By the time you read this, we will be packing up and moving for the second time in 6 months. At the start of this year, we planned to uproot ourselves from the Cotswolds, after 18 happy years. We would leave dear friends, familiar faces and everything we knew to move to a county we had been to twice.
Andy would move his job to Shrewsbury.
We would rent somewhere for a few months.
We would buy our first (and last) house with a nice garden, character, peace and quiet.
All before Christmas.
We did it.
We did it.
It has been a long and stony road. There have been times when we have literally clung to each other and wondered if we had made the biggest mistake of our lives. We have been stressed, depressed, isolated and torn. We somehow worked through it - and two months ago we found our 'forever home'. At a price we could just afford and in the area we wanted.
Today we finally get the keys to our very own cottage; it's taken 21 years of our saving, hoping and dreaming. It's a small, plain cottage, but to us it is beyond beautiful. For the first time in my life, I feel as if I can finally stop running.
67 comments:
That's brilliant news. Hope all goes well with the move.
Hugs,
A x
What a blessing that is!! Post pictures when you can!
Oh I'm beyond happy for you! I know you probably don't want to say where on the Internet, but I'm from Wem originally and lived in Prees Wood, worked in Market Drayton....so can't help being curious! Anyway, happy moving, hope all goes well!
I'm beyond happy for you! And as I grew up in wem also very curious as to where you are! Anyway, happy moving, hope all goes well. Here's to many many happy years in your cottage!
Wonderful news! I hardly dared ask. Wishing you every happiness in your forever home. x
enjoy that huge breath out dear Gretel,
wishing you so much happiness in this new chapter of your life
x
I love Shropshire, especially Bishops Castle. If I moved back to the UK it would be my choice.
I hope you have many happy years there. House looks very fine indeed.
Congratulations!
That is such wonderful news and I
am so happy for you and Andy!
Good luck with moving in and am looking forward to seeing photos of your home and surroundings!
Best wishes!
I'm all weepy now! it is the MOST BEAUTIFUL cottage. Congratulations and good work too.
yey! Wishing you many happy years in your new nest! :)
Much happiness in your new abode!
I'm super pleased for you. Well done.
Jean x
Very best wishes for life in your new home, hope you'll be very happy .
Very best wishes for life in your new home, hope you'll be very happy .
Dearest Gretel,
I have tears in my eyes and huge sighs of gratefulness coming out. I cannot tell you how very happy I am for you both. This news will make my day, week, and beyond. Oh, the joy!
Your devoted readers wait in anticipation for some photos of your Forever Home.
Loads of love and warm congratulations, E.
Oh Gretel! Congratulations :) Your work reflects the beautiful soul within you...and your wonderful new surroundings can only inspire you further.
My very best wishes to you and Andy.
How wonderful for you two. I understand about wanting a forever home. I cannot wait to see pictures of it. How exciting and you deserve to have a magical place. You might think it plain but I bet it's lovely! Homes mostly are. Congrats!
Oh, Happy, Happy Day! Congratulations on all of your resolution and persistance!
Enjoy!
Congratulations, can't wait to see pictures.
Fantastic news Gretel - best wishes to you both - x Jo
I'm so pleased for you Gretel. It won't be plain for long, you will soon make it into a lovely home!
What wonderful news! Congratulations on having the bravery to reach out to look for your forever home, and hooray that you found it! All of us who follow your adventures wish you and Andy the very best in your new home. May you have the space you need to create your art, and comfort to settle in when you have time for ease. That's wonderful! Is there room for a garden?
Since I can't be there, here are three virtual gifts: Bread so that your home may never know hunger. Salt so that life may always have flavor, and wine that joy and prosperity may reign forever.
Pictures! Pictures! We need to see the new home.
So pleased for you .... now relax..!
Enjoy descovering your new home.
Vicky x
Welcome home Ms Parker. May your hearth be warm, your cupboard stocked and your cup overflowing (but not on the nice felted rug!).
After 20+ moves in my lifetime, some within cities, interstate and overseas I wish I had some moving tips I could offer Gretel, but I was pretty pants at the whole affair, so will wish you all the best with this final move.
Sooooo happy you have found your 'forever home', wishing you many years of happiness within these walls and hope there is room for all your belongings.
All the best to Andy in his job as well......
Claire x
Congratulations.. i'm happy for you. And you must indeed be relieved and in need of a 'rest' of sorts. It's beyond wonderful when dreams come true! :)
Hurray!!!
Gretel - this is wonderful news! Welcome home (at last) :)
Shona
x
Congratulations! Looking forward to lots of pictures now!
Hooray!
Looks absolutely right for you both nd wish you every happiness in your new home.
