Christmas Preparations

Well, the children have their final day at school today and went off feeling very excited about the day of fun and festivities planned at school for them. They have all settled in so well and made friends. One of the things they like to do at school is cookery. They all recently made chocolate Yule logs - quite delicious they were too!

Daisy with her delicious chocolate cake.

I have a few things planned for them next week. There are still paper chains to make, table decorations to be made and some edible presents to be cooked. I thought I would have a go at making some of the River Cottage candied orange peel. Looks yummy! I made some stollen yesterday and wondered why I only ever make it at Christmas as it is so delicious. I think the reason may be that I would eat it all and get tremendously fat!!! Will get the little ones to make some more with me as it is delicious toasted for breakfast. Hopefully we will also have a bit more snow!

The house renovations are picking up speed. Daisy's room is almost done. We just need to decorate and add new curtains. She has a new floor, one that she won't fall through, as well as new sockets and lights. One of the things with old houses is the lack of sockets. There was just one before we rewired her room and we still have one room that doesn't have any! The downstairs room is having a new floor put in as I type. This will make a huge difference as it was the worst one in the house, tilting both away and to the side. Very interesting to walk on! Fingers crossed, the room may even be finished before Christmas..... I have been assured that my wonderful stone fire will be returned, fully repaired, some time today....am waiting patiently.

The White Stuff

I have just been reminded by the lovely Ruth that I haven't posted up any snowy pictures....so here goes..

The River South Tyne

View of the back of house (with the arch window) from Tyne Willows

The signal box at Alston railway station

These were taken yesterday, we have had at least another 4 inches since then and it is still snowing....The children have been very happy - an impromptu day off school and a town full of snow! Lots of fun to be had and snowmen to be built.

Hoping that the builders will be back on Wednesday to do the floor in Daisy's room and make a start on the downstairs room. Perhaps we might start making some progress. I was hoping to have the downstairs room finished for Christmas but now I'm not sure that we will be able to complete it in time. My sister in law says she wants to sleep in the kitchen next to the Aga anyway so perhaps I shouldn't worry about having it finished!

Neglected Blog and Other Things That Need Attention.

Its been a while since I posted and to be honest, the list of things that I mean to do each days just gets longer.... I have given myself a break from endless lists now and just plan to do one 'job' per day. Seems to be working so from now on its little and often. Staring my seventh week battling a cough I picked up whilst at a SAMM retreat in September...... but I am much more positive since I went so I guess its a trade off.

We finally have a cooker......It is so lovely and warm and makes the house feel like a home.....It also means that I no longer need to drive to Leadgate to use the cooker at the wonderful holiday farmhouse, High Aimshaugh (Fabulous holiday accommodation - perfect for families). Latterly I have been lucky enough to be able to use the one next door at the beautiful Robson's Cottage (Amazing little cottage -perfect for couples). Its nice to finally have ours though.

Fire Places and Racing Dogs

So here it is....

The top half has been filled in with stone and has since been removed. Can't believe anyone would just cover this up! The fire is approx early 18th century and the oak surround is a while later. It turned out that our next door neighbour has one almost identical that was dated by some official body a few years back.

I have already started stripping the surround down to the bare wood and it is looking beautiful The wood is such a rich colour. The plan is to clear the fire out and make it safe. We then need to repair the stone chimney breast and seal it. Once thats done, we can refit the surround. I'm so pleased that we found this and can't wait to see what it looks like when the work is complete!

Meanwhile......Saturday was the Alston Show. We ventured down to the field with the children and had a lovely time. The terrier racing was a delight to see and I have to admit that I didn't realise that there were so many different types of sheep!

Hidden treasures...

Settling in nicely and enjoying the beautiful weather that we have had for the last couple of days. Not sure it will last though... Anyhow, we have been busy. Or, more correctly, Mark has been busy. The orange coloured pine downstairs bathroom just had to go..

I'm sure it was a marvel to look at in the early seventies.....However, on removal of the pine we found..... the most amazing discovery.....a stone fire dating back to around the early 1700's, complete with an oak surround that dates a little later. There are also two cupboards to the right of the fire. I was so thrilled when we uncovered them. I can't believe that they were simply boxed in but then I am truly grateful that they hadn't just been ripped out... Will post up a photo of our hidden treasure next time. I wonder what else we will find in this amazing old house??

