We've arrived!
27th October, 2014. Well, we've finally moved in! It was all systems go, after a 4 hour journey from Reading, there were boxes everywhere and for three days, no-one had any idea where things were, which box they were in etc. The house is finally starting to take shape and feeling more like home. The shed is a completely different story.
The move went relatively smoothly, although we were missing one truck load of stuff for two days, mostly garden items and the shopping I ordered didn't arrive, as the Asda truck had broken down. With virtually no O2 reception here, I didn't find this out until about 2 hours after the delivery was due. The man from the store in St Austell kindly delivered the shopping himself, after a bit of pressure from me. Well I did have seven hungry mouths to feed and nothing in the house to eat! More importantly, I didn't have a beer to offer the removal men, which was a big disaster.
The chickens and ducks joined us a couple of days later and they are settling in nicely. The ducks are creating mud puddles and the chickens went straight to an old compost heap and are scratching busily. The guinea pigs looked a bit shell-shocked from their journey, with eyes the size of saucers, but they are also now tucking busily into the long grass and are practically rolling into bed. So much grass to eat!!
The dogs are loving their new home, although we do need to make the property a bit more secure still for them, likewise for the ducks who would make a great meal for Mr Fox.
I am getting hopelessly lost. There seem to be several routes into Demelza and I don't think I've come the same way twice yet. My neighbour keeps trying to tell me where things are and expecting me to have a rough idea of where she means. She's being very patient, as I look at her blankly.
The kids visited their new school on Friday, just as an introduction, to fill in forms and for the school to find out more about them, so they can buddy them up. It's now half term, but the visit made the kids feel a bit more relaxed about starting a new school. Heather has met up with some girls from the same year already and that went well, so again, that's helped her feel more confident. It's a big step for them and we're so proud of how well they are adapting and taking everything in their stride.
There are some beautiful views here. Just a few feet away from the cottage, is a footpath, which takes you out into the valley and takes you to the nearest village of St Wenn. We have yet to explore some of the many other paths in the vicinity. Our neighbour has already found a pony for Heather to look after on loan, while its owner is at university. so we're off to take a look on Sunday.
Special thanks to everyone that has helped us, including my sister Claire who helped with the cleaning of Butts Hill Road, our neighbour Christine for the cake, Steve Nash and his team for removals, Jeff for the use of his trailer and Neil, Charlie, Izzy and Jack who helped us unpack, provided us with a decent meal and most importantly provided wine to drink and the opportunity to just stop for a moment.