Appletree Cottage

I have fallen in love with Appletree Cottage. It's a real writer's cottage. Just look at it. Bow windows, ivy, gorgeous kitchen, wonderful leafy garden with ponds and a big office/workshop at the bottom and even its own gated off-street parking. My aim was to buy somewhere back in North London where all my friends are. Guess where Appletree Cottage is? Right here in Uxbridge, 3 miles from where I am currently living with Mr G, and within a ten minute walk of the station.

So, what matter most, the right house or the right location? Back in North London, I can only afford a shoe cupboard. Cottages like this one would cost upwards of £400,000. My friends would never forgive me if I bought this one, though. They'd never visit me. Only one has made the trek in three years and it's not exactly the North Pole, it's 25 miles from central London and it's on two tube lines. On the plus side, I would be able to visit Mr G frequently - and Flad, my beloved cat.

Why do I want to buy my own place? Because I find it very hard to work from home in a house where the other occupant isn't working, and has friends round all the time. And because all my belongings (the ones that survived the damp in Mr G's shed) are costing me £200 a month in storage and I haven't seen most of them for five years! I need my own place, my sanctuary, where I can try and build my own life again. If I buy this cottage, I could sit in the workshop looking out over the pond and garden and write. Maybe, if I write enough and am determined enough, I shall start getting things published again. All in all, I'd be a happier person and if my friends can't be bothered making the trek to see me, then I suppose I shall have to continue making the journey to see them. Or perhaps they are not real friends at all.