Country House

I have finally done it!  I have put my house on the market.  I have agreed the agency fee at a very competitive rate with Andrews Estate Agent who are very confident of obtaining the asking price.  Yes my house will be put up for sell on Christmas Day!  Apparently Christmas Day has the largest volume of internet traffic of any day in the year.

So I have committed now.  Not quite reached the point of no return but this is a major step forward.  The thought of moving feels both exciting and sad.  Exciting because hopefully I can make a new start.  But very sad as we will be leaving our home.  Caroline, the kids and me have so many great memories of the house.  I fell in love with the house the moment I viewed it.  It just had such a great feeling about it with a great garden overlooked by trees and fields. 

Over the years we have had so many parties, celebrations and barbeques with family and friends.  We were lucky enough to have a hot tub in the garden.  Being able to chill in the tub to the early hours or just submerge ourselves on Christmas Day was just so thrilling.  During quieter times sitting in the garden on a sunny summer evening sipping a cool drink just listening to the birds.  For me and Caroline the house was our sanctuary where we could relax after both having a long week.  It was also the house where our kids grew up.  All their friends live in the village and surrounding area.

Situated just outside Bristol in a lovely English village with good pubs.  Idyllic for a townie like me as Bristol was just down the road, well the M32.  My best mate Richard commented the other day “he loved coming to our home as it was one of the few places he felt at home [outside of his own home]…”   Basically our family home has always been a “happy place”. 

So now is the time.  The real fun starts this weekend.  The house has to look ship shape and Bristol fashion by the time the photographer turns up on Tuesday.  The kids are under strict orders to help me start packing away the stuff we have hoarded over the years.  I hope we get further than Joe with his pitiful effort in the summer.  The Christmas break will be used to getting ready to move.

The tidying will have to be squeezed around Christmas shopping.  I am so far behind in my Christmas shopping.  All around me Christmas is well under way.  People doing their Christmas shopping, celebrating, trees and streets decorated, lights illuminating homes.  I have not really got into the swing or mood of Christmas yet.  At the moment I feel as though I have gate crashed someone else’s party where its all kicking off and I am stood in the corner with a can of shandy bass.  I guess there is just too many things going on in my life at the moment: Georgina’s 21^st birthday; working really hard; dad having a triple heart bypass operation (he’s home now) and a general feeling of lethargy about Christmas.  Time to kick my backside into action and get with it.

So Christmas Day when you’ve eaten your turkey, Christmas pudding and slumped in the chair and your mind turns to moving to your new home then just click onto Rightmove.  I definitely will be.  I need to find somewhere to live.