I have a tale of moving and a tale of being a finalist for two awards!
Moving house 😦
It’s been a tough couple of weeks because we had to leave our pretty home. We loved living there, on half an acre in the Swan Valley, surrounded by fruit trees and roses, birds and frogs. But the owner wanted to move back in so we had to look for another place to rent.
We have a slightly complicated family because my man and I are both divorced with kids from our previous marriages (Brady Bunch, anyone?). I have two amazing girls and he has two girls and a boy (also amazing). My kids live with me most of the time and his kids live with us some of the time. We also have a dog and two cats, and six beloved hens.
I have a teenager who goes to high school and a middle-grader about to start high school. And I have a part time job I need to be fairly close to. And if I don’t live among trees and nature, a little bit of my soul withers and dies.
This makes for a challenging house-hunting process. We had to find something with good public transport, accessible to schools and work, accepting pets and chickens, had the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and was air conditioned (because Australia).
It took weeks of searching. We saw hovels, boxes, gardenless houses, beautiful homes unsuitable for pets, ugly homes unsuitable for humans, lovely homes in nasty neighbourhoods, nasty homes in stunning neighbourhoods, and everything in between. I was starting to get a little bit stressed. (Don’t worry – the happy ending is nigh).
Then one of my best friends messaged me that the house next door to her was vacant. We checked it out. It’s in the hills, in a small arty community. It’s a modest home, tucked away from the road. It has the requisite number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Our hens and pets are allowed. There are buses to school and it’s closer to my work than our current place. It is air conditioned. Trees galore in a natural setting. And even a swimming pool! And even better, my youngest daughter is besties with my BFF’s daughter, so she will also have her bestie right next door. ‘Twas meant to be!
We’re all signed up and moved in. Packing was a little version of hell, with the silver lining of decluttering my life. I had a sick chicken I was caring for around the clock. My partner was halfway through a painting and my kids had doctor’s appointments and swimming lessons. Edits for True Blue were on the horizon, and I was working on a new book idea sparked by a local Spring Ball.
Chaos, as usual.
The next awful bit was cleaning the old place. Honestly, it looked tidy, but when it came to the actual vacate clean, it was three full days of hard slog. I never ached or slept so hard.
But we’re in! Keys handed back for the old place, chicken mended and happy with her new home, the pool is amazing, and I’ve already enjoyed a glass of bubbly in the new spa bath!
The Awards
I am so honoured to have been nominated in the Ausrom Today’s Reader’s Choice Awards – and in not one but two categories!
My book’s cover is a finalist for best cover of 2017. Want to see it? Scroll down (it’s Dear Banjo). I am extremely fond of it. It’s so romantic and warm with all the colours of the Aussie outback and one of Tom’s old letters sitting behind the picture of Willow and Tom. It was designed by the talented Louisa from Penguin Books Australia. Do you like it, too? If yes, I’d be so grateful if you would click here to visit the Facebook voting post and hit ‘like’ to vote for it 😀
AND I’m also up for best new author! *Gobsmacked*
If you could pretty please also vote for me in this category, I’d be so happy! Simply click here and hit like on the ‘nominated’ picture with my name on it.
Thank you so much!
Sasha xx
Sasha Wasley 