Going where the Weather suits my Clothes...

       Well, this is another 'volte face' from me, and after another long absence. I'm moving, and not just back to Hove, but on to France! The last few months have been pretty stressful and I finally came to the conclusion that I need a complete change of scene: in fact a complete change of  Life. So in my absence from Blogging I've been exploring on the internet, in property magazines, and asking anyone who was willing for their advice and help. It turns out that people are mostly inclined to be very helpful, and so I found myself at the end of September whizzing off to the Canal du Midi area of France to meet some Estate Agents and look at a few properties. This entailed flying to Carcassonne, hiring a car from there and driving to Lezignan Corbieres where I was met by the lovely Lorna Roscow and her husband Jason, and sheperded to a dear little house in Fabrezan for a 3 night stay.
       ( I should say that the journey from here to Stansted was a bit of a nightmare, as the first train I boarded was cancelled before it even moved. Altogether the journey took more than 3 hours. And the train fare (£60.60 for a return) was more expensive than my return  flight to Carcassonne!! )
       Anyway, that aside it was lovely once I got to France  (after the unpleasant car-hire rip-off) and driving  in France was as good an experience as it usually is on their superb roads. Glorious weather, boiling hot, clear blue skies and friendly people. What more could I ask. The next day Lorna and Jason took me around and showed me 3 houses - one of which I had thought might be perfect and was a great disappointment - and a couple more which were nicer, but not quite right. ( I should tell you that my wish list contains 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a swimming pool, near the Canal du Midi.)  Thankfully they were happy to do the driving so I could look around at the villages and the countryside, and I'm absolutely sure that it's the perfect location...
      Next day I had another morning with Lorna and Jason, though nothing I saw quite hit the spot. And then the afternoon adventure began with a phone call from Richard Pullen (of Pullen Estates France) who was keen to show me 3 properties, and also to get me involved with a TV crew (French) who were doing a short piece on why English people might be buying property in France to escape from Brexit... Ho ho, I certainly fell into that category and so I was perfectly willing to be interviewed, tho' I didn't fancy the driving through unfamiliar territory to get there! Richard bravely and very kindly offered to come and collect me (and then drive me back) so that is what we did. And one of the houses I saw that afternoon may well be the one for me! I think the test for this is whether or not you can  picture yourself in the house and I can - I have been back here in boring Shoreham for nearly 3 weeks (18 days to be precise) and I am planning to go back to Bize Minervois very soon. Hopefully with Son who, if you recall, lives in Barcelona and is therefore only a two and a half  hour drive away from the house I like.  He has an unerring eye when it comes to property and I always value his opinion.  Fingers crossed....

A Moving Story

Well, here I am in another place - I'm renting a flat in Hove - very near to where I was living until one week ago. By golly it was a bit of a sweat moving after nearly 13 years, and I was in a practically comatose state immediately afterwards.
   Packing up and leaving was the most difficult part - as I knew it would be. Even now it's all a blur.
And I'm pretty sure that half of the stuff I decided to keep will be redundant when it finally comes out of storage. This all part of the process though, because some of the decisions were too hard to make on the spot. I know it's daft, and it's mostly only pieces of furniture, but they were all chosen with care and love, and have shared our lives for many years - like old friends really.
   Anyway, it has all gone off in the van and into a shipping container for 3 months, while the work is going on at my 'new' house. The removers were great, worked very hard and were mostly cheerful. I just hope that everything emerges intact in the end.
   I have done very little except fall asleep during the last week - a result of the emotional upheaval and stress I'm sure. Little by little it is improving and I'm able to stay awake for longer, which sounds as though I'm in recovery doesn't it?
   I'm still the practical one though, and have a file with plans, design ideas, notes and quotes, all ready to go for the refurbishment. It's as if I'm two people at the moment - one efficient and on the ball, and the other adrift in limbo. I know who has to win, so I'll just keep on fighting the sleeping sickness...
   My chosen builders  have everything under control; we are meeting tomorrow to go over the plans and they are going to start clearing out the house completely. The old kitchen has already gone to a new home. courtesy of my trusty old handyman, Dave, and there is only some disgustingly dirty carpet, old curtains and poles, radiators and old pipework left to go. I went over to have a look today, and can't wait to see it gutted and ready to go.
   So there we are, or here I am - it feels strange but not necessarily bad,  Time to move on,

