Originally Posted by jasper123 (Post 11770461)

Hi Perth,we live a 10 minute walk from a high street full of all the shops you will need, there are rough areas here, but thankfully where we live is a nice peaceful residential area, you talk about a garden, well the majority of houses here are terraced houses with really long gardens, with lovely rich soil where you could grow all your own veggies of every kind that would keep a family of four completely self sufficient for life :thumbsup: it would be especially great for vegetarians ;)
Goldie Hawn was one of the loose women on the british loose women show here today, it was really great to here her chat with the other women,

Originally Posted by sallysimmons (Post 11770720)

Sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake all those years ago when I blithely agreed to move abroad, too young and inexperienced to understand what I was agreeing to, but on balance I think not. Because I don't think I would love it here so much if I hadn't gone away.

.

Originally Posted by jasper123 (Post 11771769)

My thoughts exactly Sally, when I first left England at the tender age of 19 in the mid 1960's to emigrate to Australia and then later Canada and America, I will never forget the way I felt about living in England, I was sad about leaving my family, but I couldn't wait to get away, Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister and all I could feel way back then about England was doom and gloom,
but here we are many decades later and now Im back where I started, I lived abroad in other countries for 40 years altogether, never could think of England as my home, but now Im so thankful for every day in this lovely green land, and now I know that this is indeed my home, and where I belong, the UK has changed a lot since the 60's & 70's and in so many ways for the good!!!! but if I didn't leave home when I did I know that there is no way that I could appreciate this country and love it as I do now, the UK is certainly not in any way perfect but it suits me fine!!!! :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by jasper123 (Post 11736043)

Thanks feelbritish that was very well put and explains a lot on how this thread has developed over the years,
When it started in 2009 as you know we had a lot of members and it just grew and grew, trottytrue our founder did a great Job on starting this thread and Im very proud of it!!!

back then there were so many people including myself who needed a lot of specific help on moving back home after what seems a lifetime away for most of us, we were not just a chat thread back then, we were much more, and along with all the general knowledge help that came from so many people, we all just kind of bonded and blended with each other, and we made so many friends, we laughed and cried together, the posts were many, and they just kept on coming so fast that it was really hard most of the time to leave the thread for even a couple of days cause you knew that when you came back on you would have a lot of catching up to do, and new people joined our thread almost on a daily basis, and they soon became friends with everyone too,

This thread got so big that the mods and administrators had to close one thread cause it had too many posts to function well anymore, and then they opened another thread and called that part two, we used to be called 50's & 60's moving back, then a couple of years ago this third new thread was born and we decided to call it what it is now, cause people who were under 50 wanted to join in too, and over time the thread developed into more of a chat thread!!!!!

This thread has been so helpful to me before I actually made my big move, without all the support from all the people on here I very much doubt if I would have even come home at all!!!! and so many others will say too how much they were helped, not just by peoples experience being passed on, but the real live caring and support!!!!
Now alas this thread has shrunk down to a skeleton crew as so many people who came home, then got on with there lives and did not post again, but there is still a good few of us that keep in touch from time to time!!!!

I would just like to thank British Expats and all the moderators and administrators, they do a great service to everyone, there are so many threads on B.E. that it caters for every single group from all over the world, if your a British Expat you do not need to look any further then B.E. its huge and run like a well oiled machine!!!!

Rodney.

Originally Posted by trottytrue (Post 11759918)

Hello Everyone.... so nice to see so many of the oldies back. You all seem to be doing well.

My news is we are still in the US my operation was two years ago and I am doing well. I just wish we had lowered the price on the house and not tried to get the most for it...but no good looking back...
I still have some boxes that have the 'Home to England' written on them...we had a great deal of damage last year due to the snow so I had to re-box everything and have not had the heart to unpack them. I still have some painting to do.
Sadly my husband was finally diagnosed with Dementia which is getting much worse, his walking is very bad, they are going to put a shunt in his brain in a few weeks to see if it will help. But my husband has gone this is just a different person.
I manage well and I even started to drive again out of necessity I am still a little nervous but getting better all the time...
It is good to hear from Celtic Spirit and know she is going back home and the rest. All I can say is if you are going home dont hang about do it.....
So nice to read all your posts........

Originally Posted by Beedubya (Post 11772320)

Well it's a long time since I was here, but an update is due.

Like Sally and Rodney I thought I'd be whizzing all over Europe but instead I am sooooo happy to have just day trips and stay put locally. I think 30 years of living in Australia and huge commutes to work has turned me into a homebody.

I have no desire to sit in the sun around a hotel swimming pool as I had enough sun for a lifetime and at one point had my own swimming pool at home so there is no novelty there. I much prefer the seasons and quite like the dark nights that are now creeping up on us and am looking forward to some snow :)

Last year, in May, I moved to the South Lakes, yes my beloved Cumbria again, the locals round here still consider it Lancashire though. I live overlooking Morecambe Bay and when I came for my interview for this job/home and got off the train last year I just looked over the bay and said to myself "I HAVE to get this job" and here I am living in a village and loving every day of my life.

I do miss my kids and grand-kids but they have their own lives and this is my time to live the life I deserve to have. Yesterday a colleague and I drove to a conference in Durham (well he drove as I don't have a car), across Cumbria, across the Yorkshire moors and into County Durham, this country is stunning and so green and beautiful and maybe you have to live away from it to appreciate it, I know I sure have a different attitude to a lot of people who've asked me why I want to come back to this "dump" I am so grateful that my eyes see something entirely different.

Here are a few professional shots of where I now call home, enjoy. :lol:

Originally Posted by Beedubya (Post 11772340)

Thanks Curleytops you are so right <img title="Amen" class="inlineimg" alt="" src="images/smilies/amen.gif" /> I should say I've been living here since May 2014 and every day I have an Attitude of Gratitude.

Originally Posted by Beedubya (Post 11772340)

Thanks Curleytops you are so right :amen: I should say I've been living here since May 2014 and every day I have an Attitude of Gratitude.