At last....

Well, it's August and....... we are finally here! Moved in just over a week ago and have managed to unpack most of the boxes. Well....almost!

The children have settled in really well and are spending most of their time down on the playing field. They have been to their new school for a play scheme and enjoyed themselves.

Happy to be showing Aunties E & H their new school!

It's time to start enjoying our new home now and getting to know our new town. It is so beautiful here, I never tire of looking at the amazing scenery. There is so much to do in the house but I think that is part of the fun. Taking our time and making plans.... Will post up some photos when I get chance, if I can remember where I put the camera once I unpacked it!!

Graduation Day.....

Am very proud of my niece Amy. In fact, I'm proud of all my nieces - Kirsty, Emma, Kim  &  Jacqui - just in case any of them ever read this! Last week was graduation day for Amy as she left Liverpool with a 2.1 BA Hons in History. The sky duly emptied as I arrived at Lime Street and didn't stop until long after I had left for home. There were flash floods in Liverpool - unbelievable. However, the weather failed to dampen a wonderful day.

We had a lovely meal afterwards in the Everyman Bistro. I had the Greek lamb stew which was delicious. Didn't have time for dessert though so will have to go back another time. Haven't been to the Everyman since I went to see Stephen Sharkey's  - The May Queen. Anyhow, the day soon ended and I found myself back on the train to Stafford.

So where are we? Well.... the plan was to move to Cumbria by August and we are still very much focused on that. Just waiting for the final bits of paperwork to slot onto place and then we are off. The house is half empty as some of our stuff is already in Alston. The rest is boxed up and ready to go. We are literally just waiting for a date and then we will be off. There is no panic though as we have let the house from October so we can hang on longer if we need to. Its exciting now as we are able to start to make plans about what we want to do with the house. Mark is even making hopeful sounding mutterings about an AGA but we will wait and see. Am looking for a reconditioned one but even they are expensive so will have to wait. Perhaps by my next post we will have moved.....who knows?

Beware of the Sheep

Sat with a mug of tea last night and made a plan for the week ahead and a plan of what needs to be moved out of each room. We are trying to break the move into two sizeable chunks instead of one great overwhelming move and have been lucky enough to be able to arrange a lock up to store all the things that we have already packed. We are planning a quick trip to Alston on Wednesday to drop stuff off and will stay over night. There is a little holiday let that we thought looked nice that just happens to be next door to our new house! It is just for two which is perfect!

We are planning on catching up with some friends for coffee and having another quick look at Orchard House to do some measurements etc. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to sort things out just with Mark and without having to entertain the children whilst we do it!

Mark has designed some 'New Address" cards based on a design by icon-art. I have a card they created that someone sent me with a sheep on and it really made me smile.

This is the original and below is Marks version:

I love this! I think I will get it printed in black & white though.

This is a photo of one of the Harrison sheep from Alston that Mark took a couple of years ago. No doubt the poor creature has since been despatched and roasted but I have fond memories of that particular holiday and I am really pleased withe new address cards. Now I just have to get them printed in time for our 'Open House' in a couple of weeks time.

So much to do, so little time...

Things have been a bit hectic of late. We have bumbled along achieving nothing except a nice weekend camping on Shell Island and then for the last two weeks or so, things have started moving! We still haven't managed to sell the house but the long awaited planning permission is through with a couple of issues to be dealt with. Fingers crossed, the sale of the land will go through in the next couple of weeks and we can then complete on the Alston house! I am soooo excited. We have decided to try and let the house for 12 months and see if it will be easier to sell once the land has been divided and the new house built. 

We have been busy sorting and packing. Its amazing how much stuff we have accumulated over the last 10 years. We have freecycled and charity shopped so many items but I feel like we still need to cut back on what we are taking.

This is a picture of the new house! The 'Sold' sign has gone up and I am assured that the roses are growing nicely in the front. I can't believe that we just have around 5 more weeks until we move. Until then, there is an endless arrangement of 21st & 40th birthday parties as well as a visit from some friends of ours from Chicago and of course, an Open House  day to be able to say goodbye to all our lovely friends!

