Downsizing

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Hi one and all.

 

She who must be obeyed hath spoken...

 

We are to sell our big house and move to a smaller property. Thus releasing some cash, liberating some big machinery that I don't use anymore and removing the pain and grief of living in a money pit lol.

 

So I now have to start deciding what I need, what I can ditch and get on with selling it.

 

I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to machines and tools I have collected over many years. But you can't take it with you and freeing up some cash will be welcome. 

 

I am looking forward to a smaller house as this one takes so much looking after repair wise. 

 

So, big changes but an opportunity to have a bit better lifestyle. 

 

Wheelhorse will be stabled at the new place so don't panic. 

 

Mick 

 

 

[Kenneth R Cluley 515]

Good luck with the "sorting". We all must face the inevitable someday. Not looking forward to my "downsizing".

[JoeM 7,873]

5 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

We are to sell our big house and move to a smaller property.

This comes up just about every year at our place. By the time my wife finishes with her list of has to haves, I tell her we might as well stay here! 

 

I am just not as interested in yard work or home maintenance as I once was. We have let a lot of stuff go and are moving some things to the kids. (kids 42 and 37).

 

My daughter did ask recently if there is a plan for my tractor stuff. I was nice and said, "there is a plan". (I just aint figured it out yet)

[Ed Kennell 38,163]

I have the local auctioneers phone number posted in the shop with instructions.      When the time comes, just make the call.

[peter lena 8,620]

@Ed Kennell  good solid idea , just common sense , makes things easier , been thinning things out myself , pete

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

It seems to be making sense as I have way too much machinery for one guy to use. Selling it will raise a good few beer tokens.

The plan is changing slightly. Sandras dad lives 1/4 mile from us in a lovely modern bungalow.  His son owns it and has no plans for it when dad passes, other than just sell it to release some cash.

So, here's the suggestion. We sell our house, getting shut of a lot of rammel (good old English word for accumulated clutter, also Kelterment which is a Sheffield word fir the same). 

We buy dads house from his son, sandras brother obviously,  and move in with dad. 

He gets on site carers, company now he's on his own, home cooked meals and security till he passes.

We get a great deal on the property price (BIL has dropped any valuation by 30 grand to make things easier) and simplify our lives and especially disposal of my stuff while I can still enjoy the money it generates. 

So we are off and running then. I've even measured up to fit Fred in as a priority lol.

 

 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

5 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

We buy dads house from his son, sandras brother obviously,  and move in with dad. 

He gets on site carers, company now he's on his own, home cooked meals and security till he passes.

That plan sounds excellent.

[kpinnc 12,017]

Mick,

 

I moved about 5 years ago. We had outgrown the old house, and it was OLD. Like you say, I was always fixing something. 

 

Now I don't have as good a place to tinker, and my projects are most times what the wife wants, but the priority is better. I'm not killing myself because something else broke.

 

I bet you'll be happier with a new place. Mine lowered my stress levels considerably. I hope it does for you too! 

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Hi Kpinnc.

The house has outgrown us lol.

 

I don't see a place to live anymore, I see a huge joblist. 

 

Moving will free up some equity and time for me. 

I already feel a weight lifting now the decision has been made. 

 

 

[sergeant 291]

Boy it funny. Here we Up sized our House  when My Mother Moved In with us  But downsized the Property went from a 2,172 sq ft Home on  5.5 acres to a 4,500 sq ft Home Not Including the Basement  On 3.9 acres

To me it's crazy the Older we got the Bigger the House we end Up with! Now I would rather move Back out to a Bigger Property again But Probably a smaller Ranch style Home with a full basement

Edited November 25, 2022 by sergeant

[953 nut 55,212]

On 11/24/2022 at 10:07 AM, Mickwhitt said:

We buy dads house from his son, sandras brother obviously,  and move in with dad. 

He gets on site carers, company now he's on his own, home cooked meals and security till he passes.

We get a great deal on the property price (BIL has dropped any valuation by 30 grand to make things easier) and simplify our lives and especially disposal of my stuff while I can still enjoy the money it generates.

That sounds like an ideal situation for you and your father-in-law.     

We built our house eleven years ago doing much of the work ourselves. It is on the same property (seven acres) our previous home is on but is all on one level with a ramp in the garage so we should be able stay here the remainder of our lives. This may be wishful thinking but it is our plan  for now.

The old house has a spiral staircase and the master bedroom and bath are on the second floor, that was fine when we were younger but not so much now. It is rented so it supplements our Social Security.

