New Year finds us

still working on the house......mind you, we've had a bit of help now and the cellar has been dug out and tanked, there is a new boiler giving full central heating and the extension is up to 'plate' level (where the roof will sit).

We've given notice on the flat and will be moving out during the first week of May which Alan says gives us 16 weeks to get the house to a habitable standard. Funny - it looked virtually habitable when we bought it in April of last year. There have been no nasty surprises during the works - unless you can describe uncovering more and more that requires restoration as such - so we count ourselves lucky that the structure is (so far) sound.

There was some brief excitement when it seemed that there were smugglers' tunnels in the back garden but nothing has been proved (or disproved) and Alan says he intends to excavate what's left of the back garden once the building works have finished.

I seem to be serving an apprenticeship in the use of power tools under Alan's expert tuition. I can use both small and large sanders and am almost dexterous with a heat gun. I am proud to report that my work with the latter restoring a section of paint-clogged panelling received a compliment from the conservation officer ("that's come up well"). I'm looking forward to some work which does not require goggles, gloves and face mask so tomorrow I'm picking up a brush and slapping on some undercoat.

The House

On the day we viewed some potential rental properties, we saw the house for the first time. There had been nothing new to Rightmove to buy so we didn't expect to be looking at anything to buy that day, just to see what we could rent if our house sale went through without us finding something to move to in Deal. The agent dealing with the rental was the same as the one we'd been using for the house search and in conversation, we were told of a property soon to be marketed. We thought we'd already viewed it with a different agent so went back to the office to double check. There'd been a mix-up and as I looked over the agent's shoulder as she trawled through details she had been uploading earlier that day, she said the fateful words "it's got an earth cellar". The details also described the house as 'elegant Georgian' but then they all say that. Knowing that Alan would be interested, I took the address and we went for a look-see.

There was a van parked outside and a man was loading it from the house's side way ( that's one box ticked). Alan made eye contact and got into conversation and we were invited into the garden to have a quick look at the ground floor of the house. Not wanting to overstay our welcome, we said we'd contact the estate agents to arrange a viewing the following week.

Alan wanted a project and this was it - writ large. The house would need work but it's location was perfect - 50 yards from the sea - and it had a south facing garden.

Why Deal?

We didn't expect it to take two years to sell our house and we were surprised that the process was so stressful. Once the decision to move has been taken, it's hard to see the positives in the old location when you are focused on the new one. We'll know better next time........if we remember.

So, why Deal? Initially, we were set on Folkestone as Alan had happy memories of childhood holidays there. We knew we wanted an older property - maybe a small Victorian terraced house - and looked at the housing stock all around the town. We wanted to be close to the seafront yet within walking distance of local amenities and used the checklist we had on our Italian search. We soon identified a tiny area which ticked the boxes but the right house didn't appear.

We extended the search along the coast - to Whitstable in the east and Hastings to the west and all coastal stops in between. I can't remember in detail our first visit to Deal but we did just love the place. The town looked busy and friendly with its own distinct identity. There was a good variety in the housing stock and we were immediately attracted to the conservation areas with their wealth of period homes from small cottages to large town houses. The long promenade promised good walks straight from the doorstep We continued to visit and look at houses while we waited for our house to sell and this helped us to come to terms with various compromises such as car parking. Every visit confirmed our initial attraction and Alan got over his aversion to renting and we decided that once our house sold, if there was nothing to buy in Deal, we'd get a flat and be on the ground, ready to pounce on the right house when it appeared.

The back story

We had lived in Essex for over twenty years bringing up our family of one daughter and one dog. Our house was comfortable and modern and suited our needs; well placed for good schools for the daughter, green space for the dog and inside the M25 and all its connections for Alan's work in the automotive industry. When the cancer diagnosis came, the preceding years became the golden ones and the future looked very uncertain. Our beloved dog had died just 6 months before and our beyond beloved Sarah was in her first term at university. But this isn't about that........Alan survived, took early retirement, bought a house in Liguria and we put our Essex home on the market.