Having moved in at the start of April, I decided it was time to have a housewarming party.
Last week, I sent a fair amount of time baking, and buying booze, and even vacuuming so that the house looked respectable (if very poorly decorated)
And then on Saturday, I started to panic that no-one would come, and that I would end up sitting alone in my nice clean house, among the mountains of food.
Luckily, my friends are much nicer than that, and many of them showed up.
We were lucky with the weather - it got nicer throughout the day, so we could spend much of the afternoon outside - admiring my water feature, playing with my new mini-croquet set (is it very very wrong to be pleased I beat another player, even if the other player was 7?) and later we moved inside, and from Pimms to Prosecco . .
I had fun. I think my guests did, too.
And everyone helped clear up before those who were staying overnight went to bed.
Then on Sunday, after everyone had left, I had to make a start on getting ready for coming of the Plumbers, on Tuesday . .
Last weekend was Easter weekend, so we got two Bank Holidays, and thus a four day weekend.Which is nice.
I am finding that I am still very tired - I think that months of low-grade stress about moving house have now stated to catch up with me. And so I have, this weekend, been combining short-ish bursts of unpacking and organising, and longer bursts of being lazy.
One of my radiators started leaking on the Thursday (fortunately it is by the back door, on a tiled floor, so easy to mop up. I think my error was in trying to turn up the heat on a radiator which (I suspect) has not been turned up, or down, for a very long time, and broke part of the valve. So I called a plumber, and he came on Saturday, and temporarily fixed the radiator (I am not currently allowed to to turn it on, or up, but it is no longer leaking).
While he was here, we had a conversation about what will be needed to replace the boiler and update the heating system, which is at the top of my list of Stuff Which Needs Doing to the House. (Not least because I can't redecorate the living room until the boiler has been moved).
I have another plumber coming on Tuesday so I can compare quotes, and will also have a chat with my new neighbour to see whether he knows anything to the credit (or dishonour) of either plumber, before I decide which to use!
Sunday was very cold, grey, and wet, so I stayed indoors, unpacked a few more boxes and sorted out some paperwork to send to my accountant to do my tax return (excitement or what!)
Monday, however, was a different story - it was beautifully sunny, so after pottering abut for a bit, I decided to go for a walk. I didn't go far - along to the end f the road, from where there is a gorgeous view out across the valley, then back through the woods, (along by a stream, then up a muddy hill, before swinging back along the lane to my house)
The hedgerows and the wood were full of wild garlic, all of which is coining into flower and adding a certain pungency to the atmosphere.
There are a few bluebells - I think there will be a lot more in another week or so. I also found a small number of wild violets, lots of celandines, and what I think were probably wood anemones (my flower-identification skills are not great!)
I also saw a fair few birds, and heard a lot more. My bird-identification skills are even less impressive than my flower-identification skills, but I saw what I think (having looks at the mug shots on the RSPB's site) was probably a Grey Wagtail (which, despite it's name, was actually yellow in many places) a Coal Tit (or possibly a Willow Tit, but Coal Tits are much more common, so I it seems more likely that's what it was) as well as lots of pheasants, and a buzzard.
It's nice to be able to go for a walk in the country without having to drive anywhere first, and having lived in towns since I left home, I hadn't really realised quite how much I've missed this.
It's been a week since I moved in. I am still surrounded by boxes.
Which, to be fair, is probably a good thing, as they hide quite a lot of the wallpaper and carpet.
I am making a lot of lists, to work out what order to do stuff in, and what I can afford. I need to start to get various workmen round to quote for the jobs I need to have done - replastering, some building works, total redecoration . . .
I have however unpacked some of the most important books, and all of the stuff for the kitchen. I now have a landline in place (there is very little mobile signal here, which was a bit frustrating when we were sitting outside with a removal van filled with all my worldly goods, waiting for a phone call to say we'd completed!) and internet access (And TV, once the electrician has time to come and put a new ariel cable up)
My parents came to visit for a couple of days last week, as they were attending a funeral locally, and took the opportunity to come to see me and the new house, and to have somewhere local to stay. Which was nice.
I was away in London for the day on Saturday, and today (which has been a lovely sunny day) I had a lazy morning, then went out and bought a lawnmower (I have a lawn now!) and a clothes line, and did laundry and lawn mowing, and planted out some tomato and pea plants.
I don't have much in the way of garden beds, so at present this is all (except the lawn, obviously) container gardening, but it is a step in the right direction. And I suppose that growing things in containers may mean the plants have a better chance of growing without the strong ones crowding out the others!
Of course, the fact that I spent the afternoon in the garden does mean that I have not done any more unpacking today, but you can't have everything, and it has been a beautiful day - shame to waste it indoors!
I hope that next weekend (which is a 4 day weekend due to Easter) will prove equally nice.
