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We’ve been living in the countryside for over a year now. It did take me a while to be persuaded to move, as I’ve always been a town girl and lived the ‘easy’ life. The thought of a peaceful life and fresh air was an obvious attraction, but there were negatives I considered too. In the end, it was kind of fate and sad circumstances that swayed our decision to move to the countryside, but I’m glad I changed my mind now as it’s one of the best I have ever made.

Flogas recently spoke to 910 Brits and found that 85% of these people have, at some point, considered moving away from the city to live “off-grid.”

Now, we don’t live completely off grid, but we do live, as people say, “in the sticks”. I tend to call where we live a hamlet rather than a village, as other than houses, the only other building is a pub. (Which is less than a minute walk away!). Many years ago though, there were public buildings such as a school, a post office, a chapel, and a guest house; but they have all been converted into houses.

As much as I love the peacefulness of country living, there are things I do miss which, looking back, I did take for granted when living in a town.

Heat at the flick of a switch

I never expected how much I would actually miss this! All I used to have to do to turn my heating on was flick a switch, and it came from mains gas. Nope. Not any more. We now have a solid fuel stove which we have to light to heat the house; but we can can also use it to cook. It is much more than just lighting it though. During the autumn and winter months, every day, I have to: clear the stove of ash from the previous day; lay it again with paper and kindling; fetch my fuel inside (wood and coal); light it; and then keep it going all day!

We do also have an LPG bottle (just like Flogas provide) connected to a separate cooker though, so if I want to cook and the stove isn’t lit, I can do it that way. Unlike 77% of people in the survey, I’m not confident enough to change the bottle; The Husband does that job!

Flogas #IWouldMiss

A decent internet connection

Being a blogger, an internet connection is obviously of utmost importance. When we lived in a town, we had high speed fibre optic internet; but that’s not an option where we live now as there are no network cables this far out! We are lucky enough to be able to still have wi-fi though due to a company that provides internet via a dish, but the speed is nothing like what I am used to. Even a year on, it still frustrates me sometimes when I have deadlines to meet and I feel like I’m getting nowhere due to slow internet. Saying that, our mobile signals are pretty decent, but that just uses too much data.

Being able to walk to the shop

When I lived in a town, the local shop was literally around the corner; less than five minutes walk. The supermarket was a fifteen minute walk away. It was easy enough to pop to the shop for those items you tend to run out of without realising; such as bread and milk. Guess what? Now, I have a three mile car journey just to the nearest small shop! Before I passed my driving test, I had to wait for The Husband to get home from work to take me shopping, or send him on the way home from work. Luckily, I can now get out to get them myself. I think a car and being able to drive is now definitely at the top of my priority list of living remotely!

What would you miss if you lived in a remote region?

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Stacey

I’m Stacey, a bookworm (or should that be dragon?!) from a quaint hamlet on the outskirts of Lincolnshire. In my late 30s, I’m a devoted mum to two wonderful boys who are both autistic—a unique aspect that makes them different, not less. I also share my home with my husband and Barney, my lovable Frenchie x Beagle.

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1 Comment

  1. […] I’m finding that I am needing the heating on pretty much all day. But as I mentioned in this post, we have a solid fuel boiler which means lots of wood and coal is needed for the next few […]

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