My Life In ... Hair Styles

The thirteenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office".

Barbers (November 1961, age 9). My final year at Thorns junior school. As a schoolboy one went the the barbers for a haircut. Fairly brutal, functional places. They treated your head like an adjustable action man figure. Bang it to the left, cut that side. Slap it to the right, cut that side. Smack your head forward, do the back of your neck. No grace or courtesy. No chat or banter. Mind you had they spoken it would most likely have been football about which I know nothing and care less.

Barbers (November 1964, age 13). I have no pictures from my teenage years apart from the biennial school portraits. Not one. My parents weren’t into pictures of their children. Everyone else I know has pictures of their offspring growing up, their graduation, wedding, grandchildren. My parents had none. It’s like we didn’t exist. Buy me a beer and I’ll tell you more.

Beatles mop top (Spring 1971, age 18). Publicity shot for the local paper The Kenilworth Weekly News. My school, Kenilworth Grammar School, was only 10 years old and we three were the first ever from our school to get to Oxbridge. As such we were the darlings of our headmaster (R. N."Ronnie" Mitchell, Cantab.) and I never got any grief for my shockingly long (!) hairstyle although he did glower at me.

Transition Beatle / Hippie (Autumn 1971, age 19). My National Union of Students id. photo courtesy of a Photo Me booth. Got to love the cheesecloth shirt - I was so on trend. Not sure about the dodgy 'tache.

Maximum hair (Summer 1973, age 20). It never grew any longer than this. Featuring the start of my, now politically incorrect, Robertson’s gollie badge collection courtesy of dumpster diving on my summer job as a dustman.

Finals Part 1 (June 1974, age 21). For exams you had to wear full subfusc - academic gown trimmed with rabbit fur and a mortar board - tassel to the left, of course.

Chopped (Spring 1975, age 22). Eventually the long hair had to go. Late one evening I hacked lumps off with scissors and the next morning slunk off to the nearest barbers to get the mess tidied up. It was still fairly bushy but more presentable.

Unisex salon (1978). The barbers of my teenage years were exclusively male. It was a pleasant shock the first time I went to a unisex salon where an attractive young lady fondled my scalp. Looking back it makes me realise how times have changed.

Permed (June 1979, age 26). My sister’s wedding. I call it my Marc Bolan look, others think it's more Noddy Holder.

Permed (January 1980, age 27). My work’s pass from day one on my new job at Coopers & Lybrand (Management Consultancy Services). My perm was freshly washed and in full effect for the first day at work, positively Roger Daltrey. As you can see I failed to surrender upon leaving.

Purple hair (Early 1980’s). I was seriously planning to go purple next inspired by Space 1999 and Crystal Tipps but as I was now working in the City I bottled it. You had to look the part: pinstripe suit, silk tie and serious black shoes (Loakes or Church’s).

The C&L consultants’ handbook had this to say about dress code: 

“The consultant’s attire should not be so staid as to make them appear fuddy duddy nor should it be so flamboyant as to make them appear frivolous and lacking in character.”  I suspect purple hair might well have fallen into the latter category.

Blonde highlights and beard (Summer 1982, age 29). On a canal holiday in the south of France. I had to treat myself to a special pair of beard scissors (they are a thing). I call it my George Michael designer stubble look, others think it’s more Noel Edmonds. 

Classic haircut and beard (Mid 1980’s, age 30's). City slicker working for BIS (Applied Systems) with my burgundy frames. This is my “Video Killed the Radio Star” look. Boy, were those glasses heavy. With a prescription of -6.0 they were like bottle bottoms. 

Spiked hair (Circa 1987, age 35). Short hair worked into spikes with plenty of gel. Alas no extant pictures survive.

Well groomed (October 1999, age 47). Head shot for the self-appointed director of the newly founded M&M Enterprises Ltd as I went self employed. Note the absence of glasses as I was wearing contact lenses at the time.

Skinhead / Bovver boy (September 2021, age 69). I never understood why the barber would hold up a mirror so I could see the back of my head and ask “How is that?” I didn’t give a hoot, I never look at the back of my head. 

What I did mind as I progressed through my 60's was the shiny spot on the top of my head which got larger as the hair got thinner. I don’t think I want to see that! I knew there would be a time when I would be at risk of entering comb over territory. A style faux pas to be avoided. So I bowed to the inevitable and went for a number 3 on top, grading to a 1 at the sides. I had to buy a beanie because I really feel the chill.

