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We’re in!

Wow, I can’t believe exactly a month has gone by since we moved in to our new home.

From the day we chose it, without even seeing the spot it would be built on, to the day we moved in, took exactly 6 months. We hadn’t set out to buy a new build. Or to buy something we hadn’t seen or to buy it without actually seeing anything else AT ALL. But it just felt right. And thankfully, now we are in, it still does!

I went to The Design Museum on 8 June, and as I came out the solicitor rang to tell me the house was nearly finished and that we had to complete on 22 June. Exactly 10 days later. Not a lot of notice! But luckily, I’d been pretty organised and had a removal company lined up and we’d done at least twenty trips to the tip to de-clutter and get rid of things we didn’t want to take with us. And other than being a bit of a rush, the timing was perfect as we were due out of our rented house on 2 July.

It’s a real new start moment. A fresh new house for us to make fresh new memories in. And the fact that there’s no storage yet, or broadband, or toilet roll holders or pictures up are only minor inconveniences in the bigger picture of the fact we’ve managed to buy a house. There’s a big long list of things I want to do, but I have to keep reminding myself that they don’t all have to be done at once.

Mind you, patience is not one of my strongest points!

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Rain

It’s rained all day, so as there didn’t really seem any reason to go out, we’ve holed up and had a mini-Sunday. I put the fairy lights on as it got dark – they always look cosy, and realised I still have a bowl of Christmas baubles out. No point in putting them away now. It’s been a lovely day off.

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Eat

Cottage pie day

Sunday the first of November was cottage pie day. I always call it shepherds pie, but I think technically it has to be lamb to be a shepherds pie. Anyway, we made a huge pie and did nothing all day but eat it and chill out in front of the tv watching series 5 of Downton Abbey. Bliss.

1 Nov

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The one where I garden

While Madge starts to seriously step up his training for this years’ Prudential 100 and more importantly, his cycle trip from London to Paris in September, I figured it would be nice to have a project of my own. Not one that involves cycling hundreds of miles, but something a little closer to home.

I’ve never had the slightest interest in gardening, but my poor little postage-stamp sized patch is looking particularly unloved after a long winter. The grass is more like a dandelion field and the patio has so much moss on it that it’s more moss than, err, patio!

So this morning I decided to start to tidy it up and I figured it could be something quite nice to do while he is out pounding the streets on Sussex on a Sunday morning. Not quite motorbike racing, but it would be nice to pretty the place up a bit and it’s something to do that isn’t work, or thinking about work, on a weekend.

I started Phase 1 today: Jetwash. Probably the most fun power tool ever. I’ve only got a little jetwasher but I started by giving one of the patios a once-over, obviously covering myself in mud as part of the process. There are two small patios and a tiny patch of grass in the garden, so there’s not much to look after, but before I can do anything I need to be able to see the stones and establish if there is any grass in-between the weeds.

I took some ‘before’ pictures, though they were just after I’d jetwashed, so it actually looked worse about an hour before, if that’s possible. It’s definitely going to need another session and some moss killer but you gotta start somewhere!

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I don’t really want to spend a fortune as I’m not sure how long we will be in this house after next year so I think the best idea will be to plant lots of pots and things that are moveable. But should I stick to a colour scheme, or a particular style of flowers, or herbs even? Can you do a kitchen garden in pots, or grow tomatoes in them? There’s so much I don’t know (everything, in fact). Might be quite fun designing my small garden makeover 🙂

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