Slow, Slow, Quick Quick Slow,,

   Not much has happened since my last post, at least I haven't moved yet. I have been busy looking at more houses and waiting for my sale to progress. But it's slow. None of the houses have been as appealing as the little house in Shoreham, and although it's really small compared with where I live now, it could definitely be charming once it's gutted, fumigated and completely refurbished!! Strangely, something about it definitely speaks to me - and not just me; everyone else I have shown it to has had a similar reaction. It looks somehow familiar, and even Daughter felt the same, while we all acknowledge that it really needs a lot of work. I'm feeling rather nervous about it for a couple of main reasons: firstly it's obvious that I couldn't live there while the work is being done,so will have to rent somewhere for a couple of months and secondly I have to find a builder!
   Believe me, I don't underestimate what's involved; I have done building work many times before and it is nearly always trying if not downright horrible. Finding a builder you can trust to do the work, as agreed, on time, on budget and before you all fall out terminally can  be difficult. And here am I, seriously thinking of doing it again.
   Meanwhile my house (well, Maisonette) has been surveyed and I have just been sent a copy of the survey. It is purely and simply 27 pages of negativity, with a fair bit of  bias against 100 year old property in a seaside location thrown in. How, I wonder, have I managed to live here happily and comfortably for a mere twelve and a half years? How have I  managed to stay dry and cosy, with sound electrics, lovely wood fires in winter and perfectly functioning gas central heating? How come I haven't been driven mad by traffic noise or fallen off the balcony? It's absurd.. but it's another thing that's slowing me down. I'm staying calm and giving myself time to think before I react.
     Son, however, has just finished his trial by builder, and they are all about to move into their
new house in Leyton. I'm longing to see it as I have seen how much work they put into choosing every detail: wood floors, bathroom tiles, kitchen surfaces, radiators, paint colours, lighting and furniture. The timing of the move is great as little Grandson will be a year old on 29th of this month,
so I'm going to see the house and celebrate the first Birthday that weekend. His Mum had her first Mothering Sunday last weekend, and that was momentous - I think they had a really nice day. We certainly did, as Daughter and I took big Grandson and little Granddaughter to L'Eglise, a lovely French restaurant just across the road. Son treated us to a couple of glasses of pink champagne (by remote cash transfer as he couldn't be there ;)) which was bliss. and we had a super meal.
   And the latest news is that little Grandson is walking. Slow, slow, quick quick slow.....

Pastures New..

Here I am on a beautiful and bright Saturday morning, ready to whizz off to Shoreham, which is not too far up the coast, more or less half way between Brighton and Worthing. I have been looking around the whole area for a few weeks now, and have settled on Shoreham because it is a nice little town with s character of its own, and a feeling of community which is lamentably absent from the "suburbs" of Brighton and Hove. This feeling is most important for me - I've lived in truly urban settings for the last
27 years (15 in Cambridge and now 12 here) and before that I was in the country, or in a village and all of those I loved, but I'm afraid the suburbs give me the creeps. I dread twitching lace curtains (or lace curtains of any kind really) and the kind of secret watchfulness that seems to typify the suburbs, Maybe it comes from having grown up in a very suburban area, and then escaping to London, where I lived and worked very happily in the kind of obscurity that Londoners seem to create effortlessly. It's not that they don't care  about everyone else,  just that they get on with their lives in a kind of bubble and don't concern themselves with the rest of the world unless it makes its presence felt.
   Anyway, off to Shoreham this morning to look at a little house I had first seen last week. It's not perfect, and let's face it what is? But in a nice position and with a sunny, grassy piece of garden in the front. Small - but most places would be after this; I have three bedrooms, three bathrooms, three reception rooms and a kitchen, balcony and garden. Too much really, plus a lot of stairs. And a lot of cleaning. Today I went back to the little house (which needs a lot of work), taking the most negative friend I have, so that I could get all the pros and cons sorted out. And it turns out there are more cons than pros - at least today!! It's so hard to make up my mind, and I expect I'll feel differently again tomorrow.
   At least my house is sold, and to a cash buyer, so I'm hoping it will go through smoothly. Oh it's bound to be a trying and stressful time but I do believe it will all be fine in the end, fingers crossed.