Well, my answer will always be I cannot afford to live in London. This will normally be followed by, "But the fare is expensive, isn't it?". To which I answered, "Yes it is but still, expensive it may be, when I add all my core expenses like my rental, council tax, utility bills, my broadband, tv license, etc,..., it is still much cheaper than staying in London". But sometimes other questions will follow, "But if you move here, there will be more opportunities for your husband to get a job" to which I almost asked, "and who will take care of my children, then?" which I didn't.
Anyway, there are many reasons why I do not want to stay too close to the City other than it simply is beyond my means. Sometimes I also wonder, why can't people just mind their own business without prying into others. My choice of where to stay has nothing to do with them and I sometimes wonder if I were to follow their suggestion to move down, will they contribute to some of my monthly expenses? I know they will never ask me again if I do that but well,...
Come back to the main issue. Our house is basically close to everything - By everything, it means a GP, a pharmacy, grocery store, schools (nursery, junior and secondary), laundry, chippy (during emergency), two convenient stores, a charity shop (most important to satisfy my reading desire), a large park - all these within 5 to 10 minutes walk. And when at other places, it is difficult to set an appointment to meet a GP, here, we can simply call in the morning and normally we are already sitting in front of the GP at around 10.00 a.m or 11 a.m at most, same day. So why should I leave?
Yes, I admit, there are times when the thought of having to endure the one hour or so journey home after a long day (errr... night) is sooo... daunting and discouraging but still, it is a very minor problem.
To be frank, among the more important reason is that I am simply not a "City" person. I enjoy a peace and quite setting (like a library? my daughter asked). I couldn't really stand the hustle and bustle of the City. To me, it is all right as a "work" place but not a "stay" place. But that doesn't mean I do not like civilisation. Those are two different things.
Like last week, as per every Sunday we went to a Car Boot sale. Not the one at Leighton Buzzard as it is closed due to the forecasted heavy rain. So, we went to the one in Tring, Aylesbury somewhere in Buckinghamshire about 30 minutes away- oh I just love the countryside with trees lining the road and farms along the way - it is heavenly to me when I see miles and miles of rapeseed, acres and acres of sheep farms. We stopped at the Wilstone Reservoir and enjoy the peaceful scenery, we dropped by Burbourton and walked along the canal with narrow boats moored by its sides. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is for us or at least it is for me).
Sources of images : canal boat from telegraph.co.uk; poppy anemone from gardenplants.org.uk
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