I do love our home, we've been here over 5 years now, although I still feel a newbie. Driving to a women's group meet up today at a country pub through country lanes, with the sun shining made me feel so glad to be here, particularly contrasting it with driving in suburbia where we previously were, that could take ages as the crow flies,sometimes to cover literally a couple of miles.
We were in a our last town on the edge of London for 35 years. It was lovely in many ways, in fact Sunday Times voted it one of the best places to live in London one year, good rail links up to Waterloo, The Thames ran through it, Hampton Court and Bushy Park on our doorstep. We'd decided some years ago, eventually once the children had left, then so would we, although they're always telling me they miss their hometown, in fact one, aged 30 at the time when we'd had an offer on our last house said something along the lines, very tongue in cheek, "don't do it! think of the children 
"! "No! we always told them we would move out beyond the M25. We're 30 miles from our old neck of the woods now sandwiched between the Surrey Hills, I like being near Surrey I grew up there and the Sussex Downs. We're in a village on the edge of market town which pretty much has everything John Lewis, Waitrose, Sainsbury, Aldi an Everyman cinema and a vibrant market, high street and restaurants, train station it's an hour up to London now instead of 30 minutes but doesn't bother me because I don't have the urge to go there as I once did. We do visit our old area, for various reasons, friends, grandchildren, although they come down here quite often. My o/h always sighs with relief when we hit Box Hill, Surrey with a "thank God away from the heaving masses" as the traffic gradually thins out homeward bound into Sussex, it's very beautiful around the Surrey/Sussex borders, for me, only bettered by parts of Dorset and Devon, I do love the coast, as other areas we might have considered, but too far away from family.
The house was a bit of sideways move in square feet, it's larger than our last house which was on three floors, when my late father in law first visited he exclaimed "you won't be here long, you'll get fed up with the stairs" We were actually there for 20 years, but in the end the configuration and the stairs became less than ideal so now it's just ground and upstairs. The kitchen sold it to us, bi fold doors that open on to the garden and today is one of the hottest so far so they're fully open and that's when it becomes the outside room, hopefully for six months at least if the weather is kind.
Oh Ann, what a chain of memories you have brought back to me since I first read your post earlier. Memories of our first trip to the Algarve in October 1987 when DH and I decided that our children were old enough to leave while we visited his brother in Portugal for a long weekend.
That was the start of so many holidays, some working, some dog sitting and eventually when DH was made redundant to our selling up and moving out here.
We bought some land that I fell in love with and lived in the converted barn, shown in the photograph, until about ten years ago when we could afford to knock it down and have a new one built. It’s small, light and airy and very well insulated. I still love it despite it being in the middle of nowhere.
Incidentally that weekend that we first left our children at home in the south of England turned out to be the one that the hurricane hit the same area and caused swathes of damage.
That makes me happy sankev and I am pleased I started this thread.
for all your homes.
After my divorce in 2014, I moved to my current home, a two-bedroomed flat overlooking a park (see photo taken recently) in Torquay. It's an old building, facing SW, well sound-proofed and my neighbours are all friendly and helpful if needed.
It is within walking distance of Babbacombe Downs with easy access to various coffee shops, restaurants, pubs, shops, my surgery and a good bus service. I do drive but often use public transport, not least because my DH's role within BR has provided us with free First Class rail travel!
Despite having lived in large family homes for most of my first marriage, I love my current home. It represents my new life and the opportunity to be with my current DH. It's also easy to lock up and leave when I go to his home in France.
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