Now this bucket list goal was a very optimistic one. I just had this huge dream and desire to own some land. A little piece of the earth that I can say is mine. If you dream hard enough and have the vision, anything is possible.

I had been looking for a small field for about 4 years, somewhere safe that I could take the dogs for a good run off lead. Literally nothing was available. I few places came up for sale but they were just not suitable for what I was looking for. Then covid struck the World, and I was unable to work for a few months. All my boarding bookings got cancelled for almost 1 year because no one was able to go on holiday. I then decided that buying land was not sensible, because if something like this happens again, I would not be able to earn the money to pay for it. So I stopped looking..

I was driving home from work one day (12th February 2021 to be exact) and I saw an auction sign on a house. I had no interest in buying the house, I just wanted to be nosey and have a look at it. So when I got home I went on the internet to see if I could find this house. Whilst looking, a new listing came up in my search results for a small holding with 8 acres of land (no house). It was totally by chance and I think if I had not been looking online that day I don’t think I would have ever known about it. This land was perfect. It had 4 fields, 2 barns, a carpark, a pond, a woodland and the river running along side of it all. It just seemed too good to be true. So I contacted the estate agent for further info and to request a viewing and then showed it to my Dad. In all honesty, I thought it was too expensive and my Dad wouldn’t be interested.

The estate agents didn’t get back to me and would never answer the phone when I called, so after 2 days of waiting, my Dad and I went to the land, hopped over the fence and viewed it ourselves. My Dad fell in love with the place, he could see the potential and how beautiful it could look with some tlc. We wanted to put an offer in but could still not get hold of the estate agents. So my Dad asked around and found out who owned it, and contacted them directly. He put in an offer but they told him someone else had already put in a higher offer. Absolutely gutted.

It is now the 18th February, my Dad phoned me to say he has been thinking a lot about this land and it is too good an opportunity to let go, so he has rung the sellers and put in a higher offer! OMG I can’t believe it. This is so exciting.

Finally the estate agents get in touch with me! They have realised we are serious as the sellers have spoken to them. We arranged a viewing and on the 21st February we met with the estate agents to officially view the land, ask questions and get more details. On second time of viewing it looked even better than the first. My Dad put in his offer with the estate agent and they said they would get back to us later that day. He didn’t.

Days went by and still we hadn’t heard anything. The estate agent was impossible to get hold of and he would never return my calls. This is so nerve wracking and frustrating. Here is a diary entry I wrote on the 5th March!

Still no news! Really fed up now with not knowing what is going on. I spoke with the estate agent last Wednesday who advised the sellers had a few personal things to sort out before we could proceed and he’d be in touch over the weekend. I heard nothing on the weekend and called again on Tuesday. Was told he was on the way to see them to finalise things and he’d speak to me later. I tried ringing him three times today and left a message but no call back. This keeps happening, the estate agent says he’ll call but doesn’t and then I can’t get hold of him. We just want to know if the offer has been accepted or not. Feel like i’m constantly being fobbed off. The estate agent tells me one thing and the people selling the land tell my dad something else. My dad has been in contact with the sellers directly , they tell him they are waiting to confirm with the estate agent and the estate agent tells me he’s waiting to clear things with the sellers. I just don’t know what is going on and the more time that passes the more i think it isn’t going to happen. My dream is slipping through my fingers and I can’t do anything about it because I can’t get through to the estate agent to ask him the questions I have. I guess good things come to those who wait and if its meant to be it will be. I’ll just have to continue to wait for good news.

The next couple of weeks were hell. I don’t think I slept, I was too nervous, anxious and felt sick. Never wanted anything so bad in all my life. Lots of toing and froing between the estate agent, the seller and my dad. I thought we had lost it as there were a couple of other people interested and they were in a bidding war with each other, which the estate agent failed to tell us. The estate agent kept telling me we were the leading bidders (it wasn’t even an auction!). Then on the 12th March my Dad spoke with the sellers again and they accepted our offer! OMG I couldn’t believe it, this is so exciting!

I refused to celebrate until the contract was signed. The estate agents had been so shambolic, something could still go wrong. Apparently it would take 5-6 weeks to complete. Will I ever sleep!

On the 22nd April we signed the contracts and paid the money to the solicitors. We just had to wait for the sellers to sign the contract and the land would officially be ours.

We waited….

And waited….

A week went by, I was getting nervous. Then hooray, the sellers signed the contract on the 29th April 2021. When we spoke with them later she said she almost changed her mind about selling which is why she took so long to sign. Phew, thank goodness she didn’t change her mind!

We got the keys and the land is ours!!! Never been so excited and happy about anything. My Dad is absolutely amazing, and if it wasn’t for his determination (and money) we would never have been able to buy this.

The dream is now a reality. The land ticks all the boxes. I had many a walk with Dai Price when he was working with me and I would always say to him “When I get my land I am going to do this etc”. I was like a stuck record, my sentences would always start with “When I get my land” haha. And now I have it!

I have now owned the land for 2 years. It has changed my business for the better and things are going really well. My Dad, and Frank have worked so hard re-fencing the whole area, making it safe and secure for the dogs. We have planted lots of new trees, cut down all the dead ash, and improved the land so much. It is now thriving and we have so many birds that we feed every day, and we also feed the ducks which visit our pond.

Here are some photo’s of what the land looked like when we bought it. If you don’t know what it looks like now, then come and visit us. It is almost unrecognisable from these pictures.

This is my happy place. I am living the dream…