Cornwall, sunshine, relaxation
Jul. 7th, 2018 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ruthct21As Mick has posted, we have spent this week in Cornwall, mostly in superb summer weather. We wanted to see what we could buy there with what we hope to get from selling our house. We also wanted to get a sense of the local environment, lifestyle and activities as well as practical information like bus and train services and medical facilities.
Our estate agent gave us a whole set of recommendations on the presentation of our house and we have indeed carried out a range of small repairs and improvements, as well as starting on a major tidy-up of the area below the terraces at the back of the house. We were therefore surprised to view a number of houses that were variously messy, smelly, suffering from bizarre decor or - in one case - approached through a seriously overgrown garden. Some of these were being sold after the death of the occupier on behalf of heirs living a long way off, but you would have thought they would want to maximise the chance of a sale, not put people off.
That said, we did see three really lovely houses with plenty of garden which took no great act of imagination to see ourselves living there, entertaining relatives and other visitors. But of course there is no certainty that these particular places will be available when we are ready to buy.
So we are hoping to sell our house. Why? Well, this was something we discussed while travelling. We can manage the house and garden reasonably well at present - I've done more in the garden this year than for quite some time! - but at some time in the future it is likely to become too much. We don't want to wait until we cannot cope. Why Cornwall? In part, because it is dream we have each had for many years. There is also a shared wish to live somewhere warmer, where we will enjoy a longer growing season and thus be able to grow much more of our fruit and vegetables, as well as being able to spend more of the year out of doors. Our history with allergies means that a seaside location will make it much easier to breathe.
I am sure it is going to take a lot of thinking about, to work out how we turn the fantasy into reality. The serious delays on our train journey to Cornwall last Monday and even longer delays on the return journey today do dent the dream a bit. It is long way to travel and we hope that relatives and friends will want to make the journey to see us, and that we in turn will feel ready to travel to where they live. What might we miss? What new things would we have the opportunity to do?
We have been lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the country, even if the cold, wet weather tried us sorely sometimes. We have the chance to live somewhere differently beautiful and develop a different lifestyle.
Our estate agent gave us a whole set of recommendations on the presentation of our house and we have indeed carried out a range of small repairs and improvements, as well as starting on a major tidy-up of the area below the terraces at the back of the house. We were therefore surprised to view a number of houses that were variously messy, smelly, suffering from bizarre decor or - in one case - approached through a seriously overgrown garden. Some of these were being sold after the death of the occupier on behalf of heirs living a long way off, but you would have thought they would want to maximise the chance of a sale, not put people off.
That said, we did see three really lovely houses with plenty of garden which took no great act of imagination to see ourselves living there, entertaining relatives and other visitors. But of course there is no certainty that these particular places will be available when we are ready to buy.
So we are hoping to sell our house. Why? Well, this was something we discussed while travelling. We can manage the house and garden reasonably well at present - I've done more in the garden this year than for quite some time! - but at some time in the future it is likely to become too much. We don't want to wait until we cannot cope. Why Cornwall? In part, because it is dream we have each had for many years. There is also a shared wish to live somewhere warmer, where we will enjoy a longer growing season and thus be able to grow much more of our fruit and vegetables, as well as being able to spend more of the year out of doors. Our history with allergies means that a seaside location will make it much easier to breathe.
I am sure it is going to take a lot of thinking about, to work out how we turn the fantasy into reality. The serious delays on our train journey to Cornwall last Monday and even longer delays on the return journey today do dent the dream a bit. It is long way to travel and we hope that relatives and friends will want to make the journey to see us, and that we in turn will feel ready to travel to where they live. What might we miss? What new things would we have the opportunity to do?
We have been lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the country, even if the cold, wet weather tried us sorely sometimes. We have the chance to live somewhere differently beautiful and develop a different lifestyle.
