scotland Tours bus.

Escape Quote Of The Day

"There are lots of ways of being miserable, but there's only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running round after happiness. If you make up your mind not to be happy there's no reason why you shouldn't have a fairly good time."  - Edith Wharton

I'm not unaware that the plans Jan and I have involve an element of "running round after happiness".  But, whilst I understand what Edith Wharton is trying to say, she really is talking total phlegm. I mean seriously, who on earth is about to decide not to be happy?

I'd like to counter this quote with a more appropriate one.

"You've got to have a dream.  If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?" - Rodgers & Hammerstein c/o Captain Sensible

Captain Sensible - Happy Talk

Still Alive After One Week

Made it through week 1 with only a few minor hiccups.  Jan's remote working has gone very well generally, apart from a problem accessing her network account.  Rule #1: when dealing with computers always assume it will not be as straightforward as it is meant to be! Unfortunately she now has to go to London at some point to get it sorted out, but luckily there's a booze-up she can go to, to make the trip really worthwhile.

She's very good - tends to shut herself away in the office/bedroom all day to get on with work. It doesn't seem to demand huge amounts of discipline, as you might expect when working from home.  But then again she worked remotely 2 days per week in London anyway, so she's used to it.  And her workload doesn't really leave any opportunity for 'bunking off'!

Meanwhile I'm spreading myself between lots of small tasks, which is a bit frustrating as at the end of each day I feel knackered but don't seem to have much tangible to show for it. Such is the life of a housewife/husband!!  But my priority is improving my understanding of HTML, CSS, Photoshop and Dreamweaver so I can start offering to build websites for local business.  I'll do it cheap for them at first, to get myself a portfolio and also expand my experience beyond the three sites I've done in the past. (www.baan-thai.co.uk is one - it badly needs updating, which I'll do soon.)  My goal is to win 9 clients (and do their websites) before the end of 2011, which at one per month is probably all I can manage alongside all the other stuff we'll have going on this year.

Damn - Jan needs to borrow this laptop right now so that's not a good way to kick off my web design business is it?! Talk soon.

Oof! Right In The Trossachs.

We have now officially Escaped To Scotland!

As I write this from the comfort of the sofa in our cosy little cottage (rented), I glance to the left and see the sun beginning to set over Queen Elizabeth Forest Park through our kitchen window.  To the right, westward, the blue sky still hovers over a line of tall fir trees surrounding the garden. The newly-lit fire is putting up a valiant fight but in the end I shall vanquish and we shall have roaring flames. Is that the squealing siren of a police car I hear outside? Aah no, my mistake, it's just a bird tweating its goodevenings.  I really am sorry if any of this sounds smug, but if you have ever dreamed of something for several years, worked to achieve it, and then finally got there, then you'll understand why I can't keep the smile off my face.  Mind you, this is not the end of the journey by any means. We still need to find a permanent home and start a business. But for now its time to enjoy 'the now'.

We moved out of London on Tuesday in our self-drive hired van.  Boy, was that a squeeze - even though it was 7 metres long. With the help of the brilliant "Jan, Man With Van", a czech guy we paid for 4 hours of grunt work, no gap was left unfilled.  (Could have got confusing, what with my wife being called Jan too.) I reckon we had over 4 tonnes in that 3.5 tonne van - the back end was worryingly close to the road!  What a dog it was to drive too.  Getting the thing moving was like that event on The World's Strongest Man, where the contestant has to pull an HGV from a standstill. Infact, after 2 hours of 1st gear traffic jams on London's North Circular, the poor van eventually gave up the ghost!!  The clutch must have overheated or something, because when I put my foot down the van refused to move.  I had to pull over onto the hard shoulder.  Imagine my horror.... three of us had just spent 6 hours loading it with 4 tonnes of stuff, and now I was faced with the prospect of having to move everything to a new van!  After a few frantic phone calls I decided to just wait 15 minutes to let things cool down, then tried again. Hurrah!! It worked - and now the traffic was lighter and I could get into sixth gear.  Just as well, with 10+ hours of driving ahead of me and a top speed of 60mph.