Retaining Walls, Art Class & a Warm Welcome to Bert

The day started badly with both of the reports that we had arranged for the new house arriving in the post. The first estimates the woodworm treatment at over £2000 and the second took our breath away - over £50,000 for the retaining wall to be removed and rebuilt - with a recommendation that the work be done urgently.... hmmm... The idea of moving was to improve our quality of life. I'm not sure that spending that amount of money and overseeing such intensive building works fits into that idea. Mark and I have some serious talking to do but I fear that we will have to withdraw our offer unless we can negotiate. It is not looking good. On a brighter note, I had contact with someone who has a four bedroom bungalow that they will let us rent so at least the immediate issue of somewhere to live is almost resolved.

Had Art Class today which was lovely. The children have moved on to using acrylics and are reproducing sections of some photographs of the village that they took last year. They are painting them onto large canvasses that we bought with a grant from the village hall. The idea is to put them all together to produce one image of the village. Hope it works. They have two more sessions to do and we are hoping that they will have completed them in time to display them at the end of the last session. It is wonderful to see children as young as 6 really concentrating on the task in hand and seeing their interpretations of the images. Some are amazing! My helpers bought far too many cakes for snack time so in an effort to help out, I demolished too many of them and am now feeling a bit sicky!

Welcome to Bert

Little Bert, the Satin Hamster has finally gotten over his shyness and posed for a photograph! He was James' birthday present and spends most of his waking hours practicing gymnastics in his cage! He is soooo noisy! He is also very, very cute and loves to play in his hamster ball in the kitchen.

Volcanic Ash and Other Hinderances

Well. It's been a while. So much has occurred I scarcely know where to start. We still haven't sold the
house or had any offers yet. Is this normal after 5 viewings? I suspect the fact that we are selling off part of the land is putting people off but we will plod on until mid June before we think about plan B. 
The house looks great on the Agents web site.

http://www.fodenandharrisproperty.com/property_detail.aspx?strID=FNP00664&intTID=1&intContentID=2

News on the house in Alston is that it finally has an Under Offer sign on it. I find this really exciting, 
confirmation that we really are leaving to start a new life. The surveyors report begs to differ somewhat
so we will have to see! Have ordered various reports to be done and will wait and see the outcome... 
It would be a shame not to get the house we want but we have to be sensible and there are rather a lot of urgent recommendations....


Had a lovely weekend during Easter without the children. I love them dearly but it is nice to have a break. We went to Woking and spent the whole weekend walking, talking and eating. We did fit in a trip to 
the theatre to see Agatha Christies 'Witness for the Prosecution'. I'm not normally into murder 
mysteries but thought that the show was fantastic. I will definitely see another production of an AgathaChristie story if I get a chance.


Still waiting for confirmation about the children's new school. Hopefully this will arrive in the next few weeks. I think that they are starting to look forward to the move now. May 14th should bring some 
news regarding the planning permission for the attached land. Fingers crossed it will be fine as we can then get on with finalizing the sale of the land. I think that once this happens, everything else will startto happen. Maybe.


I would have liked to have visited Alston again soon but we had already committed to going to 
Germany for Mark's 50th birthday. Due to Mother Nature stamping her feet in Iceland, a short trip of 4 days turned into a 10 day holiday. It was great though. Beautiful weather, fabulous food and some verykind people made the whole stay one that we will never forget. Bit of a stretch on the old budget 
though, so no trips to Alston unless absolutely necessary. An incredible time was had by all of us and Mark did start to wonder if it was a sign that we couldn't come home..... especially as his old home is 
up for sale... perhaps if the move to Alston fails then I will let him convince me to move to Germany :)

A picture that Mark took of the lake in the beautiful town of Wassenberg....the town with the most 

delicious cakes ever..

New Drive

Well, the new drive is finally finished - well, almost. Still have the dropped kerb to sort out but all the other work is done. The garden looks really nice now and even the house looks tidy! It is almost a shame to sell up !

Finished recovering the final chair from the dining room, 18 months after the other 5 were completed. I am plodding through the unfinished jobs but we did stop for some chilli cheese toast. That is, cheese on toast with a layer of chilli jam under the cheese  - it was yummy - thanks David. It gave me the energy to tackle cleaning the 8ft venetian blind from the utility room!

Getting ready for the carpet to be fitted in the hall now so have to dash.

Sockets, Ironing and Chocolate Cake....

