Derrygal

That probably used to be the case - problem is now, it's very hard to sell your house here. Some have been on the market for a few years.

jasper123

Hello somersetgirl,
Yes I am happy, I love being here with Mum, we get on good together, sometimes she can be a pain in the ass but she (IS) 91 and you got to make allowances dont you,
Im getting very good medical treatment, Im getting light UVA treatment at the Hospital twice a week for my psorious, my Dermatologist seems pretty good,
I like the fact that its all free!!! and me at my age I get my prescriptions all free too you got to be over 60 M/F same,
I use my free bus pass just about every day exploring old and new parts of Portsmouth, and further on in the countryside, I even take the bus to the seafront and I walk along the beach on a nice sunny day and not too cold,
a few people probably think Im nuts, you know being cold & all,
What I really like about living in UK you can manage without a car, especially if you live in a decent size city,
When I think of trying to live anywhere in the states without a car, its so hard, I tried it once for a couple of weeks, I was real pleased to get my car back again after it got repaired,
In the US we jump a lot dont we, we jump in the car to go to the supermarket, then we jump in the car to drop off the dry cleaning, then we jump in the car again to pick something up from Wal-mart, and then we jump in again and drive to the cafe/restaurant that we are meeting our friends for lunch, then we jump in car again and drive to the hairdressers to have our haircut, and on the way home you just remembered you got to take your watch into shop to get a new battery put in but now you got to go 6 blocks out of the way to get there, Oh and then you look at the petrol gage and your almost empty and you got to get car filled up and then finally your driving home and your thinking Uhhhh I can put me feet up pour a nice BIG shot of Baccardi and relax and your thinking on way home how nice it will be just to get out of all this traffic and no more (JUMPING)
(MY POINT) --- all I have to do now Im living in UK is leave my Mum,s house and walk 10 minutes to the high street and I can do all these things that I have mentioned above all in one afternoon, including lunch with friends at the cafe in the high street, a full english breakfast is very nice Hmmmm
and with no jumping ---- no jumping in and out of the car,
just walking and just think we are more healthy cause we are having our excercise and walking, ---- but no Jumping!!!! :huh
Take care ya all,
Rodney.

sallysimmons

I've been thinking that too. If we do wind up staying here (God forbid!) I want to find the nicest house I can with as much finished as possible. When we bought this old place I had no idea how extortionate builder's charges were so we just can't make it how I'd like.

But if we come to the UK, I'd really consider renting and looking for a fixer-upper house that could be redone while we weren't living in it. It all depends on money of course, but that seems to be more feasible in the UK than it is here.

Man, I wish I was handy around the house. My dad used to be a whiz and my mum always said to me 'never mind about hearts fluttering - just make sure you marry a man with good DIY skills.' Of course I didn't but all these years later I see she had a point.

Mummy in the foothills

Dh says that, he'll only do minor repairs and improvements, we just put new basin/vanity tops, taps and mirror cupboards in both bathrooms, and two small wall repairs(about $800 total for both bathrooms he did all the work) and he's repainted the whole place in and out, outside he had to replace a whole wall (wood siding) so total out there paint and siding was about $3000
But he won't rip out the whole kitchen to replace or the bathtubs, or extend the house he says it's cheaper to find one that is big enough that you like and move into that.

sallysimmons

Oh wow, that sounds fantastic!

You're so right about the jumping. I do live in a little town here so there's no excuse, but I find I use my car way more than I ever did in the UK. Well, at the moment its too cold to do anything else, but come Spring I must resolve to stop 'jumping.'

dunroving

I just browsed through a series of photo articles on the housing market in the US and it is scary - there was a list of the "Top" (worst) 15 states for houses that are "underwater" (I think it means more owed on the house than it's worth) - frightening that all of them had figures above 20%. States like Michigan, Louisiana, etc.

I just looked for the thread with the link - if I can find it I'll post it here.

I'm pretty sure if I ever get back to the US I'll be renting at least for a while until I can get a handle on the market and possibly get a bargain. Might at least get the market working for you (sorry, I probably shouldn't say that when people are struggling to sell their houses in the US, but I'd be taking a huge hit on my current house so it's swings and roundabouts).

Here's the link: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-1...r-homes-2010-7, Nevada at 70%, Arizona at 51%, it's shocking.

