Back in 2008, we’d been trying to sell NorthHouse for months. Living in a shared house was OK (and cheap) but we needed to start getting on with our Southern life. A friend recommended his area – it was cheap, it was safe, and it came with built in friends. Our first house sale had just fallen through and we needed to feel like we were going something positive, so we went for it.
One of the first flats we visited was this place:
Didn’t look too bad at all from the outside, and once we got in we found the most beautiful newly renovated flat in the area. We’d set off to find something that would do, and instead found this:
Not a difficult decision.
We moved in over a couple of weeks, and moved our NorthHouse clobber out of storage. Sure, it wasn’t ours, but the landlord had done it up to sell it, so it was immaculate. How many rented flats have spa baths and brand new dish washers? Perfect. Exactly the place to start off down here.
Over the last two and a half years, we’ve slowly bedded into the community. We know a few of our neighbours, we know their quirks, but more importantly they know ours and we’re all rubbing along just fine. It’s possibly time to move on, but there’s no rush. After all, it’d have to be somewhere pretty special if we were to consider leaving here.
I’ve even been able to come up with a sort-of substitute for my NorthHouse garden. It’s not much, but it makes me happy.
Life, in fact, is pretty good.