The Big Day Arrived!!! & the 100th Post!!

So, the day finally came and we were ready to move! Friday night we picked up the van and squeezed it down our little town centre street. We had to park it up on the pavement as there isn't anywhere near enough room for it on the road AND for people to be able to drive by! It was dark by the time we got it to the house, the nights are really drawing in at the moment, but we still set about filling it up with household offerings! There was just the two of us on that first night so it took us a good couple of hours to load the back sufficiently to stop it all sliding about on the 50 minute journey to the new place. We trundled off down the motorway through the roadworks with signs declaring with an air of smugness "Major Roadworks - Delays possible for 2 years" followed by the 'doesn't help a bit' signs at the end assuring us that they 'Apologise for any delays'. These are roadworks that I will have to contend with every day now on my new trip to work!

My mum and dad awaited us at the farm willing to off load the gar into the sheds and house. We weren't able to put as much into the house as we had first thought because the plasterers were coming on Sunday to begin and it was deemed safer to keep the stuff outside rather than risk "The Dust"!

Saturday morning the pair of us filled another load into the van and it was sent on it's merry way to the Farm. I remained at House A to do further packing and some cleaning and to await the arrival of Moving Helper 1. When she arrived we set about doing, yes, you guessed it, more packing and the dreaded job of cleaning the kitchen! I can honestly say in about 3 years there I have cleaned the oven about once! (My mum cleans it whenever she arrives, which is odd as she has never cleaned her own she says, my aunt does that! That must be some kind of family tradition, you never clean your own oven!)

The van returned with Moving Helper 2 ensconced, we were now up to 5 helpers overall. Everyone headed back to the farm with this load of goodies, mainly the stuff from the attic - all that "ohhhhhh... that's where it went!!" stuff. After unloading this load when we got to the farm we got down to the serious business of celebrating Bonfire Night! Yes, I know we were a few days late but you've got to live dangerously! So it was burgers and bonfire and a few rockets on the top of our little hill on Saturday night.

Sunday was an early morning start as we needed to get the bed up the stairs before the plasterers started getting down 'n' dirty in on the stairs. As it happened they were half an hour late so we had plenty of time. After this there was only one more trip required to empty the house completely. It looks quite weird with nothing in it, I suddenly remember what it looked like when we first moved in! People have asked whether I will miss it and at the moment, no I don't, but I think that may be because it hasn't quite sunk in yet that I won't be going back!

The cats made there way to the farm on the last trip and they are a mixture of scared, interested and relieved. They are certainly happy to find out what happened to all their stuff, they were getting most disgruntled that we were stealing all their furniture.

We had our first night in the new house and had no heating! The plasterers wanted the heating off for a day to stop the plaster drying too fast and cracking! So it was a chilly night, a couple of blankets and a couple of cats to keep us warm!

There will be more updates soon but access to the Internet is limited at the moment, must get that all set up.

How The Bathroom Progresseth..

The bathroom doesn't look a whole lot different from the original but I assure you there has been major progress. The main problem was that the immersion heater, which was on the wall just as you came in through the door was old and needed replacing. This has now been done, with one about 4 times the size and has been put in a cupboard upstairs, resulting in a nice toasty airing cupboard - see, there is some method to our madness.

The old bathroom suite has been removed, the bath kept - we are hoping to have that re-enameled and use it when we extend the bathroom. We have chosen a pretty plain suite as it was A) not very expensive and B) small! There is a shower unit that needs to be installed, this is being done as we speak.

Once again there is a lot of stuff going on while we chug away at work, it is most frustrating that so much is having to be done while we aren't there. We have both expressed our frustration at not being able to just 'get on with it' ourselves and at having to do everything by phone or trying to explain to someone else what they need to explain to someone else. We are both looking forward to the time that we are moved in and can take real control ourselves.

How the Kitchen Progresses...

So the weekend saw the kitchen being blitzed. Farm Guy and Farm Dad set into fixing up the kitchen. As you can see it was a bare shell at the start, and somewhat full of crap!

So first things first, clear out everything that we don't need.
There, that's better:

After getting the first cabinet in, the one in the corner it was easy for Farm Guy and Farm Dad to start putting in the other units:

Then its time to get the wall cabinets up. This was not as easy as they first thought, only took them two hours to get it on the wall!! But it is up now and looks good!

So what was I doing while they worked away? Well, remember the liner papered corner, behind the fridge?

Well, I set to work painting it! Yes, still from behind the fridge! So now it looks like this:

Big fridge, isn't it!?

Such A Long Time!

Sorry there have been no posts recently! I have been unwell for the last few days and that, coupled with all that is happening on the farm, time has been short. But fear not, I am still around and I have much to tell.

As you can see from the countdown we are into our last week and as of yesterday we had no shower and a half finished kitchen. Farm Guy and my Dad spent around 6 hours yesterday installing the kitchen cabinets - it is actually beginning to look like a kitchen - there will be a proper kitchen update tomorrow - your first glimpse at the kitchen as it unfolds! We have decided, after a plasterer failed to show up to discuss what we needed, to do the minor plastering in the kitchen ourselves, and have also decided that the bedroom doesn't need plastering anyway, so we may be able to get stuck into that this week - but probably next. The rest of the plastering can wait until we have moved in and we can get it done porperly. We seem to have the whole (old) house still to pack even though we have packed loads of boxes already! You never quite realise the crud that you have collecting until you try wrapping it and fitting it in the car!

The bathroom has a nice new toilet and sink but, as yet, no shower (or floor, but has gained a huge hole in the wall! - nice!), we hope that will be there in all its glory by next weekend! Bathroom update on Thursday!

The Electrician has to return today to wire in the Immersion heater and then, for the first time, there will be hot water! Oh Yes! No more boiling kettles for warm water to wash mucky hands!

Sunday night will see the report on the move, plus plenty photos and, if I have done my maths right, will mark the 100th post for Realising the Dream. I am quite chuffed that without really trying the 100th post ties in with such a big event! So, I will see you all again tomorrow when the kitchen semi-completion unveiling takes place!