A day full of events...
After Himself had finished shopping for my father, which also included restocking his fridge, examining a faulty telephone handset, checking out the plumber's work on fixing the loo and deciding how to neaten the finish he'd left, and collecting a biggish box of photographs 'which you might enjoy looking through'
there was just time to have a drink, put a few things in our own fridge and set off to meet some friend at a cafe on the seafront (about 40 mins away).
There was a brisk breeze blowing, but bright sun took some of the chill off, hat, scarves, gloves and thick trousers and jackets helping as well. It was very enjoyable sitting out, and also gave Himself and opportunity to scope out wheelchair access and the condition of the seafront path - both good enough to bring my father on the best sunny day.
Home, for a late lunch of fish and chips (supermarket, not chippy).
I settled down to a bit of book cover sewing. The final patched are pinned into place, and a couple of mistakes have been oversown to fix them
It looks a bit of a riot at the moment, and I photographed it draped over my lap so it's not showing its best. We shall see.
Then a surprise phone call... a good friend of a good friend died recently after being under the weather since November and then progressively more ill until her final few weeks in our local hospice. Her bungalow is in our road... we had said, as you do (or maybe you don't?) that her bungalow 'might be the sort of place that we could want in the future' as I am finding stairs increasingly demanding. I'm OK for now, but you don't need a crystal ball to see how things are was going.
Anyway, our friend had permission to show us round... it is the sort of place that would suit us very well indeed... suddenly thoughts begin to become more solid... and the amount of work to downsize from 3 bed house to 2 bed bungalow takes on a slice of reality... We even measured a wall...
We came home from this with our heads spinning...
When we returned from France 12 years ago, we knew we would buy a bungalow. What we didnt realise was how few there were, and the ones we did look at weren't suitable for all sorts of reasons. The estate agent called us the day before we were due to go home, and told us that a bungalow had just come on the market, so we rushed over, realised we could see through the anaglypta wallpaper/brown carpets/brown kitchen etc, and bought it on the spot! It was a downsize to 2 bedrooms, but in fact it has worked amazingly well. Our 'young' all have their own houses so dont need anywhere to stay, and now that I am on my own it isnt too big for me. So....go for it!
ReplyDeleteThis one even has space for the piano.... scary!
DeleteI wish you good luck in downsizing. We have bitten the bullet and decided to put our 4 bed detached home up for sale. Too many rooms and a biggish garden and I'm getting progressively creakier joint wise so it makes sense to sell up whilst we are still relatively mobile. Just us and a cat rattling round, so hoping to move nearer to daughter. Take care. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you. My parents downsized progressively over several decades from massive 7 bedrooms via 3 bedrooms to town house to 2 bedroom flat. One of the best presents they could ever give their children.
DeleteGreat idea - as they say, do it when you can, not when you must (or something like that). What good fortune to have something come up so close.
ReplyDeleteThank you. We've been saying for years (in our 'sensible voices') that we should move while we are still active - and now it all seems to be happening at once!
DeleteThinking of you as you face this big decision. Praying for wisdom. Like E. above, the one we found was the "unexpected" one on the agent's list - but we knew it was right, back then. I think that the location and "room for a piano" are two important plus points [and no "upwards chain"] 🙏♥️😊
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm still feeling very 'quivery' about the whole suddeness.
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