It started with just a txt when I was scrolling through my contacts and came across our former landlord Ricky. I thought I might just flick him a message to see how he is doing and if still owns the property on Knights Road where we used to live when we first moved here. (After a year and a half we moved a bit further south to Castor Bay to be in zone for the boys’ secondary school, Westlake Boys High School, otherwise it is very unlikely they would be accepted into that school). He came straight back to me, happy to hear from us and saying he would be delighted to have us back as he was very unhappy with his current tennants who were making life very difficult for him. Three months later he had them out of the way and we could move back into our sundrenched dream home with the stunning views. It has changed everything!

On top of that the house had changed a lot for the better since we had last seen it. It now has a beautiful timber floor in the kitchen, some leaks have been fixed, the formerly useless dishwasher has been replaced by a flash swedish one which copes easily with even the dirtiest stuff. As Ricky wanted to replace the old and worn out carpet we shared costs for (fake but awesome looking) timber floors in the kids’ rooms and on the staircase. No more smell and so easy to clean. We redecorated the ugly upper bathroom in blue and white, rolled out a blue outdoor carpet that can be taken out in the summer and installed a 20$ wall heater that we still had from our first year. So it’s nice and cosy in the winter. When we moved in we invested some blood, sweat and tears (of joy  – of course) in our flower pots, a flower bed and planted a couple of roses, petunias and lobelia. Thriving passionfruit that will climb along an archway, massive cucumbers, tomatoes and Bobby our lemon tree make for lots of healthy ingredients. See our post “planting frenzy”!

Ricky was so generous to wash and paint the house on the outside so it looks really pretty now – picture perfect against the blue skies!

On top of that the house had changed a lot for the better since we had last seen it. It now has a beautiful timber floor in the kitchen, some leaks have been fixed, the formerly useless dishwasher has been replaced by a flash swedish one which copes easily with even the dirtiest stuff. As Ricky wanted to replace the old and worn out carpet we shared costs for (fake but awesome looking) timber floors in the kids’ rooms and on the staircase. No more smell and so easy to clean. We redecorated the ugly upper bathroom in blue and white, rolled out a blue outdoor carpet that can be taken out in the summer and installed a 20$ wall heater that we still had from our first year. So it’s nice and cosy in the winter. When we moved in we invested some blood, sweat and tears (of joy  – of course) in our flower pots, a flower bed and planted a couple of roses, petunias and lobelia. Thriving passionfruit that will climb along an archway, massive cucumbers, tomatoes and Bobby our lemon tree make for lots of healthy ingredients. See our post “planting frenzy”!

Ricky was so generous to wash and paint the house on the outside so it looks really pretty now – picture perfect against the blue skies!

It started with just a txt when I was scrolling through my contacts and came across our former landlord Ricky. I thought I might just flick him a message to see how he is doing and if still owns the property on Knights Road where we used to live when we first moved here. (After a year and a half we moved a bit further south to Castor Bay to be in zone for the boys’ secondary school, Westlake Boys High School, otherwise it is very unlikely they would be accepted into that school). He came straight back to me, happy to hear from us and saying he would be delighted to have us back as he was very unhappy with his current tennants who were making life very difficult for him. Three months later he had them out of the way and we could move back into our sundrenched dream home with the stunning views. It has changed everything!

On top of that the house had changed a lot for the better since we had last seen it. It now has a beautiful timber floor in the kitchen, some leaks have been fixed, the formerly useless dishwasher has been replaced by a flash swedish one which copes easily with even the dirtiest stuff. As Ricky wanted to replace the old and worn out carpet we shared costs for (fake but awesome looking) timber floors in the kids’ rooms and on the staircase. No more smell and so easy to clean. We redecorated the ugly upper bathroom in blue and white, rolled out a blue outdoor carpet that can be taken out in the summer and installed a 20$ wall heater that we still had from our first year. So it’s nice and cosy in the winter. When we moved in we invested some blood, sweat and tears (of joy  – of course) in our flower pots, a flower bed and planted a couple of roses, petunias and lobelia. Thriving passionfruit that will climb along an archway, massive cucumbers, tomatoes and Bobby our lemon tree make for lots of healthy ingredients. See our post “planting frenzy”!

Ricky was so generous to wash and paint the house on the outside so it looks really pretty now – picture perfect against the blue skies!