THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Nargleblast

Mrs LW, it sounds like that house is the one. You will never find the one that is perfect because no such thing exists. That one is near as dammit, you can make the small garden work for you and have an allotment nearby for your fruit and veggies.

ivyleaf

Lyn When you mentioned the small garden I was thinking of allotments too. Good luck making your decision x

fuddle

Lyn a picture of my yard is coming your way some point today. Not only did DH cut and made the woodstore in the space, he has sanded doors, cut dry wall boards, dismantled large pallets and chopped logs we have been lucky to source from a tree felling and he maintains his fishing kit in it. I know you store much more wood than we ever could but in terms of space needed to work in, HWKs will have more spacial awareness than my DH and if he can manage HWKs can

I think I'm just willing you to find your home and I would hate to see you pass a lovely one by because it didn't have outdoor space like on the wishlist.

[Deleted User]

I have been having a serious long think this morning, about mrsLW and about me and our house hunting. We were born under exactly the same star so have many things in common. I have gardening deep in my veins and psyche. This what I worked out for myself:

For 30 happy years we had a plot of .25 of an acre and I grew almost all our veg and various fruits. That house was in the wrong orientation ie the inside was cold and not sunny, we downsized, again the psyche of it, get older and downsize before it is too late. The upside was that we got rid of very much stuff and we went to a townhouse new build on an estate linked to a manor house, painted ceilings in the manor, communal rooms and 43 shared acres of parkland. Our only garden was a very small exposed patio. We stayed 4 years,the group bought the freehold, self managed and dh was so stressed because believe me there are not nice people out there, never do any work and moan. So we moved here, having liked the new build aspect. When the allotment was mentioned, we jumped at the chance. Eco house, s facing, solar shading, bells and whistles and an allotment, village. What could be better? Things changed, truly this was his house, the one he chose and kept asking me if I liked it, yes I said

Now it is my turn and I have just realised that honestly at the very top of my list is plot size orientation and garden. I can kid myself, bells and whistles, insulation, never as important as the garden to me. So I could change a house, add a sunroom/conservatory, add a workshop in a log cabin. Allotments are good, of course they are but like the town house community, there are always one or two who spoil things. As mrsLW and I know, it is not being surrounded by roses and sitting under an arch. It is about a life, living outdoors, building a pond, making a veg plot, growing fruit trees. Picking fresh veg in our dressing gowns

I am also aware that with all the development plans and the influx of new houses, that any view behind or in front is not guaranteed for a lifetime, so a tiny garden will always be at risk of being surrounded by breeze blocks and mortar

juliettet

Mrs LW. Go and have another look at Topsy Turvy. Remember the vertical gardening website. I'm sure ideas can be incorporated there. Hope you and Kittie get something soon.

[Deleted User]

On the nose Kittie, it's not rose gardens but veg patches and log piles that make us tick individually and as a couple, it's who we are! I don't hanker for views I value peace and quiet inside and out of both the house and me! my idea of absolute hell would be an 'over 55s' enclave where it was all lace curtains and cut crystal vases and pretention over who had the best far flung holidays last year, listening to 'cruise' talk and being shown evening dresses! My heaven would be a detached house set square in the middle of it's own good sized garden with a small orchard and lots of vegetable growing space, enough room for the greenhouse and polytunnel and some decent brick built outhouses for storage. An outside loo for the gardeners would be wonderful too. The house only has to have enough rooms and good solid washable floors, I can't abide carpets, the rest is immaterial as anything we don't like can be removed, replaced and dealt with.

I'm aware of the siren voices saying 'this is the best you've seen, don't lose it' but also that small voice that says 'this isn't exactly what you want, wait on and it will come'.

I think something as important as the 'rest of our lives' home MUST be the right one and desperate as I am to get the move over and be more involved with the family I'm not in so much of a hurry that I'll knowingly settle for something that doesn't match up to our wants and needs. Being a Capricorn isn't an easy life is it honey? xxx.

[Deleted User]

That is it mrsLW, I too will wait, it will happen. I know I came here to make my husband happy, I was swept away by the idyll of the allotment, skylarks, eco but then again things are meant to be and he loved this place. I had that niggle but I ignored it, met the lovely neighbour on viewing and that sealed it.

I don`t care about my age, I have more get up and go than many 50 year olds so nothing but nothing can stand in the way of me coping with a large garden. Ok yes I might have to get landscapers in to get rid of old neglected overgrown bushes, cut trees back and I would get help to prepare raised veg beds, I need a quick start at my age

fuddle

But ladies remember there are people on this thread and lurking who don't have choice. Those of us who manage, manage with what we've got. The decisions we can make are about cost and maintenance without a lot of money. What you're describing is very much a need based on what you're used to. That is perfectly ok but what so many of us want is very far from the reality of what we can achieve.

Now you know me well enough to know that I come from a good place and I am going to say this whether you both like it or not Lyn and kittie. Large outdoor spaces require fitness and health. Please don't lumber yourselves with outdoor spaces that you might not be able to maintain as you edge further into your retirement. There said it.

I know you know yourselves very well and you're sensible people and that really you don't need me to point it out but I do feel that, while you are frustrated at not finding what you want, many of us have to make decisions that we don't want. Bare in mind, amongst your frustration, that you've made the right decisions through life and it's your investments that enable you to have this choice. Don't be letting the luxury of having that choice be the bain of your lives, altering mind and mood. You're lucky ladies. Run with it (but don't bug your older years down with lots of land to tend) ok, I can feel the stares. I'll shush!

DawnW

I agree Mrs L and Kittie, wait till you find something that is exactly what you want. But I also identify with Fuddle's view. We had to buy our house in a bit of a hurry, and although I like it, it is not my ideal. I don't think we could afford to move now, so make the best of it (terraced cottage, small garden, on edge of town on a through road, a certain amount of antisocial behaviour, litter etc, on the part of passers by, not lovely neighbours). I would love a bigger garden etc but am conscious that I can manage what we have perfectly well on my own if need be (and OH slipped a disc before Christmas, so I have had to). And we are lucky, to own a house outright, no mortgage etc, and that enabled both of us to retire earlier than the state would have sanctioned.

[Deleted User]

Fuddle I do agree with you and I know where you are coming from and I am not giving you daggers, honest.

Dawn I can very much see where you are coming from, having been brought up from a small very old tatty terraced with a yard but a brilliant community, in liverpool. That was at that end of my life, my young end and now at the other end, I am going for big garden, not talking .25 acres but just big garden, husband had friends in their 80s who cycled and that is me (hopefully) so I can see that I have 10+ active years in me and I aint going to waste them.

So yes I started looking from a different angle this morning. In my preferred area, a house that I bi-passed at first sight, flagstone floors, very old dark beams, big enough garden but then I see the well, so there is a stream underneath and then I see the ongoing house maintenance and dark rooms and I think of my friend in a similar cottage, she has winter sad and gets very low. The stream below, bad feng shui. So you see the garden is top of the list but has to be qualified by a suitable house.

I am lucky to have a choice, I know it, my mother would have loved to have had a choice and she will be rooting for me