Settling in..

It’s been a hard few months… but it’s starting to feel like home.

We moved in on the 15th of March and ended the day sitting amongst a hundred and twenty boxes and a stack of furniture that we didn’t really know where to put. A good nights sleep and the unpacking got underway.
Our bed was in the right place but that was only temporary. My dear wife had decided we needed a new bed a long time ago and now was the time to find it. Likewise, the old living room furniture was due for replacement, so that had to be done too. The cellar needed some shelving to hold everything that it needed to hold and I had to find space for a food store and a secondary kitchen area for the rougher side of cooking. The dining room was the only place that seemed not to need any great effort. At least we would eat in a comfortable place while we put the rest of the house in order… I got the internet working, the TV and the wi-fi. We could now follow the news, stay in touch with the bank and solicitors and such and generally conduct our daily business and pay any bills.

We began to find problems. A wall in the living room needed some repair. The plaster had let go of the brickwork and we had a large “blister” under the wallpaper. The toilet kept blocking up. The carpeting on the upstairs landing and down over the stairs was worn right out. The carpet in the smaller upstairs bedroom wasn’t worth much either. All that had to be replaced. My good lady didn’t want carpet in the entry way by the front door either. Vinyl flooring was the way to go. New curtains, well, blinds, was what she wanted.
I got hold of a drain and sewer company, we ordered new furniture, I found a builder and decorator. We ordered new curtains, new carpets, new flooring. All this takes time and it has been a month of mess, noise and waiting for professional help and workmen, but it’s all done now. Thank heavens. Time to sit back, relax and breathe.

Living here is going to be good. We have moved into a small community. Everybody knows everybody else. We are around 300 yards from the village but we have not escaped the attention of the locals. Many have welcomed us as they pass by and people appear friendly and welcoming. I do know one guy in the village. We are old pipe smoking companions. We used to meet at various competitions. Small world.
There are no shops nearby. The nearest supermarket is a couple of miles away. The largest town is 15 miles away, the nearest town doesn’t offer much and is 5 miles away. Shopping is going to be on a weekly basis.
There is no “popping down to the shop” here. It’s a trip, whichever way you go.
The landscape is on our side. We are up on a hill so our horizon is slightly larger than it once was. We have no direct neighbours, we are surrounded by fields. The nearest neighbours are a murder of crows and the closest human occupation is out of earshot. We are visited by hares and pheasants and other creatures. The road is just outside our property but is so lightly trafficked that we are not bothered by it. No street lighting, so the sky is big and visible at night. There is a beach not far away. A large and yet to be explored woodland beckons at about a kilometer away. A small harbour close by. I can be happy here. It has all I need to occupy my mind.

The garden will need some work. I intend to let it go this year in order to see what grows where. We have 11 large trees on the property. Six are beech, one silver birch, a couple of undetermined fruit trees, pear or apple but I’m not sure, there are fruit bushes, probably currants. There are flowering shrubs spread around the place and a few bushes that I have no idea about. Elderberry. I always wanted a cherry tree, so I planted one. We’ll see how that goes… The long haired one wants some wild flowers around the place. I’ll have to figure out where they will grow best. We have the room, I just need to decide on the placing. I have found three new beech seedlings in the lawn. I will look after them and hopefully transplant them into the hedgerow. We have a few gaps there that will need filling soon. I like the thought of leaving a few trees behind me when I’m gone.

This place will be my last adventure. I’m seventy years old this year. I hope I have some years left here. I know I will be happy here. I am also determined to be happy. We own this place outright. Economically, we are fine.
My daughter and grandson have just visited for the first time this weekend. They seemed to like the place. I took the lad fishing. We didn’t catch a thing and it got cold in the end but he enjoyed himself no end. We’ll try again in the summer. I need to get the motor bike out. The country roads around here were made for cruising sedately on two wheels. We will make friends here.

I’ll try to keep you all updated as we continue along. Be patient.
Wish us luck.

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