Note the white mark behind the left ear which I have never been able to see before. I know what it is. In my mid teens, whilst exploring round the back of Kenilworth Castle, some unknown youth fired a stone from a catapult which hit me on the head and knocked me unconscious. There was blood and I can still feel the lump.

I guess that’s it as I work my way towards total hair loss. Genes don’t always work in one’s favour. My father, mother and uncle all had a good head of hair till the day they died. My brother who is only 15 months younger than me still has a real mop of hair. But I’m not bitter.

Rob Heron and Tommy at the Upfront Arts Venue

Unthank, Cumbria, UK. Saturday 19-February-2022.

Once again Cumbria has provided an unusual and entertaining musical evening. We were alerted to this event by our friend Andrew. And then again by Heather who was a fellow tail walker with Mary, at the previous Saturday’s parkrun and a regular with me on the weekly Eden Runners Lowther trails outings. It turns out that Rob Heron is her son so I guess I should not have be surprised to see several Eden Runners in the audience

The venue is a quirky combination of art gallery, cafe and puppet theatre. We decided to book ourselves a pre-gig meal which was excellent, very tasty vegetarian supper: starter, main and a glass of wine for very modest price.

Normally the performances would be in the theatre but that was occupied by an interesting art exhibition of totem poles made from tin cans and other found artefacts. Instead half the cafe was cleared of tables and the seats lined up in what is normally an exhibition space.

The first act, Tommy, performed an excellent blues set. All his own compositions full of suitably downbeat themes of heartbreak and despair. He was far too self-deprecating and really should have more confidence in his talent.

At one point the host and compere suggested from the back of the room that Tommy might like to introduce the songs, let us know that he wrote them all himself and give a little bit of background as to how they came about. Sound advice. One of the advantages of a live concert is that you get to hear the story behind the songs: what inspired them, who they were inspired by, what they were about. 

We then had an a break and an opportunity to refill our glasses or take a stroll around the art exhibition in the theatre space.

Rob Heron played a very different kind of set, very country music influenced. Has he said if you don’t like country music then you’ve been listening to the wrong kind of country music. He was a much more confident and sleek performer. The songs were all much more lighthearted and upbeat not to say humorous. Interesting contrast to the first act.

All in all a fun and entertaining evening out. 

Brunswick Road 10 - painting, shelving, pipework

Penrith, Cumbria. February-2022.

Once the plastering was done (see January update) I had to bring the paint roller out of retirement and slap two coats of Dulux kitchen and bathroom paint all over in order not to delay the kitchen fitting (or even worse let Mary do the painting). Slip on shoe cover make excellent, improvised light protectors.

The kitchen fitter then informed us that the lead time on the units was such that it would not be happening as soon as hoped. A strategic rethink was called for. We brought forward the dining room re-plastering to get that done in the meantime. Unfortunately the weekend before he was due to start the plasterer slipped on some ice, jolted his back and was out of action for at least a week.

In the meantime we had a parallel, DIY work stream fitting the TARDIS circuit in the shed. We decided the Belfast sink had to go  It took up room, had no water tap and the drain didn’t drain. No before picture, alas. I took a hammer to the supporting bricks and, lo, it was gone. It may become a planter or a boot cleaning trough.

Next step was to replace the temporary plastic shelves from B&Q with wall to wall brackets and adjustable shelving to hold all our storage crates.

I had to borrow Nigel’s SDS hammer drill as my battery powered drills weren’t up to brick and stone. 

Order restored, shelves stacked. It may not be the closing scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark but it’ll do for me.

Back in the house when the old bath was taken out from the downstairs bathroom it left a pair of pipes running across the floor that fed the kitchen sink. When we re-sited the boiler we missed a trick. We should have got the plumbers to take those pipes out and take a fresh feed from the new boiler. So while we were in Italy the plumbers came back to retrofit the routing and add a spur for the new shower. 

Next month we hope for full installation of kitchen and utility / shower room.

Repeat after me “ It’ll be lovely once it’s finished”.

My Life In ... Shoes

The twelfth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office".

Inspired by a lady in Fell Bar wearing pink Doc Martens here is the story of my life in shoes.

Prelude (1966): One of my father’s favourite songs was Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, "These Boots Are Made For Walking". I suspect the appeal lay as much in Nancy's charms as in the melody.

Blue suede shoes (1971): when I arrived at college I found myself in need of a new pair of shoes and so went into one of the High Street stores. I chose a pair of blue, suede, zip-up ankle boots. As I walked out of the store I realised what I had done and in my head I heard Elvis "Uh huh huh. You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes". Mark has left the building!

