BECKY SHEAVES

My mother used to exclaim, as my sister and I arrived home between flat shares: 'Oh no, the curse of the black bin liners is upon us again.'

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ONE of the things that I envy my husband for is that he has lived in the same place his entire life. Well, he did spend his first six months on a farm elsewhere, before his family made the move to Cuckoo Down Farm here in the West Country. And he’s lived within a three-mile radius of his home farm ever since.

I have been here too for more than 20 years and really appreciate the stability it has given me. I’m so happy our children have all had a solid home base, too.

Years ago, I worked out how many houses I'd lived in over my lifetime. It was something like 30. Up and down the country with divorcing parents, in and out of various schools. Then off to university and a plethora of shared houses throughout my twenties and into my thirties.