My Wheel Horse shop and barn are about 400 feet away from the new house so I can make all the noise I want without bothering the wife too much. I too need to downsize the herd a bit but each  has a special role to play or a sentimental attachment. I've told my wife that when I go she should post the word of my passing on Red Square and tell everyone to come and take my horses to add to their stables.

 

[davem1111 2,030]

On 11/24/2022 at 10:07 AM, Mickwhitt said:

It seems to be making sense as I have way too much machinery for one guy to use. Selling it will raise a good few beer tokens.

The plan is changing slightly. Sandras dad lives 1/4 mile from us in a lovely modern bungalow.  His son owns it and has no plans for it when dad passes, other than just sell it to release some cash.

So, here's the suggestion. We sell our house, getting shut of a lot of rammel (good old English word for accumulated clutter, also Kelterment which is a Sheffield word fir the same). 

We buy dads house from his son, sandras brother obviously,  and move in with dad. 

He gets on site carers, company now he's on his own, home cooked meals and security till he passes.

We get a great deal on the property price (BIL has dropped any valuation by 30 grand to make things easier) and simplify our lives and especially disposal of my stuff while I can still enjoy the money it generates. 

So we are off and running then. I've even measured up to fit Fred in as a priority lol.

 

 

 

Sounds like an ideal arrangement for just about everyone.  Awesome that the BIL dropped the valuation - what a reasonable person, considering the other benefits to the situation other than just padding his own pocket. I know too many who would NEVER consider doing that... 

 

 

19 hours ago, sergeant said:

Boy it funny. Here we Up sized our House  when My Mother Moved In with us  But downsized the Property went from a 2,172 sq ft Home on  5.5 acres to a 4,500 sq ft Home Not Including the Basement  On 3.9 acres

To me it's crazy the Older we got the Bigger the House we end Up with! Now I would rather move Back out to a Bigger Property again But Probably a smaller Ranch style Home with a full basement

 

 

My wife and I are already making plans and having the property surveyed in about a week. My stepson will be graduating from high school in 1-1/2 years, and we'll have an empty nest. I'm not ready (financially) to retire yet, but I do computer work from home and that can be "anywhere". Sold our 2 horses ('real' horses, not tractors ) a few weeks ago. We are likely to end up with a slightly bigger house (in a warmer place!), because now we only have about 1500 square feet but have 32 acres, will probably settle in on something around 2000+ square feet and 3-5 acres, but will still be getting rid of a lot of stuff we don't "need".  New property either needs a nice existing garage/shop or one will be built, or a pre-built brought in.  I do plan to downsize from 5 tractors to 2, or maybe 3 if I have a project in the works. But I also want to do more woodworking and maybe welding/fabbing. Who knows? 

 

Big changes are a bit scary and exciting at the same time.  Good luck with your move, @Mickwhitt

 

[sergeant 291]

2 hours ago, davem1111 said:

 

Sounds like an ideal arrangement for just about everyone.  Awesome that the BIL dropped the valuation - what a reasonable person, considering the other benefits to the situation other than just padding his own pocket. I know too many who would NEVER consider doing that... 

 

 

 

 

My wife and I are already making plans and having the property surveyed in about a week. My stepson will be graduating from high school in 1-1/2 years, and we'll have an empty nest. I'm not ready (financially) to retire yet, but I do computer work from home and that can be "anywhere". Sold our 2 horses ('real' horses, not tractors ) a few weeks ago. We are likely to end up with a slightly bigger house (in a warmer place!), because now we only have about 1500 square feet but have 32 acres, will probably settle in on something around 2000+ square feet and 3-5 acres, but will still be getting rid of a lot of stuff we don't "need".  New property either needs a nice existing garage/shop or one will be built, or a pre-built brought in.  I do plan to downsize from 5 tractors to 2, or maybe 3 if I have a project in the works. But I also want to do more woodworking and maybe welding/fabbing. Who knows? 

 

Big changes are a bit scary and exciting at the same time.  Good luck with your move, @Mickwhitt

 

 

My wife wanted to live In Horse country. But the Barn is My tractor Barn, and I don't Plan on ever getting any real Horses.  She can look at the neighbors Horses all she wants. We Moved In 2016 to where we are now. Our Last house I bought In 1983 and didn't live in it until 2002 except for 2 years when I was a recruiter In the Army. That house was paid for By the Time I retired from the Army.

