Moving out of London was clearly going to change the nature of our relationships with our circle of friends and we had already discussed how this would work. Previous experience of moving on from jobs had prepared us for the fact that you don’t necessarily stay in touch with those with whom you think you get on best – in fact often the opposite and you meet up more regularly with and enjoy the company of some whom you knew much less well. So we approached the first visit of ‘London’ friends….. a fantastic couple with whom we have spent many happy evenings and with whom we have much shared family history.

Menus planned and shopped for, outings discussed given the typical February weather forecast, we looked forward to a weekend packed with food, drink and trips out. The ‘traffic jams in the rain on a Friday’ text meant that we had time to step back from preparations and catch up with an episode of the current box set – not sure which episode number as we are binge watching, with 4 in one evening being either a highlight or lowlight, depending on your point of view! Friday evening was spent eating (too much), drinking (quite a bit) and finishing off with coffee in front of a roaring fire.

After a breakfast of ‘Aga toast’ – we have managed now to master this, so that the inner is still almost fluffy in texture whilst the outer is crisp and ever so slightly charred, unlike our first few very burnt offerings – who knew that the hot plate really was that hot? – definitely time to go on that ‘how to cook on your AGA course’! We ventured out in the forecast dry hour or so. Coffee in a lovely coffee shop, which doubled as an Art gallery. We had fun trying to guess the prices of the Art work displayed on the walls, though none of us managed to work out the £15,000 being charged for a large, round dining table – really? £15,000? Lovely walk and we all agreed that we like towns which, whilst being potentially rather touristy, retain a real character because they are working towns, with real people doing real jobs. Most fun for me was the browsing through the stacks of carefully labelled old vinyl…

Another foodie and boozy evening followed and yes, the 45s were dug out of the box in the cupboard and the shelves of 12″ singles and 33rpm albums emptied. One of the marks of a good evening was re-discovered on Sunday morning, looking at the piles of records on the floor, some played, some lined up and the ‘no , I do remember the Omar single’ and ‘I had forgotten how good that Adeva single was’ picture covers laid on top of the deck- bluetooth and vinyl 2, download 0! Thank goodness for good friends!

Eating: Starting with scallops in herb and garlic crumb with samphire – just guessed at what might be good to accompany big, fat, scallops.

Drinking: Too much really, but a lovely Pays D’Oc Sav blanc with the starter, and a full bodied 2017 French Malbec Les Arbousiers, delivered just in time by Virgin wines with the mains and followed by some Oloroso with cheese.

Listening to: As I said above, during the evenings, loads of old singles and LP tracks, mainly from the 70s and 80s, but while cooking, I need something less frenetic, so a really chilled album, introduced to me both by child #3 and Spotify’s suggestion, Con todo el Mundo by Khruangbin, standout track, in my opinion, Lady and Man.

As someone who is determinedly anti-social, I’m not sure I had really thought through the whole ‘is it sensible to retire and move somewhere where you know no-one?’ situation. My wife, the writer her indoors, (to misquote Mark Kermode) is determinedly sociable, so it never really occurred to me even to think that this might be an issue.

We have moved into a village with a pub, which came highly recommended by the person from whom we bought the house. And, as you know, we have a dog. So the combination of these two has meant that nods and breezy ‘good mornings’ on walks with the dog, have been consolidated with some early evening drinks in the local. Last week, the planned swift half – has anyone ever had just a swift half?- turned into a very sociable affair with the quick drink morphing very happily into a few leisurely pints with the result that the next morning was spent trying to remember names of the seemingly vast array of interesting people we had met and put faces to the names on cards that were kindly put through the door to welcome the newbies.

I suppose that, if you are sociable, you will meet interesting people wherever you are and that new friendships will be formed. The writer her indoors says that this is now one of her top tips for those considering retirement – consider moving as well. Starting a new life in a new situation is part of the adventure and is not just a distraction from the previous ‘working’ routine. In our heads it must be hard re-inventing yourself whilst still fully emerged in your old life. I dispute the idea that the city is an unfriendly place to live. on the contrary we enjoyed a wide circle of friends and active social life, with people who were essentially our neighbours. However, the genuine welcome of a small village community has struck a chord with us both. Maybe all villages are similar, but this certainly does seem like a special place to live!

Eating: Lentil and apricot pilau with spiced cauliflower – recipe from ‘The part-time vegetarian’ by Nicola Graimes, published by nourish books.com – a really good set of recipes which work well in a household of pescatarians and flexitarians. Also, one of those great dishes which is arguably even better the following day served at any temperature!

Drinking: Montaria vinho tinto, a portuguese red from the Lisbon area (Naked wines delivery) – meant to be saving it for friends who married in Portugal, but couldn’t resist!

Listening to: A compilation we put together as our summer 2017 playlist, standout tracks of which are, in my opinion, Le vent nous portera – Noir Désir (oh dad, not that French one again), Never forget you – The Noisettes (thank you child#2!) and Stolen Dance – Milky chance.

Who knew that getting such an iconic piece of kitchen equipment to work was going to be so difficult? I knew that it needed a service and, having moved in, was hoping to have it all up and running and ready to use quickly. Perhaps I was naive? The ‘recommended’ servicer was booked up for months, but we managed (eventually) to find someone who would look at it, service it and get it going. However, after the first visit from the engineer, we were still waiting for the pilot light to stay on properly and we were left with a very lukewarm AGA and a kitchen now smelling rather of oil – no amount of vinegar (result of a quick google search) or burning of a variety of scented candles managed to diminish the lingering odour… a re-visit of the engineer was booked.

As a counterpoint to this kitchen-based angst, we have managed to find some fantastic local walks for both us and the ‘wussy city pooch’ that we own – more cute teddy bear than country dog, though clearly very sweet, cute but thinks that she isn’t really a dog at all, more a much wanted child #4. Old pairs of walking boots were found, so that we wouldn’t look completely ridiculous on the muddy footpaths and soon we were experiencing the joys of walking in the beautiful rolling countryside around the new house. Throw in the odd, and I mean odd, country pub along the way and you get the picture – a stroll, a pint of something local and then back to the warmth of our new home…. bliss.

In a desperate attempt both to warm up (duh – sitting outside the pub, full of people enjoying Sunday lunch inside, having booked a table) and to overpower the oil issue, decided to throw together a warming curry, to be eaten in front of Killing Eve, which we have saved up to watch.

Eating: Vegetable curry, base of which is taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s spinach and egg curry – I add extra coconut milk and tend to roast veg whilst I prepare the base. It is a great dish to cook, as timings mean that it just works!

Drinking: Perez Cruz Carmenere Malbec (from Virgin wines) – very quaffable and robust enough for the curry.

Listening to: Staying at Tamara’s by George Ezra – child #3 added it to one of my playlists, so getting to know it and enjoy it!