Thanks everyone, that's very interesting...problem is, we can't afford to move, definitely not by the sea or any water! My family has a big Naval history up to my great-grandparents, and I've always felt the pull to the ocean. When we are by any sea, I just sit and look at it for hours quite happily. It's mesmerizing. Problem is that EVERYONE wants to live by the sea, so it costs a bomb...

The Scillys are NOT cheap, and not something we could even think about normally, but our eldest had just finished her GCSEs and it was our first (and last) chance for a proper holiday together as a family, and our in-laws kindly gave us a hefty chunk towards it, so we went for it. Financially things aren't good anyway, so we've just made it a bit worse!

I'm not sure what to do about the stress factor. I try to be cheerful and active, I work as much as I can to help out financially, but we do struggle and I can't fix that. I worry about money all the time in the background; children are so expensive and saying no all the time gets me down a bit. There's all the other little stresses as well with relationships, etc. Suppose I'll just have to step up to the meditation mark again and try to zone out more!

Bram.