Platform soled boots (1972): all the glam rock bands on Top of the Pops were wearing platform soled boots: Slade, Sweet, Roxy Music, etc. So I had to get with the programme! Oxford High Street did not run to such exotic footwear so I made a special pilgrimage to London, to Camden market where I bought myself some platform boots with 2 inch soles and 4 inch heels. I didn’t quite have the courage to buy silver but went for a more pedestrian brown.

I let my father try them on and he strutted around our living room saying that it made him feel like John Wayne.

To complete the look I had to make myself a pair of flared jeans to go over the boots. I put a triangle in each leg from knee to hem and then an extension all the way round so that the jeans went to the floor. It seems daft in retrospect to buy a trendy pair of boots and then hide them in a denim tent.

One day I promise, I will spray them silver and wear them to a fancy dress party!

Update: Courtesy of my sister-in-law and her talented offspring, here is how I might have looked (and yes that is all my own hair).

Clogs (1973): for some reason clogs became all the rage so I bought myself a pair of black clumpy things. Maybe it’s the way I walk but I would struggle to keep them on my feet without them flying off and injuring some innocent bystander. So whenever I wore these unruly footwear my toes were clenched and my ankle tilted up in an effort control them. I hated them but was too mean to chuck them. I was greatly relieved when they finally wore out and I could dump them in the bin.

Red patent leather shoes (early 1980s): these were an impulse purchase that I spotted in an Oxford Street window . They were my party shoes. I also wore them to several office Christmas parties. In those days they were black tie or, in my case, red tie. I bought a red silk bow tie and matching red cummerbund to go with my shoes. I no longer have the shoes but I still have the red silk bow tie, cummerbund and handkerchief.

It was the shoes that caused me to choose my first company car by its colour: red to match my shoes.

Brasher Boots (1990): for the first 50 years of my life I did no walking. We were not an outdoor, sporty family. But then I ended up living temporarily in Cottingley in the Yorkshire Dales. Because I had acquired a new kitten I relocated up there and decided to try this walking malarkey.

I went into one of the many outdoor shops and bought the full set of gear  including Brasher boots which were not the solid leather, diving boot kind of footwear I was expecting. They were light and the label said "the first time I wore them I gambolled like a spring lamb". I am not sure how much gambolling I did but I foolishly thought they would last me a lifetime. Little did I know how much more walking lay in my future.

ECCO shoes (many): As previously posted, Ecco - 57% of the shoes in my wardrobe, I am a great fan of them. Subsequent to that post, when my Brasher Boots gave up the ghost, I went on to buy several pairs of ECCO walking boots and shoes.

Brooks adrenaline (2016-2022): rather like ECCO these running shoes nicely fit my feet so, having found a make that works for me, each time I wore out one pair I just bought another just the same. I am now on my fifth pair that had their inaugural run at today's parkrun.

Sandals (never): as far as I am concerned sandals are irredeemably naff! It doesn’t matter whether they are the classic brown leather Jesus sandals or high-tech mountaineering sandals. Doesn’t matter how much Gore-Tex, neoprene and Velcro you put in they are still sandals, style free and an offence to fashion. Crocs are are just another form of sandals in my book, nuff said!

What next? Ruby slippers?

Hiroshima Twinkie plus Open Mic at Penrith Players Theatre

Penrith, UK. Sunday 06-February-2022.

This was my first experience of an open mike gig and I was not sure what to expect. What I got was a bizarrely eclectic mix of styles. Each artist was allowed two songs then it was "get off", change the microphone and on with the next performer. Although they were introduced I can only remember some of the names.

Tom, the MC, started a show off with a single song.

Second act was Harry Stephenson with a loop pedal. The first time I saw a loop pedal was a bunch of saxophonists in Cisternino where they built up a wall of sound. I subsequently discovered that Ed Sheeran was a great exponent of that art. It was fascinating to be close enough to see the loop pedal in action.

Harry laid down a backing track then percussive beats on his guitar then some vocal backing. He then proceeded to sing his songs using the pedal to switch on and off the various loops. He was overly self-effacing, he should have more confidence in his ability.

Then we got a man in striped trousers who was more of a poet than a singer. He recited lyrically complex material and accompanied himself on a strumming guitar with percussive accompaniment from bells on his shoes.

