A whole year

Before we knew where we were the first year had passed. We thought about how excited we were the first time we saw the house. I’m still pinching myself almost two years on.

Even though the garden was smaller it didn’t prevent me from struggling to keep it up. That first summer I grew my own tomatoes.

 I also discovered that being in a different place meant different insects. I saw very few spiders and soon discovered why; House Centipedes. They are quite useful to have around, in small numbers. They eat the nasty insects like bed bugs, but I could never knowingly share my bed with one. If they panic they seem to run in crazy circles – I suppose it’s hard to control those legs when the going gets tough. They also seem very fond of hanging out in wicker rubbish bins and coconut welcome mats. I cope with them by throwing them outside – they are happier there most of the year round.

The first Christmas

I was afraid that it would feel like “The first Christmas Away from Home”.

 It was good to have to change some of the old traditions. Decorating was completely different. No room for a large Christmas tree and we now had a real fire place for hanging up the stockings. Sleeping arrangements were more difficult, but with a thought and consideration all went well.

I even managed to cope with cooking a Christmas meal in a smaller oven – for more people!

 That first Christmas taught me that change can be a very good challenge indeed.

Light and sound

Something that I really enjoyed during our first few months in the house, especially as the seasons changed from late spring to summer, was the way in which the light changed in the main room. There were two windows in the east wall and one facing south. So for most of the day there was sun light shining directly into the room.

 I also loved the sound of the wind under the bedroom door if the windows were open. When I was a child, the house I grew up in had the same noise; like a chorus of women’s voices. Some people would find it quite frightening. I loved the noise. When I was ill I would always sleep in my parents bed during the day and listen feeling safe and secure

Friday 13th

It could only happen on Friday 13th.

I got up in the night to go to the toilet. Fortunately it’s next door to our bedroom. I went back to bed and dozed for a while then suddenly woke up. The water tank was still filling up. The button on the toilet was stuck so water was just running through the system and down the toilet. There is nothing like working out how to take a toilet apart at three in the morning. Fortunately we could turn the water off easily.

It took several visits from plumbers and replaced parts before it was fixed. We flushed the toilet using buckets of water for a month. I still check that the button goes back properly today.

Finding our way around

The end of the first week was marked by the closure of the sale of our old house. It was a very strange sensation to lock the front door and hand over the keys which had been with us for the last 25 years. I didn’t feel sad at all.

As I said; “the last 25 years”, which meant that there was a lot of getting used to routines and finding things to go before we really felt settled in. Everything seemed to take longer than usual. One of the pleasures was shopping for new curtains, lamps and odds and ends. It took a few weeks to get everything just as I liked it.

Even going out in the car had its problems. There were lots of new village names to get used to (and some of them very similar). We even decided that a certain roundabout near to where we live was a second Bermuda triangle. Still it was fun exploring the beautiful countryside around us, either in the car or on foot.

Settling in

The rest of the day was taken up with unpacking and putting things away. Although we had been well organized it seemed very chaotic at first. For a moment I didn’t think that we’d ever get settled in to my liking. It was so nice to snuggle down to sleep in our new bedroom on that first night.

On the third day we had to go back to our old home to clean the walls and windows and sweep up ready for the new owner. I really didn’t want to leave our new home, least of all spend a couple of days cleaning up there. It was very strange – there was nowhere to put anything when we arrived armed with all of our cleaning things.

 The loft on moving day

Moving day

We woke up early on moving day to almost an empty house. Anything that was small enough to be boxed up had been packed and taken over to our new home. Our old bed was beyond the move so we took it apart and it went to the tip. Our final nights there were spent on a mattress on the floor.

After breakfast we packed our last bowls, mugs and spoons, odd food, bedding, towels and a suitcase into the back of the car.  The removal men arrived on time at 7.30 in the morning. The weather was good; warm and sunny and no wind, ideal for having windows and doors open for the removal of furniture. I spent my time moving from room to room trying not to get in the way. Empty rooms were a bit difficult as I went round for a last look. Eventually I ended up sat on the edge of the bath and shed a few tears. Many years ago when I painted our daughter’s bedroom I painted hearts in the corners near to the ceiling. I remembered how excited I had been putting the finishing touches to her room. Once the room was empty my attention was drawn to those hearts. That really was the only time I felt sad.

Once we arrived at our new home I was really busy. I’d made plans of all the rooms and knew exactly where the furniture had to go. I guided the removal men and everything fit into place as it should! It was almost lunch time when the removal men finished by building our new bed for us as arranged. We had arrived at last.