 

But My reasoning for moving back is I want to be Unincorporated again and Not have to worry about HOA's or town regulations.  Not that are HOA is one of those nightmare HOA's you here about.  Basically as long as the Town approves the Permit the HOA doesn't care  and it's only $210.00 a Year for HOA fee  Basically to cover road Maintenance as almost all the roads In the Town of Wayne, IL are Private roads. I am actually on the HOA Board  for a 2nd term. Living Unincorporated as Long as it wasn't a Fence, driveway or a House addition,  Pretty Much  You did what You wanted 1st then paid the Permit fee Later. This Crazy town wants a Permit fee for having a new Dishwasher replaced and installed, Not that many do it, but it is the Principle. But I know we have to pay our 6-Person Police Force and Our Two-Person Maintenance shop,  they plow the town owned roads. Everyone else In most of the Subdivisions have to Hire Landscaping companies to plow roads.

 

When I was Unincorporated, the Township Plowed the roads and that was covered Under your Property Taxes

[Zeek 2,286]

Life changes, it did for me as well. I had to unload most of my stuff to relocate from Pennsylvania to Florida. I wanted warm weather and more land. It all worked out though. I'm not sure I have less stuff, just different stuff for a different stage of life. I have a few nice things I like and use, no more accumulating/collecting for me. Nothing wrong with collecting of course, we are all at different phases of life, that's why I like seeing other's posts

[davem1111 2,030]

7 hours ago, sergeant said:

My wife wanted to live In Horse country. But the Barn is My tractor Barn, and I don't Plan on ever getting any real Horses.  She can look at the neighbors Horses all she wants. We Moved In 2016 to where we are now. Our Last house I bought In 1983 and didn't live in it until 2002 except for 2 years when I was a recruiter In the Army. That house was paid for By the Time I retired from the Army.

 

But My reasoning for moving back is I want to be Unincorporated again and Not have to worry about HOA's or town regulations.  Not that are HOA is one of those nightmare HOA's you here about.  Basically as long as the Town approves the Permit the HOA doesn't care  and it's only $210.00 a Year for HOA fee  Basically to cover road Maintenance as almost all the roads In the Town of Wayne, IL are Private roads. I am actually on the HOA Board  for a 2nd term. Living Unincorporated as Long as it wasn't a Fence, driveway or a House addition,  Pretty Much  You did what You wanted 1st then paid the Permit fee Later. This Crazy town wants a Permit fee for having a new Dishwasher replaced and installed, Not that many do it, but it is the Principle. But I know we have to pay our 6-Person Police Force and Our Two-Person Maintenance shop,  they plow the town owned roads. Everyone else In most of the Subdivisions have to Hire Landscaping companies to plow roads.

 

When I was Unincorporated, the Township Plowed the roads and that was covered Under your Property Taxes

 

Well, that is on our "hard NO" list - no HOA for us.  After living in NJ and Eastern PA, I've been very happy not having to worry about displeasing someone and having to get a permit for just about everything.  Permit for a new dishwasher?  Holy crap - in my book, that's way overly intrusive.  Where we are now, I've done numerous renovation projects in/on our house and garage, including wiring and plumbing - no permits, no questions asked.   I've never lived in a subdivision, HOA or not.  If it's either HOA fees or no snowplowing or other "normal" road services, I will put a non-HOA subdivision on the "hard NO" list also. No thanks. That's what taxes are for. I do understand that towns/townships/etc. may not be prepared to handle the extra work for development areas, but to me it sounds like mismanagement of the tax base.  I'll take my chances on a backroad somewhere. If it snows and they don't plow, I'll be out there on my Wheel Horse.

[sergeant 291]

15 minutes ago, davem1111 said:

 

Well, that is on our "hard NO" list - no HOA for us.  After living in NJ and Eastern PA, I've been very happy not having to worry about displeasing someone and having to get a permit for just about everything.  Permit for a new dishwasher?  Holy crap - in my book, that's way overly intrusive.  Where we are now, I've done numerous renovation projects in/on our house and garage, including wiring and plumbing - no permits, no questions asked.   I've never lived in a subdivision, HOA or not.  If it's either HOA fees or no snowplowing or other "normal" road services, I will put a non-HOA subdivision on the "hard NO" list also. No thanks. That's what taxes are for. I do understand that towns/townships/etc. may not be prepared to handle the extra work for development areas, but to me it sounds like mismanagement of the tax base.  I'll take my chances on a backroad somewhere. If it snows and they don't plow, I'll be out there on my Wheel Horse.

