FROM THE HEART

Well, so, where do I start? I'm not in the best of moods this evening and have not been in the best moods for day's if not weeks now. I'm not saying I'm depressed, but pretty close to it and on one occasion a few weeks ago I nearly lost it altogether.

For those of you who know me, know over the years I have suffered with this illness on and off and have also been in hospital with it too. Not good, I hated that time of my life and am determined not to go back to that dark place.

A series of events have made me like this, one of them is below.

We moved last year for what we thought was the last time, our plan was to pay off the mortgage, then rent it out and live in our house in Spain. We are very lucky to have two homes, but saying that we have worked hard for them and have never borrowed money off others or got ourselves into large amounts of debt we can't pay back.

All the neighbours were great, we got on with everyone and like most places in the UK now there were people from all over the globe, the mix was great and EVERYONE got on with everyone else and were also very accepting of having two Gay men living on the Estate too, us! We have been known to host one or two parties to which everyone was invited and came too.

The recession hit and everything has gone tits up with the housing market. What I am now going to say may seem racist but read first and make your judgement after. The developer needed money and decided to sell houses through an African agent in Guyana. So what I here you say?

Well, of all the houses occupied, three quarters now have Africans living in them, still so what!

Every single household without exception rents out ALL of the bedrooms and the owners live in the lounges with their families.

So next to us we have a woman with a baby and small child living in one room while she rents out the three bedrooms. There's a five bed house worth over half a million with a den and formal living room occupied by 12 people behind us! The parking is becoming terrible and no one seems to use a tumble dryer as they hang their washing out of the windows to dry and don't even use a washing line!

This was supposed to be a 'prestigious' development which is fast becoming a ghetto. We have all written to the developer who has seen the error of his ways but it's too late. We came home the other evening and were faced with 40 African men all smoking and drinking in the street. Everyone is appalled and we all feel we have been taken for a ride.

So, we are having to move again, we are lucky enough to have sold the house, so fingers crossed we will be out by January.

That's the end of the first part. I will write again tomorrow so I don't bore the tits off you.

PP xxxxx