some good news

Fran thats brilliant, I'm realy chuffed for you......

thanks, Lincs: it still hasn't quite sunk in yet. and another fortnight before i can get the keys in my hot little hhand it then it'll be real!

the gardnes have lots of plants already, so I suppose I'll be posting quite a few "what is this?" pictures!

Congratulation, Fran. Wow, that must be great feeling to have own large place to live - large kitchen, roof above the head and garden. Enjoy your autumnal migration ;-)

How lovely,Fran..you will be so happy to have more space,especially to have lots of garden too..no more trying to find places for all your plants..and a shed too ! I'm so happy for you..see you around when you get settled in..I shall look forward to your photo's :o)

Hi Fran .. DELIGHTED for you...
wishing you much happiness :o)))
xxx

Oh Fran what Good News, I couldn't be more delighted for you and look forwards to seeing the photos x

Very pleased for you Fran. It sounds ideal. Take care now.

Happy packing and moving Franl155. 'Hope you are not too stressed with it all.

Its going to be grand Fran, no-one living above throwing their rubbish over will be a bonus on its own....

oh how exciting for you :O) Great news at last your own little plot to play in, hope you will be very very happy and have fantastic times in your new home and garden. :O)

thank you all for your very kind wishes.

I've defaulted to "standard mode" - making lists, lots of lists ... then down to the corner shops to ask them to save the boxes from their next deliveries (only small-isb hoxes, but then, a small-ish box filled iwth books would be quite enough for me to lift and shift!) - once I've cleared my "library" that'll give me space to stack filled boxes.

lol Bloomer, I wouldn't bet on me not tyring to find more space for plants! the gardens looked pretty full, though that might be because they're both rathr overgrown; I'll need to put my plants back on tables till I can see what's actually there, and what it is, and what i want to keep where it is.

One of my gardening books says that, when one takes over an existing garden, one should do nothing to it for a whole year - instesad, one should make daily notes on what time the sun reaches which part of the garden, which parts get how much sun and when, which parts are shaded and how much , , wind direction, when and how strong ... how much rain and when ... how much snow and when... (presumably one gets one's gardener to do all this!)

Not sure I'd be *that* patient! but at least I can put the tables up and stack the plants outside while I'm sorting the inside. - and, with any luck, won't be so many squirrels about!

lol I hope so!! it'll take me a while to find my feet - a whole new history to learn about, and small enough that i can explore (so long as i have my address written down so i can find it again!) . We went on a brief walkabout after seeing the bungalow; some of hte houses and shops have plates saying they were built in the 1700s - some old-time narrow cobbled streets - and hills! well, that will help my fitness regime, or it would if i had one.
We asked someone for directions, and were told that all of Shrewsbury is a one-way area, so I imagine that one would get to see almost the whole town in a single journey!

Its a beautiful area Fran

As to waiting a year, its very good advice, my addition is to take....and date photos of the gardens....And the bungalow right from the start, keep a scrapbook with photos and notes, even at the end of the first year it will be hard to remember what it was like.
Just tidy it up, ask on Goy if you're not sure when to prune but then you will see the framework of the garden, if there are bulbs for example waiting to emerge in spring, you don't want to be digging them up by accident!
Oh it will be such a brilliant adventure and we'll be right along with you xxx

that's great. Good luck in your new home.

Thanks Lijemc

Thanks Pam - I forgot to add taht the advice also said don't pull anything up if it looks dead; it could be very much alive at another time of year.

I've got to "leave it as I found it", so I'd need pics to show how it was at the beginning, then I can fill in any drilled holes in walls etc. There'll be plenty of pics, both inside and out. (this pl;ace is going to look like it's been mugged by termites, all the screw-holes in the walls!)

The agent said that a lot of tenants use a gardener, and I might, at first, just to keep things in check, especially the front hedge, never had one before, and doubt I could even lift a pair of shears for more than a few minutes.

Need to find out what's there before I change anything, and I will want changes: raised beds, for one - but once they're in, they're stuck, so need to be very sure where they're placed.

Oh, and I checked this morning, because I forgot on the visit; I can get water butts fitted, so I will, one for every downpipe. And I was going to get rid of my composter here, not much green to put in, but now I think I'll find stuff to put in it.

I was astounded when we got there - hungalows as far as the eye could see (there are some houses, but not obvious). And no tall,blocks, no looming, looks like complete privacy. And on our brief walkahout, only saw a couple of buildings of more than two stories.

lol you can tell i'm a londoner, can't believe so much sky to see!

Oh Fran, when I saw the title of your blog I began to get so excited - its wonderful and I wish I lived nearer to Shrewsbury to give you a hand! Can't wait for the photos. It will be such a big change for you but you'll love it. And as well as sky and historic buildings there's a lovely big river to enjoy. And only a fortnight to wait - wow!

thanks, Steragram. I think the move will take longer: this time I want to do it right, rather than do it all in one go (took me two years to get my carpet down here because I couldn't get it lifted beforehand to re-lay in the new place before the furniture went in, so that all had to be shifted to get it down later, which took two years to get sorted).

So this time I plan to get all flooring down and cupbaords built and installed first - then I've got something to unpack into!

I don't think I can do any better than this place unless I win the lottery with a double rollover, so this will probably be my last move, so I holly well want to do it proprly even if it takes longer and costs more.

But in a fortnight I should have the keys and can start making measurements - and taking lots of pics and working out a floor(and garden) plan which I'll post before PC gets disconnected for the move.

Thats great to hear and good luck in your new home.

Hi Fran so pleased you have been able to make your mind up so fast and get stuck into the nitty gritty of moving all your stuff up to Shrewsbury. It sounds great there, no high rise places, a different world to where you are now. Best of luck with the move.