The Only restriction we have is  Properties that Boarder a country Highway cannot have a driveway going to the county Highway  except for 1 Property, You can't display Your Business signs On Your vehicles (town does not have that restriction). And there are Minimum size requirements for House weather Ranch or 2 stories. 2 stories had to be a Minimum of 2,000 square feet  and a Ranch has to be a Minimum of 1,500 square feet and the Only other restriction if Your Yard is at 10 inches tall the association can mow it and bill You

 

The Town requires a Letter for Permits from the association. In order for a person to get a Permit,  we require they pay their Yearly dues. NO dues paid (dues for Most are about $210.00 a Year there are 6 Lots due to a size that pay more in dues)  No Letter to town.  I actually have it worse than anyone else in My association  as My Property is In two different associations  But I have no Building on that 1.7 acre field  and I want to Leave it for  Garden expansion or  Just wildlife use  and I made a deal, so I don't pay dues on it. The neighbor I bought the 1.7 acre field from His dues cover the dues for that field to his association  even if he sells  his Property will always be assessed Dues that cover My 1.7 acre field  He actually never Paid More that what a 2 acre lot In their association pays, and his Lot was 3.7 acres  I now have 3.9 acres in two associations

 

 

 

They Only way a new Owner could get You On No Permits is if You did any additions or wiring, Plumbing etc.  That is not to the building codes of your Town, and It causes a Fire, flood, Lose of life  etc.  and they Can prove it in a lawsuit that it was your fault.

 

That Can be the bad thing about Places like Zillow,  say You Bought Your House  with an Unfinished Basement

and You finished it without permits etc.  and you sell it in say a Year. Towns can utilize the Photos to  fine You, or the Next owner can use that as Proof You did something against code. If that town has code enforcement. But every state does have code enforcement of some type, with Buildings

 

My feeling though is if the Town can't see it,  I am Not getting a Permit  I got a Permit for My Fence, concrete work In my Barn, 100APM service run to Barn and  and Power out to the driveway entrance lights and a Backup Generator  and a deck  because I was replacing the rails. If replacing floor, No Permit Needed as long as You're Not replacing structure of deck or Porch.

 

The great thing is I know the building inspector rather well. I actually email or Call him to see if I need to Bother with a Permit and Many times I haven't needed a permit, so I don't need the association's Permission either

 

So are association is very easy, You could Paint your House Purple with Pink Polka-dots  and Nobody can stop you  or even say anything as you don't need a permit for Painting anyway. I complain about being In an HOA But our HOA is really a Joke compared to Many out their 

 

Somebody call me for a Letter for Wayne  I check to Make sure the Paid there dues I find Out what they want to do I send a Email giving HOA'S permission Plus tell another Board member so in so is doing this.  or I tell them drop the dues off and I'll send the email . They go to Town of Wayne Get Permit  $75 Building inspector reviews It and Give OK Takes at max a week for approval  as He is only In town on his Lunch Hr as He is a full time Building Inspector for another Much Larger town. But he will go out of His way for You  most of the time he says Just send Him Pictures of what he requested  and He closes out your Permit

 

SO Knowing Mike(inspector) Like I do, I really shouldn't be complaining

 

 

[sergeant 291]

1 hour ago, davem1111 said:

 

 may not be prepared to handle the extra work for development areas, but to me it sounds like mismanagement of the tax base.  I'll take my chances on a backroad somewhere. If it snows and they don't plow, I'll be out there on my Wheel Horse.

He come on it's Illinois where our Governors Make your license Plate . Hey BTW if You ever come to Chicago for something be aware  there going to Make all our Interstates Tollways Now  sometime next year

[davem1111 2,030]

13 hours ago, sergeant said:

He come on it's Illinois where our Governors Make your license Plate . Hey BTW if You ever come to Chicago for something be aware  there going to Make all our Interstates Tollways Now  sometime next year

 

Wow - good to know.  Daughter will be starting school in Chicago in January, so I was about to say "I have no reason or desire to go to Chicago", then realized that I soon will...   

[sergeant 291]

5 hours ago, davem1111 said:

 

Wow - good to know.  Daughter will be starting school in Chicago in January, so I was about to say "I have no reason or desire to go to Chicago", then realized that I soon will...   

I avoid Chicago like the Plague   I am 41 Miles Northwest of downtown Chicago

Where is she going to school ?

 

My Youngest went to Northwestern Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Graduated the 1sy year of covid   He is a Design engineer at John Deere  Hoicon works In Horicon, WI

[davem1111 2,030]

19 hours ago, sergeant said:

I avoid Chicago like the Plague   I am 41 Miles Northwest of downtown Chicago

Where is she going to school ?

