Yes, Teri, renting is a both ways thing. When we moved out to the bush here for a few years we rented out and i used to dread coming back here and looking over the wall to see the state of things. When we eventually moved back in it took a while to get things right again and renting it out actually cost us money. I suppose we got off light with 27 nails in the walls, one burned carpet and and the pool running on Harpic!!!They say an empty house is better than a bad tenant but bills have to be paid.

What is th eideal place to look for? if you have a house there are stairs but a bungalow has a bigger garden to look after. I haven't lived with stairs since I was a kid, they didn't seem an issue then but I am not so sure when we have aged a bit!!And I am no gardener either. I see many houses in England have gardens with only gravel and paving stones like a big grave. Flats are not much cheaper to rent than houses, is that because of there being no garden to look after?? What is the ideal pad for today's pensioner?
Happy days,

J+J

Hello Folks as some will know I live in a flat,have done  for the last ten years,I wouldnt go back to my big house for the world.It is ecconomical to run,we have a gardener,and an area for sitting out in the summer weather permitting,and an area for drying clothes,no repair worries,for this I pay £150 a year which breaks down very cheaply,this includes insurance for buildings etc.I know it can be a lot dearer in other flats but we do our own maintainance we dont have a company do it thus the low costs.And also there are only 8 flats very easy to manage.

Teri thats why I moved on,how many of those rooms do you actually use ? but they still have to be maintained and heated.

Too much space can be a problem, but where do you put things. I have many friends here who have downsized to flats and townhouses and they had to get rid of many precious things. I was amazed at the lack of storage spaces in English houses, where do people keep their clothes without wardrobes and spare curtains, blankets and such without storage. Is that why houses have a shed in the garden??

Lovely day today, Jacqui and Victoria are doing the garden. Take a look at http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee286/janner41/ to see the workers!! I can't help them, my turn to do lunch!!!

Keep smiling


J+J

No, mac,  no new camera, that's just the camera in my cellphon`e. Actually I shouls store some more pics on that site, ome day we will need r`eminding!! This country would amze you at one side of a building is the finest luxury, at the other is squalor, but that is the African Way. Victoria loves to be here, sshe says that weekends are boring at home. She has a nice family too.

Granny is doing fine, she has plenty of people to wait on her  now, but is still very demanding if we visit. She seems to keep a list in her head of things Jacqui must do and it literally gets Jacqui's blood pressure right up!!!  She looks very relaxed. bUt this house is far too big and we could never keep it going without help. The main bedroom is nearly 20 feet square on it's own and it is a long walk to the kitchen. Small houses certainly have their good points and `now is the time to be clearing out but it is hard, especially with the things one worked so hard to get at one time.  I'll take some garden pics today, not that is amazing, it is just huge at a third of an acre but my gardeners are doing well. Our garden services close over Christmas for two weeka so I just hire a casual to come and cut the lawn, it gives someone a little money to take home.

Christmas soon already, I wonder what Father Christmas will bring???  According to Sky News the shops will be quit there. We don't do anything special at CHristmas, and it makes us laugh the way they fill up with artificial snow and hordes of black Father CHristmases!! I wonder what "Ho-ho-ho" is in Zulu?!! lol

Cheers


J+J

It still seems a little odd to even contemplate eating turkey and pudding next to the pool in the middle of summer, and setting up a Europe style Christmas tree with snow on looks silly. It has been suggested that here we should adopt the african thorn tree and decorate that. We will just have salads, I think. Just relax.  I always think about those who sspend Christmas alone, and those in essential services who cannot be with their families. I have had a couple of Christmases alone, and it wasn't fun ... but it wasn't like Mr Bean's either!!!

J+J

How true, John. However, one year I went into a hotel with a travelling group - it was nice, but somehow a strange feeling to celebrate X-mas with strangers.
I think in this connection I should mention that X-mas in the German speaking countries is celebrated quite different from that in the rest of the world. Our main day is December 24th - Holy Eve - and usually we get a bit sentimental.
Although our churches are empty on Sundays, on Holy Eve you have to be on time to get a seat there.

could someone please tell me why all my messages within this debate have been marked remove, I am new to this sort of debate so I am rather upset by this who actually decides someone isn't welcome to put their comments in if I have said the wrong thing fine tell but to find that my comments are all tagged remove please what slip up I have made.

Hello Geraldine
I have no idea who edits this site you could ask Maurice.