Here We Go Again – Part 1 of the Next Transition

When I first moved into this cottage last fall (autumn), I mentioned in passing that it was only a seasonal hire, and that I would be moving again in the spring. Well, that chicken has finally come home to roost – I will be moving at the end of April. Again. Heavy sigh.

Now this time ’round house hunting will not be quite so fraught with potential homelessness, because I have a new home all lined up – I need to go back to last fall to explain. At the same time as I was moving into this cottage and being advised by the owner that it was just a temporary let, my uncle in Lanarkshire was starting to fail, and his daughter was having to consider what she would do regarding his house after he was gone. She and her equally Scottish husband and their English children all live in Kent, south of London – over six hours away. But this was the house Ian and Margaret built when Viv was just a little girl, and she loves this house, as well as the surrounding village.

When I say she loves it, I mean she loves the ‘bones’ of the house – it’s a bonny wee 3-bedroom bungalow with a full (unfinished) loft, with beautifully groomed front and back gardens. But the decor is, well, dated. And the lay-out is very 1970’s. And like many elderly couples Uncle Ian and Aunt Margaret didn’t really see any need to change anything in the last few years of their lives, so it’s full of knickknacks, and slightly frayed cushions, and a velvet settee – you get the idea. So what to do regarding a house so far away, but that she wants to hang onto? This is when the perfect storm started to form. But a perfect storm in a good way.

The situation: Viv wants to keep the house, but isn’t ready to move back full time to Scotland – well, Elaine needs somewhere to live come the spring. It needs some renos done to bring it into this century, but Viv can’t really be supervising from afar – hmm, Elaine on the spot, with texting, Zoom, and camera to give updates and get guidance. The loft, garage, cupboards, and closets are full, but Viv hates cleaning and purging – oooh, Elaine loves that sort of thing. So, that evening back in December, as she and I polished off an unidentified amount of wine, we made the decision: I would move into her Dad’s house for the last of my Scottish stay, get some serious decluttering underway, and help monitor and manage whatever renos she decided to go with first.

Sounds perfect right? Well, as Rabbie Burns says, “the best laid plans, gain aft a’gley.” Wait for the next segment in Kirkwall to Carluke, The Voyage.