A LOVELY NEW (TEMPORARY) HOME.

 We found a place to stay after 2 weeks of (fairly) desperate searching.  Finding a place to live in Cambridge for three months as a couple is HARD ya'll.  Especially at the same time that students start trickling in to this college town.  It is hard for single folks to find a short term room even, so you can imagine what it was like for us!  All letting agencies have a six month minimum, so you have to find a private owner who is willing to share their home with a couple.  Most aren't!  We stayed at a local college (in a dorm-style apartment) for the first two weeks.  It was expensive and we were getting kicked out by September 27th.  So I spent my days and nights combing Gumtree (like Craigslist) and various other accommodation sites.  That is where Judith comes in...I started a correspondence with a woman named Judith way back in April when we first started looking for housing.  She said she didn't have anything available for us (being a couple, where she typically just rents out little rooms with single beds in her large house).  I emailed her again a month later, as she said I should if I didn't find anything.  She then emailed me back at least every two weeks to check up on our progress.  She spread the word out to her friends and colleagues.  When we arrived we were still emailing back and forth and I told her I'd love to meet her.  She invited us to her house for tea.  We talked to her for two hours and she showed us her lovely home.  She informed us that she had an Australian couple (she herself is Australian) who were going to be staying at her place but were having visa troubles and might have to cancel.  She told us to not get our hopes up, but that if it didn't work out for them, we could take their place and stay (she has one double room that she typically uses when she is in town).  We were so excited!  And we had to wait for a day or two to find out...She sent me an email the next day--the place was ours...YAY!  And PHEW!  Our house is called Cobbers and it was built in 1951 (a rarity and quite young here in Cambridge).  It is just so peaceful and nice.  It is a bit out of town (10 minute bike ride from the city center), but right across the street from work for Raf.  It has an awesome kitchen and yard and a piano and we have a super cool Austrian housemate named Peter.  We are so lucky!  Here are some photos:

Our daily entertainment.  We wake up every morning to these little quackers who live in the pond at the back of the property and spend a good chunk of their time scouring our lawn for apples and other treats.  :)

Swimming in their pond.

Our back yard.  It is soooo nice!  It is full of bunnies and ducks (obviously) and squirrels and many different birds.  And check out the solar panels!

One of two apple trees (1 apple pie made from them so far!),  There is also a pear tree out front, rhubarb along the side and lots of mint and lemon verbena.

The lily pond.

The front door.

Utility room door.

Piano!  Raf plays every day.  :)

Gorgeous kitchen!  So much natural light and space.  It's a real dreamboat to cook here!

Utility room: recycling, compost garbage, laundry facilities and refrigerators live here.

Sitting room.  Where we sit.

Funky staircase in piano room/front entrance.

One of two bathrooms.  I love that when you slide the door locks they either say "vacant" or "engaged".  We also have a really nice bedroom with the most comfortable bed ever and a garage for our bikes.  This place is seriously, seriously so nice!  xo.