The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

[Deleted User]

Morning, slightly bonkers night last night for both of us, I went into the spare room to let him sleep and neither of us did! it was one of those 'Oh My Word what have we done?' times combined with being too hot under respective quilts but too cold out of them, a very noisy wind whooshing past open windows but it was too hot to close them and a general 'Are we doing the right thing in moving at all?' doubt. I think I'm there in my head today and I think it's a good thing to move while we're still active and can get out in the new home and make contacts so we have folk to talk to in a new to us community and be closer to family without being in their respective laps but close enough to see them much more easily than we can from here. We walked the bounds last night looking at what we'd take and what we'd leave and I think we won't need a huge pantechnicon of a removal van if we shed things that are just not worth taking and replace them at the other end. There is a good auction house in the next road over from the new house so we'd play with that and get some pre-loved but nice furniture. We've contacted our Solicitor this morning and set things in motion so now it's going to be grindingly horrible all round whilst all things legal and financial are dealt with. Keep me sane (well, sort of) when I get grumpy my lovely friends until I'm through and out the other side, I'm not looking forward to the journey BUT I am looking forward to arriving in a new life in the not too distant future xxx.

ivyleaf

So thrilled for you both, Lyn :j I think you're quite near the sea atm? Will you miss that? OH and I are both from seaside towns and we've ended up living on the edge of London, so we spend a couple of nights on the coast when we get desperate to see the sea

nursemaggie that was a good haul you got! We were in Mr M yesterday but they didn't have anything interesting reduced, or maybe we were just there at the wrong time. I did get some "wonky" raspberries at any rate. And cream slices (not reduced)

[Deleted User]

We're actually in one of the villages close to the Solent Ivyleaf and yes I shall miss the river and the walks along it and particularly the 'river smell' that has become the recognition of being 'home again' over the years. We'll be well and truly land locked where we're going but in such beautiful countryside with views all round of stunning ranges of hills and many walking trails, verdant green areas and fertile productive farming areas that I think it will more than compensate for what we're leaving. Of course there will be nostalgia and 'don't you miss?' moments but life even at our end of it must be about going forwards and finding out new things about life and yourselves and new experiences too, I've never lived in a small town only villages so that will be a bit of a challenge but having local shops close enough to walk to and many independents too will be very nice as opposed to having a two mile walk to the nearest supermarket here and a bus ride to anywhere with bigger shops than that. It's very scary and very exciting too, my butterflies have sharp claws at the moment but I'm elated too!

silvasava

What's the adage Mrs L - feel the fear and do it anyway! I think as you get older new beginnings feel more trepidacious than when we were younger. I'm sure you and HWK have made the right decision at the right time - just think - if everything goes well it'll all be over in 3 months!
Grey day here so will finally clean the insides of my windows! Went down the end of the garden yesterday and I could hear a blackbird chooking repeatedly - when I walked back to the house she was sitting on the fence with a beak full waiting for me to go so she could feed her chick/s! Don't know how many she's got yet.
I never seem to be in the SM at the right time to get bargains like NM but did manage a steak & Stilton pie in sainsbugs for DH - nothing else though.
Sending hugs to Burtha, Karcher, Nargle and to any chums that are struggling at the moment x

[Deleted User]

mrsLW this has to be the perfect time to move, to prepare for the future I am glad that you have made this wise decision

I am still waiting for fate to happen, too scared to move to a town and too scared to move away from what I know and like. People are just not moving, there are more than a few hundred houses in the villages along where I want, people are sitting tight but when the flood gates open, then there will be a flood and I am ready.

I am very interested in your posts mrsLW, how you are coping and how you are managing things, like your furniture, workshop stuff and so on, they help me on my learning curve

monnagran

How wise you are Lyn, to make the move while you are still able to make your own decisions and organise things yourselves. Having moved several relatives in their nineties from their family home to a downsized more copable-with residence, I have seen at first hand how difficult it was for everyone. You have everything to look forward to.

Nursemaggie, my goodness you got some bargains there. Doesn't it make everything taste sweeter when you have the satisfaction of knowing how little you paid for it? Are you still dancing around in your empty spaces?

A bit chillier today I will have to wear a cardigan or jumper when I do my walk. I do not anticipate any very cold weather again so have packed all my warm things away in the forlorn hope that I will have moved before I need them.
Just waiting for my buyers to get their own buyers before we can proceed. It's a waiting game.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Don't look back. You're not going that way.t

Softstuff

The only bargain I managed to find in the supermarket was lindt 90% cocoa chocolate at half price per bar. I *may* have half a cupboard full of chocolate, but we're quite addicted to the stuff and a couple of squares of that feels like a real treat.

Tried cooking a steak tonight, the steak was fine, but the fog of smoke throughout the house was not :rotfl: If anyone has any clue how to cook a steak medium rare with a lovely crust, but without the attendance of the local fire brigade, please share! At present, my best idea is to purchase one of the cheap induction portable hobs and do it in a pan outside.... I'm not yet barbecue ready (still too darned scared of fire).

maryb

Softstuff I think it's called the maillard reaction (sp?) basically you get a hot pan and slap the steak down let it sear for about 20-30 seconds then turn it over and do the same to the other side. You keep turning it backwards and forwards so that it meets hot pan and sort of caramelises for a few seconds. Then turn the heat down and leave it for about a minute. Then take it out and let it rest somewhere warm for a minute

ivyleaf

Lyn I bet the "river smell" isn't as...um...memorable as that of Fareham Creek when the tide's out :rotfl:
It'll be lovely living in a small town once you get used to it - great to have all facilities close by!

monnagran my darling, I hope and pray that your buyers find a buyer extremely soon. And that just the right place becomes available for you to buy, of course! x

Hobsons_Choice

My bargain of the week/month/year: a lovely box plant about 2ft high, clipped into a pyramid shape, reduced from £15 to £3 in Sainsbugs.
Checked it all over and can only think it was because it was outgrowing its allotted space in the tub!