What A Kerfuffle!

The wonders of technology. I've just spent I don't know how long trying to find the photos that I transfered to the computer earlier. Then I couldn't remember which pictures I'd already posted (none of them as it turns out, as I'd transferred all those pictures to my laptop), and so then lost the original start to this post.

Still - I'm up at the house, with a list of things to do - washing, drying, moving boxes, finding things, checking emails, collecting the Christmas tree and decorations, and of course, updating the blog. I'm hoping I might find the time to wrap presents, buy some presents, baste some quilts - there's always the weekend!

They've done quite a lot of work. Today I've discovered the pitfalls of being here. Every so often there is bang and the house shakes. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, just them banging into the house with the digger. We've also discovered the pitfalls of having all this done. The flat has these daft round holed sockets which ordinary plugs don't fit into, and which are turned on and off by a switch on the wall - there are no ceiling lights in any of the bedrooms. So we have to use the other sockets to plug in lights, but we don't have that many standard lamps, and you then have to stumble through an unlit room to turn the light on. We should have our telephone transferred to the flat on 28th December - the landlord is paying the £130 (okay, so its probably only £124.98) for the initial connection charge - as there has not been a phone there yet. However, the broadband won't be transferred until 7 working days after that, so any time I want to use the internet, I now have to come up to the house. It's a bit odd trying to get used to the fact that I can't check my emails whenever I want, that I can't do any internet shopping from the laptop, and that the holiday has to be carefully planned so that I get everything done that I want to get done, when I'm in the right place.

I found out last night that we have underfloor heating on the top floor; the only problem is that we don't know how to turn it on. The controls for it are at the top of the stairs, behind the television, but there are no clear instructions, just some very dodgy looking diagrams that seem to be impossible to decipher.

It's been quite cold down here - the car thermometer told me it was -5 on the way to school on Monday - it was only that briefly. It was -3 most of the way.

In this photo you can see (sort of) that the wall has come down at the back. The cats are doing well - Seffy seems to be taking it all in her stride, whilst Joey seems to spend most time in the house. I suppose the weather is getting a bit too cold and windy for him, but he doesn't like the noise either. He wouldn't have liked being the house this morning when it got bashed!

Anyway - it's time for me to get on and do other things. The washing machine is bleeping at me, so it must be time. Feel free to add comments - I think the comments section is there for you to add your comments - thus, if you don't add comments, you won't be able to see any!

Snow in Westward Ho!

I've got a fair bit to update you all with. So first of all - reaching new depths / heights that I wrote about last week - and here it is on the left.

Sorry the photo isn't very clear - it was taken at 7.30am, when it was raining, so the light wasn't good, and I was rushing to get to work.

There may be some people wondering what they are looking at here - and it's more a case of what's gone - the porch at the back and the steps! You can no longer get into the back garden from the kitchen, as there are no steps down, and it's a big drop!

What else has been going on? They have dug a hole at the front of the house, so that the gas meter can be moved, but the gas people have to do that. The garage has gone entirely, and the area has been dug up - the concrete has all gone. In this picture on the right you can just about make out our new home for the next 6 months. The good thing about the flat is that it is light and airy upstairs.

Yesterday a digger moved in to where there garage used to be, and I understand that there is also a dumper truck there too - well, that's what Keith called it.

Of course, I know that you really want to know about the snow we had - so I'll show you!

I took this picture on Sunday evening, after we came back from our Christmas dinner at the golf club. Okay, so it's not really snow, but it looks a bit like it. This is the flume from the sea, where the wind has whipped it up into a froth, and then blown the froth on the land. It really was quite something to see it covering pavements, and flying over the top of roofs as well!

I showed the pupils in school, and they didn't believe it was snow - there's just no fun for some! What I have found that I could do with is a joke book - my tutor group is sharing jokes with me, and not really enjoying the ones I tell them. Any help with this would be much appreciated - perhaps you could add them in the comments section of the blog!