Do you have family to help you Fran, its a shame we are spread all over as I for one would have willingly lent a hand even if it was only a case of storing some plants for you, every little helps at times like this, my youngest moved in Oct three years back and I stored anything that wasn't held down for months, lol, although eager to put her own mark on the new garden she was quite patient and it was a real treat to watch all the bulbs and plants emerge through that first year, you will no doubt have some surprises in store.....

It sounds ideal, good luck with the move !

thanks Drc and Dorjac and Paul.

My family's all over the place, Lincs - I nearly said "there's only me" but I have some very good friends - one of them drove me up before, and will again, and will hire a van for the actual move. To cap it all, he's a handyman, so all my DIY is as good as done as well!

I want to get the place absolutely ready before the actual move - of course I've got to leave this place abosultely ready before I hand the keys back, so there'll be a bit of to-ing and fro-ing - but not too much, I can't ask him to do a shuttle service up and down the M1!

The plants will have to be the last on and the first off - they can go back on the tables for now on the concrete bit by the side gate (wow, a side gate!)

Oh my word! Fran! Shrewsbury is a wonderful town! You'll be very happy...oh, what joyful news! Congratulations! :)))

thanks Karen. still can't quite believe it, sure that something will go wrong before I get to actually sign up and get the keys .. it won't, of course, but still- !

Know EXACTLY how you are feeling! Lol!

lol thanks! at least I can be sure it's not just me. (it is, of course)

Nope, it's not just you! I wish I were in Shrewsbury! I'd come and help you get the garden into shape! But I know you'll find some great friends there to help you with lifting etc....

I have some great friends on GoY - one already found the local Age Concern office and sent me the phone number, I'd not thought that far ahead yet!

The letting agent said that several of the residents use a local gardener, and I could too - I might at first, to get the plants in shape and to tell me what's what. And especially to keep the hedge in trim, though I'd rather have an open front garden - more light for the plants that I want to put in, more room to work (and more people to admire it!) and more secure - the booklet on "defensive planting" said to keep the front clear so one can see that no one's lurking.

But once I get settled, it'd be mostly me - or mostly me with the lighter stuff - no point hiring a dog when I like barking myself!

:)) sounds like a good plan Fran......oh no! rhyming again. I never rhyme.....it's weird! :))))

Exciting news Fran!! It's going to be a wonderful adventure! X

oh, I do hope so! another 10 days before i can sign up and get the keys!!

I just spotted the title of your blog and my spirits soared. i am very happy for you. In Scotland we can go into a local library and use the internet free of charge. You will need to check if you can do that too. When you are worn out with all the initial bother of moving you can come on to goy for some R & R. Many long and happy years in your new home.

Thanks for your good wishes, Scotsgran. just been out to the corner shop, and it's quite nippy out, and i thought, I'm moving 200 milesl further north just as winter is coming in ...??!!

The libraries in Tower Hamelts have free intnernet, too, but none of them have disabled adaptations such as large screen or text enlargement software, so I don't use them even when my home PC fell over.

I go to sign up and pick up the keys tomorrow, so I can set about getting a new phone number almost straight away; getting my boradband account changed might take a little longer, will have to check with them on that. lol but of course need my desk rebuilt for the monitor to stand on! i'm using a 42" TV, so it's not exactly a plonk-anywhere laptop.

Oh my that is an enormous screen. Thank you for sharing that with us because I had not realised the practical difficulty associated with your problem. Fingers crossed your good fortune holds and the internet provider can help you set up quickly. it is relaxing to come on goy and see what other members are getting up to.

thanks, Scotsgran. part of my prob is that I don't have any adadpted software that would magnify text onscreen or read it - the good ones cost a mint, and the cheap ones aren't worth it. I had an out of date screen reader-magnifier, and i was told that it would cost £300 just to upgrade - that was about ten years ago so no idea what it might cost now. *s* And i'm using minimal screen resolution and still need 150% zoom online and 24 front in Word.

I went up to Shrewbury by train today and signed up and got the keys - it's now officially MINE!!! Took lots of pics, but didn't get home till 9om and am feeling rather the worse for wear, so will post pics over the weekend. Assuming I wake up before Monday ...

"Congratulation" singing.

Its good to hear you'll have lots of help and support Fran. I think some of us are almost as excited about the move as you are! Looking forward to some photos. Hope you'll be able to get a few bulbs in, even if its just a pot! Must get the priorities right.

thanks Scotsgran and Steragram. I'm still aching a bit from yesterday, and just beginning to feel the enormity of what's going to happen next ...I've moved before, so I should know what to do, but this is a step (or three) beyond.

Distance is the main thing, it's not like I can nip between old and new and get each ready in stages before and after the actual move. Calls for much more planning and pre-planning than ever before.

I can't ask my friend to go up more than once a week, so it'll be one-day-a-week working (and after driving up and working he'll need to rest before driving back again) which will make a week's work take a month or more.

ooh, heck!!!!!

You will get there. You have not been stuck on anything you decide to do.

All systems go for you now Fran, thank goodness you have some help, if you disappear for a while we''ll know you are between homes, lol....
Since my eyes both became bad I've thought about you a lot with your eyesight, and I applaud your perseverence, I've become so frustrated at times but I'm hopeful mine will be sorted, I 'm booked in to have my right eye op on the 24th Oct and the specialist told me the other one will probably be done next year, I've lived with one good and one bad eye for over 15yrs so another one won't hurt....

Thanks Scotsgran, lol I've let mmyself get into a bit of a state with worrying about how-tos and what-ifs

sorry to hear that, Lincs, hope your ops go well and you get your sight back. it is a tad frustrating to need help for what you used to be able to do yourself - especially when DWP keeps saying "we can't do large print" even though I've been sending letters back since 1998 - and it's been the law that they MUST since 1995!