Finding Enough

We started February in Norfolk, but soon ventured north again for a couple of dog sits. We hoped that the approach of spring would bring some new property to the market, so wanted to be in striking distance if anything interesting came up.

We had stopped in Barnard Castle for lunch on the way up to Scotland once, and liked the look of the town and surrounding area. When a house sit came up for a Jack Russell cross called Max on the outskirts of the town, we thought it would be a great excuse to make a stop on our way up the country and have a proper look around. We are so glad we did, as we had a lovely relaxed week. Considering it was the beginning of February in England, the weather was remarkably kind. There were more walks straight from the house than we had time to complete, and we made the most of the many cafes and restaurants in walking distance (almost all of which were dog friendly, so Max could come along too).

We had never walked Teesdale before, and it is lovely. We will definitely do it again. I love the rocky river landscape, with occasional glimpses of a dipper and who doesn’t appreciate a waterfall or two? We particularly enjoyed the walk from Low Force, along the Pennine way beside the river to High Force. If you are a waterfall aficionado too, take a look at the photos at the end of this post.

Max was a very chilled out character and didn’t seemed fazed by the arrival of strange people in his house after his owners had left. He was sitting on our laps within 5 minutes of our arrival. He was just as happy walking 8 miles or sitting under the table in a cafe. He is slightly obsessed with carrying sticks, and raised many smiles from passers by as he trotted along with a stick in his mouth that was often several times his body length. Unusually for a dog, he had very good spatial awareness when it came to navigating through gates carrying said sticks. By the end of the week we had built up quite a collection outside the front door :). It was a shame there was no wood burner at the property to make this a productive pursuit.

As well as discovering the local area, we also fitted in a day out to the Yorkshire Dales. One of our first (and favourite) house sits last year was for a couple in the Dales, who we got on very well with and who we have already agreed to sit for again in the summer. They have repeatedly invited us to drop in if we were ever passing – so we did. We agreed to sit for them again in April while we were there! In fact we have had a steady stream of requests for repeat house sits as well as personal referrals from people we sat for last year. We have had to say no to most, as we can’t plan too far ahead at the moment. We hope that once we are settled, this will continue to be a facilitator of cheap travel.

The next stop was a stylish mid-century bungalow on the Ayrshire coast, with a Cockapoo called Tilly. As well as having a lovely view across to the Isle of Arran, there was a beach 5 mins walk away, which made a nice change. We were meant to be sitting for a dog, a cat and some chickens, but the cat sadly developed a serious heart condition the week before we were due to arrive and had to be put to sleep. We considered that a bit of a lucky escape for us, as it would not have been a nice situation to have to deal with while the owners were away. Tilly was very sweet & amenable, . The local vet definitely saw her owners coming though, as there were drawers full of paw wipes and anti everything medication all dispensed by the vet and hardly used.

With Tilly, we pivoted from sticks, to stones being the most exciting thing in the world. Her absolute favourite thing was chasing stones. She didn’t bring them back, just showed you where the stone you had thrown was, so you could throw it again. She was generally very well behaved, but did know when the beach trip was coming to an end and she might have to go back on the lead. Her answer was to go and lie in the sea 🙄

The location of this sit was chosen to enable property viewings and we completed 3 while we were there. We are keen not to dismiss too many options on paper, so went to look in person, even if we thought it probably wasn’t quite right. I’m glad we have taken this approach, as the immediate position and outlook of most have been better in reality than I imagined from the photos online. We haven’t seen anything we like enough to make an offer on yet, but we will continue to monitor the market closely.

On the way back from one viewing, we had a call from the agent dealing with the original smallholding . They wanted to confirm if we would stand by our offer, as the seller is actively looking for something else. We said we would, but that we are also actively looking, as we can’t wait forever. Who knows, maybe it will come through after all. We’re keeping all options open.

February also saw our first overnight in the van this year. When our week-long stay near Ayr was complete we stopped over for a night to view a smallholding that was just a bit too far away for a day trip. We stayed on one of the few campsites open in the area and with our underfloor heating plugged in, we were plenty warm enough. The property was the closest so far, and we liked the immediate position, but the location was just too far from where we want to be. We may kick ourselves if we are still homeless in a year’s time, but after much deliberation and pro and con listing, we agreed we would be jumping in for the wrong reasons.

After a couple of months of treading water, February felt like things started to get moving again and we were able to start focussing on the future again. While all this was going on, the freedom fund was bobbing along at a similar level, finishing the month slightly below where it was last month.

• Freedom Fund Value: £1,199,429 (down £2k on last month)
• Monthly expenses: £2,024* or a withdrawal rate of 2.0% if we were to maintain this rate of spending
• Earned Income: £990
• Miles walked: 150 vs. a target of 146**
• Books read: 3 (and 3/4) vs a target of 4 (2 per month)

February’s expenses were still a little below normal for our current nomadic lifestyle, and well within a comfortable level of spending. As we start to think about renting a property in our chosen area (if we can actually find one), this is likely to rise in the medium term. With interest rates considerably higher than they were when we moved out of our last home, the interest on our sale proceeds is now at a level to cover the kind of rent we would expect to pay.

I have now been paid for November and December’s invoices for the few hours of leadership coaching I have been doing. This low level of income also helps us to come to terms with ‘throwing away’ money on rent in the short term.

Despite being a short month, our miles walked this month were back on target. The weather has caught up with us a bit now though, so keeping this up in March might be a bit more effort. This should balance out with time to read on miserable days, and help with my reading goal. I read my target 2 books in February, but haven’t caught up the miss from January yet.

The end of February saw us head over to Northumberland. You may remember we did some cat sitting for friends near the national park in Northumberland in September. Sadly, Herbie the cat has since passed away at the ripe old age of 16, but his owners kindly offered us use of their home while they are away for an extended period. This puts us around 3 – 3.5 hours from our target area, so a good base to react to new properties on the market, without the tie of animals that would limit our flexibility. We continue to be open to house sits in the right area, but will limit animal care to within an hour of where we would like to buy, for the next few months. The exception to this are the repeat sits in the Yorkshire Dales. As we like the house, dog and location so much, we see those as free holidays.

We have seen a lot of rainbows when out walking near our temporary home in Northumberland (as well as a lot of rain!). This is also where we came across a mysterious, and in my opinion slightly sinister, gnome installation. I’d love to know what you make of it – check out the last photo below. It seems to be Mr & Mrs Farmer presiding over a particularly terrifying baby and an extended family of gnomes? Spotted next to a quiet single track road near a farm……….should we be concerned about our new neighbours????

*Includes £500 per month personal allowances (£250 each), which may not be spent in the month, but which is not tracked. Some of it may show up in the freedom fund in the future, if savings build up and are invested.

** I completed my challenge to walk the equivalent of Lands End to John O’Groats and back in 2022. This is the longest overland distance between 2 points on the UK mainland or 1748 miles. In 2023 I want to maintain the 146 miles a month this required.