Well, I did it! I am now officially living in Cornwall. I am no longer employed, I don’t have a garden, I no longer have a bath and I no longer have a private parking space. I don’t even have my husband living with me, and no,we haven’t parted ways, it’s just that he has to carry on working to pay the mortgage on the house that we are currently in the process of selling. He works in Greater Manchester, which is a bit too far to daily commute to Penzance. It’s even too far for him to pop down for the weekend, so for the time being it’ds just me and the ginger mog living the life by the sea. It’s not an ideal situation. Poor Mr R isn’t a happy bunny having to live in a big empty house. But I do remind him that he can now listen to Beethoven from dawn to dusk, watch eighties game shows or snooker, ignore the laundry basket and use the floor to dump his dirty socks and have chip friday on the other six days of the week without me telling him to eat vegetables and not to drown his food in ketchup. I think he will revel in his freedom to do what he wants when he wants without ‘she who must be obeyed’ breathing down his neck. Oh what a tyrant I am!!

I’m still pinching myself that I am actually living in Penzance. This is where we have wanted to live for so long. It’s been our dream and now it’s a reality. Who would have thought that having a browse through Rightmove whilst visiting Penzance last summer and spotting a flat that looked rather nice would have lead to viewing it, loving it and making an offer without Mr R seeing it. But you know when you walk into a place that it is the right one don’t you. Isn’t it written down somewhere that you make your mind up within three minutes that you want to make it your home? Fortunately, Mr R trusts my judgement and was happy to go along with my decision. A few weeks later we went down to Penzance together, and the first word that he said when entering the flat was ‘wow’. So,phew, he loved it and for the next six months we waited for our very first home that we both owned together to become ours. Just to fill you in. The house that we had been sharing since 2008 belonged to me and my ex husband – I know, complicated -so he has effectively been my lodger all of this time!

So here I am, settling into my new home. I can’t get my head around the fact that I am not going to be getting on a train in a day or two to go back to Swindon. That I’m not going back to class 9 and doing what I had been doing for the last, almost, twenty years. I’ve left behind my dear friends, being an integral part of my WI and a regular routine. The flat still feels temporary. It’s lacking ‘stuff’ to make it a real home. It lacks the two of us sitting side by side, wrestling for control of the remote. I’m having to get used to hearing the odd noise from the upstairs flat, the much smaller space and working out where the rubbish and recycling goes. I’m also having to get used to walking up hills. There are a lot of hills in Penzance and we live on one. I’m told I will get used to it. Maybe in a few weeks time I’ll be leaping up the hill like a gazelle and not stopping every few minutes feeling like my chest is going to burst. It amazes me when I watch elderly people walking up the hill at a quick pace. They have obviously been doing it all of their life.

I love our flat. I love that it has a bay window, high ceilings, a square eat in kitchen and a view of the sea from the balcony. It was a rental before we moved in and needs a bit of loving. I’m back in the land of magnolia walls. The bathroom is clinical white and reminds me of a bathroom in an old hospital. That will be our first project. There are no storage cupboards so I need to work out where to put stuff. I tell you, I need to get rid of LOADS of stuff. That’s going to be a big task and not one that I’m looking forward to. I came with just a transit van load of stuff including flat pack Ikea furniture. Temporary bits until we decide what furniture we both want. I’m missing my plants, pictures and books. I need to add our identity to the place to make it feel like real home.

Am I lonely in my home on my own with just the mog for company? No, not at all. I like my own company. I am alone but not lonely. I do like meeting people and making friends. Although I’m not particularly out-going, I know that I can make friends and enjoy people’s company. I’m off to a WI tonight. Hopefully I will like it and become part of it. A big bonus is that they are having a Cornish themed meeting and there will be pasties and saffron buns. I haven’t had a pasty yet. It’s about time that I do!

I need to finish here as my battery is almost out of charge. I’m having to write this in the wonderful Morrab Library as I’m not connected to the internet yet at the flat. It’s a beautiful building and I am sat here at a desk looking over the tropical Morrab Gardens and looking out to sea which is a steely grey today as its cloudy. I’m surrounded by dusty books with titles such as The Sociology of Hope. I’ve become a member so will be here often.

Apologies for the lack of photos today. I promise there will be some next time, soon. I’m now off for a cup of tea in the cafe that I went to a couple of days ago and left with a gift of a colander! But that’s another story.

Until next time xx