04

'The move' has been on the cards for a while now, well actually on and off the cards, I just couldn't make up my mind if it was the right thing to do, you see, I'm not only moving house, I'm moving country too !

Finding myself alone in life a 'certain age' has brought mixed blessings, the relationship had gone down hill for a few years and was 'hanging on by a thread', so when the end came it was a great relief but brought with it loads of problems for me to sort out, not least, financial ones.

I like 'doing my own thing' now, not being answerable to anyone, just my animals to care for in the beautiful English countryside, the trouble is the beautiful English countryside is becoming impossibly expensive to live in. I rent a farmhouse with one acre for my sheep and goats, and it is taking all my money with nothing to show for it, so I decided to leave and buy a property with land in France while I still have enough cash left.

Quite a decision, anyone that knows me thinks I'm totally mad, but I feel 'free' for the first time in my life, it is my decision, and it has not been an easy one, I have grown up children and grandchildren, and have spent many, many nights crying, trying to decide what to do, you see, if I stay here, my money is going to run out very soon and I will end up in a small, probably dirty flat in a 'not very pleasant' part of the little town I live close too. I didn't want that, I couldn't cope without my animals, so the decision was taken, and I feel like a load has been lifted from my mind, I feel so good about it, I know it is the right thing to do.

There are opportunities to earn a living in France too, I'm afraid UK now seems more geared to 'keeping people down', than helping them, the red tape, restrictions, planning rules and beaurocracy is impossible to live with, (unless you are an illegal immigrant of course and come into the country in the back of a lorry through the channel tunnel, then you get all sorts of benefits thrown at you ! -but I'd better not get political).

So I'm taking the first steps now, i.e. researching, and there's a lot to do, I have also picked out a couple of areas I like, one is the Limousin, it's very rural and quiet and the others are Brittany and Normandy, they are very nice and rural too, but the drawback with those is that the climate is almost the same as southern England, and I feel I would like a little warmth to retire too, I've had enough rain and damp in this country.

Next I'm taking boxes and boxes of 'stuff' from the house to be sold on behalf of animal charities, it's helping the animals and clearing the house at the same time, I have to be brutally strict with myself and get rid of as much as possible, I'm a natural hoarder, so it's not going to be easy, and you can bet that each time I throw something out, I will find a need for it the very next day.

Oh yes, the main thing to do is - Learn French