I suspect this gift horse is a trojan.

So, apparently the origin of “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” is the latin phrase “Noli equi dentes inspicere donati”. Which is all very well when it’s actually a gift.

However, when looking at land that’s surprisingly cheap, it’s not really a gift so much, so looking at the reason the price-tag’s so low is a good plan. Which is what I did today. Armed with a list of questions Kathryn and I had compiled I headed back down to the permit assistance center (where they’ll soon be bored of the sight of me). Having looked at the land and various issues it looks like it’ll be either expensive or potentially impossible to build on it.

The combination of gradients and size of the plateau may mean that the only way to get permission to build on it is an expensive and slow process, with no guarantee of success.

Even the quickest way wouldn’t give us an answer for at least 4 weeks and is likely to cost over $350, just to tell us that we need to spend $3800-$4000 for the no-guarantee route.

This is unfortunate, because I needed cheering up because whilst I’ve fixed one of the leaks in Rebecca, the trunk (boot) is still leaking from somewhere, and now as a bonus special treat, the windshield (windscreen) is leaking from one corner too. Yay.

I did, in the end, engage in retail therapy. I’m still on the look out for a nice CD player, so I headed to goodwill. And bought a Stick blender and a Breadmaker*. Obviously.

* I’m sorry Oly, but the bread is just no comparison, no comparison at-all to Hart’s bakery in Bristol

Originally published at Mostly lemon based. You can comment here or there.