An old man from Carlisle (sounds like the start of a limerick) with a deep baritone, cowboy twang sang a humorous song about a love affair with a blowup doll. Unfortunately he lost his thread halfway through, busked it a bit and then moved onto his second song. For that he switched from guitar to accordion. I am always incredibly impressed by anyone who can play an accordion  Playing the keyboard with your right hand and working the dozens of buttons with your left while at the same time working the bellows; more than I could handle.

Then we went into deep into "a cappella" territory with a woman who sang a couple of songs in a folk style accompanying herself with a Shruti box. This curious instrument is driven by bellows and provides a steady droning sound in the chosen key.

Next was a guy who sang a Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah" but sadly, like the man from Carlisle, lost his train of thought and had to appeal to the audience for a prompt for the next line. He found his way back to the second chorus with a sigh of relief.

We then were entertained by big Phil Haslehurst who sang a couple of his own compositions the first of which involved his landlady accidentally burning a load of dope mistaking it for dried flower arrangements.

Sad to relate I remember little of the next act, a man in a dark grey jumper with a man bun. 

A double act next, two blokes (apparently sometimes a trio, the guitarist is Mike Turnbull) one of whom played guitar and the other sat on a beatbox to provide percussive support. What they sang can’t remember but they did OK.

The penultimate act was another bloke with a guitar.

The final act of the open mic was a couple, him on lead guitar, her on bass guitar. They were clearly seasoned performers appearing at various other venues and events. They played a fairly rocky couple of numbers and then it was time for a break and a refill of the beers.

The main act, Hiroshima Twinkie, were a talented group of musicians that defy categorisation. A four piece with drums, and rhythm, lead and bass guitars. They played in a variety of styles including a couple of reggae based numbers. They are closer to novelty, comedy act than anything else. For those of you who are old enough to remember the Baron Knights that might give you a reference point. Or perhaps Tom Lehrer updated and migrated from piano to rock and roll. Deservedly the headline act, they entertained and amused the audience.

So that was nice.

Brunswick Road 09 - Plastering, Plumbing, Garden Design

Penrith, Cumbria. January-2022.

Another month of two steps forward, one step back.

We were due to have the kitchen and utility rooms plastered the second week of January but the plasterer tested positive for Covid. Instead of pushing all his other jobs back he dropped us. We suspect that he thought it better to disappoint one customer than his entire pipeline of works.

We made an emergency call to the builder we used on Benson Row who came to the rescue with some weekend working! To speed up the process I had to do some prep on the back wall, prising off the old plaster. That wall backs on to our shed and is pretty cold. 

The walls part plastered. As part of the re-plastering they put in insulated plaster board on the back and left hand walls of the utility room. To ensure adhesion of the plaster the walls are first painted with blue grit plaster bonding agent as you can see on the window wall.

Once the blue grit was dry, the builder came back to do the skim coat.

Next the plumber has to remove the grey pipes running across the floor and join up new and old pipes to feed the new sink and dishwasher plus install upright pipes to feed the shower. We are kicking ourselves that we didn't get those done when the boiler was re-sited. Our fitter's high-tech specification schematic for the shower supply:

After that some minor electrical works are planned which means I have to paint the walls before they reinstate all the sockets and put the underfloor heating controller in place. And finally the kitchen fitter can fit the kitchen!

In the front garden Mary has been a real Trojan. The before - a sort of very weedy rockery:

She weeded and dug it over. Luckily one of our neighbours could make use of the spare white stones and took them away that same evening making it easier to work around the small space. Together we moved the extremely heavy sundial (a 50th birthday present from my parents) up from the front path to the corner where I had dug out some most stubborn shrub roots.

Mary decided that the front garden should be a herb bed so it is now planted up with bay, rosemary, hyssop, oregano, thyme plus some trailing plants to cover the ugly gas meter box. Still waiting for other herbs to be available including sage and lavenders.

Like the kitchen "It will be lovely when it is finished".

Fix The Fells - January 2022

Gowbarrow Fell, Cumbria. Saturday 29-January – 2022.

My first experience of volunteering in the Lake District. Very different from London where I used to volunteer pulling shopping trolleys, etc out of the River Wandle.

This was an experimental collaboration between Fix The Fells and Friends of the Ullswater Way in association with the National Trust. Fix the Fells do exactly what you would expect. The NT Rangers do the serious path building and the volunteers do ongoing maintenance. Today's outing was making sure the various drainage channels that cross the path are clear ensuring water flows and thus preventing unnecessary erosion.

