Bugging out this week

[Grumpy'sBetterHalf]

Well, we've finally gone off the deep end!
Today we handed over a large portion of our lovingly hoarded "apocalypse stores" to our sons and, if nothing goes drastically wrong at the last minute, we'll be moving out of our house on Wednesday and going 300 miles further north to live in a caravan while we build our dream home.
We've spent the last three years planting fruit trees and bushes, and a couple of acres of woodland, so we should eventually have fruit and fuel, but in the short to medium term we'll probably be living on rhubarb and cabbage
Can't afford the solar panels yet, but if all goes well we'll be able to put in a wood burner straight away and we're hoping to build a rocket mass heater once the house is complete and has passed its final exams, as it were...

There are bound to be many, many pitfalls we haven't anticipated but if you don't try you'll never do anything, will you?

We won't have the internet (or even electricity!) until we've built the house, so I hope the computers in the library will allow us to come here - since we're bound to need oodles of advice!

[Brambles]

Good luck to you GBH. Solar can be 12V too, and be cheap enough to keep a Caravan in electricity. (Honest!)

[Deeps]

I'm 'well jel', me and Her Maj discussed this kind of thing and she seemed reasonably up for it but when I started pushing to make it happen she made it pretty clear that for her it was going to stay a dream. All the best with it and keep us updated, I'm curious as to how you go, I've not fully given up on changing her mind.

[Decaff]

How brilliant, good luck to you and keep us all posted!

[tigs]

Good luck with the build hope you keep us posted

[Arzosah]

Fantastic news! Congratulations - and how brilliant that you've been planting the perennials already. Please, please, keep us updated, as well as coming on for feedback from the folks here.

Great news.

[Stasher]

Sounds great, I love the fact you've already started planting in anticipation.

Best wishes with the dream

[Catweazle]

There are bound to be many, many pitfalls we haven't anticipated but if you don't try you'll never do anything, will you?

That's the spirit GBH, hat's off to you and G for having the balls ( so to speak ) to do it.

When the rain is coming sideways and your boots are leaking you'll wonder if you did the right thing, but when the Sun comes out and you're sitting outside your new house looking out over your land, listening to the birds and enjoying a meal you grew yourself all will be right in your world.

[Medusa]

That sounds amazing. Good luck to you both in your new home

[Grumpy'sBetterHalf]

Thanks for all the good wishes and the advice

We've been thinking about the HUBi, Bramble. Told the kids we might ask for one as a combined birthday and Xmas present. (They're used to weird requests - a few years ago I asked for an 8ft tree and Grumpy got 25 saplings ) At the moment we seem able to manage OK with the car chargers, so we'll see how it goes.

Don't give up hope Deeps. I've been wanting to do this for over 30 years. I shelved the dream when I met Grumpy, 'cos I knew it was too weird to mention and it took us 15 years to discover that we were both hiding the same guilty hankering!

Then, of course, mundane matters like jobs, schools, teenagers who don't want to leave their friends, get in the way...
After that it took years to find the right piece of land, at the right price, and the right time...

We've had the land for 3 years now and were beginning to despair of ever selling the house. Fingers crossed that our building warrant comes through before the planning permission expires!