Thankful every day

 Twice Betty woke me up last night, in the early hours, jumping off the bed and running into the lounge, woofing and agitated.  She'd obviously heard something - I don't know what, I didn't hear anything and couldn't see anything when I looked out of the lounge and kitchen windows.  I'd got back to sleep quickly after the first time, but not the second, I lay awake for an hour or so.  I got to thinking about how much our lives have changed since moving here, and just how fortunate we are.  

I'd been deluding myself for some time that I was happy in the last place - I wasn't, but brushed it aside and refused to think about it.  The fact was it was so isolated, with no facilities nearby and no public transport, and little narrow lanes with no paths that tractors, farm vehicles, and horse boxes regularly used, meaning walking was difficult and could be dangerous, this all added to my general unhappiness.  Our immediate next door neighbours, whilst seeming friendly enough on the surface, actually weren't very nice at all and didn't even say goodbye when we left....we had problems with a few others too.   The little hamlet of about 20 houses was made up mostly of middle-aged and older couples, most of whom had lived there for years, and a few young families who tended not to stay long, so didn't really mix much and caused a few problems.  There was a retired police inspector with a big attitude problem, he, his wife and adult son had moved in 3 or 4 years previously and he'd already upset a few of the neighbours with his high-handed attitude.  Another middle-aged man was so grumpy he'd give Victor Meldrew a run for his money, and was so security conscious he fixed cameras all around his house, a couple of which overlooked our garden front and back.  There'd been virtually no crime in all of the 12 or 13 years we'd lived there, so it was just paranoia on his part.

A few months before we left, there was an incident involving husband (I wasn't present and didn't see it happen), due in part to husband's cognitive impairment.  It had repercussions and did divide our little community - when things like this happen you really find out who your true friends are....and, more importantly, who aren't!  Some people we'd thought of as good friends distanced themselves from us (I'd have expected them to know better as they knew us well), but we got a lot of support from a couple of others who I wouldn't necessarily have expected to come forward and be on our side, as it were.  One in particular bent over backwards to support and help us and I will always be grateful for that.  So that really affected the way we felt about living there, for the last few months there I hated it, frankly.  This particular incident was so upsetting it's only now, nearly a year later, that I've been able to think about it.

In contrast, here it's almost like paradise.  We've got to know most of the other sheltered housing residents in our little cul de sac, all our age and older - well, apart from the younger woman across the road who kept having the police visits, which seem to have stopped now and the problem, whatever it was, sorted out.  Everyone is lovely, there are no arguments or dramas, we're all keen gardeners (the ones who aren't physically able to garden themselves have friends or family do it for them).  It's quiet, being set back from the main road, with distant lovely countryside views.  And we appreciate the weekly support we receive from the Housing Support Officer, and the feeling of safety and reliability we get from the alarm system (even if husband has a tendency to fall against it and set it off accidentally!).  All the facilities we need are nearby and easily accessed, and nice places to go - including the beach - are much nearer than they were before.  I'm so thankful, every day, that we were able to move here.

The car has gone in for a service and minor repair job today, husband's been given a courtesy car.  The weather isn't great today though, black clouds coming over and rain forecast to start any minute, so we won't be going out anywhere.  I've got a few things to do indoors today, such as unpacking another box or two, getting summer clothes out of them and putting away thick winter jumpers.  I also want to motivate husband to get stuck into rearranging his brick shed and the car port - his shed is already turning into a safety hazard as he never puts anything away properly and things fall over or get knocked about when he's trying to find something.  We have several large plastic lidded boxes stacked in the car port, he could utilise those for the tools and bits and bobs he's got scattered randomly in the shed, I'll label them for him so we know where everything is.