Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We got so good at this that our neighbours, now over-rationed, began to refuse our
local produce. Simply discarding the surplus was unthinkable so Jack, in a moment of sub-
limely misguided inspiration, started collecting freezers. He ended up buying three large
chest freezers and a tall skinny one. I, too, hate waste so could just about cope with this
latest fetish, but we were now stuffed to the gunwales with frozen corpses. There are, after
all, only so many bunny burgers one can eat and Jack's hoarding tendencies were getting
dangerously out of hand.
As luck would have it our local firearms officer, Des, came to the rescue during a
routine visit. As he swigged his third cup of tea whilst munching dozens of biscuits, he
commented mildly on the herd of freezers that oozed out of the utility room.
“Started shooting antelopes then, Jack?”
“No. We've got a rabbit glut and I didn't want to chuck them out so bought some extra
freezers to put them in.”
“Really?” Des exclaimed as yet another fine mist of digestive crumbs exploded from
his mouth. “You don't want to go buying any more of those, Jackie.”
I'm thinking,
what a great guy
.
“I can help,” he continued. “Some of the lads at the nick love a bit of rabbit stew so
I'll take a few off your hands. If you still have too many I'll drop 'em off at the local zoo.”
“Brilliant idea, Des. Have another biscuit,” I said, taking cover behind my
Permission
to Shoot
guidelines.
“Right that's settled then - so where's your new gun safe Jack, you said you'd just
bought one?”
This had
very
nearly been the last straw for me and could easily have resulted in a
highly acrimonious divorce. But somehow I was coaxed off the ceiling.
“Ah, yes, Des, it's upstairs. I bolted it onto the bedroom wall.”
“Good idea mate, nice and secure there.”
So there it was - our main interests in life: golf, DIY, dogs, gardening and countryside
pursuits. However we were going to spend our retirement, one thing was certain - we
wouldn't be bored.
There are two common denominators that link our activities: they all need lots of
space and they usually involve the outdoors. (This includes Jack's DIY exploits which had
evolved out of the garage and onto the drive.) With these issues in mind our dotage discus-
sions resulted in the monumental decision to buy a second home.
A scary thought at first, but it all made extremely good sense. All being well, we could
downsize home number one and spend more time in home number two. But it
had
to be
right. The basic specification would be sufficient land to rough-shoot enough game for the
table; outbuildings and a garden in which to indulge our individual hobbies; and situated
close to a decent golf course.
