house musings

Wednesday morning I wrote and read. McEwan’s Saturday is quite amazing in its language as its neuro-surgeon muses during his operations, encounters, squash and family meeting. Until now I had regarded this writer as two dimensional as dimensional as the rest of English writers.
I took the back route to nearby Pleyben which I found to have a glorious church and ornate monumental calgaire. And, again, a great tourist information centre – with aesthetic and informative booklets on the area. Even Plonevez has such a centre – each having 3 staff. Quite a contribution to the area’s economy!
Arranged to see some houses in the vicinity – to get some terms of comparison now that it is clear that this is the most appropriate area. Mid afternoon, the weather break which had been signalling arrived with a vengeance with heavy dark skies and rain.
Daniela phoned to point out that, with her mum’s death, we now have 3 residences in Romania; that she may well return to work in Bucharest and that perhaps therefore we should simply take long lets of houses in places such as Brittany rather than divest ourselves of 25% of our capital. It’s an important observation and makes me redo my calculus. A Finistere location offers the advantage of closer family contact (and the Plonevez house is ideal for guests): access to the seascape and language I love; to French medical facilities and to the UK.
But its distance from Romania (5 day drive) does threaten life with Daniela; use of Sirnea to which I am so attached; and my capital. And yet I have always said that I need to do something with my money – but what if I wanted to resell and couldn’t? A lot of houses are on the market at the moment; the village is not exactly the most beautiful; and who can predict what will happen to the euro and the European economy?
Basically we need a reasonably-sized house we can live in during the cold winter period. Sirnea is for April-October; the Bucharest flat is impossibly small but now we have the Ploiesti flat for winter which at least has a bedroom! A flat in Russe – just inside Bulgaria - could be an answer! Just an hour from Bucharest and 3 hours from the Black Sea. But that is not as god for family, language, or health facilities!
It’s a great pity I cannot go into partnership with someone for the Plonevez house – minimise risks and leave cash for a Russe (Ploiesti or Balcik) option.