Alas still no word from the Hospital in Southampton about my so called hernia.  I did contact the nurse specialist at the Hospital last week.  I do wonder sometimes whether the NHS realises that by not responding to enquiries of this nature they are adding to costs as I have no intention of going away...............except to Derbyshire.

And what is happening there?  Well since you ask here goes.

We went to Derby last week and had a good look around.  The City of Derby has a lot going for it with not one but two big markets featuring local traders.  Just outside the Inner City there are a number of very nice places and of course the wonderful Peak District is a short journey away.

Martin is already working in Derbyshire and has been living in a dormer bungalow in the very nice town of Duffield.  The original idea was that Ev and I would move in there in February and Martin would find a place that could accommodate himself, Andrea, Emily and Adam in the same town.  For quite a while now that looked unlikely.  The dormer bungalow whilst okay for the two of us would be unsuitable for a family of four where one of its members works from home. 

The reason we went to Derbyshire was to find somewhere to rent so that the Kids could start school in Duffield after half term.  The visit turned out to be useful not least because it gave us the chance to look at areas where we would like to live as well as properties.  One of the places we looked at was a nice bungalow in Allestree a pleasant suburb in the North of Derby.  Initially we were looking at renting but when we got there we saw a for sale sign as well as one for renting.  We liked it a lot.  It needs some work doing to it but Ev felt bold enough to ask how much the seller wanted.  It turns out that the owner is an estate.  Ev did some very astute bargaining and cut a long story short we have had an offer accepted which will give us enough money to get some things done to make it a great place to live.

At this stage we thought we would have to live in the bungalow whilst renovations were carried out.  However over the hill has come the cavalry.  Martin took a phone call from an agent saying that a more suitable house to rent would be available.  He went and had a look today and is happy with it.  Thus we can move initially into the dormer bungalow whilst the improvements are carried out.

All that remains is for contracts on our existing house to be exchanged.  Now regular readers might be surprised that a deal agreed in October still has not been finalised.  It would appear that our buyer's mortgage company have put the wrong names on their offer which is holding the whole thing up.  If all goes well we should be ready to roll next month.

More news as we get it.