Have spent the last few days sorting out various bits and pieces in the house and garden that needed finishing off - sockets with paint on, ironing, windows that won't open....the list goes on. We did quite a bit in the garden near to the house and it looks really nice now. I will take some photos tomorrow depending on the weather.

Mark and Daisy made this delicious chocolate cake for tea on Sunday. They both had a great time making it and James & I had a great time eating it!

Alfie wasn't too thrilled that they had made a cake that he couldn't eat but he did get to enjoy the icing....

Add to my list of things to do -  more washing...!

 I mentioned in an earlier post about getting the local schools to do a combined fund raising event in aid of the Haiti earthquake appeal. The final total will be above the £6000 mark and I am really thrilled. It is a huge sum for a small town and I'm sure that every penny will be gratefully received.

Have got lots of organizing to do in readiness for a small art exhibition next Saturday. I run a small art group once a month for children aged 5-11 and they have created some wonderful things with the guidance of one of the local art teachers. Hopefully we will have lots of friends and family turn up to see the work that the children have created. It is so important for the children to see their work properly displayed and to be able to show it off. I have lots of pictures to sort out and cakes to bake!

Busy few days.

Haven't post anything for a few days but have lots of photos to add to show you what I have been up to!

Have finally finished my lovely, warm scarf! It is doubled over in the picture which is how I have worn it. It is so soft and warm! I am really pleased with it and may use the pattern for a couple of Christmas presents.

Spent a lovely weekend in Surrey and Brighton with Daisy, Helen & Evelyn. We visited the Laines and managed to do a little bit of girly shopping. Also found a Montezuma chocolate shop - heaven! Their white chocolate buttons are to die for and are definitely NOT for sharing! Also managed to catch up with a few old friends. Amazing how time can fly by so quickly. It was very cold but sunny and I was glad of my new scarf.

We ate a wonderful lunch then finished it off with ice cream on the pier. Did I mention it was cold? Never too cold for ice cream at the seaside though!

Whilst we were away, Mark and the boys looked after the chickens. All six of them are in this pic but some are too busy eating to pose. Millie (the black one), Rosie, Betty, Mavis, Hilda & Mollie. They are such good hens that give us the most delicious eggs. Even during the worst of the weather they were still laying.

I need to do some baking now to use up all the eggs that have appeared whilst I was away. I have a lovely recipe for an orange & almond cake that is wheat free and uses 9 eggs so I think that will be a good place to start.

                                              Daisy, Grace and Agatha

The children had some friends around and they made this gingerbread house left over from a kit at Christmas. The girls had such fun making and decorating it and the boys had great fun breaking it up to eat it!

Pancake Day!

Very few things rekindle happy childhood memories, but my Mum made a mean pancake! Topped with Tate & Lyles Golden Syrup, I could eat them faster than she could make them. Hers with so thin, golden and always a perfect circle - my mouth is watering just writing about them..... Anyhow, I have children of my own and so after dinner we got down to the serious business of pancake making! We had to have two types, as Alfie can't tolerate wheat, so he had a buckwheat mixture and the rest of us had traditional. I say the rest of us, what I mean is that James had one, Mark had two, little Daisy made her way through THREE! and I..........I had half a pancake as that was all the mixture I had left! It is true I could have had some of Afie's buckwheat mixture but I'd already promised the little people that they could have it for breakfast tomorrow - liberally smothered in chocolate spread. The half pancake I did get was very nice though and a squeeze of Golden Syrup made me feel about 8 again...

I have added these pictures of the house and garden as work has finally started on the new drive. With a bit of luck, most of the work will be done this week with a little bit of landscaping to be done the following week. You can just see the dumper truck that has been taking several tons of our garden to a new home! The boys are desperate for a chance to sit on and the mini digger. I am just desperate for the work to be finished! Am hoping for some exciting news about the sale of the land tomorrow.....

Thunderbirds

Have not had much time for writing over the last couple of weeks. The tail end of a bout of pluerisy is keeping me fairly tired as is the huge amount of sorting and clearing that needs to be done. The decorator is due to finish today so the inside of the house is ready for the estate agent photos. Just need to get the outside landscaping done now, but as I said in an earlier post, easier said than done!