Christy
Best wishes in your new home. I look forward to hearing all about it!
How perfectly wonderful!!!!!
So, so happy for you!
xo,
p
Congratulations to your new very own home!!! I can relate to the whole thing of leaving everyone behind and moving a lot (lived in over 11 places in 25 years)... But its also exciting and wonderful all in one, you now have that dream place to make to your very own home... my question is, what will your studio be like : )
Huge congratulations and I hope you'll be very happy in your new home.
Love to you two! I promise you an e-mail tomorrow.
xo
Welcome home, my friend. I can't wait to see photos of this place! I'm sure it is dreamy. :)
The best part of all of this is not have to move again for a very, very long time.
Congratulations, Gretel, on moving into your new home, may you and Andy have many, many happy years in your cottage.
Sooo exciting and to have your first Christmas in your very own house! xxx
Gretel that is such fantastic news, huge congratulations to you and Andy, may you be snug, happy and warm in your new abode!
Vikki x
Hoping my earlier comment didn't look like spam, Gretel!
Huge congratulations to you and Andy. It really is fabulous to see your dreams coming true. Persistence, patience, hard work, flexibility...all coming together.
xxx ooo
I am rather a lurker around here but I wanted to say a huge congratulations. I have been hoping that the next mention of a house would be one of your very own. Very excited for you!
I can't imagine how great it must feel to finally stop running, one say I hope to achieve the same, you have given me hope.
I am so happy for you Gretel!!! What a wonderful reward, after all the stress and hardship. There is nothing like having your own HOME SWEET HOME. Once you find it, you never look back, you never leave. I found mine 22 years ago. Here is a toast to you and Andy, may you spend the rest of your days in comfort and happiness in your cozy cottage!
Congratulations! Having one's own house is an amazing gift!
Fantastic news - well done!
There's nothing like your own place and I'm quite certain that you'll soon put your own mark on it.
Congratulations.
Johnson
I hope you are both very happy there. You have come to a wonderful part of the world to put down roots.
It's yours. It is yours.
I'm so glad for you. So why am I teary?
All the best to you and Andy.
I am so, so delighted for you!! I wish you every happiness in this next chapter of your life.
You must be beyond happy! COngratulations on the house/new home.
What wonderful news. I'm so pleased for you both. I wish you very many years of happiness in your new home.
jane
Good for you! congrats and i hope it will be pleasure to live there! :)
Congratulations. If your move has been difficult it will all be worth it. Sarah
So very excited for you~ dreams come true :)
I am so glad it all worked out. Such a bold move that not many would have the courage to do. I.would love to move into a more rural location instead of a housing estate in the middle of Cheltenham, but practicality means we stay were we are.
Congratulations! How wonderful to have a home of your very own! (and if that is it in the photo, so lovely!!!)
Dear Gretel, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
I'm with you in my thoughts! Hope the weather is with you, too!:)
Sorry, I'm very busy to write more now - if everything's O.K. you'll understand soon why.
woooooohooooooooo!!!! I'm so happy for you and Andy Gretel!
and ,....the countryside looks lovely .....I hope your road is paved smooth as glass from here on ...
Good luck! I hope you find your "dream come true" in your "forever home"
Congratulations! I am so happy for you, Gretel. As you so poignantly put it, you've worked and hoped so very hard for this. Homeownership can be a challenge but it is also full of joy, independence, solitude, and stability most of all. I hope you have a wonderful time tasting all of those joys over the coming months.
Blessings on your new home, and congratulations too! Such happy news, and isn't it a fantastic feeling to walk in and close the door and say "We're home".
I'm so happy for you, it's been long deserved. From the picture it looks full of charm and waiting patiently there to be loved by you for many years to come. I wish you all the happiness there and look forward to seeing your new life evolving. :)
Jess xx
That gave me a tear in my eye. Just think of all the little characters who will be 'bron ' in that cottage. Best wishes for your future
Sorry 'born'
Yay! You did it! I'm soooo pleased for you! Like us, you had the vision but no cash....we went for it and so have you. You won't regret it, ever. We never have. Still skint, tho! LOL!
impressive to me!
Am so delighted and excited for you. Been waiting for you to post this so I can say "congratulations" and may you have many many years of happiness and bliss in your home.
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That's fantastic - so pleased for you both! You must be over the moon!
Bravo for taking the plunge. My husband and I did the same thing nearly 20 years ago and it has been one of the best things I've ever done. As you say, making that leap of faith is so stressful, scary and just AGGHHHH !!!! But on the other side...what bliss !! From one cottage dwelling dreamer to another. BRAVO !! And house blessings aplenty xx
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