#FlashbackFriday: A Fresh Start

I haven't joined in this for a while so time to have a trawl through the more recent past as it's a year this week that I moved into my new home in Kendal. The end of an era which had lasted from the 7th month after my wedding when we moved from Chesham to Kendal. With my marriage over it was time to start again near to my parents up here in Cumbria. A big move but one that is best for all of us (even of sometimes my daughter doesn't see it that way!).

It had taken many months to pack up our lives in Hastings with help from family and friends:

Eventually on the 31st July we had packed up as much as we could and it was farewell to the Edwardian town house we had called home for 7 years:

I then had the interesting experience of driving a 7.5 tonne lorry all the way from Hastings to Kendal! A little different from anything else that I have ever driven and it made me a lot more aware of my driving and others around me. It was a relief to reach my destination (especially after having to do a 3 point turn in a lorry!) and see my new front door:

My new landlady and her parents had left us some welcoming gifts to make us feel at home:

I have to admit that a year on we haven't finished moving in properly as life seems to get in the way a lot! We are here for another year at least and are so glad we did it.

Home Sweet Home

Hello have you missed me?


Well I am finally settling nicely into my new home with the kids. Its not all gone smoothly but we are here and feeling very much happier.


In the end I had to upgrade to a 7.5 tonne lorry and drive it myself!! This was initially scary but was quite good fun on the motorway. I had a great loading crew in Hastings and in fact got away earlier than expected. The journey was pretty awful due to the worst traffic for a long time on the M25 meaning I reached my parents' house after midnight. My kids were so pleased to find mummy had appeared during the night...


It felt really strange getting keys to the empty house on the Saturday. There was still the smell of fresh paint as they had touched up all the walls etc. My lovely landlady and her parents had left me house warming presents including a bird feeding table, wine and biscuits. Being in a house that wasn't cluttered or in need of a string of unfinished DIY to be completed felt heavenly.


My unloading crew of aunt, uncle, cousin plus his lady made short work of unloading the furniture and re-assembling them. The empty house was soon looking like a home as beds, chests of drawers, ladderax and book case all came in. My aunt had a the job of unpacking all my books and that made me smile as some had been languishing in boxes for 7 years!


The kitchen proved to be a minor problem as the storage is much less than my previous one. Half of the crockery and glassware had to be packed back up and taken back to my parents. On the Sunday night we emptied the remaining boxes into my parents' garage so that the lorry could go south on the Monday.


My dad accompanied me back down and helped to move the remaining wanted items to the ground floor. We eventually got my allegedly fixed car from garage, loaded it up and headed north on the Tuesday lunch time. 


We were finally able to move in on the Wednesday and since then have been getting ourselves sorted and finding our feet in a new town. We have also sneaked in a long medieval weekend down south combined with a transit van to get the last of our possessions from Hastings!


The kids and I are starting to make new friends through our new church and with the neighbours in our close. Most of the neighbours are young families so we fit in quite well. Being able to cycle out the front and draw in chalk on the road is really appealing to the kids.


I probably won't get the house finally sorted until the kids are both at their new schools but we are able to have room to play, cook and relax. The amount of paperwork involved in moving house when in the midst of a divorce and on benefits is horrendous but hopefully its all nearly done.


Looking forward to our new lives up here in a lovely house close to my family and making a fresh start for us all.


Sorry for lack of photos but laptop failure means I'm still not fully back to speed ;-)

Quart into a pint pot...

.. that's how this move is starting to feel! I have sold lots, given away lots and dumped lots but still seem to have too much in my house...


The kids are losing a playroom and getting a smaller bedroom. I am losing 3 bedrooms, a dining room and my bedroom is shrinking by 75%...


They have lots of toys/DVDs and I have lots of books/photos/memorabilia and I have no idea how its all going to fit a) into the Luton van I've booked b) into our new house!


Aargh - my parents are panicking about how much is going to end up in their garage ;-)

A Tale of 4 Moves...

In advance of my 4th move in 11 years I started to reflect on how different each were and what significant changes they represented ...




Move 1 - First Own Home


My parents must have let off great sighs of relief when I finally moved out of their home at the grand old age of 28! A combination of student debt and high property prices meant I wasn't in a position to afford a mortgage until 4 years after I left university. This was a low key removal affair - my dad and I with a large transit van doing a couple of shuttle runs to move my hand me down furniture and personal possessions the 10 miles down the road. It was only a 2 bed flat so I needed very little and got a good deal buying my new cooker, fridge/freezer and TV as package. The only brand new furniture was an MFI wardrobe.




Move 2 - Togetherness


This was the start of life with my fiance. He had just agreed the purchase of 4 bedroom house to make more space for his 3 children to visit. I only saw the house the week we moved in. This time as we were combining two 2 bedroom properties we hired a Luton Van. With the help of a couple of mates we spent a day driving from one side of town to the other. Between us we completely furnished the place and only needed to buy a larger family size fridge freezer.



Move 3 - Expanding Family


When I became pregnant my husband wanted to reduce the mortgage payments and still have more space to we moved 100 miles to a 6 bedroom Edwardian terrace needing lots of renovation. I had sold my flat a few months previously so we had the funds to pay for a complete removal service. A team of men spent several days packing up all our possessions and transporting them in a full sized removal lorry. They transported the seats from my car so I could transport 2 rabbits plus hutch and a tropical fish tank plus its inhabitants.




Move 4 - Family Breakup


This latest move is having to be very low budget as I am on limited income. I've hired a van and hopefully a mate is driving or I have a quick round trip! Packing is going very slowly around other commitments and is being done by myself, a friend plus my parents when they can visit. I am going to a house about 1/3 the size of the current one and so have to dispose of a lot of things from the house. Some things that moved here from the previous property should have been binned before that move!! Selling some of the items is quite disheartening as you get nowhere near what you paid for them but they have to go so getting something is better than nothing...




I will be in the new place for a minimum of 12 months as that is the length of the lease so will probably be moving again in a year! At least by downsizing our possessions now that should be a lot less stressful - well I hope so...