Country and the Town

3 years ago we made a somewhat impulsive decision to up sticks and move 40 miles further South. At the time we lived in a large, vibrant, bustling but slightly smelly overpopulated town and we had decided that we wanted a change!
So, 6 weeks after putting our house on the market found ourselves heading down the M6 to a "hamlet" in the countryside leaving all friends and family behind and basically replacing one smell with another. No one warned me about the yearly field spraying which absolutely stinks for days and days!

As we followed the removal van down the motorway I had lots of thoughts whirling round in my head along with a copy of Mrs Beetons Guide to Baking, some Cath Kidston tea towels and plans to trade in my subscription to Living etc in favour of Country Living magazine ( i didn't, I just have both now amongst many others)


I was also giving up work and would become a proper country wife and mother and embrace all things outdoors. The idyllic picture in my head never quite materialised as I should have known. The house we bought is accessed up a drive from a main road that is a tad busier than we were led to believe but having fallen for the Sunday afternoons only viewing trick then we had to grin and bear it and hubby much prefers a bit of traffic noise to "people" noise and having to put up with fireworks going off from October to January where we used to live. We moved in the dead of winter and having inherited "septic tanks" and "LPG gas" which turned out to be only marginally less expensive than diamonds then we took to choosing between warmth and food (okay it wasn't that bad but its very expensive!)

I also decided that i must have a 4 x 4 to fit in..... but after 2 years of getting fed up of attempting to get between the white lines in parking spaces rather than spanning them , I have given up and traded in for a little sporty mummy mobile number instead. Although after the bad winter we have just had and the little winding country lanes I have to contend with I do miss the 'D.A.C' and 'T.C' and all those other little buttons with initials on them that I had no idea what they did but they made me feel safer!!

We do pull on our wellingtons and go trekking across the fields from time to time although the local midges and insects that hide out in the long grass have taken a particular liking to my legs and I can sometimes create dot to dot pictures on them if I join up all the bites..... we have shares in anti histamine bite cream nowadays.

I do, however, find that its a much more exciting event to go and visit "big shops" as I became so used to them and took them for granted. I get almost feverishly excited when I enter a Tesco Extra or a Debenhams. We do have shops obviously but they tend to be the small supermarkets that don't really carry any extra stuff or one of the local towns that is great if you are a short sighted, fish owning knitter (an opticians, pet shop and Wool shop) but not so easy to get the latest 'The Killers' CD...... But then it's more of a treat to plan to go to the big Marks and Spencers and waste money on the lovely food they sell.
I have though, found time to learn to crochet and attempt all things crafty but I do miss Borders with the Latte's available in the upstairs Starbucks :-)

It seems funny now when I find myself contemplating getting chicken's or starting a vegetable plot when back in the early 90's all I had to worry about was how high I could backcomb my hair and my plans to go out at 9pm when nowadays I would be worried if I wasn't in bed by that time!



All in all though we do love it here and being a stay at home mum is sometimes just how I hoped it would be although some days I do find myself daydreaming about being back in the office and having a new client file allocated to me with a deadline to meet.... I suppose I will go back to work one day as well but not for now....


Would I move back to the lights and sounds of the "big town" ? No, not at this point in our lives but I would like my children to experience everything the large towns and cities have to offer when they are older. Would I like a huge John Lewis store with attached large Waitrose to be built 5 minutes down the road from where we are now? Most definately :-) Some people are townies, some people have their heart in the country. Me? I want the best of both worlds please, as Hannah Montana would say ;-)
Lesley x

R.I.P Jade Goody