Back to Life – Back to Reality

True to form for our general rate of travel it took a week for us to get from Dover to Leicester. That’s the trouble with being away for 346 nights – getting back involves a great deal of socialising, which didn’t stop once we reached Leicester on the evening of Tuesday 26^th April.

At first it felt very odd to be back in our home. We had read so many horror stories about tenants leaving with everything, including not only the kitchen sink, but the whole damn kitchen, that we were dreading what we might find, but the house was in very good condition after almost a year of being rented out. Our tenant had left some strange things behind, including a single Karen Millen stiletto in scarlet satin. We’re sure it has a story to tell!

The garden was in need of a considerable amount of work, unless a comfrey and perennial geranium lawn suddenly proves a popular feature. It was lovely to have a bath and our shower is fantastic, so in many ways the change from a smallish van to a largish Victorian house was surprisingly easy.

However, we have thought for a few years that the house is too large for us, with at least three rooms we barely ever enter, and a garden which has become a chore to manage. Oh, how we rattled about about the place after the van! So, once the round of dinners with family and friends was over we looked around, took stock and decided that without jobs in the area we had few ties in Leicester, and within a week of being home we promptly put the house on the market. I think it was looking at all our packed boxes in the study and the shed that did it for us - spend ages unpacking, or leave it all and move? It was a no brainer!

That was two months ago. We have accepted an offer on our house at the asking price, but a couple of trips to view properties between Cambridge and Bishop’s Stortford has brought it home to us that we will be downsizing considerably in our move down south. Believe it or not, even with this recession, property seems to be shifting fairly quickly and anything we have liked has been snapped up before we can get a look in, or is well out of our price range. Still, we always have the van!