We found a place to live in England!
It's perfect, in a little town called Bourne End in Buckinghamshire (you can see Tolkien's inspiration in place names everywhere you turn). We are a short walk to the shops and restaurants on the High Street, there are two bakeries, a local butcher, a fruit stand/plant nursery and the local grocery within a few minutes walk. Not too mention a farmer's market a short distance down the road. I wonder if they have interesting yarn with that field full of sheep next to it?
There are miles of hiking trails literally right outside our door, a public footpath, accessible through the gate in our backyard, connects with a system of trails, miles and miles of trails. Take one branch, and half a mile away is the Thames River Footpath, we could walk all the way into London along the River. Another branch sets you off into country side. I can't wait to explore all that is outside my door!
Mark will have an even shorter commute to work than he has now, his office is a little over a mile away, he could walk to work. The house itself has two bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms, the kitchen has the cutest fridge and freezer built in under the counter top. There is a garage, essential from Mark's perspective :) French doors lead to an enclosed backyard with patio from the dining area, adjacent to the living room with gas fire place. It comes furnished and includes a dishwasher and laundry, essential from my perspective :)
The only drawback, and it's been a decision we've been fighting with,
is it's a non-negotiable no pets flat. So we've come to the heart wrenching decision to not bring our little Bean. Since it looks like the job is going to involve a lot of travel, it wouldn't be fair to her. As Mark put it, we don't have the cat sitting infrastructure in place like we do here. Mark's mom will be "adopting" her while we are away. I already am missing her terribly, she was the only reason I felt any sort of homesickness, I'm homesick for Greenbean already :( But it's the right decision to make.
For now, I'm focusing on deciding what to bring into our new little home. I'm already planning and getting excited about decorating our new place. Since the colors are all creams and cobalt blues in the house, I'm going to roll with it, go for a modest pseudo-French Provincial look, to fit it's cottage like feel. That will keep my mind off of missing Bean for a little while.
When are we actually moving? The place is ours as of December 1st. So as far as I can say, December is going to be a month of transition.