Well.. the lovely old house was just too expensive given our "non-standard incomes" (ie, we're both on contract).

However, with a sizeable downpayment, the bank has agreed to lend us enough to buy a small house in the town of Arnprior, about 45 minutes West of Ottawa.

It's a compromise. Not ideal for my wife while she's working in Ottawa (though there is a commuter bus), but thankfully she's willing to make the sacrifice, so I can have a bit more room and - most importantly, a garden.

Not a big garden - the whole lot is about 70' by 120'. But "enough" to get me started, I think.

We'll be really close to a river, too, which is a huge bonus - I miss the sea so much, it's just like part of me is missing. One day we'll move somewhere overlooking the ocean, I think!

The current downside is that we don't actually complete until the end of June and I'm going a little bit crazy. Thankfully I'll be in the UK for most of May. But I'm bursting to take action - and there is just no room to do anything that would actually be useful here.

Like build a small greenhouse or coldframe. Starting seeds.. yes, when I get back.

Currently my hobby is silver... silver coins mostly. Why? Ahh.. I'm not really an armageddon-worrier, but paper money with nothing real backing it.. I can understand why it is prone to government (and, currently, bank) abuse.

Quantitative easing: Oh, nobody's lending anyone any money. Let's just print more, then!

Not inflationary, at all...

Oh yeah - and it's so pretty! Have a look at Fiji Taku 1oz coins - beautiful!