We broke the journey into two parts, stopping over at Jan's (i.e. my wife's, not the czech guy's) parents place at Newcastle. Arrived there at around 1am, absolutely exhausted and beginning to wish we'd just paid someone to do the removals!  Next day I followed Jan up to Scotland, she in the car.  We agreed to stay close to each other, but despite my telling her that the van had the accelleration capability of a block of flats, the brakes of an ice hockey puck, and the wing-mirror visibility of a one-eyed mole, she drove ahead of me through the centre of Glasgow like she was a test pilot for a new ultra nippy model of pizza delivery scooter. 

We arrived at 3pm on Wednesday.  The cottage we are renting is already furnished, so we have had to somehow squeeze in a second house-load of furniture.  It was stressful at first, but by Friday night we had managed to get our own bed put together and made the living room comfortable enough for a couple of bottles of red wine.  What a lovely night - our first chance to take a breath for about two weeks, we worked out. Today, our first Saturday, we explored the area and picked up a LARGE stash of leaflets and maps from the Tourist Info Centre at Aberfoyle.  Let the new life commence!

Escape Quote Of The Day

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." - Lily Tomlin

Monumental Progress!

Something happened today that gave us a mammoth leap forward in realising our dream.

WE HAVE EXCHANGED CONTRACTS ON THE SALE OF OUR LONDON FLAT!!

This is quite simply awesome, as it means we have a committed buyer who has paid a deposit on the place, so now we can commit to all kinds of things such as the lease on the cottage in Scotland, hiring a van to move out of Wimbledon, and... to Jan's delight... we can retrieve our puddy tats from our parents in the North East.  They've been on their holidays with all four 'grandparents' for about two months now and Jan is pining badly! Every now and then she'll let out a wimper and I'll look up to see her surfing pictures of cute cats on her laptop, as a way to get her fix.  We've also received the occasional photo of their antics, but its a poor substitute for the real Biggins and Lulu.  Granny and Gramps will miss them terribly once their gone, I think.  They do get under your skin!

 So now I have a checklist of things to be getting on with and people to notify of our move:

1. Council Tax

2. Doctor, Dentist, Vet

3. Royal Mail Redirection

4. Utilities.

5. Comms. BT, Sky, TV Licencing.

6. Driving License and Vehicle Reg docs

7. Electoral Register

8. Accountants

9. Banks

10. Insurance!!!

11. Mobile Phone

If anyone thinks of any more, let me know!

It has actually been quite a nightmare getting a removal van.  We had quotes of around £1800 for professional movers, so we've plumbed for the self-drive option.... but getting a one-way large van hire is like hunting for snow in Las Vegas.  In the end I'm going to have to drive to Scotland with the contents of our flat, then drive the empty van back to East Sheen in Surrey, then get a flight from Heathrow to Glasgow and ask Jan to do the 2 hour pickup journey from the cottage!  Call me tight, but the £1300 it saves us will pay for a fantastic shower once we buy our new place.  Its exciting to be thinking in those terms now!  I just hope the van is big enough - hence this plan >>>>>> !

We're due to complete the sale of the flat in a week's time, but are moving out before then.  I suspect there will be some very picturesque photos on this blog soon!!

Our new But 'n' Ben home (almost)

Yesterday I got out of bed at 4:30am to catch the first flight from Gatwick to Glasgow.  Notice I didn't say "woke up".... that would imply I actually got some sleep, which I didn't.  Isn't it always the case when you need to get up early?  Anyway the trip entailed flying up, at 7am, taking a hire car to Aberfoyle, seeing a cottage to rent, returning the car just after noon then flying back home.  Efficiency at its most efficient.

We're going into rental until we decide where to live permanently and find a house/plot.  That gets us up there and living the lifestyle.  I think it's unlikely we'll find somewhere else to rent that meets our needs like this one.  We're after somewhere that lets me go off on reccy trips to suss out potential cafe locations, and Jan to work from home but also fly to London without too much pain.  The cottage is 50 mins from both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, has wifi included AND allows the cats - something we've found is a bit rare.  It has two bedrooms, not one, so strictly speaking its not a But 'n' Ben, but I don't think the Broons would be sticklers for that minor detail!  And we still get to be in the moooontains, what with Aberfoyle being the gateway to the Trossachs. 

Fingers crossed our buyers pull their fingers out and exchange contracts this week so we can get moving soon.