Moving in - a very very long post

From 10th May 2008

Dan had the bright idea of blogging in word until we have internet access which should be in the next week or so. We moved in last weekend and so much has happened in a week, 10 days and I really wanted to commit it to paper, so to speak.
We completed on Friday and I went to pick up the keys from the estate agents late on Friday afternoon. We are home owners again. Tob got home from work, we ate a celebratory fish and chips with Ellen and Dan and the two of us headed round the new place to absorb things a bit, help us plan the actual move on Saturday etc. We stayed there a good couple of hours, I can't remember exactly what we did other than walk from room to room, stopping as we went, pointing, planning, deciding where to put things and discovering things the previous owners had left for us. Most of it was useful but we did say, anything we wouldn't use, we could freecycle so there are a few things that will go once we are on-line and have access to freecycle again.
I'd spent the latter half of the week preceding packing stuff and I was under the impression I was pretty much on top of things. In reality I was so focussed on making sure Leon's transition into the house went smoothly I overlooked so much stuff, it took well into the unpacking to retrieve things that had been packed in haste over the weekend – things like a hair brush, phone charger, toothbrushes, Ellen and Dan pretty much covered those bases I missed in the mayhem. I managed to resist the temptation to carry anything heavy but did spend a lot of time unpacking and directing our team of helpers – Hans and Mike very kindly volunteered their services and did a magnificent job of assisting Toby in getting what has become soooo much stuff. It's amazing how we've gone from a 1 bed flat to a 3 bed house to a 4 bed house in a matter of 3 years or so and the amount of stuff accumulated, especially including baby stuff is incredible.
I did succeed in making Leon's transition pretty smooth, and within a week he went from waking a couple of times in the night, needing to know where I was, plus in the morning being anxious to find where we slept (only next door) and generally very clingy to pretty much at home and sleeping through again. On the Saturday and Sunday he spent during the day with his Nana and Grumps so we had space and time to move in and unpack, only coming to the house for his tea and going to bed so unsurprising he needed the time here during the week to see his familiar things here and get used to the place.
First evening; Saturday, we had a lovely take away curry with Liz (helped with unpacking), Mike (had helped with the move) and Harriet (they live down the road and Liz and I both take our sprogs to Music and socialise on a Wednesday with other mums and babies – Harriet is about 6 weeks older than Leon). Even Leon and Harriet had some curry before going to bed an hour or so later than normal but I thought he'd settle better if he was really tired in the new place. I didn't wait for him to get too fractious and over tired and it worked well. I think he woke a couple of times but went back down OK once he knew I was there.
The previous owners had left quite a lot of furniture, some was mentioned in the official documentation as part of the price negotiated – 3 piece suite, dining table and 6 chairs, dresser, dishwasher etc. and other bits and pieces like shelves and chairs were just there for us to choose. The dining table and 6 chairs were really nice, too nice really for our purposes, so after a bit of a think and a chat with Tobe, we decided to give them to Ellen and Dan who not only will look after them better but will get to use them more as intended. With a young family, a really lovely dark wood table would soon be so scratched and stained it would be a complete waste. We now have our big table (it was too big for the kitchen at Felton Way so it got used as a desk for a while then kept in the garage) and the 6 chairs that went with that, they are a lighter wood and easier to maintain without worrying too much about scratching and staining. From the dining table we have a lovely view through the bay windows out into the garden which faces due west so we've also been getting lovely sunsets as we sit there.
Mum's been with us since Tuesday and left today. She's been brilliant, just getting on with unpacking boxes – asking where stuff like books should go and by the end of the week, we had a massive mountain of empty boxes out on the lawn which have now all been collapsed ready to freecycle again. Leon took a while to get used to her, what with being in a new house too but soon warmed to his Grandma. She came baring many gifts, toys mainly but also some lovely food from Holland I'd asked for, including Chocomel, Indonesian spice mixes and Dutch cheese. Mum did a lot of helping out with things like the dishwasher too, I did as much unpacking and organising as I could but this week's been the hottest of the year, well into the 20's and what with my ever growing bump I've had to just do as much as I feel able and stop when I feel I need a break. It made such a difference having mum here so when I did just have to stop, I could watch Leon while she carried on with stuff.
