Hubby said he wanted to go out today, so after walking the dog and doing some banking business whilst he waited for a parcel delivery, we locked up and set off.
In the time I’d been out, unbeknown to me Hubby had changed his mind as to our destination, and we ended up in a small village some 50 odd miles away visiting estate agents!
Maggie was very good in the car, and when we stopped for a spot of lunch she was rewarded with titbits and of course a drink. The weather has been iffy, but not too hot so it’s been bearable for her with the AC on.
We went into three estate agents, and basically there was nothing we liked in our price range, so as we were only a few miles away, we decided to pop in and see my Uncle.
He’s my Mum’s younger brother, and out of the four children, they are the only ones left now. I was trying to work out how old he is, and I think he’s approaching 90.
I haven’t seen them since 2014, shortly before we bought the boat, when we thought we’d pay them a visit to get an idea of the areas around them as well as the printed property details we’d seen.
It had transpired that the only properties we could afford were in what we term as ‘Bad Lands’, where the crime rate was high and living standards poor. We had similar areas in Poole where if you left your car parked outside for over an hour, you’d probably have just the wheel hub trims left by the time you got back.
Gone are the days when he would upkeep the land himself, have sheep, cattle or his trout farm, and even the roaming guinea fowl are now things of the past.
The dog is the same though, an elderly mutt that will have your hand off if you get too close, so Maggie was left outside and was far from happy. Apparently a policewoman called and didn’t know about the dog which bit her when she bent down to stroke it.
She wrote it up in her report that the Guard Dog was doing his duty.
We didn’t stay long as the weather was on the turn and Maggie was getting a little anxious outside. Uncle rings my Mum every week, calling her Sis, so she knows who he is. Sadly most times when I’ve rung she can’t put a face to the voice which is why I write instead.
It was however good to see them.
Apart from the age thing, they haven’t changed much.
pensitivity101 
Have you considered a self-build? You seem to have the determination!
We thought about it actually, but for what we have available, it was more than likely to be beyond our budget as land is quite pricey.
A nice trip but no leads! Glad you got to see your uncle.
Not to worry. It was a good trip, and we have found a relaxing route for our trip next Wednesday when we are off to view no less than 4 properties, three of which show great potential (on paper).
Paper is a good start!
And now we have a secret weapon for finding these places………. a GPS!
love that policewoman’s attitude. 🙂 Dog was just doing its job….
Great wasn’t it.