04

I thought I would have to put off my proposed move to France when one of my cats became ill, he was diagnosed with FIV which is the feline equivalent to HIV. I have seven cats, so the other 6 had to be blood tested to see if they had it too, fortunately, all 6 tested negative, so it is a mystery where Sopi (the infected cat) got if from, it only comes from other infected cats, so he must have had a 'set to' with one at sometime.

He has been very poorly, and had to have an operation, but now he seems a lot better, but I am watching him so closely, I'm scared he will become ill again. He is having all sorts of treats, in fact, he is better fed than I am.

As I said I thought this would mean I couldn't take him abroad with me, and had this been the case, I just wouldn't have gone, but it has been checked out with the French authorities, and he can go ! what a relief.

In my efforts to clear stuff out of the way, today I have given away over 30 potted current bushes, i.e. blackcurrent, redcurrent and whitecurrent, together with a dozen or so raspberries and 20 strawberry plants. I have potted trees and loads more plants to find a home for, I don't like to just leave them in case the next 'tenants' don't look after them properly.

I have found an animal transporter company who will take all my creatures over the channel for me, that is a relief.

I've also been finding out about French taxes and house buying procedures, it's going to be quite a steep learning curve, but I know it will be worth it.

In UK it was announced this week that petrol (gasolene) will go up to £5 per gallon, I think that's about $11. It's so expensive to live here.

I have had many an inner turmoil about moving, not least because I will be leaving my grown up family and grandchildren behind, but I have to be practical and realistic, they are living their own lives now, and only really want me around to baby-sit. They have said they will come over to France for holidays anyway, and I believe I will have more quality time with them than I have now.

I've had many sleepless and tearful nights trying to come to a decision but it is only a hop over the channel after all. I feel I must go and buy myself a home over there, I can't afford anything here. The cheapest reasonable properties now in UK are about £190,00 about $400,00, and that's for nothing really special, it's just getting so ridiculous.

Next week I hope to book the flight over for my 'property finding' trip.