AN ENDLESS JOURNEY

I remember when I bought my home in 1985,,,,some of the oldies up the street used to whisper and say "she's far too young to have 'that' house,,, it's too much responsibility for a young woman of her age",,,,I was just 20 of course,,,some little girl in their eyes who was daring to start as she meant to go in life with a goal in mind and a head screwed on the right way round for I had worked out I didn't wish to line someone elses pockets paying out rent ,,,,,I wanted my own home ,,,,
­I bought an ex Council House at top price one that needed complete renovation nothing had been done to the property since the 50's ,,it even had a gas leak,,,,I could of had a renovated one for the same price in the same area but I was looking at this particular potential what it had to offer in expansion should I wish to ,,,it's grounds and location being by the woods ,,,,so I bought it excited at the challenge ahead ,,, but with no spare cash to even furnish it ,,,,I had a bed ,,,a spin dryer ,,,,and a cooker ,,,,that's all and one child and one on the way ,,,,fool hardy with determination I stripped the walls pregnant as I was ,,, stripped the paint and hacked the jungle garden till exhaustion set in and hands bled,,,,I was young I had a husband who worked every hr god sent at the time ,,,he had no time to do this ,,,
­I cut the three lawns with a hand mover and chopped the edges with general purpose scissors determined to make this a home ,,,,We even sold the car to pay 'the dreaded rates at the time',,,but this was my own home ,,,,
­With hand washed nappies on the washing line and scrubbed clothes they blow in the wind and as time went by things fell into place ,,,,hard work and sweat saw it through ,,,,and on to the next challenge a two story extension for our expanding family ,,,,and in 1991 the real hardcore challenge started with just 22,000 to do it to completion ,,,with all furnishings and fitted 20 foot kitchen ,,,,it really was a challenge supreme,,,,wow it took everything out of us and how we worked to get it finished ­ by 1992 it was complete as a shell ,,,and come the end of the yr it was kitted out with a fitted kitchen ,,,and I stood back and admired it knowing we had done it all ourselves ,,,you have no idea how satisfied I was ,,,,It didn't matter that it had no heating ,,,,the feeling was warm enough to toast,,
it was 2006 before it had proper heating ,,,,and now I don't use it much I acclimatised to the cold many yrs ago ,,,and don't feel it to much anymore ,,,,
­Its easy now to look back and think 'how did I do it ' and it's on-going ,,,,
­It's not easy owning your own home and keeping it maintained but at least I know I have never paid rent to make someone else rich ,,,,the motto to this story is no matter where you start you can do anything if you put your mind to it ,,,,starting at the bottom and looking up is a good beginning ,,,
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­I will never forget this journey in my life as I made it happen relying on me and only me