I wanted to write a brief paean to where we live, as we have enjoyed it so much. Unfortunately we are moving when our lease expires in July because of circumstances beyond our control. So I thought I’d post whilst the going was good.
You’ll find a fair few photos of the countryside around where we live via my Flickr account.
My home office
We used to live in North Shields, so to move out into the lovely Northumbrian countryside has been a literal and metaphorical / metaphysical breath of fresh air. :-DOther plus points is that where we live:
- It’s not too far from Newcastle upon Tyne: about 30 mins from the Metrocentre & central Newcastle
- It’s good for mountain biking
- I can hit the country roads and green lanes from straight out the back door
- It’s closer to Kielder forest, where there is all manner of cross country mayhem courtesy of Kielder Trail Reavers
- There’s a brewery half a mile away, which we can drink at the the Black Bull
- It’s nice and quiet and it gets pretty dark in the evenings (if the light from Newcastle & Gateshead doesn’t reflect off the clouds)
- Towards the North West, the sky at night is very clear and it’s possible to see some amazing stars (and a few shooting ones)
- There is a varied slew of wildlife out and about, including:
- Deer
- Bats
- Cows / Sheep
- Kestrel
- Badgers
- Foxes
- Mice
- Song birds
- Toads
- Sundry insects
- Rats
- Feral cats
- All manner of birds
- There’s a few horses knocking about, too
Jarvis, our dog, loves it as he chases the pheasants, partridges etc. that lurk in the cover around and about. We get to walk him in various places, which keeps us fit, too.There *are* downsides:
- Winter can lasts for 4-5 months, can we windy, wet & snowy; it can be expensive to run an oil-fired central heating system
- Broadband is pretty hopeless – we’re at the end of a 9km line, at the limit of usability really
- The pigs being reared next door can get a bit smelly!
UPDATE: This is new house [ok, so it’s the garden at the top-left corner, but you get the drift ;-)]
