Home Sweet Home!

We've done it!  Three weeks ago exactly three van loads of belongings, two dogs, one bird, one fish, three children and their slightly strung-out mother, said goodbye to a lovely windswept cottage and trundled down miles of windy lanes to a tiny house nestled on the edge of a five acre woodland.  This is home, at last and hopefully for years to come.  

The first week was frantic to say the least.  I unpacked almost everything within 3 days, then spent the next week and a half feeling rather poorly.  Migraines set in and refused to leave.  I think it was a bit of tension release after all the weeks of hard work and the stress of wrapping up one life and having to start again in a new location.  Moving house is lovely, exciting and dreadful all at the same time.  I do not want to do it again for a very long time!  This week has been better.  I am beginning to regain my enthusiasm and love for life and things are slowly coming together as the list of things to do finally gets shorter.  This evening I baked a tray of fruity flapjack.  The rain hammered down outside, the children settled down in the lounge and it felt like home.  Later when the rain stopped, I took my camera and walked up the lane to look at the sky.  Worth it, too.

The house is tucked away on the edge of a small wood that belongs to our only neighbour.  We are surrounded by birds and wildlife and wake to the sound of an owl hooting gently in the trees.  We love it here.  I love being able to clean the entire house in an hour and having real central heating and a very efficient fire!  We are so warm and cosy and are really starting to feel at home.

  We are still lacking a few things;  our dining table and chairs had to go as they were so big they would have taken up the entire kitchen, so we have been eating our meals sitting on camping chairs.  Not very comfortable or good for the digestion, to say the least.  I have been looking out for a second hand dining set for a couple of weeks but to no avail.  In the end I purchased a flat-pack table and chairs, not brilliant but the best I could afford and it will look good in our kitchen.  H2 and I tried to put it together yesterday.  It says on the instructions that it is a two man job.  I think that literally means two men complete with an impressive tool kit and not a clueless woman, her 11 year old son and a tiny screwdriver.  The pain that the wrong tool for the job can induce on soft hands is no body's business.  How we suffered for half and hour before I threw down my screwdriver in defeat and rang my dad!  I bemoaned the fact that I should have a man to do this for me among other horrid jobs that no woman should ever have to tax her brain and body with and whined on a bit about how hard it is for a single woman to cope, blah blah.  He replied that I need a man who knows what he's doing, I said I know but I don't have one.  He quietly said, What about me?  Oh bless him.  I didn't like to ask but was so grateful he offered.  As it turned out, dad had to take it home with him to do in his shed with proper tools and kit that men happen to have and know about.  H2 and I would have struggled big time to put it together on the lounge floor.  Dad is still working on it but mum said it's going well and looking good.  Can't wait!

 See?  Small kitchen, but I love it anyway.  It is full of sunshine almost all day long and feels warm and cheerful.  Do you want to see the lounge?  OK then.

 I took this picture the day after we moved in, so things have tidied up a bit since then.  I am the proud owner of three generations of Famous Five books; my mum's, mine and Pea's. All of my childhood memories are punctuated with images of Enid Blyton books, the Famous Five being my absolute favourites.  Mum was as addicted to them as I was and Pea, in turn became hooked too! The book cases are full up and there isn't a lot of storage space here, so I needed to have them out somewhere.  In the end I decided to put them in two piles, like book ends, on each end of the mantle piece.  I placed one of my candles on each pile which I think looks quite nice but also scents the room.  I'm really pleased with the result and the books get to be seen rather than hidden away in a cupboard.

The weird pattern on the wall is actually the shadow of the trees outside and not dodgy wallpaper!

So, three hectic weeks later, we are settling into our new way of life and half term has come at just the right time.  We are so ready for a holiday and some time to take things slower and enjoy what we have here.  I am hoping to spend a bit of time clearing up in the poly tunnel this week and have ordered lots of gorgeous seed catalogues to whet our appetites.  There is plenty to look forward to and get excited about.  Oh, and I have been writing my blog for a whole year now.  I have had over 9000 visits from people all over the world, so thank you for reading and I hope you will enjoy our new home along with us.

Have a great weekend, see you all soon. xxx