 

My Youngest went to Northwestern Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Graduated the 1sy year of covid   He is a Design engineer at John Deere  Hoicon works In Horicon, WI

 

She'll be attending Columbia College Chicago. She's especially interested in Circus Arts and what I think falls under "Acting and Contemporary Performance Making".  She has past experience with acrobatics, trapeze, etc. and last summer ran the trapeze program at a summer camp. Cool stuff.

[Edit to add:]. Oh, and she has also won awards for ceramics and pottery making, but I'm not sure if she's going to be pursuing that further.  I think she should - she is very talented at it.

Edited November 28, 2022 by davem1111

[sergeant 291]

5 hours ago, davem1111 said:

 

She'll be attending Columbia College Chicago. She's especially interested in Circus Arts and what I think falls under "Acting and Contemporary Performance Making".  She has past experience with acrobatics, trapeze, etc. and last summer ran the trapeze program at a summer camp. Cool stuff.

[Edit to add:]. Oh, and she has also won awards for ceramics and pottery making, but I'm not sure if she's going to be pursuing that further.  I think she should - she is very talented at it.

Your really Going to be Hating Life where You visit her in Chicago

 

I didn't realize They had anything geared toward circus art after Barnum and Baily went AWAY and I know I see  Barnum & Bailey are relaunching this year

 

[formariz 11,987]

Downsizing. Next to the word impossible my most hated one. Sensitive issue around here. All of our friends have either done it, are doing it or are thinking about it. Somehow when together the conversation always goes to that subject making me very uncomfortable and outright annoyed. 
 I was born and lived in a place where that concept is foreign to most. Rather one always lived in the same home many times one inherited or handed down from earlier generations . One’s home was not just a place to live but more importantly a place part of your history and the legacy left to you. Your hands and your work added to those same qualities so it could be left to the ones after your time on it was up. There was an unmistakable presence and outright “soul” in those places always revered by its occupants. More than half a century later I still long for and miss such place for I came here and it is gone for ever. 
  I have however as a result of that legacy left in me recreated it here to a certain extent. I understand also that my feelings about it is also something of a foreign concept here due to economics and the common feeling of needing to move to a bigger better place. Then we need to move to a smaller better place. I have become as much part of this place as it has become part of me. When I see my son walking through it with my grandson’s and tell them about the trees that we planted together, changes we made together or so many other important facts it just reinforces my feelings about downsizing. Fortunately I do not need to do it for financial reasons but one never knows what else life brings. It’s hard to imagine myself in a new place at this point in my life when I really don’t have the time to make it part of me. It would be like abandoning a part of my life. I have been told that I put too much of myself into this place. Perhaps it was instinct that made me do so. It grew with me and I with it. I don’t regret it but would definitely regret leaving it regardless of the circumstances. Nothing would make happier to know that when we are gone one of my children or grandchildren would take it over. They would feel the soul that only a lifelong previous presence can impart. They really already feel it. The hard part however is to keep it.

[davem1111 2,030]

14 minutes ago, formariz said:

Downsizing. Next to the word impossible my most hated one. Sensitive issue around here. All of our friends have either done it, are doing it or are thinking about it. Somehow when together the conversation always goes to that subject making me very uncomfortable and outright annoyed. 
 I was born and lived in a place where that concept is foreign to most. Rather one always lived in the same home many times one inherited or handed down from earlier generations . One’s home was not just a place to live but more importantly a place part of your history and the legacy left to you. Your hands and your work added to those same qualities so it could be left to the ones after your time on it was up. There was an unmistakable presence and outright “soul” in those places always revered by its occupants. More than half a century later I still long for and miss such place for I came here and it is gone for ever. 
  I have however as a result of that legacy left in me recreated it here to a certain extent. I understand also that my feelings about it is also something of a foreign concept here due to economics and the common feeling of needing to move to a bigger better place. Then we need to move to a smaller better place. I have become as much part of this place as it has become part of me. When I see my son walking through it with my grandson’s and tell them about the trees that we planted together, changes we made together or so many other important facts it just reinforces my feelings about downsizing. Fortunately I do not need to do it for financial reasons but one never knows what else life brings. It’s hard to imagine myself in a new place at this point in my life when I really don’t have the time to make it part of me. It would be like abandoning a part of my life. I have been told that I put too much of myself into this place. Perhaps it was instinct that made me do so. It grew with me and I with it. I don’t regret it but would definitely regret leaving it regardless of the circumstances. Nothing would make happier to know that when we are gone one of my children or grandchildren would take it over. They would feel the soul that only a lifelong previous presence can impart. They really already feel it. The hard part however is to keep it.

