We had owned the land since 1968, built our house on it in 1988 and decided to move into it permanently in 1997. I arrived in April to get things ready while Charithea finished a teaching contract in London in the July. Obviously as it was the spring everything had grown out of all proportion, especially the weeds. The first photo is the view from our kitchen door. The whole property, around 2,600 sq m, looked the same. I attacked it with a sickle, all I had to hand until my strimmer arrived along with the rest of our possessions. I was younger and fitter then but tackling those 2m high thistles and nettles was no joke.
Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures but they are scanned from old photos.