14 June 2013

Our future plans

We intend to make part of the house into a mid-price holiday let, especially to accommodate walkers (the area is thick with footpaths), vegans, people with physical disabilities and people who live in France (which is less than 30 miles away). I intend to replant the orchard with apples, pears, cherries, plums, damsons, greengages, mirabelles, and maybe some figs and persimmons. Some nut trees would be good. There will be substantial vegetable beds, and cages for soft fruit. A principal challenge will be to encourage the rabbits to emigrate (there are six warrens), to discourage the badgers from eating the intended strawberries, to dissuade the wood pigeons and collared doves from snaffling the buds and seedlings, and to re-educate the mole population about where it would be best to dig.

13 June 2013

Soon to be on the move


We shall soon be on the move. We have bought a house between Canterbury and Folkestone. We shall be leaving Durham and moving to Kent in July. I shall have lived in Durham for almost 37 years, so this is a significant move. It will be sad to leave behind the people who have been part of my life for so long. However, it will be exciting to be creating a new life, especially so close to France and to London. 

The promise of multiple trips to Howletts, and a wealth of new places to visit in Kent, in and around London, In northern France, and elsewhere in continental Europe is part of what is pulling us towards this corner of the UK: new horizons beckon.