We’re making tentative steps in the house-moving department. Estate agents keep sending us details of 2 bedroom bungalows, but even though they’re the same price as our 3 bedroom house, even a cat would bang its head on the walls of these properties if we swung it. We’ve yet to find something better than what we already have.
Sam’s spent many weekends in lock down tarting up the outside of our house in order to make it ready for viewing, but we haven’t yet plucked up enough courage to put it on the market. Today the scaffolding came down as he’s finished scraping all the moss off the roof, and it’s looking right ready to be sold. Problem is… there doesn’t seem to be any bungalow just meant for us, and I’m now wondering if we’ll come to regret moving away from the house we’ve lived in for nearly 30 years.
It was easier on the last house move, as we were both desperate to get out of London. This time we’re still looking in Suffolk or just into Norfolk for a place to buy, as it will definitely be the last house move we will ever do, and my mother’s voice is in my head telling me not to move away from our sons (Leon lives 3 miles away, and Marc lives 20 miles away) in case we become too decrepit in our old age. It’s this voice that stops us moving 200 miles away to the Isle of Wight, the area we’d rather go to.
Leon visited us yesterday and told us to “Go for it and sail off to the IOW if that’s what we want”. He doesn’t beat about the bush, and maybe he’s looking forward to enjoying his middle years without us constantly badgering him for something. Not that we would, of course, as Sam is fiercely independent and would have to be in extremis before he asked anybody to help him! Marc has complained that he’d never see us, and that his kids will miss seeing their grandparents. He’s due to become a father again in July, and so that’s another reason for us to stay in Suffolk.
I tend to be realistic… I remember what Sam’s mother said when they moved house in their sixties. The house was eventually totally unsuitable for them, with many steps up to the front door. The garden was on a ‘hill’, and she told me she never thought she would ever become incapacitated with age. I suppose like many people she thought the infirmities of old age wouldn’t happen to her.
So the reality of it is that no, we’ll probably stay close to our sons so that they’re on hand just in case, and also there’ll not be an expensive ferry crossing every time they want to visit us. Perhaps one day there’ll be a tunnel or a bridge connecting the Island with the mainland, but until then if we ever do move it will probably be to just a few miles from where we are situated now.
dgkaye said:
Wow, you’re actually considering moving to another house now? I thought you were contemplating moving up to Isle of Wight? 🙂
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Stevie Turner said:
We might in the future, but not until Sam retires as the ferry journey is a pain every time he’s got to visit customers. We’ll keep looking, but I don’t hold out too much hope at the moment.
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dgkaye said:
Well good luck whatever you decide. I’m sure you’ll keepus abreast 🙂 x
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Phil Huston said:
Keep the house. All that tripping over yourself bungalow nonsense is just that. Surrounded by people just like you, only boring. Board it up or rent it as an executive relocation pad for six months, go to the Isle of Wight, and see how you do for that long, no kids, no grandkids. The grass is greener syndrome is common. And a fallacy. Put in a posh kitchen, new cabinets.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks Phil. At the moment until Sam retires it’s not really practical, due to the expense of the ferry every time he wants to go and see a customer. We’ll probably wait until he retires in 2027 and then think again about moving there. In the meantime there’s nothing better than we’ve already got, and so I expect we’ll end up staying where we are.
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Phil Huston said:
No place like home.
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Stevie Turner said:
So they say…
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joylennick said:
My advice certainly wouldn’t fit, Stevie…but we are all so different in our needs. You must go where your hearts lead you.. We only have one life, and you can’t possibly please everyone! We’ve lived in Essex, London, Canada, Bournemouth, and are now retired to Spain (20 years and love it!).Two of our sons live nearby, the third lives in Denmark.Luckily, we’ve been happy everywhere, although we suffered homesickness when in Canada, although it’s a great place to live. Happy landings wherever you go. Cheers! x
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Darlene said:
My vote is with your son, move to the IOW which is what you love. But then I may not be a good example as I moved to Spain from Canada where my kids and grandkids are. You can always move back if you get incapacitated and need to move to a seniors centre. But that is a long way away for you. Your house looks charming.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks Darlene. How often do you meet up with your children and grandchildren?
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Darlene said:
About once a year. I do miss them of course but we keep in touch via social media, email and even snail mail. My son says I spend more quality time with his kids than the grandparents that live nearby. I moved to Spain with my kid’s blessings. They said, go for it mom!
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Stevie Turner said:
I have one son telling us to go for it, and the other one not keen. Hmm…
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Darlene said:
That is tricky. It was my mom, who we had settled into a very good care home, who said, “Why don’t you wait until I die before you move to Spain?” I said, “I don’t want to be your age, sitting in a care home and wishing I had done it.” She smiled and said, “I understand.” That was 5 years ago and she is still with us.
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Stevie Turner said:
It’s a good thing you have an understanding mother. My mother would have been appalled! It would have been WWIII if we’d spent as much time on the IOW as we do now without her.
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jenanita01 said:
Don’t be in any rush, Stevie. Not at this time anyway… Wait until the world starts feeling normal again…
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Stevie Turner said:
We’ve been looking for about a year, but are in no hurry to move at all. We just can’t seem to find anything that’s a decent size and that we both like.
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jenanita01 said:
Hopefully, the right one will come along!
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Stevie Turner said:
Hmm…
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jwebster2 said:
I’m the last person to discuss moving with never having done it, but it strikes me that your house is handy for your family, seems to be suitable for retirement and you obviously like it, so why move?
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Stevie Turner said:
Probably to be in a town centre and therefore nearer the shops when we’re old and can’t drive, but then again there’s always online deliveries now. However, by the time we get into our eighties there might not even be any shops left!
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jwebster2 said:
If there’s no shops left everybody will be buying online anyway so your internet connection may be more important than your bus service
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Stevie Turner said:
Very true!
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robertawrites235681907 said:
Maybe you should wait a bit longer before you move. My aunts both lived in their homes until they were in their mid-80s. Moving can be very upsetting and disruptive to people. Just my experience, of course.
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Stevie Turner said:
I actually dread the upheaval. We look at properties we’re sent if we like them, but we’re in no great hurry to move.
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