Saturday 11 October 2014

Saturday Thoughts







When I return from a holiday I always feel full of ideas and inspiration.  As I said previously it is like pressing the reset button.  I become aware of the bad habits, the 'rut' life has fallen into and come home determined to change things.  Sometimes it works, changes are made.  Other times the change is just too big and I don't achieve it.  When we came back from Canada, I really wanted to go back for a far longer period.  Not to emigrate but too work out there for a year.  It didn't happen, running our own business meant we couldn't just take a sabbatical, there would be no business to come back to.  The children were also of the age that they didn't want to leave their life here.  Now that they are grown and independent I still could not imagine being that far away from them, and of course there are grandchildren now, we would miss so much of their early years.

What I have brought home from this holiday is the feeling that moving back out into the countryside again is what I really need to do.  As we drove home and got nearer to the city, we left the quiet roads and faced traffic jams and aggressive drivers.  Yesterday we ate breakfast looking out over fields, watching as a huge bird of prey glided over the fields looking for breakfast.  In the evenings we walked around the farm, the only noise we could here was shuffling noises in the hedges from hidden creatures.  The thrill of seeing the wild deer in their environment is an experience that will stay with me for many years.  The noises of the evening here have changed.  The fields that were next to our house where we could hear foxes are now filled with houses.  Children who are far too young to be out at that time in the evening are screaming and shouting constantly.  Later, too often, to be replaced with their parents holding parties and drunkenly shouting and swearing until silly o'clock in the morning with no regard to people around them trying to sleep. We are increasingly becoming part of the city rather than living on the outskirts as hundreds of houses are being built on every available space.   Don't get me wrong I do love cities, I love the buzz, the sights, the night life, the people.....but only for a while, then I want solitude.  Maybe I am getting old and grumpy.

I want space around me.  I want to hear the sounds of nature.  I need to make this happen somehow.  My ongoing health problems have been holding me back, I have to take things gently, it may take a long time, but hopefully I will be able to fulfil this dream. Yes you are probably thinking I have the countryside and beaches on my doorstep, but this isn't enough any more.

In the blogging world many of you seem to have made the leap and be living your new life, I love reading your blogs of your new lives.  While others like me are still working towards their dreams and I love reading about your progress.  Have any of you out there thought you wanted something, which turned out to be the wrong move?  I do have a little niggle in my head that in the bleak winter I may long for nearby shops and even street lights.  I am a lot older than when we last lived in the middle of nowhere.






There have been many mentions of cheese scones in the blog world lately.  This morning realising I had no gluten free biscuits, snacks or anything else for when I have the munchies I made some gluten free cheese scone.  Then proceeded to scoff half of them!

We have also swept the chimney today so I'm looking forward to lighting the fire.  I don't think you can beat an open fire crackling away.


Chickpea xx

Welcome to Hettie and Andrea

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. I hope you can find a place away from the worst of the madd(en)ing! crowd. We live 10 miles from the town, and 3 miles from the nearest (village co-operative run) shop. I would find it hard to move back to a town, but I daresay I could cope if I had to.

    I hope you can find that right "inbetween" home.

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  2. we live on the outskirts of quite a big village, there are 3 pubs a post office coop ect, I guess its the best of both worlds, we are quite close knit but our neighbours are really nice and look after the cats if we go away for the weekend, the plus side is we can walk out the back gate to beautiful country side xx

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  3. We're in the sticks here. We both grew up on farms and neither of us are town people. I love the night noises of owls and badgers and foxes and natural light. When we stay with friends who live in town I can't sleep! Good luck with finding what you need :o)

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  4. My leap into a new life had to be the reverse of the one you hanker after. I lived and worked in a village of less than three hundred people for about fifteen years and loved it but realised that there could be problems as I got older. I had to move when I retired. I now live in a rather larger "town" of less than 3,000 souls. I miss my tiny community but I know that I need some sort of local shop, a doctor I can get to without using a car, and a minimal risk of power cuts which were all too common in the village. I wanted to get used to this sort of town while I was still young enough to make adjustments. I live towards the edge of the town within a couple of hundred yards of open countryside and as I am retired I can get out as much as I want. . I’d love to go back – but I have to acknowledge that for me it would be a dream within one bout of illness’s step from a nightmare. This is my compromise.

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  5. I live in a semi-urban area and I'm mostly happy with it. We tried living in the country for a short time years ago and I didn't like it. I felt badly because my husband is a country person and was raised on a farm, but it made me unhappy to be so far away from everything. I will probably feel differently someday, though. I will want more peace and quiet, probably.

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  6. Sometimes I would love to be able to walk to a shop or do something without using the car. I've done village, small town, middle of nowhere, I'm not sure which is best although health issues in the middle of nowhere make life complicated.
    Sea view would be my ideal!

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  7. Sounds to me that you are hankering for another type of life, so in some ways you have already made that decision to move. I would say spend a good deal of time looking at what is on offer in relation to your budget and desires, then you'll know what your options are. At some point you will know when it is time to move on. We plan to sell our house next year for a more rural spot. We are looking now to see what we can afford and which places will give us what we need. It helps us to formulate realistic expectations.

