As I sit here writing this the temperature outside in our Sussex village is minus four degrees Celsius. Our car has changed colour from black to a frosty matt silver and in the fields across the lane the grass is white and crunchy underfoot.

For the last six months we have been fighting battles with Estate Agents, Solicitors, prospective purchasers, time wasters and the plummeting housing market. But at last the war is won, we have sold our house.

Our solid little cottage has been our refuge for twenty two years. During that time we have restored, rebuilt and poured affection into the property. What was a sad and neglected shell became our perfect home. Now someone else will enjoy what for us was a home we loved.

I was feeling slightly bereft and in limbo at the thought of leaving our house and England for a new life in Greece. When, as if he knew we needed a boost, Giannis our architect emailed us some more pictures showing our nearly complete Greek home on Naxos. I smiled as I viewed what I knew was the place we wanted to be.

The next three months will be spent organising our move. We have items to buy we know will be difficult to get on our chosen island, plans to make, friends to say goodbye to and decisions on what to take with us and what to leave behind.

I look at the webcam on Naxos every day and see virtual life unfold on my computer screen and wait to become part of the picture that someone else will view from miles away.

After years of booking flights to Greece and home again I am about to go online and book two seats to Athens – one way.