I have a sudden overwhelming urge (I'm six months pregnant) for a proper house, with 3/4 bedrooms, a garden, a shed/ studio in the garden, a vegetable patch, a kitchen in which I can make jams and pickles by the jarful, a huge sitting room in which I can curl up on the sofa with DH, DS (18 months), soon to arrive DD, and a pair of lurchers (which we don't yet own.)
We currently live in a two bedroom flat in Notting Hill, close to a variety of parks, playparks, a swimming pool, cinemas, theatre, gymboree, Baby Picasso, a GREAT creche with DS LOVES, the Portobello market and Golborne Road market which we all love, convenient supermarkets, and a lot of friends - with and without children - some of whom, including my best friend, who live within a matter of a couple of streets away.
Our flat in Notting Hill could conceivably be exchanged (i.e. sold to finance) for my imaginary dream house, if my imaginary dream house were to be in Forest Gate, within spitting distance of Wanstead Flats.
Part of me is all over the idea - Wanstead Flats looks amazing, a great place to walk the imaginary lurchers (and I do know what I'd be getting myself into there - I grew up with lurchers) etc. etc. etc. However, we know NO ONE there - and, from the internet research I've done, I haven't found a plethora of the amenities (listed above) which are important to me. And I'd miss my friends. I know it's still in London, but it's the other side of London, and I really love my friends, and love being able to pop in/ meet up at a moment's notice.
Can anyone tell me about the reality of living in Forest Gate/ Wanstead Flats?
Most importantly, what are the schools like? (We'll be looking at state options.)
Alternatively, has anyone got any opinion on whether or not I should indulge this overwhelming urge? DH thinks it's my hormones, but I know that he'll go along with it all if I insist.
(Additional information - the initial plan was to move within the next three years or so, to Kensal Rise/ Queen's Park - i.e. to a house in roughly the same area as we are now. We can't do that at the moment because we can't afford to.)