    Jean x

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  8. I'm one of those living out their dream, and I am loving every minute of it. I grew up on a farm, and for a chunk of our married life we lived on rural properties. But from 2002 until 2013 we lived in the city, and I was about ready to crawl out of my skin. Yes, it has taken some adjusting to remember I need to plan my shopping carefully, as there is no store just a couple minutes away. But other than that there really hasn't been anything to get used to. It has been like slipping back into a favourite pair of shoes, perfectly shaped to fit one's feet. I say follow your dream.

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  9. I have lived in a tiny hamlet of 7 houses and in Norwich, with a variety between the 2 extremes. My move to Wales was the realisation of my dream, to ensure that it was not about to become a nightmare I chose carefully. I am close to the edge of my village on a good bus route. There is a good selection of shops, a doctors, chemist and library within walking distance. There is a community car system for hospital visits and even veterinary appointments. Within 30 yards there is open countryside and a very good network of footpaths from flat to hilly ranging over at least 10 miles in all directions. Almost heaven.

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  10. We are living our dream on the houseboat on the outskirts of a large village. We have several large towns within a 20 minute drive, but our village is tucked away. Life is definitely more relaxed and gentle here. Children round here have a simple, outdoor childhood, like mine 50 years ago. I love visiting the city, but couldn't live there, I like my solitude and community too much xxx

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  11. Your feelings really resonate with me, Chickpea. I moved away from the centre of a large city 5 years ago and have never regretted it. I don't exactly live in the country now - it's a suburb on the edge of a large town with all the benefits of both town and countryside. I would love to live in a small village, though. xxx

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  12. Give me the quiet life and around nature anyday, I have live in Devon for all of my 46 years, but next year son will be off to uni, we are not sure where yet, but we will be going as a family, but hopefully we can find somewhere on the outskirts, where there is peace and quiet.

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  13. Because of a divorce at 60, x just walked out...
    So, I had to decide if I could keep living where I loved, right by the ocean, with all my friends or move somewhere else and be able to live and take care of my family.
    I sold my house I bought after the divorce the very first "my" home not a rental or something we bought, packed up the dogs and moved. I still have children popping in and out.
    I live near "stuff" but out in the foothills. So I have lots of wildlife passing and it is quiet.
    I am pretty much house bound but I still do lots by myself and I am happy... Illness aside.
    Life is to short to be living somewhere where you don't like anymore.

    cheers, parsnip

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  14. I want to be out of the city, by the sea, in Cornwall as you know! BUT I do want to be near people, I hate being isolated especially in deep dark winter!I'm a bit scared of the dark! I'd like a neighbor or 2 and be in walking distance of some 'life'

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  15. I was raised in the country and have a real problem with cities (even large towns). Just pictures of London make me feel queasy. I need a lot of open space and views and green around me! I'm a bit of an outcast, a loner, too - I'm not good with people and I prefer to be on my own so don't like being in close proximity to people.

    I'm not living my dream - far from it. I'm dreaming of buying a home, any home I can, as Dave and me are in our 30s and living with my parents, which is so depressing. I don't have a job at the moment and I'm struggling to get one, I'm getting older and older and feel like a failure as I've not travelled, I haven't married and had children etc. Everyone else seems to be moving on, enjoying life and having a great time, while we are left behind. It does depress me frequently, but at the same time I know I should think myself lucky and be thankful for all the things I do have.

    I hope both of our dream comes true sooner rather than later!

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  16. I hope that you enjoyed your time by the fire with your scones while contemplating what changes you might make. xx

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  17. Me again, the gluten free cheese biscuits look so good where did you find the recipe ?

    cheers, parsnip

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  18. We were planning to sell up and move to Cornwall before the recession - hubby works for the NHS and the jobs dried up almost overnight. After visiting earlier this year ( we've been visiting for 10 years or so now) I realised that moving there would have been, for me, a huge mistake. We're settled where we are for now - 2.5 miles outside the town centre, but it actually feels like a million miles away as it's very quiet, and the neighbours are brilliant.

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  19. We live in quite a large village. The nearest market town is 5 miles away and the nearest large town 20+miles. I was bought up in a big industrial city. I love living in the country, but with the security of houses nearby, a local surgery and a village shop within easy reach. I often wonder if the people who appear on tv shows wanting to move to the country and demanding a property with no other houses in sight will be selling up again as soon as the novelty has worn off! But I also know that I could never feel at home in a city again.

    Horses for courses and good luck with whatever you choose. Tracy X

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  20. I enjoy living in the city. Having said that, we are really living in a village in a city, a few miles outside the centre of Glasgow. At least this is how our neighbourhood feels. There are many who have returned after a time away, went to the same schools as their children etc. For now, this is right for us but I can imagine a more rural life later, maybe even somewhere warmer. Cx

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