Moving on

Just wondering if you woud not get so much more for your money going a bit further North up the M11- still about 1 hour from daughter providing you avoid peak times- and not too far from Stansted if you want to fly for holidays?

JessM, sorry had not seen your post about daughter 'wanting or not wanting' things. She does want them- not daft things like coats or nick nacks but heirlooms, some of which are quite valuable (like Limoges dinner set, and antique furniture and books, clocks, etc) but also very old family photos, documents and letters, etc. Problem is she does not have the space in their current home (and hope they can move to larger home one day..)- or even take over our very old house here and keep everything there. We have a very large property, but in a very cheap area compared to UK, especially Surrey where she lives! In the meantime, keeping all the stuff is not a problem as we ahve the space.

Well if I gave OH half a chance he would be off back up to his native Yorkshire, but our compromise solution would more likely be the New Forest, near where we used to live and where he can go back to spending days finding mushrooms!
I keep telling him that northerly winds would be worse for the arthritis.

Ahaha he is a wild mushroom fan like me (I learnt all about wild mushrooms with dad as a small kid).

Arthritis and all that- and distance from daughter- which is why I mentioned Stansted/Cambridge/Wellingborough area for quick access to M11 and Kent (off peak) and good trains to London and Ashford and good airport links.

We actually have a flat a bit further north in Market Harborough, and we just love this little market town- with very fast and frequent trains to St Pancras and then the EuroStar (and Ashford Kent). Property is very reasonable there compared to Kent- lovely villages and rolling hills + plenty of mushrooms (parasols, bluelegs, bluewitts, ink caps, horse and St Georges mushrooms and many more - sorry no morels or ceps).

Hi Mamie have you had any interest in your house from buyers yet?Have you thought about advertising your house in the UK, as lots of people here do buy houses in France, and may prefer to deal with British people who are selling?

A lovely friend of mine has lived in france for 20 years, on the border between the Loire Atlantique and la Vendee. Her son married a french girl and her brother moved out as well and they all live only a few miles from her - but she was still torn as to whether she should return here as she still has family she misses and she is finding the journey over harder each year. She is a good bit older than me, in her mid 70s. She put her house up for sale five years ago - nothing. One viewer in all that time, and her house is lovely. We went to stay with her a year later and my husband did odd jobs while my son and I tackled her garden to make it a bit smarter. My OH suggested that she should divide the house and garden in half. She had plans drawn up and worked out that it was afordable, and the estate agent confirmed that it would be far more sense financially, in fact she would make far more money per house if she were to sell it as two separate dwellings. She went ahead with the work and the new house she created sold straight away - in fact there was a waiting list as soon as the plan was announced. We went to stay with her again last summer and she still has enough bedrooms to put us all up, her kitchen is vast, she has an enormous sitting-room and atelier, although she had to halve her beloved conservatory. Still plenty of parking and garden, but at least she now knows that if she should choose to move, next time her house will sell far more easily. It was simply too big for any locals to want it before. She also has the added bonus of a lovely french family living next door, so company if she wants it.