When Your House Stops Feeling Like Home

When I moved to Shropshire from our home down south eleven years ago, I thought I'd be settled for life.  I loved the idea of living in the country and raising my family in a rural environment.  I had visions of country walks,  coffee in quaint cafes and fresh country air to breathe.

The reality has never really matched up to this fantasy.  Don't get me wrong, it was the best decision I ever made to leave my flat and my drug dealing neighbours, but I've always felt like a city girl in a country setting, and that feeling has been growing.  When I first moved here, it was quite a thriving little market town, but slowly the shops have closed making the high street a depressing collection of charity shops, bargain shops, kebab take aways and not much more.  I had a favourite canalside shop and cafe which was a lovely place to spend a few hours.  It closed down a few years ago like most of the other places I liked around here.  Even the local branch of my bank shut down meaning my nearest one is miles away.  There is a weekly market which is very well attended but I can't stand it!  Stalls selling clothes, books and fruit and veg that are all open to the elements and have seen better days, really don't do it for me.  I like nice, big shiny shops with fabulous displays that sell beautiful things.  I like a wide choice of eateries and coffee shops.  I like art galleries, museums and parks.

The nearest shopping centre is 20 miles away, and it isn't that great. Many shops stand empty and a lot of the stores I love at the Bullring or the Trafford Centre are not found in Telford.  We have to travel 50+ miles for any serious shopping!

My dream of having lovely, long walks in the countryside have also not come to fruition. Any land around here is used for farming, and although there are some pedestrian routes across fields, that isn't the kind of walking I want to do with the children.  I like woodland walks with safe pathways for the kids to cycle, a field to kick around a ball and a cafe by the car park!

The fresh country air turns out to be a disappointment too.  The smell of the fertilizer that the farmer spreads on the fields smells like a combination of fish and vomit.  It's acrid!  If the winds in a certain direction, all you can smell is cow manure.  It's like a thick, green cloud of stench descends over the town.  I'm not cut out for this agricultural living!!

There is also the fact that my children can't just pop to the cinema or to a concert.  The nearest cinema is about 15 miles away and  there is no bus to get them there.  In fact the bus service from here is abysmal, with more routes being cut all the time.  The nearest train station is 40 minutes away so they can't even get to the major towns without our parental taxi service.  The opportunities are limited to hanging around parks or going to sleepovers with bottles of WKD to add to the entertainment.  I want my children to be able to see the latest films, see top bands, go to the theatre and have access to ice skating, bowling and bustling shopping centres.  We're not even in a Domino's Pizza delivery zone here!

So, we've made the decision.  It's time to go.  Megan is graduating this year and intends to head down south to do an internship or graduate scheme in London (fingers crossed).  Ian already commutes 50 miles into Birmingham everyday for work, so it wouldn't make any difference to his job if we moved a similar distance South of Birmingham.  Joe already lives in Northampton, so that seems like a good starting point for us to look at relocating.  There are some places around there for us to look at.

I'd love to be closer to a big town or city.  I'd love easy access to public transport meaning I could whisk myself into London when I'm invited to events!   My children would have every opportunity to live the life they deserve with a degree of independence.

I'm under no illusion that it will be easy to sell my house, although it is a lovely four bedroomed detached house with an amazing ensuite bathroom in a nice quiet, cul-de-sac.  It's not that I don't like my house, it's just I don't want to be here anymore.  A fresh start sounds really attractive.  I've never really made many friends here and I spend every day sat at home with Freddy waiting for the afternoon school run. Not that I'm complaining too much...it is a great opportunity to do my blogging!  I'd love to be a lady that lunches with a circle of  friends when Fred starts nursery, and it isn't ever going to happen here.

So, we're throwing our future into the hands of the Gods.  If we sell, we move.  If not, we'll carry on making the best of what we've got....and putting plenty of miles on the car to give the kids the life I want them to have.

The Gallery...Home

Home is the subject of this week's Gallery.   I have chosen to remember my childhood home.  I lived there all my life, my parents didn't move until we had all left home.  It was a too-small two bedroomed semi-detached with five of us squeezed into it.  My parents slept in what would have been our dining room, leaving one small living room for us all to sit in, eat in, watch TV in and play in.  It was next door to a haulage contractors and on the Heathrow flightpath.  It wasn't the easiest of houses to live in but we made memories there.  We had fabulous next door neighbours and a garden which we could run riot in.  The bottom of the garden was an overgrown wasteland but it was where we made mud pies, built camps and let off steam.

The bottom of our garden.

As a young child our house had views of Windsor Castle and was surrounded by horses' fields and trees.  As time progressed everything green was turned into new housing estates.  Our views were replaced with row upon row of identical houses. 

Early days in Slough.

A few years ago we returned to Slough, and went on a nostalgia drive around our old haunts.  My childhood home was all boarded up and due to be demolished.  In a flash I remembered the things that would be forever lost.  The pet graveyard where our animals had been buried, the trees that were planted by my sister in the "plant a tree in '73" campaign, the apple trees which we used to harvest every year, the rickety old fence that my dad set fire to one bonfire night, the huge nut tree that blocked the light into our living room and the concrete yard where I learned to roller skate.  All gone forever.  

A development of flats now stands where my childhood home used to be.  The whole street has been transformed into homes for hundreds of flat dwellers, replacing the row of mix and match semis and detached homes from my childhood.  

My home on the left.

The bricks and mortar are no more, but the memories remain.  

I've Got a Harveys Sofa

I'm Reporting On A Sofa From Harveys The Furniture Store

After my amazing adventure as a Harveys' Corrie Blogger at the Ideal Home Show, I was incredibly honoured to be given the opportunity to do some more work with Harveys as a Furniture Tester!

I was offered use of an ex-display Clarissa Sofa that was used at the show to test Inside the Wendy House.  (We had no say in the design, make, model or colour but luckily Harveys shared my taste and the sofa we received was not a luminous green PVC one as I feared it could be!)

I was very impressed with the customer service leading up to the delivery today.  We were allocated a 3 hour delivery slot which was texted to us.  Prior to the lorry arriving we were given a call from the delivery men so we were ready for them.

I loved the Coronation Street sign on the side reminding us that Harveys are their proud sponsor!!

The two delivery guys were great.  They used matting to protect my laminate flooring and put the sofa exactly where we wanted it.  They unwrapped it and took away the rubbish.  We were given a few care tips too, which was very thoughtful.  As it was an ex-display model it already had the feet on it so needed no construction.

Ian tested out the comfort factor and gave it a huge thumbs up!!  He is 6ft 1" so you can see what a good size the sofa is. It is a modern, casual design with a soft-to-the-touch fabric that invites you to sink in and relax. It is luxurious!

• Sofa bed option available
• British manufacturer
• Removable high quality seat cushions
• Dowelled, screwed, glued and stapled frame for long lasting support
• Foam and rolled card fibre seat filling for durability
• 4 colour options available
• Sprung seat suspension

• Available in 5 weeks (approx)
• Delivered assembled

Our sofa is available in russet, black, slate and coffee.  It is available as a two-seater, three-seater , sofa bed, chair and footstool and would be a perfect addition to any room.

Kizzy was very comfy nestled into the sofa.  She said it was "very soft!"   We are going to enjoy testing it out to see how it fares up to daily use.  I will make sure I relax in it regularly....all in the name of my duty as a Harveys Furniture Tester of course!

Clarissa Two-Seater Sofa