Settling In

View from Central Edinburgh Quaker Meeting Room

We've now been back in Edinburgh for a fortnight.  At times it feels as if it was only yesterday that we were in the throes of packing all those cardboard boxes and saying goodbye to all our friends and favourite places.  At others it feels as if we've been here forever and Bristol seems so very far away.

We've flung ourselves into our new life.  Our foremost task is to find a new home.  So we've been scouring the property sites and making appointments to view any flats that meet enough of our criteria.  Additionally we've been covering large areas of the city on foot checking out the amenities offered by various neighbourhoods. We've given ourselves a month or so to get the lie of the land before considering registering any 'notes of interest' or making any offers, unless of course we chance upon our dream flat this weekend!  Fortunately there appears to be plenty of choice, from cosy colony houses  in Shandon, to elegant Georgian flats in the New Town, to spacious Victorian terraces.  We even discovered a tasteful conversion in a building dating back to 1661!  However so far none of them have been just right.  We're being fussy, but as we hope it will be our 'forever' home and we've still time to play with, we reckon we can afford to be, at least for the moment.  I'm trying to hold off any sense of panic.

I've made contact with Edinburgh Quakers where I've been warmly welcomed.  The view from the Meeting Room at the top of the building affords a glorious view over the rooftops to the Pentlands in the distance.  It's in stark contrast to the peaceful garden view from Bedminster Meeting Room, but equally inspiring in its own way.  It's a lively meeting with plenty of activities.  I've sung with the Singing Group (not quite the in the same league as the Gasworks Choir, but an opportunity to get to know the handful of singers), attended an Exploring Spirituality session (a touch esoteric for me, but interesting enough), braved an Area Meeting (which I have to admit was more relaxed and much livelier affair than the ones I'm used to) and joined a dozen or so Friends at a coffee morning (where the conversation rivalled the quality and quantity of the cakes).  I'm already beginning to feel comfortably at home.

I've registered to vote in the European Elections and just have to work out how to get to the polling station.  We've made contact with the local Scottish Green Party and have volunteered to deliver a pile of 300 leaflets in and around our street, doing our bit to elect Scotland's first Green MEP.

It was hard to leave our younger daughter in Bristol but I'm delighted to be living closer to my sister and her family in Edinburgh and our older daughter in Glasgow.  My niece popped in one afternoon not long after we arrived, earlier this week we attended my nephew's birthday celebrations and we're expecting our daughter for the weekend.

It feels strange not to be working, even a bit guilty.  It's not that I haven't plenty to be getting on with.  It's more that I feel the need to be contributing to society, defining my role, justifying my existence.  Does this sound silly?  I plan to return to part time employment in the future, for social as well as financial reasons, but for the moment I see my 'job' as familiarising myself with the city and finding a home.  However it still feels funny (albeit rather fun!).

So, so far so good.  It still feels, despite being one of the hardest decisions of our lives, it was the right one.  Long may it continue to be so.