Adam & Michelle go to England: Movin' to the Country

Up until recently, we had taken a break from doing anything exciting as we were consumed with Moving House. Back in the day when you moved flats at the end of the Uni year, things weren’t this hard. But when you grow up you tend to expand, in terms of possessions (and in waistline...). When we packed up our Christchurch House, we were appalled at how much STUFF we had accumulated over the previous 5 years. And you can accumulate a lot in a 2.5 bedroom, 1.5 garage house. In the end, we sold some stuff, we took other things to the Free Store, we dumped huge piles of belongings, and for the rest we called on Adam’s father to bring a ute and trailer and help move our belongings into his garage. The final pile took up over half of the double garage.

Did I mention Adam’s parents have now built themselves a new garage?

(Aren’t parents great?)

So when it came time to move out of our small 1 bedroom London apartment, we didn’t think it would be that tricky. Until we thought about the logistics of moving house in a city where we know very few people to who could assist, travelling by car is extremely difficult, and everything we moved we would have to take down 5 flights of stairs and through two sets of key-access doors. Phew!

We started to think twice about moving, especially as I would no longer get to see my favourite little fox friends. In the end, the desire to escape the craziness of the city won out and we signed a lease on a terraced house in the country, within the commuter belt of London.

Our new house has a kitchen and lounge downstairs, a small patio garden, and two bedrooms upstairs. It is located in a small village (around 2000 people who are mostly commuters or retirees) that has two pubs and one local shop. How’s that for a change?!

I am really enjoying being in the country, especially the trees and wildlife. I’ve seen squirrels in the neighbouring trees (not as often as I’d like), foxes crossing the road in the dark when I go to fetch Adam from the train station, and plenty of birds. Also there is a fantastic network of ‘public footpaths’ that I am longing to explore, and now that I have some good quality outdoor boots I will able to get on with this “task”.

So while it has been a bit of hassle packing up house, cleaning, and moving to a new location, it is wonderful to be somewhere new and to experience another side of England. Also, our friends Mike and Barb (They sell great organic produce in the Greenwich area: www.theverygreengrocer.co.uk) helped with the move, and it was all over in much less time than we could have imagined. Thanks Mike and Barb, you guys are real heroes!