I was telling one of the carers about the history of this house when my mother butted in.
"Did this use to be a farm?" she asked.
I was a little taken aback. She's only lived here for fifty years.
"It's your home," I said, hoping to job a memory or two.
"I wonder what happened to the farm," she said.
"You turned it into a garden." I said.
She turned her head away- and said, "I suppose so..."
And we dropped the subject.
There are various reasons why we've stayed here so long. One is inertia, another is it's fun to play Lord of the Manor and a third is not wanting to move my mother away from a place she loves, but if she no longer has any idea of where she is- and she lost all sense of the geography of the building a while back- the third reason no no longer exists.
And living here is inconvenient- and expensive.
So once again we're looking to move.
Earlier we had it in mind to go to the seaside, but the seaside is full of old people and much of the south coast is going to be underwater in a few years if predictions relating to rising sea levels are true- so now we're looking to Rochester.
Rochester is our favourite town- and it may not have the sea but it has a river and it's not full of old people- and housing is still relatively inexpensive. It's historic but not on the tourist routes...and why should one need reasons anyway. We like the vibe.
This house, the farm- is a wreck. It needs rewiring, it needs the roof repairing, it needs double glazing, it needs all sorts- and that will be reflected in the asking price. On the plus side it's in a sort after area- a downright plutocratic area- and it comes with a lot of land.
So, we will be putting things in motion....
"Did this use to be a farm?" she asked.
I was a little taken aback. She's only lived here for fifty years.
"It's your home," I said, hoping to job a memory or two.
"I wonder what happened to the farm," she said.
"You turned it into a garden." I said.
She turned her head away- and said, "I suppose so..."
And we dropped the subject.
There are various reasons why we've stayed here so long. One is inertia, another is it's fun to play Lord of the Manor and a third is not wanting to move my mother away from a place she loves, but if she no longer has any idea of where she is- and she lost all sense of the geography of the building a while back- the third reason no no longer exists.
And living here is inconvenient- and expensive.
So once again we're looking to move.
Earlier we had it in mind to go to the seaside, but the seaside is full of old people and much of the south coast is going to be underwater in a few years if predictions relating to rising sea levels are true- so now we're looking to Rochester.
Rochester is our favourite town- and it may not have the sea but it has a river and it's not full of old people- and housing is still relatively inexpensive. It's historic but not on the tourist routes...and why should one need reasons anyway. We like the vibe.
This house, the farm- is a wreck. It needs rewiring, it needs the roof repairing, it needs double glazing, it needs all sorts- and that will be reflected in the asking price. On the plus side it's in a sort after area- a downright plutocratic area- and it comes with a lot of land.
So, we will be putting things in motion....