Hi All,
Happy New Year to all our friends and family wherever you may be, we hope that 2016 brings you both health and happiness.
For us we are glad to see the back of 2015 and move on as it was a year that we’d like to just completely forget. As you already know I lost my Dad on New Years’s day and then things just went from bad to worse, I won’t bore you with all the details but to cut a long story short Julie was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in April after almost 10 years of being clear from the first episode back in 2005. We have come to terms with it all now and she is absolutely fine at the moment and long may it continue. She spent most of the summer having treatment which was tough going for us all but she’s so positive and just gets on with it all and in her words not mine “I don’t have a choice so I just get on with it, it’s not going to stop me from carrying on my life as normal and I am not going to be one of their statistics, I am going to prove everyone wrong”. Many people say she is an inspiration as just gets on with everything it throws at her and I for sure second that. So for now it’s just scans and check ups every 3 months and daily medication.
When we returned from our year travelling we thought it would be really difficult to settle back into “normal” life and that we would feel really deflated but what with everything else that we now had to deal with and all the stuff relating to the probate for Dad and sorting out his house etc etc it kept us really busy and although quite stressful and emotional it kept us focused. Our original plan was to come back and go back to work for a couple of years and then move to somewhere near a beach with a quieter pace of life as we noticed on our return that everything had got even busier and there was just more traffic and more people everywhere. We said that we’d like to maybe go and live in France but would keep a small base here in the UK but of course that comes with the added complication of work and also the language barrier so it would have been a massive move, the other option would be to move somewhere in the UK that we love, is quieter and has access to our favourite beaches……somewhere like North Devon which we just love and ticks all the boxes.
Following Julie's diagnosis we decided to do it sooner rather than later so started to look at the possibilities and then began looking for a suitable house, we first looked at a cottage back in April in Georgeham, North Devon, just a stones throw from the beautiful beaches of Saunton Sands, Putsborough & Croyde but at that point hadn’t really decided when we would make the move.
Saunton Sands
Putsborough
Croyde
The house we first viewed needed a lot of TLC so we decided it wasn’t for us but by July we decided that it was where we wanted to be so we had our house valued and were pleasantly surprised so then the cogs started ticking and we thought that perhaps it was all doable, at the end of the day if you want something you have to go and get it, it doesn’t just come to you, just like when we decided to go travelling we had to make it happen and we never looked back. We kept looking for other properties but just couldn’t find anything in the right location for the right price etc etc and were being drawn back to the cottage in Georgeham every time, at the end of the day it’s all about location and you’re never going to find something that is perfect so there’s always a compromise so for us it was to take on a bit of a project (as you probably know nothings ever simple with us!!) so that’s what we decided to do and we put our house on the market.
After a summer of showing potential buyers around our home one gentleman came good with a fantastic offer back in August, however as we’ve already said nothings simple with us and he went AWOL until October but the agent told us it was because he worked away in Norway. When he eventually reappeared in October it all came good and in the meantime we got the ball rolling with the Georgeham cottage and to cut another long story short everything has now gone through.
Old House
New House
In between house hunting, multiple trips to Devon & back, hospital appointments and work, as Julie carried on working through her treatment, we have still somehow managed to fit in some fantastic weekends catching up with friends and doing what we love.
Kiting at Brancaster
Walking & Catching up with friends in and around the Lake District
So now the major life change bit begins as we are lucky enough with the sale of our house and Dads house to be in a position to give up work and to live the dream in Georgeham in our cottage and although it needs a slight renovation……it will enable us to spend more time doing the things we love in a place we love and will give us something to focus on at the same time.
They'll be plenty more of this!
It's been a stressful and emotional roller coaster ride since the summer, and the last couple of weeks have been very hectic getting everything down to Georgeham but all our hard work and patience has paid off and we can't wait to begin our new life. To start with all our possessions are in a storage unit and we'll be living in the motorhome on the front garden overseeing the renovation project but we did it for a year so it won't be a problem and at least we'll be able to nip to the beach whenever we like for a walk, surf, sup or kite.
Keeping things simple.....Julie wanted us to take this to the new house..it only weighs half a tonne!!!
The removal lorry was to big for the lane so everything had to be transhipped to the big lorry up on the main road
The main removal lorry
The storage unit filling up rapidly!
The storage unit full to the door!!
While we are waiting for our planning permission to come through to renovate the cottage we thought that we deserved a bit of chill out time and rather than twiddle our thumbs we are off in the motorhome to Meribel in the French alps for a spot of skiing/snowboarding….it’s a bit of de ja vu really as we will arrive there exactly 2 years to the day of our travels back in 2014 and are looking forward to it and catching up with Deb & Pete & Ron & Chris and anyone else that turns up....you are all very welcome to join us.
If you enjoyed reading our blog the first time around then stay tuned as we will keep you updated on our adventures and how we are getting on with the renovations to the cottage.
One last thing before we go... we'd like to say a massive thank you to Julie's mum and dad for all their support over the last few months as it's been a very difficult time for them too so we really appreciate it.
Catch up soon,
The Devon Dwarfs