Moved!

Well, we've moved. It didn't go too badly at the weekend, only one casualty - a wine flute, so that wasn't so bad. The boys helped to move boxes in to the flat, and we had the flat to ourselves on Saturday night which was great! We've discovered what terrestrial television is like, and having packed all the DVDs into boxes to stay in the house, we realised we needed at least one box to keep us sane. Still, maybe we'll end up getting more done because there is nothing worth watching.

I'm at school now writing this, as we don't have a telephone line in the flat at the moment, so we are incommunicado - as Marillion put it. We keep discovering things that we need, that we hadn't packed, so I'll take a trip back to the house this evening to pick up the extras. The flat is looking quite homely now - no, that doesn't mean that it's a total mess, although there are boxes around the place.

Sorry - no pictures with this post, it's just a quick update so that you know we are safe and sound. One interesting thing last night - I'm sure you won't have heard it anywhere else; we had snow in Westward Ho!, and it was really quite deep! I'll post the photos that I took later in the week, and explain the situation!

The Pace Quickens

Well, it's been a day or two since I last wrote. More happens every day.

I got home on Monday to discover that the garage had no roof. I got home yesterday to this sight / site:

The garage has disappeared entirely, as has the side wall. This now makes it nearly impossible to park the car in the drive way (even if there weren't bits of wood everywhere). We are the house in the road that has cones, men at work signs and fencing up - it's all quite exciting!

Of course, I'm sure you are wondering what was been done today. I took the photo above at 7.30am this morning, just as I left for work. I got home this evening just before 7pm, when it was dark. So as it is, you will just have to wait until tomorrow to find out what was done today! I suppose I could give you a clue or two; it's groundbreaking, and new heights / depths have been reached - it's really starting to open up! You will have to wait and see!

It's started!

It's started!

I took the photos today, to show you what happened yesterday. The first thing I knew was when the electrician came to the door to disconnect the electricity and cables in the garage. To do this I had to open the garage door (obvious, I know), but he had to disconnect the electricity, which means that we can't close the garage door - all the wires for it have gone. You can also see that they have started taking the tiles off the roof of the garage, which they are saving to re-use them on the house - we like to do our bit for recycling!

The wall came down so that the builder can get the digger in to do the foundations for the front. That was it for yesterday as far as the builders go.

We can move into the flat next weekend - that's what the letting agents have agreed to, and last night Keith told me that he's golfing next Saturday - at around 10am, and that we'd have to collect the keys for the flat from Barnstaple! Next Sunday we're having the traditional Christmas get together - the Christmas dinner at the golf club. I think golf on Saturday might be cancelled, as I don't relish the thought of moving stuff by myself!

I can't see me getting much sewing done, but I shall make time for some, so that Caro gets her birthday present on time. I've put the books that I want to take with me to one side, so that I've got something else to do.

And now it's time to go back to the packing!

So this is my blog, to keep you up to date with the exciting changes happening round here. It's been just under a year since our application was refused, and about 7 weeks since we heard that our appeal was successful. It was just 10 days ago that the builder said he could start within two weeks, and things started happening.

It began with us looking for a place to rent, and next week we'll be moving in. Suddenly it became obvious how much there is to do, how much needs packing up, and how many boxes we would need. Well - maybe I didn't realise how many boxes we would need! School has been great for boxes - a plea to staff has provided us with boxes, and the boxes that copying paper comes in are just the job. So we've started the hard task of packing things up, the problem is finding somewhere to put them - well, what else is a living room for?

The boys have been great - tidying, packing, clearing the garage - I think they are realising just how much stuff they have! And it's amazing the discoveries that you make too. I've discovered that even with Sky, there is absolutely nothing worth watching. At this point I would normally watch a DVD, but they've all been packed. Perhaps it is just as well there is nothing I want to watch, I might get more packing done; it's prompted me to start this blog, and yesterday I threatened to write Christmas cards too.