Cottage or Castle... Wales or West Country?

Here we are in 2017, the year of change.

Whilst winter was so long and rather cold, not a lot of things got done. The reliable antidote to the cold: Glühwein (mulled wine) - not sure if the Iphone picture shows the cups steaming content.

The househunting ground seems to be small then and the area on the virtual map gets extended in desperate search of THE forever home. All is in limbo since January. Everyday's news start either with the capital T or the capital B or regional political corruption or threat of the nuclear power stations or ... bird flu.
Suddenly, a phone call. Then a friend's visit. And it all seems as if the sky breaks up and the sun shines brightly down on us, just on our little spot. The phone call triggers an avalanche of exciting events and marks the starting shot. Everything is happening at once. A totally unexpected  e-mail on top of that gives us the sure indication: this is another sign! Now this will be our year of leaving! Nothing ties us anymore, The road is clear ahead.

So far, last autumn, we had visited 2 houses on the Welsh border. The first one, in pouring rain (very useful to see a house when it pours down, you see clearly the defaults 😀).
The second house however, left us in awe. The house so cosy, the flow perfect, the kitchen and utility just like what we are used to, the many rooms bright, every box could be ticked.

Those made us arriving late to our viewing appointment

Outside, the walled garden. To dream of, enough acreage for to start an orchard, a barn for all the vintage cars, a stream with fishing rights.... However, after careful analysis, it turned out that there is only Air Ambulance coverage, no hospital very near and the stream too close for our taste - having seen the devastating forces of water in last June here.
















When we visited Wales in November, it became very obvious that we both are totally in love with. However, there are many very secluded and lonely places in Wales and that would certainly not be our cup of tea now. Suddenly, the possibility of being close to the sea became an option. So there was another add-on to the wishlist.
Hence, one goes with the finger on the map along the coastline, after all, the UK is an island and has plenty of coastline. The prospective of ending up in a milder climate is enticing.

We have been so often in the West Country, traveled the coast of Dorset, went through Devon and spent several times in Cornwall. Beautiful area, a great place for holidays. When we went to Dunster and Minehead, I could not imagine us living there. There are steam railways. National parks. A lot of coastline to look at. Some places are just too dear and out of our scope. As it is an attractive place for holiday makers, the idea of a holiday let could be envisaged. Oh dear, here we are, another item on the list.

That remembers me our mutual list we wrote many moons ago, when we were still a part but had the deep desire and eventually the outlook of sharing a home together. Most conversations were held via e-mail (still called 'cc mail' at that moment). My wishlist had three items:
A kitchen big enough to dine in
A bathroom with a window
Roses round the entrance door.

EG's list was long of one and a half pages. I don't remember all of it but it certainly started with
A cellar
A stream
A large garden
Many garages/outbuildings for the vintage cars (I did not know then how many or what they looked like)
A fireplace or a provision to build one
(at one point, there was also a mention about  'a decent bed' as I had only a matrass on the floor)

By buying this place here, we could tick all the boxes or were able to do so after a while.

But back to today. In general, Wales offers more acreage for the money. When we re-visited last November we were somewhat surprised how mild it was close to the Irish Sea. The possibility to find our forever home over there seems more likely. The possibility to realise all wishes and even more seems affordable over there.
Especially since EG had a viewing on a house this last Wednesday. He happened to have several good reasons to travel up North and I suggested that he made the wee detour in order to inspect the place...

My wind turbine *tick*
His dream for self sufficiency *tick*
Close to the sea *tick*
As spaceous as here *tick*
Easy maintenance *tick*
Close to amenities and hospital *tick*
Space for some odd cars *tick* (tough negotiations will be ahead of  who might come)

So far, so good. But I haven't seen it yet. I wait impatiently for EG to come home, which might be Sunday night and then we will be in high need of a house sitter for the next journey across the channel.