All Change..!

Well that was emotional – we just dropped Vince off at his new home. We won’t see him now for weeks – oh no! What’s going on? It’s all change, yet again.

“How can you bring yourselves to leave the big fella all alone for so long?” 

How can we bring ourselves to leave the big fella all alone for so long? I hear you ask.

Well, it seems we’re on the move again… more of which later. 

Sorry it’s been so long since we chatted. Sadly though, there hasn’t been much Vince travel of late. We did have two recent flying visits from Graeme, Sally and wonder-dog Bobbie who we met on our French travels. One visit on the way up to Scotland, and one on their way down. You’ve already met GS&B a few times before too, in the Dordogne, the Pyrenees and in Portugal.

We couldn’t have had any better excuse to fire up Vince’s engine and meet them for a meal and a catch-up at a site in Gatehouse of Fleet about twenty miles from home. They stayed a night on our drive too, and we joined them later at our favourite local harbour. The harbour pub at Isle of Whithorn is also a micro-brewery – what a coincidence! I can heartily recommend the food and Five Kingdoms Ales at The Steampacket Inn! We understand that the Inn’s owners are currently seeking permission to develop their parking into an official motorhome spot. Good on ’em!

Meantime we’re at the end of a very difficult season at Mossyard Caravan Park where I work part-time. Covid-19 has hit the tourism industry hard but the family who own the site have done a magnificent job dealing with multiple cancellations and re-scheduled visits. They’ve introduced a raft of Covid-safe practices so don’t hesitate to book up if you need a quiet break. I’ve just finished two weeks of tidying up autumn leaves, filling in potholes and giving the grass its winter cut. Maybe next season will see life returning to normal – we can only hope.

So what was I banging on about at the start of this post? Well… do you ever idly browse the lovely properties on Rightmove or Zoopla and imagine yourself living in one of those beautiful million pound glass palaces? If only we could afford to. Some weeks ago we’d just visited our daughter’s house in Yorkshire and we were wondering about prices in the area. Enter Rightmove – on a whim we decided to view an apartment in a converted mill in the countryside and that was that. We were hooked!

Six weeks, a second viewing and an appointment with a local estate agent later, it’s all change again as our house in Scotland is sold and we move out next week. Which is a little embarrassing as some of our things are still in boxes from our move up here in 2018! 

We’ve spent a lot of time and cash doing up the house over the last couple of years as it was a bit tired and run-down when we bought it. This seems to have paid off as Gill’s design skills and my (endless) labour have turned it into a really modern, tidy, walk-in condition family home. We should have rung that bloke from Homes Under the Hammer 😀

There’s a mini property bubble going on locally right now as folks re-evaluate their priorities post-lockdown, although I don’t know how it’ll hold up now that England has locked down once again. Our semi-rural life seems to be very much in demand from folks in the big city. We had people come to view the house all the way from Essex, West Sussex, Morecambe, Glasgow, Edinburgh and a few locals too. We thought it might take six months to a year to sell as the market can be very slow up here but it sold in four days eek! 

Our new place doesn’t have any parking for Vince unfortunately, so we’ve had a bit of a panic trying to find somewhere for him to live. With travel abroad being so difficult huge numbers of people are buying into the camper van lifestyle. As a consequence, storage spots are like hens’ teeth! It’s all change for him too as we eventually found a secure location near Harrogate for the time being. It’s not especially convenient as it’s an hour away from our new place but that’s better than leaving the poor fella in Scotland or worse (whisper) selling him. Never! We’re on several waiting lists for places nearer home so hopefully we can move him a bit closer soon.

Apartment life is going to be a dramatic change for us after living in a rural idyll for a couple of years. We thought long and hard about it, but the benefits of being closer to family, and being able to lock-up-and-leave at the drop of a hat are the main advantages.

The other big plus point from a Vince perspective is that we have the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, the Lake District, the North Stamford Moorlands and the Forest of Bowland all within an hour or two’s drive. We can’t wait to get exploring and discovering some of England’s best spots. That’s not to say there won’t be any foreign travels coming up; we’re keeping a close eye on what’s happening in Europe at the moment. We hope to get over there for some sunshine as soon as it’s safe and restrictions are reduced, hopefully in the spring. Meantime we’re keeping in touch with our favourite bloggers at Ourtour who have just parked up in Nerja in Spain for the winter. Check them out if you’re looking for a bit of escapism. Not jealous at all…

So wish us luck! Hopefully next time we chat it should be from t’mill in Yorkshire, and – fingers crossed – we’ll be out the other side of this current lockdown and able to see our loved ones again. Look after yourselves in the meantime 🙂
xxx

Don’t forget, each pic is clickable for an enlarged version 🙂