Following the dream – the beginning
Uncategorized | May 16, 2017
‘This train is formed of 10 carriages. Next stop Waterloo. Mind the gap!’ Day after day. There had to be something different. ‘Lets run a guest house’ I said. ‘By the sea’ I said. We can do that, we know what we like in a nice guest house or hotel so let’s get out there and make it happen.
That was the plan about 4 years ago. The ideal time being when Chloe (our 11 year old daughter) started secondary school in September 2017. At the time it felt like a life-time away (it was) and felt like a dream on the horizon that would never materialise. Then before we knew it we were fast approaching Chloe’s last year at juniors. Time to test the water and see if our house would sell. Step 1 – sell the house and move into rented accommodation in the village.
We enthusiastically started to look for our new home and business. Where should we go? Anywhere from Sussex through to Devon but definitely by the sea. In February we did our first road trip to Torbay. It rained; hard and constant. [Be prepared weather plays a key part in my blogs.] Andy wondered why on earth we were looking to move somewhere so wet, but please Devon in February, what do you expect? Still the positive about February is the guest houses are quiet and we had the chance to have a good look round, five of them in fact. We discovered Babbacombe – beautiful even in the rain.
One thing we soon learnt is although money may be spent on the guest areas, that isn’t always reflected in the private areas; so much clutter behind the scenes. Dark and dingy, nothing like my beautifully decorated 4 bedroom, 3 story house. But property is a good price in this area. Imagine having a house with 12 bedrooms for £500,000! But how do we buy it? We had a lot to learn.
May proved to be sunny, which on a return trip to Torquay put a whole new perspective on the area, Andy quite liked it now. Three more properties down, firing up our excitement and enthusiasm but one important factor not considered. Step one wasn’t that easy and not really the right time and fate was playing its hand.
My lovely Mum had passed away the previous year, aged 91, an amazing lady. Andy’s Mum had also given us cause to worry at this time, fall at home and broken leg; the 3 bedroom house no longer being suitable. She moved into a lovely nursing home and looked forward to our visits. Not an easy journey from the seaside to Basingstoke, so the delay selling our house was for a reason. Someone was watching over us and keeping Andy close at hand for his Mum. Sadly after a few weeks in hospital following a stroke she returned to her home where after a week with Andy by her side, she passed away. Even if we had wanted to up sticks and move away we were firmly kept near to home, near to Dora for her last few days.
That was September last year and after no interest in our house we took it off the market. Plenty of time, lets not rush, but in reality we were fed up with living with the permanent threat of house viewings! Christmas with tinsel, glitter and pine needles came and went and January brought us to the door of Purple Bricks and Cameron – our estate agent. Now the time was right and a lovely family, similar to ours, fell in love with our house and made the offer! Back on track, dream again in sight.
Dedicated to our wonderful Mums
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