One
thing that we have learned since leaving The Hermitage nearly two
years ago now is that you never stop learning. When we decided that
we could no longer stay in such a remote spot (or, to be more
accurate, when I decided that I could not since it was really my
decisions and Marcia went along with it out of consideration for my
advancing years) we decided we needed easy access to shops and other
facilities.
For a
few months it was wonderful to be released from the tyranny of
long-distance shopping. I call it 'tyranny' because that is really
what it becomes: the need to make sure that you forget nothing and
that means keeping an accurate record of what you have used, making
sure the shopping list reflects that record and that the shopping
reflects that list. It is rather like setting off on a boat for a
long voyage - if you forget something then you have to live without
it. Living in a village removes all that, we could be down to the
shop and back with a packet of butter in less than four minutes. We
called this ‘lastminute.com’ shopping after the travel website of
that name.
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| This little fellow more or less lives in the garden I have spoken severely to him (or her, as the case may be) pointing out that there are certain plants such as lettuces that are not to be on his/her menu. Soon I shall know whether or not he/she was listening. |
With
these thoughts in mind, we started to look for a house to buy (you
will remember that we were lucky enough to be able to rent a property
from one of Marcia's old friends for "as long as you want it").
We decided that we wanted our 'local town' to be Totnes and that is
the only one of the decisions that we took then to which we have
adhered: Totnes is probably the place at which we both feel most at
home and we know more people who live in or nearby than anywhere
else. So, we created a search area covering a five mile radius around
Totnes and kept an eye on all the local estate agents seeking that
perfect property.
We
couldn't find one. The months went by and we widened our search area
but still with no success. We hate raising hopes so every house we
thought might be the answer was subjected to an 'outside recce'
before we took matters any further. These soon made us realise that
the new search area was now too big. What is the point in recreating
the wheel by buying a house that is too far from your local town -
and especially so if it does not have the remoteness, outlook and tranquility of The Hermitage? Right, better to give the tenants
notice and go back but we knew that was not really an option.
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| We have really missed seeing stock in the fields so it was very good to see this lot who had been turned out for the first time this year yesterday. |
At
this point we took the decision to live IN Totnes. We even got so far
as to view a couple of properties. Then we started to learn.
Basically we are both very rural people who feel badly deprived if we
do not have that connection with the natural world which centres us.
It was this connection that we were missing living in the village but
it took us over a year to realise this simple fact. This posed a
problem and then, quite suddenly, we were presented with an answer.
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| This odd image needs some explaining. The full moon rose on Wednesday and is seen here behind a fork in a big oak tree: the odd bits between the branches are twigs. Anyway, I decided to photograph it before it lost that huge yellow look but the only camera to hand was my little Panasonic (which does not offer manual focus). I was pretty sure the moon would be out of focus but I hoped the twigs would be sharper than they are |
We
discovered, quite by chance and thanks to Marcia's sister, that you
could rent properties from the Dartington Hall Trust. Bingo. The
estate had a couple of properties available and we were offered one.
Once again we have a field the other side of the garden hedge and
another field the other side of the lane but it is less than
two miles from Totnes and we have direct access to some of the most
wonderful gardens in the UK. True, the nearest shop is in Dartington
village - and it is a truly excellent one - and so we have lost
‘lastminute.com’ but now we know that is not as important as we
thought it was two years ago.
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| Just a field away is the River Dart and, on the other bank, a preservation railway. How much fun is that? |
So we
have learned a vital lesson - be true to yourselves. You are what you
are and denying that leads to a lesser life. We, being very lucky, have
a choice and can live a life that accords well with our characters.
Sadly, so many people do not have that choice.
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| Meet Bono: there is something so regal about a Golden Retriever/ |
