Kitchen Garden Forum

Husband unexpectedly was offered a side-step job in Scotland. We'd probably have stayed in SE England, within London commuting distance, if we had any intention of going overseas again, but after the appalling way we've been treated there is no way we'd contemplate doing that again. (And that's after 3 or 4 decades of overeas jobs. Nearly 80 between us) They can stick it where the sun don't shine.

It's all happening so fast now. We've got AirBnB booked for a month from mid-April. And then it's all hands on deck to find something more permanent after that. (I don't suppose anyone has a shed we could sleep in? Must be within commuting distance of Glasgow.)

Might be a foreign posting by the time he finishes it!

I hear Balmoral is somewhat underused currently?

Nice part of the country my mates brother moved up there years ago he occasionally comes to Liverpool to see my mate but wouldn’t come back permanently

At least the weather will be a bit warmer by then, it’s finally starting to improve. Hope the move goes smoothly.

Best of luck, Guess the winters wll be rather more chilly up there. Thought you had decided finally to settle down in your own house - obviously the wanderlust is still beckoning.

Thanks for the good wishes, folks. Aye, the logistics of this one is not going to be easy, but we'll manage somehow.

Primrose, I don't know where you got the idea that we would be permanently settled in our own house. I'm sure I never said or implied such a thing. It seems you have just made it up because that's what you expected. Anyway, this house doesn't suit us at all now. Even if we decided to stay in Kent we'd still want to move to a more suitable house.

Also, not that it would push us to move, there's a lot of building work (ie noise) going on all around. Next door are trying to make a palace out of an ordinary terraced house (lipstick on a pig) and their builders have created an eyesore out of our garden. Must have words with them soon. And at the bottom of the road there's been a boorach of hoardings for the last ten years of so. Turns out that the Tory local govt has been paying £10k p/m for this. Now we suddenly have a Labour local govt, it's all changing.

Edit - below is my sarcastic response to the spammy guy who subsequently got banned. It doesn't make much sense now that his post has been removed without any explanation given to assist the flow of the thread.

Sounds like something one might find on the Scottish Tourist Board website.

You don't need to sell Scotland to me as I'm Scottish born and bred. Left as a young adult but later went back here and there for a few years. I'd no particular intention of returning 'home' but when husband was offered this job it seemed crazy not to accept. Now we're both looking forward to it, even though Glasgow is in no way 'home' for me and he's not Scottish.

These days Scotland seems much more civilised, given the shenanigans at Westminster.

How,s it going Stravaig?
You,ve been rather quiet which suggests life is currently pretty hectic. At least you're moving at a time when the the weather and daylight hours are moving in the right direction!

Thanks, Primrose.

It has been a bit hectic with packing and all sorts of things to sort out. We were still in the 'moving in' stages and now we're 'moving out' at the same time. I know it's easy enough to pay someone to do the packing but in our experience they've invariably made a hash of it and then it takes such a long time to sort it out at the destination I prefer just to do it myself. This house is in chaos and not ready to put up the 'for sale' sign and invite viewings. It's a bloomin' nightmare. But we've chosen to move. It'll be a fresh start in a 'new life'.

(And after all this time we're still fighting with those unprofessional and incompetent 'people' who made a fiasco out of things after our evacuation from Kyiv.) Sorry for moaning.

Husband flew up to Glasgow early this morning to view a house and have a general look around. I expect him back by midnight tomorrow. I said he should stay overnight and have some leisure time, eg see the People's Palace, eat and drink at the Ubiquitous Chip. I don't know Glasgow very well but these are things I enjoyed doing on outings about 40 years ago. And the Chip is still going and has great ratings!

Hope you manage to find a suitable house that,s "age proofed" if that,s where you perhaps intend to settle. Might save you hassle later. Have learnt that some things creeep up on you more quickly than you can plan for.
Agree on packing stuff yourself . Only you know which things are destined for the "priority" boxes.!

On the subject of "lipstick on a pig" the next-door neighbour on the other side says he thought it all looked a bit OTT, and they've been doing it for two years now.

Why? If you have that kind of money why not buy a better house in the first place? It really doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, I wonder if they might like to buy our house as well and knock it through.

Good news.

We need to be out of this AirBnB in a couple of weeks but we've got the house we wanted! We can move in as soon as the paperwork and money are sorted! Halleluja! That gives us a year of breathing space to find somewhere to buy.

I dunno, why should we buy? It's not as though we have anyone to leave an inheritance to. Maybe it would be better to keep renting and spend all the money while we still can.

All my cousins and their kids had inherited plenty already. Maybe we should go wild and crazy and spend before we depart this earth.

Rent vs Buy.? Always a dilemma depending on peoples', personal priorities and inclinations..
Personally I,d opt to buy because I like to be master of my own destiny, as far as anybody can be in these uncertain times. And I never want somebody else to have the power to pull the roof from over my head. There are enough uncertqinties in life with health, etc.
Plus in the long term the value of property almost always goes up.so in later years, equity release can be one solution if you need money to help fund your old age.

For now I'm pleased you,ve got the house you wanted so something positive to look forward to.

We've done all the paperwork(or nearly all of it anyway. We just have to cough up the deposit and a month's rent in advance. It's an expensive business. We're expecting to get the keys tomorrow and then we'll be staright on the road south with a rented van to take another load up here. We'll sort out the shambles we left behind (didn't want to delay finding somewhere up here). Then we'll put our Kent house on the market.