 

I feel what you're saying, @formariz.  When I think back on some of the previous places I've lived, I often think "what if I had stayed there?  What else would I have done to 'make my mark' on it... to make it better".  Or even places I never lived but visited often, like my grandparents' farm in Ohio. I think my grandmother had been born in that farmhouse. Could it have been renovated but still had the same "soul" in it?  I don't know. Probably could have, but it was not meant to be. My aunt and uncle inherited the place and tore everything down - chickenhouse, barns, farmhouse... and built a "modern" house. Nothing remains that is recognizable except maybe a few old trees. My parents' farm in NJ - I knew every tree and rock on that 13 acres. The farm in PA with the horse barn and riding ring that I spent many years doing improvements to.  Hard to walk away from, but decisions were made and I have no regrets.  But when you're talking about "at this point in my life when I really don’t have the time to make it part of me", I know what you mean because I saw what it did to my Dad. He went from a horse farm to a small retirement home, then to an apartment on a farm, then to a small condo. Those moves each stripped away parts of who he was, sadly.

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Absolutely correct Caz. A house is more than simply a home and I do agree that although it's just bricks and timber it does take on an imprint from those who live in it.

Our working class heritage here in Yorkshire means that even just as far back as my grandparents house ownership was economically impossible.  Renting was all that could be afforded and it's only relatively recently that my parents in law actually bought their first home. 

Counting up I have lived in five houses through my life, each one a step up in size and price. We don't call it a housing ladder for nothing, you have to start cheap and work your way up. But it should really be a housing step ladder, as when you get to the top rung, often you set off back down the other side and go small again. 

Wife and I walked past our first marital home last week, its still only five minutes away from where we live now, and we saw the rear car port and gates were the same ones I had built over 35 years ago. I said then that I would build things to last lol.

The house I was born in still looks much as I remember,  only it's way smaller than my child brain tells me it was. But I could not see me being able to have lived there my whole life. 

Explaining to the house valuer what we had done to our current place made me realise just how much work I've put into houses over my life, all of it for someone else's benefit. 

But we move on I guess and leave bits of us behind in the walls we built, gardens we tended etc.

Our family came from Castleton in Derbyshire,  a lead mining area since Roman times. We found out that our ancestors lived and worked in a large limestone cave which the area is riddled with. It was used to make rope for lead miners and it was long enough to allow them to make really long ropes. We visited it a few years ago and the present owner, who has made it into a visitor attraction, showed us a wooden bobbin used to form ropes which had been made and used by a distant relative. Strange to think our family ran such an important business and that the things they made are still here. This is the gravestone of one branch of my family in Castleton cemetery,  from1758  note the surname of Sarah, carved just a little bit too near the edge of the page lol. 

But lead mining collapsed and the family were forced to relocate for work, moving to the nearby city of Sheffield where they moved into steel making. They walked the ten miles or so to find a new place with no plan but to find work. 

So my history is written in more than one location, more than one home. I'm not sure if that makes the history richer or poorer, but it certainly makes it interesting.  But the line stops here, well for me it does, we didn't have children so this line of the family comes to a stop. But my brother and cousins carry on so its not quite the end of the road from the Whittingham name. 

Oh, did I mention? We had our own village at some point, in Northumbria. That was first started in the mid 800s yes 800s not 1800s,  so there is a lot of water under the bridge since then....

 

best regards as always Mick 

 

 

[Handy Don 12,217]

These stories resonate for me, as well, especially about accompanying a parent through their transitions.

After living in this village since 1975 we moved into the house we designed and built in 1981 (I was the general contractor and did most of the interior finishing personally). Super-insulated, solar HW, ultra high efficiency heating and A/C. Even now, there are only a couple of small things I would, in retrospect, do differently.

Taxes: scandalous. Operating costs: amazingly low.

It is way too big for just the two of us, but a year ago when during a life transition my son, DIL, and three grands needed a place to live for six months they came here and it worked. My wife is able to comfortably host meetings for her different interest groups. And yes, the memories of our children's' childhoods (ours and theirs) are embedded in this place. We have strong ties to our community.

We considered moving some years ago and reconsider periodically but on balance nothing has appealed to us enough to act on it. My fear was that retirement would force us to move but through good luck and careful financial decisions, it won't.

So I guess we are staying until something in the equation changes.