jasper123

Yes Rosie you are lucky --- me too ---- cause we now live in UK
Denise was talking about the difference in the quality of food in different stores, you too a little, but me --- well I like nice tasting food and I really enjoy a lot of variety too like chicken/beef/pork/fish, pies & cornish pasties, faggots & peas & veggies, I LOVE MY VEGATABLES -- HAVE EM WITH EVERY MEAL, me and mum we really eat well you know and we shop around a lot to get the good bargains, were not coinsures of food, as long as it looks good and tastes good thats good enough for us, me well Ive always been a meat & potatoes man myself
we shop at Morrisons --- thats where we bought our Sunday roast for £6.37 not an ounce of fat on it, and it looks so good, cant wait to cook it too tomorrow with all the trimmings like yorkshire pudding & parsnips etc etc, we shop at morrisons, Lidls, Iceland, Audis, pick up just a few things at the co-op and Tescos, Im going to cook my famous meat spaghetti sauce soon with lots of garlic and we will have spaghetti bolognas for a change, we buy all the meat --- beef/poultry/fish at Morrisons cause they have there own Butcher that prepares all the meats on the premises, thats what I was used to in America,
I keep a good account of what me and Mum pay for our groceries --- when we get home we add the receipts up and I half the total and I pay Mum what I owe, each time we buy groceries I write down in my little red book the exact amount my half cost me, and for the month of January last month my share of the food was £80.70 --- so me and mum spent a grand total on all food for the two of us of £161.40 for the whole month, not bad really, and thats counting all the extras like all the fruit too, digestive buscuits/eccles and cakes & stuff and cereal like wheetabix & shredded wheat & porridge & all the lunch meat & bread & tea bags & coffee ect ect,
In the US i was paying around $180 per month for my food living alone, so thats about £100 give or take a couple of pounds, so not much difference really in the cost, a little more expensive in the US thats all --- but without all those lovely English treats Hmmmmm Ahhhhh
Take care ya all,
Rodney.

Derrygal

Thanks for the link - I'm surprised Ohio isn't in there as I know a lot of people are underwater (my youngest daughter and husband are - they bought in 2006 with a very small downpayment as they both have college loans). Apparently it might take as long as 10 years for things to get back to normal. It's sad for a lot of people - great for buyers (providing you don't have another home to sell). You probably would get a bargain if you decided to purchase a house here.

Derrygal

There has been a lot of talk about food on this thread. I haven't lived in the UK for over 20 years, but I have shopped in grocery stores when I have been staying with family on vacations back there. I don't think food is really any cheaper there than here - that's my opinion. However, I do think the quality and variety of food in the UK grocery stores is superior to any found here in the US. Everything is so sweet here - they use high fructose corn syrup in so much stuff. It takes me forever to shop now - reading labels, have to get the old reading glasses out!! I tried bi-focals but just could not get used to them at all!!

SomersetGirl

That sounds lovely, especially walking along the beach. I do walk to lots of places, and try to plan my route when I'm driving to run errands, so I don't go backwards and forward all the time, but I know what you mean about the jumping

jasper123

My Mum has lived in this 3 bedroom terraced house for almost 50 years and about 25 years ago her and Dad had a kitchen extension, it made the back garden a little smaller but its still a good size, anyway the kitchen is huge to anything that Ive been used to in the states, it took my cousin who owned his own construction company two & half months to compleat the Job and it cost £20,000 but that also included all brand new appliances in kitchen too like fridge, and a separate freezer, gas cooker, and making the old tiny kitchen into a nice little conservatory and also building a brand new bathroom upstairs with new bath tub and sink & all and new wall tiles,
Rodney.

fulwood

you all know i think that I live in Arizona - can't even begin to explain how bad it is..

SoThere

Hi all,

I just joined the site and have read every page in this thread and the previous (Part I) since I found the site nearly a year ago.

Rodney: I am glad you love New Jersey- I'm a Jersey Girl and your
posts about NJ people made me happy.

I read with anticipation your posts about LV and moving
home. Glad you are now home and happy! Do us a favor- please change your current location under your name, I love
to read where people are now living.

I'm currently in the Midwest. Need to fill in the profile.

I finally got my nerve up to join the site, was going to do it months ago, but anyway...

I decided on my username after seeing it in Cheers' posts. It has two meanings for me: I am already "So there" relocated in my mind and heart and hands on hips, tongue out like a little tantrum we all have from time to time. Although I don't actually do that, have hands on hips thing.

I've laughed and been a bit shocked, I've cheered you people on and now I am here. I wish I knew Welsh, I'd write something appropriate here to end this post.

islandwoman120

So here, SoThere!
Welcome to the 'old farts' thread, though there are young ones on here too. Tell a bit more about yourself, as much as you care to: where in the Midwest are you located, where in the UK are you from/do you want to go to?

If you have read the thread from beginning to present, then you know us well - warts and all, and you have the upper hand.

Do tell! Rosie

DDL

Some of you know of my enthusiasm for tea but you might not know about my little side hobby http://TeaInLondon.com

Anyway, the marketing folks at the London Hilton on Park Lane contacted me via Twitter the other day and offered to comp me 'and a friend' (which will be my husband, Tony) two Afternoon Teas tomorrow afternoon! We'll be served their standard tea which is called 'Confessions of a Chocoholic', and a preview of their upcoming Mothering Sunday Afternoon Tea.

It's been awhile since we've been into town so we're really looking forward to it. The plan is to do some shopping (probably more of the 'window' variety) on Oxford Street afterwards - to walk off all those scones and clotted cream!

Rosie, have you come across any tearooms in Frome? My husband and I created/own http://GreatTearoomsOfAmerica.com, but we're also working on a UK version (http://UKTearooms.com) and I need to start building up the database.