We Took the Plunge…

/ moragnoffke

Yes we finally booked our one way flights to Edinburgh, Scotland this last week. We are going to live in a small village in Melrose. We will have rolling hills and farms surrounding us as Melrose is in the Scottish borders. For those of you who don’t know last September we decided to move to Scotland when Derek received his British citizenship. We created an intermediate plan of renovating our main house and apartment. Then we down scaled and moved into our apartment in January while renting out the house. We also arranged for Derek’s British passport.

The last ten months.

Derek received his British passport last week which is why we finally feel free to book our flights. It has been quite a stressful 10 months so far but in another sense we have had time to adjust to a much smaller place. Just to give you a sense of our house and what we gave up: when our children left home we changed the one bedroom into a Pilates studio for us as we both do regular Pilates to keep strong and supple. Since Covid began we did our sessions on Zoom twice a week. It was very comfortable not having to move all the lounge furniture each time for sessions (like we do now). I changed the other bedroom into my personal study where I could both write and sew. I also had a double garage for my art studio and art workshops. Derek works from home and he was already using part of the apartment (which is on the same property) for his office.

So with that description hopefully you can try to imagine how small our living space became when we moved into the one bedroom apartment. We now use the lounge for Pilates, I don’t have a study for writing or sewing and I don’t have an art studio any more. My only creative outlet has been developing the garden as it had been quite wild before. If we were staying long term in the apartment I would have tried to make space for my art, sewing and writing but it has been a holding time for us.

Missing Zoe 2022.
Sewing/upcycling: this is the underside, some may prefer the shirt look.
Cut off gloves, waiting to be sewn up, M Noffke.
Missing messing with oxide paints.
Missing experimenting with egg tempera.

A holding time.

It has been an emotional time, sorting what we finally will take with us, saying goodbye to our dogs, slowly saying goodbye to our friends (not in the same way as the dogs), and adjusting to a new way of life. We also had to get used to a small kitchen and living on top of each other. I can hear every business conversation Derek is having because of the open plan structure of the apartment which means that I am also aware of trying not to make a noise. I could mention many more small adjustments we had to make but I think you get the idea. These are all the little crinkles we have had to work through and iron out but I think it prepares us for where we might be living in Scotland.  

Two months and two weeks left.

Now that we have booked our flights there is less ambiguity and I am feeling less “at sea”. It is an exciting time for us as we finalize the last things that have to be done before we go. There will be lots of farewells said to family and friends but also lots to look forward to. Eventually we will meet up with our daughters, Sio and Ellie, who already live in the United Kingdom. We are going to live with Ellie and her husband for a while, as they too have an apartment we can use on their property. Sio and her husband will travel up from London to be there when we get there so I am looking forward to a wonderful family reunion. And then the new adventure begins of finding our own home, making new contacts and exploring new places and culture. And that is my news in a nutshell.

Take care,

24 thoughts on “We Took the Plunge…”

  3. I’m so happy to hear from you again Morag! And great news too … it seems reality is kicking in, especially after buying those travel tickets 😉. And you have so much waiting for you – I imagine you can’t wait to see your daughters! Good luck with the final preparations (and saying good bye to your friends). Take care 🌸.

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  5. Hi Morag, it’s greaat to kinow that everything is almost in place, ready for the big move. You say Melrose, the burial place of Robert the Bruce! The border country is somewhere we have always meant to explore, in fact we were thinking about a holiday this year in Galloway, somewhere we usually race through on our journey to Cumbria. Unfortunately, fuel prices, and difficulties with ferries between here and Scotland have stopped us and we’ve contented ourselves, so far, with days out from home. I look forward to further updates. Keep well, stay safe 💐🙋‍♂️

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    • Thank you for your lovely message good to “see” you again! I have not to date spent much time in the borders either and I am excited to explore as my clan comes from the borders. Hopefully you will still be able to visit Melrose. You keep well too 🙋‍♀️🌈

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  7. I hope the move goes well. It’s a huge change, and there always losses, even when we are eccited about moving to a new stage of life.
    My mum and my sister (and her family) live in West Linton. I was there last summer, and then again at Christmas. It’s a beautiful part of Scotland. One of the places we visited a coupe of years ago (when visiting my Mum and Dad) was Melrose Abbey. V. interesting. (Also, my sister had her 3 children at the hospital in Melrose) … so lots of connections to your new part of the world 🙂
    Wishing you all the very best, Morag.

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  10. So the transition period is going to end soon. That’s really good that everything is going on the right track. My best wishes for your stay in Scotland, and a family reunion. Have a happy time !!

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  11. Great news Morag! You must be so happy that your plans came altogether. I can’t wait to read about your new adventures. Best wishes to you and your loved ones 💕🌸

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    • Thank you, we both have a lot of family there so we are excited but leaving friends behind is a sad thing. Some relationships have lasted 30 or more years ; then there’s the beautiful temparate weather, we will miss that. We are thinking of it as an adventure. I believe God can use us wherever we go, but like you have experienced, friends will be sad to let us go and I am very aware of that. I hope I will be able to be a friend to our friends through social media like zoom. Covid taught us as a group that it is important to continue relationships by hook or by crook ☺️take care.

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