I was surprised to learn that the Ullswater Way is a recent creation. FOUW lobbied for its formal designation by joining up existing permissive paths and after some negotiation with various farmers and relevant authorities launched it back in 2016. So when we walked it first it would have been brand-new. 

We did it for a second time starting during the first lockdown as part of our allowed exercise: "In the Footsteps of Dorothy" i.e. Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of William. It took us several outings to join up all the dots and complete the circuit. During that time we discovered FOUW and joined a couple of their very interesting lectures via Zoom over lockdown. This is their first foray into volunteering.

We were all given a shovel and a brush and then proceeded to do a gentle walk round the Gowbarrow loop. As we came to each drainage channel one or two of us would stop to clear it out under the tutelage of a Fix The Fells volunteer whilst the rest leapfrogged onto the next one.

We did this for a couple of hours and then stopped for lunch.

More of the same in the afternoon with a final leg down alongside Aira Force and back to the car park. Along the way we saw large bags of rocks and gravel that had been dropped by helicopter for some major path construction on the steep slope to / from the summit where all the walkers feet had caused a fair amount of erosion.

Some bags contained gravel, some had big rocks.

A sturdy path does, apparently, encourage walkers not to stray off onto the grass and cause more damage.

The final stretch down alongside the stream.

At the end I took a small side trip with the chair of FOUW out of the car park to Dorothy's Gate with a quote from Dorothy's poem, "I never saw daffodils so beautiful".

We all thought that it was a successful day. So much so that Mary and I are hoping to join Fix The Fells as one of their volunteers.

Update: 03-Feb-2022.

I completely forgot to mention that we saw two red squirrels after two years with nary a single sighting. They are like buses, nothing for ages then two come along all at once. One ran across the road just as we were approaching Aira Force and another was on a squirrel feeder next to the picnic area. 

Also we made the ITV regional news:

That's me in the brown fleece and cream beanie, Mary is next to me in black.

Fame at last? Well maybe not.

My Life In ... Homes (4 of 3)

Penrith / London / Italy. 2021.

Part four of the trilogy of "My Life In ... Homes". A year of massive churn in the M&M Enterprises property empire. In 2021 we sold three houses, bought one, rented one out and exchanged one timeshare for another; net simplification of the portfolio by two.

Plan A had been that we would sell one of our buy-to-let properties every 10 years and live off the capital for the next decade. Covid and 2021 turned the plan completely upside down.

[SOLD]: 41 Heathfield Square, Wandsworth. 2015-April 2021. A mid Victorian two bedroom, ground floor flat directly behind Wandsworth prison. This was our main home. 

In 2019 the mother of our neighbour across the hall was thinking of downsizing and moving to be nearer her son. She liked Heathfield Square and had been to look at a flat for sale further along the terrace. That was a disappointment and so we offered her a look round our flat for comparison. She liked our flat so much that she asked if she could have first refusal should we ever decide to sell which we had no plans for at the time. 

In the interim we acquired a lodger for our spare room. The plan was that during summers in Italy we would get a house sitter, plant waterer and post picker upper. In return he would get almost exclusive use of the flat, at least in the summer months. When the first Covid lockdown happened in March 2020 we decided to stay up in Penrith. Under the strict rules it was illegal for us to stay in our own apartment because we would burst the lodger’s bubble! So in the latter part of 2020 we only spent six nights in our own home, when the lodger was away visiting family.

Then in early 2021 the neighbour's mother came back to us saying that, after a couple of false starts, she had found a buyer for her place and would we consider an offer. Since we had been unable to live in our own home, knew that our lodger was looking to move back to North London and we were starting to put roots down in Penrith we said yes. 

If we could meet the end of March deadline she would avoid paying stamp duty because of the stamp duty holiday. A bonus for us was that we would pay no estate agents fee as it was a private sale. In addition she was so keen to make the end of March deadline that she offered to pay the solicitors fees if we used one she knew to ensure that it all happened in a timely manner. 

And so that is what we did: sold up and moved some of our belongings into our lockup garage in Heathfield Square, some into temporary storage in our unoccupied Bolting House flat and some up to Penrith.

[BOUGHT]: 10 Brunswick Road, Penrith. June 2021-Present. A late Victorian four bedroom, mid-terrace house. 

