sallysimmons

Yes. I spoke to a mortgage broker who specializes in ex-pat mortgages and explained my situation. He told me that UK high street lenders are very wary of self-employed people and even more so if they have just moved from abroad. So he would seek out a mortgage for us with offshore banks (most likely US ones) and then recommend refinancing in the UK within a few years to get a better rate. He did warn me that these banks will generally not lend less than £100K and that they would require an excellent US credit rating. That's all I know.

To get more information, just google expat mortgages and I'm sure you'll find someone who can help. Sadly, I can't find this guy's details.

I think we may wind up renting for a few years and then just getting a UK mortgage if we need one.

cheers

Should we know who Elizabeth Hurley is or is this a British celebrity?

dunroving

She was co-star in the first Austin Powers movie, also dated Hugh Grant, I think (until he was caught cosying up to a transvestite prostitute, that is).

Gabgoeshome

LOL ...she is /was not a transvestite !

Divane Brown is her name (I think ) she is apparently living a 'typical ' suburban lifestyle now with a young child .

That would be some clothes and make- up if it helped her conceive lol !

cheers

I thought he was tied to Emma Thompson. I wrong. I loved Emma Thompson and her drawl accent of the west country but I no longer favor her for some statements she has made that I disagree with.

OK I have just spent a half hour reading about Hugh Grant.

MNandMN

you can buy a compost bin from the council, we put all vegetable scraps, waste collected in vacuum cleaner, some grass cuttings, some leaves, garden waste - in not too much time it is ready to put back onto the garden and makes you feel really good that you have recycled. So many people here are going back to growing their own fruit and vegetables and also starting to do crafts that a few years ago were a 'dying' art e.g knitting, cross stitch, baking your own bread and more cooking from scratch, me included - some of us are tired of the use it and throw it away culture

sallysimmons

Have you been watching "Kirstie's Homemade Home?" I love all these crafts she's demonstrating.

I won't be sad to leave conveniences behind - I do feel life here is a little more materialistic than is good for us.

MNandMN

yes I like the show, and she is right when she says second hand shopping and salvage yards are so much fun, I love them, better than new things and better quality usually

windsong

Didn't know about the compost bin. That's a good idea! I LOVE the idea of going back to the old crafts. I love to cook and crochet and I have made my own bread. I would absolutely love to do this. I also do cross stich Yes, I have spent many years myself as a use it and throw it away individual but it always seemed pointless to me. I am not like that any more. I believe in saving our earth as best we can and going back to the old crafts. That's music to my ears!

sallysimmons

I do love the look of the salvage yard she goes to. The only ones I know round here are ludicrously expensive. I love second hand furniture but I can't afford antique prices, which is what they charge here.

windsong

I will be looking for secondhand furniture when I get there, too. I may buy some new but definitely not all. Even in the U.S. I like going to the antique stores. I usually end up buying a British teacup and saucer or something my grandmother would have had in Britain

windsong

I agree with you Sally about the conveniences.

As soon as I get a proxy anonymizer to work on my PC (Apple) I will find that show.

windsong

Isn't Emma Thompson the one who died from a head injury a few years ago? I loved her.

dunroving

Emma Thompson is alive and well (I think someone referred to her a few posts back).

Maybe you are thinking of Liam Neeson's wife Natasha Richardson (one of the Redgrave sisters) who died after a skiing fall(?)

cheers

You know we are in a bad situation when you can't give things away. We have a drive thru at a charity shop and I tried to give them my perfectly good monitor and they wouldn't except it so I had to drive 10 miles to the city dump and they had a stack of electronics that they send to a place about another 250 miles away to be salvaged for gold or ???

"The runaway technology society"

I think I read that the new government is going to change things on the wheelie bins. I'm tired of seeing them all over the place. I think they could be smaller and they could be kept out of site.
(I think I'll go back on google earth and see if they took the wheelie bins back in from the end of Dons driveway)