It is a strange thing to watch the house change colour. We have got quite bright colours, or rather did have until the obliterator paint, also know as magnolia, was liberally applied to most of the walls in the house. The only rooms to escape are the living room, dining room & bathroom. Oh, and the cellar, but thats another blog altogether! The house does look clean and bright though I have to say that I am missing the Tweenies and Postman Pat that have lived on James' wall for the last 5 years and the Thunderbirds men and machines who have provided company at night for Alfie for the same length of time. There are so many memories of this house and most of them happy ones. It will be sad to leave.

This photograph of Alfie reminds me of Mark painting the Thunderbirds machines and men on his bedroom wall. It was taken for his 5th birthday when he was obsessed with Thunderbirds. To be honest, he still loves them now, as do Mark & James. Me, I'm more of a Jane Austen girl and Daisy loves Hannah Montannah!

FIxing a date

Have now confirmed a date in March to come back to Alston and have another good look around. We will be viewing some houses and bringing the children to visit the school. Hopefully we will have our house on the market by then if we ever get a response from the builders who came out to give us quotes! I don't understand how these things can take so long - I thought we were in a recession!

Told Mum of our plans today and she was a little upset but on the whole very supportive which was nice. I expected her to go all quiet and sulky but she was very good and I am relieved.

Thought I might finish my scarf today but have measured it and I need to add at least another 3 balls of wall to it to make it long enough. Have luckily found a website that can supply it,

www.englishyarns.co.uk so I should have it finished soon, at least in time for next winter!!!

Photograh

Have managed to add a photograph to the title bar. It is a lovely one taken over Christmas and New Year looking down towards the river from the Leadgate road. It was so beautiful and white everywhere, and oh so peaceful. It seems ages ago now but I am busy trying to organise another trip back to Alston to look at houses and to show the children the school. They are used to being in a small village school so it will not be such a shock for them. Good news from the estate agent today regarding valuations so just have to keep pushing forward and get the deed done. Planning to be on the market for early March so fingers crossed.

Have nearly finished my lovely cable patterned scarf. I am very proud of it as I haven't knitted anything since the children were really small and I made the pattern up myself. Will post a pic when I am done.

Success!

In the quest to learn something new every day, today's lesson has been uploading a photo onto a blog! This is Alfies' very stylish stripy car that he made from an Airfix kit that he got for Christmas. He had lots of fun making it and is justly proud.

Elsewhere in the family, Mark has been ill, Daisy has a high temperature and I have pluerisy again. Oh what fun. I just hope the boys stay well.

Had more builders round to arrange a quote for the work that needs to be done before we can sell. Every day is just a little step closer. We have another estate agent coming round tomorrow too. Trying really hard to be sensible and get at least two opinions or quotes on everything we are doing. Just waiting for the bed we put on Freecycle to be collected! We are s l o w l y getting sorted out!

Lazy Sunday?!

Well, it was meant to be a lazyish Sunday....I had planned to sort Alfies' room out and lose one of the beds from the bunk bed set but that was all. In the end, we have sorted Alfie's room, Daisy's room, our room AND the bathroom! Can't believe we managed to do so much as Mark is feeling really under the weather and was not in the mood to have a major clear out. I keep thinking that if we can achieve something in the house every day, it will make moving to Alston one step closer.

Have written to all the local schools and nurseries in the town to see if they will support a combined Mufti day in aid of the Haiti appeal. I really hope they all do as it will be a nice gift from the town if all the schools are involved. Even if only a little money is raised - it will help a lot of people.

Was going to try and add a photo today. Mark has been making Airfix models with the boys that they got from their Aunts for Christmas. Alfies' is finished and he took a great photo of it. Will have a go at adding it later as he will be thrilled to see his car on here!

A New Year

Well, I have finally done it! I have been thinking of writing a blog for ages but never actually gotten around to it. This year I have decided to stop procrastinating and start DOING! I have taken inspiration from another couple of blogs, and once I figure out how to add a link to them, I will do so.Every New Year I think....'this will be a good year'.... and it never is. I have decided that the only way to make it a good year is to initiate the changes ourselves. And we have started. Boy, we have really started! After spending yet another wonderful holiday in Cumbria over Christmas and New Year, we have finally made the decision to pack up our current life and move, lock, stock and chickens to Alston. Or, to be more realistic, to as near to Alston as we can afford. So, exciting and no doubt trying times lay in store over the coming months but I am relieved that we have finally made the decision to move. Will try and add a little each day but need to have a play around and figure out how to add links and photos etc.