What do you do when you sell your main property and have w-a-a-y too much stuff to fit in your second home? Do you: 

1. get rid of stuff 
2. rent a lock up to store furniture, etc 
3. rent a garage to store bicycles, etc 
4. buy a new, bigger property 
5. all of the above 

The correct answer according to Mary is e)

Having decided that we needed a bigger home in Penrith it did not take too long to find the right property, now known as Penrith Money Pit II. Fortunately as we had sold Heathfield Square making Brunswick Road our main home and we were still in the extended stamp duty holiday period we paid no stamp duty on this purchase. Hurrah!

The saga of the building works for the kitchen and the utility room is ongoing and more can be read elsewhere on this blog. 

[RENTED]: Benson Row, Penrith. August 2021-present. A three bedroom, two reception room, mid terrace 1850’s house in Penrith.

We were Zooming with a friend of ours, who we met in Italy, telling her all about our purchase of Brunswick Road and what we were thinking of doing with Benson Row. One option was to revert to our original plan and let it as an Airbnb property while we were in Italy during the summer or, in current times, possibly all year for the newly revitalised staycation market.

She mentioned that her daughter was thinking of relocating to the Lake District. The daughter was planning on renting for a year in Penrith or Kendal while she decided a) exactly where she wanted to live and b) found a house to buy. A few calls later and we had a match made in Heaven. We gave her a good deal on the rent and in exchange we got a tenant we knew and trusted to look after the place. A serendipitous win-win.

[SOLD]: Via Manzoni 15, Cisternino, Puglia aka Sotto Le Stelle. 2012 - October 2021. A studio apartment on the outskirts of Cisternino old town.

We had no plans to sell Sotto Le Stelle but with Covid we had no lettings in either 2020 or 2021. In theory we could have rented it out but paying for someone to manage it in our absence and the cleaning regime required by the Italian authorities meant it was not really feasible or economical.  

The nephew of a friend who had stayed there previously had been looking on Italian estate agents websites and got an unrealistic view of property prices. He asked how much we would want for our place. We got the local estate agents to give us a valuation which we duly relayed and got the response that that was far more than he was hoping to pay. 

So that fell through but it planted the seed of the idea that perhaps we should sell this currently loss-making property now rather than later. We asked the estate agents to market it for us and very rapidly found a full asking price buyer. While we were out in Italy for six weeks in September and early October 2021 we met up and completed the transaction.

It turns out that the buyer is fairly local but intends neither to rent the property out nor live in it. Rather she will use it as an occasional place to rest and pass time whilst waiting for her children to return from school or other activities.

Of all the sales this was the one we were the saddest to see go. We weren't quite ready to let it go even if it was a practical decision. However we still have our main apartment in the old town with a spare room for visitors.

[SOLD]: 8 Bolting House, Wandsworth. 2010 - November 2021. A purpose built third floor, three bedroom, one reception apartment in Wandsworth.

Selling Bolting House was part of the original Plan A. The tenants had moved out in September 2020 followed by a sigh of relief on our part. However the market was pretty static because of the pandemic. There was very little interest, a few online viewings but nothing in the way of real life viewings.

Eventually we found buyers who beat us down on price but that’s the way markets go sometimes. They took so long faffing about with questions and answers to and fro that the boiler, which was approaching the end of its life, gave up the ghost. After more haggling we agreed to replace the boiler and split the cost so the sale finally went ahead. 

Some of the proceeds we used to make allowed overpayments off the other buy-to-let mortgages and the rest we set aside to eventually pay off those mortgages at the end of their terms.

[EXCHANGED]: Quaysiders Club, Ambleside, England. 2011-present. A two bedroom, one reception (kitchen / dining / living) room, timeshare apartment.

Being in Penrith, we were not getting much use of our timeshare and were trying to decide what to do with it, we had put it up for sale but there was no interest. But then Mary’s aunt asked if we would be interested in her timeshare in the same complex. Ours was for Christmas week, her's was for New Year's week.

The other apartment has views outwards towards the lake and a balcony that gets the afternoon sun. We thought we might make more use of the New Year's week than our Christmas week. So we gave up our slot and she gifted hers over to us. So we still have a timeshare: same complex, different apartment, different week.

This year it proved very useful as it gave us a week's respite from the building works in Brunswick Road. Lovely to have a place with a real kitchen.

Hopefully that's it for a few years!

See also:

• My Life In ... Homes (1 of 3) Places to live in.
• My Life In ... Homes (2 of 3) Places to rent out.
• My Life In ... Homes (3 of 3) Places to holiday in.
• My Life In ... Homes (4 of 3) Epilogue.