One year on.

Fifteenth of December was the first anniversary of us being here in this new house. It is so strange; in some ways it seems to have flown by and it is hard to believe that a whole year has gone. At the same time it feels as if we have been here forever.  Just one year ago we were still in our old house in the city.  One year ago we were so stressed out not knowing if we were coming or going.

What I can tell you is that we are so happy that we were able to move.  We loved our old house and it served us well for 25 years. It was a large, family home and we had happy times there with our 5 children.  My memory is full of those good times and I will always be grateful that we had that home.  That said I have not once been back and I have no desire to do so. Home is here now and I love it.

Village life is different.  You know your neighbours here and they know your every move! I knew my immediate neighbours in the old house but hardly ever saw them.  It is quiet here.  I LOVE that.  We have to plan more here as I can't just walk to a supermarket any more.  There is the village post office store which sells essentials but that isn't quite the same thing.   However Julie who owns the post office knows who we are and chats to us and saves our magazines. You don't get that in the big supermarkets.

We have achieved a lot since we moved in. (much is still to be done!)  Do you remember those first photos that I showed you half way through January?  Do you remember we had no internet until half way through January!  We have been looking around us this weekend and patting ourselves on the back for what we have completed so far. Inside, the 2 main things were the living room and our wardrobes.

The living room has undergone a transformation. It was the room in most need.  When we moved in it had blue and white striped wall paper with bright yellow paintwork.  The carpet was a revolting, faded, blue floral affair.  The fireplace had blue tiles and horrid white painted wood.    It was not a good look.  We also had mismatched furniture that we had borrowed whilst we waited for our new suite.  Turned out we had to wait until April.

These photos above taken last Christmas show the awfulness!

Today it is painted in neutrals with a neutral carpet.  The fireplace has been transformed with black granite and  beautiful sweet chestnut wood that Simon spent hours working on.  Even the curtains in there are finally finished!  My blood sweat and tears went in to them.

Another major difference is our own bedroom.  We had no wardrobes when we moved here as our old house had them built in.  Simon did them many years ago.  For months and months all our stuff was on a hanging rail while Simon built us new ones.  From the outside they are simple mirrored sliding doors but the inside is all custom made to suit our needs.  He did a great job.  Technically it isn't quite finished as the part above needs to be painted.

Outside we have changed the look of the front by removing the huge Rosemary bushes that were preventing anyone from getting to the front door.   We have hung many hanging baskets.  We have built a small shed at the end of the back garden for the garden tools and bikes.  Of course we had all the fencing replaced along the right side of the garden after the dog incident!  That involved the removal of all those leylandi trees.  It looks very different.  Then there is the garage extension!  That huge thing ceratinly makes that side of the garden look different! It is finished now.  Well mostly!  He still has to insulate the roof.  He is currently moving stuff over from the barn that he rents.  Think he is hoping to get it all moved during the school Christmas holidays.

I mentioned earlier that there is much still to do. The priorities for 2013 are mainly the garden outside and painting the kitchen and redecorating our bedroom inside.  The garden needs a lot of work.  We didn't grow any vegetables this year.  First priority is to get the end of the garden fenced off so that the dogs will not be able to get into  the veggie growing part.  Once we have it fenced then we need to get the ground cleared  and rotavated in preparation.   I also want to prioritise getting that area down the side of the house paved.  It is currently gravel.  It is the area that I referred to as Simon's building yard when he was doing the garage.

Right now of course nothing much is being done as Christmas is just over a week away. I don't feel organised or ready for it.  Last year we managed to move in, unpack  and get ready for Christmas in just 9 days when the family arrived so I guess I can do it this year.   It is a quieter one this year.  There will be ourselves and Saskia and Verity and Steve for dinner.  I expect Coralie may come by in the late afternoon but not for long as she is doing the night shift.  Wonder how many Christmas babies she will get?  Josh is having dinner with Sam so I expect we will go down to see them for a few hours.

On boxing day the whole family is going to Verity and Steve's house........ except us.  We have been told by the vet not to leave Alfie for any longer than 2 hours.  Verity and Steve live in Cambridge so it will take us that long to get there!  For the first time ever it will be just me and Simon and the dogs for boxing day.  I'm sure we will find some way to amuse ourselves!