Wednesday we spent the morning unpacking then the afternoon I took Mum to Leon's music class, Leon did what he normally does, have a good time, run around, nick shakers off other people's babies and dance about a bit, then I let Mum have a mooch round the shops while I went to the Library with Liz and the sprogs for our usual social. We had to be back by 5pm to meet the gas man – I'd smelt gas on Saturday when we first started moving stuff in and called in a plumber to have a look, he said there was a small leak but well within the permissible levels and that we should get someone after the bank holiday weekend to deal with it, which is what we did. Typical really, we move out of a house with a new boiler which by law needs certificates galore (the amount of hassle it's been getting Corgi to do what they should have done 2 years ago when it was fitted has been ridiculous, that's all I'm saying). However, we move into a house with an older boiler, no checks have been required, I get the place gas checked and it turns out some of the pipes needed changing as they were the wrong size, the boiler needs a service, there are no isolation valves coming from the gas meter so checking for leaks is nigh impossible so they needed to be put in and the tap for the gas fire was loose and leaking but was fine once it was tightened up. By Friday lunchtime, our new plumber had sorted changed the pipes, stopped any leaks, put in isolation valves and made the cooker better to use. There's still the leaky tap, which he will replace next week and the boiler to service. On trying to buy a cross head, mono bloc kitchen tap, we had a look on-line for one as the plumber had said he'd not found one for Friday as the only one he could lay his hands on would cost us £80 so I said we'd pick one over the weekend. We went to the Library in Ely to check our emails and see what B&Q, Homebase etc. had in stock in Cambridge, only to find that they too only had £80 + in stock and cheaper ones involved 5 week ordering periods etc. or a trip to Stevenage. There was always Ikea Edmonton for a tap for £60 NOT!. Somehow we ended up on Ebay and have found one for just under £40. Yes, Ebay has plumbing supplies sellers! Just like everything else :)
Thursday, Tobe had the day off, we did some sorting out and unpacking in the morning (well I didn't do much as Leon was really clingy and unless I just sat in the same room he was playing and didn't move around too much, he would get really fractious and cry, so that's what I did, Friday too. He's much better now, probably just part of the transition moving into a new place – I'm his constant through it all). In the afternoon we went for a walk round Wicken Fen, a welcome break, and a bit of fresh air.
Friday, once the plumber had finished, we had lunch round at Ellen and Dan's and Ellen, Mum, Leon and I pottered into town for an hour or so.
Mum left first thing this morning, it has been great having her here. Tobe had his moments, mainly down to being at work all week and undoubtedly feeling out of the loop, every night coming home from work to find we'd put away, rearranged or changed stuff, useful though it all was, I know how it feels as I felt pretty helpless over the weekend at times. Tobe did do the first cooking of meals during the week and got to break in the kitchen, so to speak at times you could tell he enjoyed it, other things frustrated and irritated him, especially in the heat and being tired.
Mum will be back in July for a few days en route to Scotland to see Newbie. It will be around the time Tobe's paternity leave runs out probably so it will be a good time to have her around again, not to mention allow her and Leon to get further acquainted. I get the impression from talking to Grandma that Mum's starting to embrace the concept of grand parenthood, up to now I've kind of felt she's been 'busy' with other stuff – she only spent a couple of hours with us when we were over for a fortnight last summer. I hope she will come over as often as she can, the more Leon and Newbie get to have her as a Grandparent the better. I love having Ellen and Dan there to provide that all important family for a growing kid, but also the regular visits from Dad. Leon likes Dad, they seem to share a lot of genes.
So, today is Saturday we have been here exactly a week, no telly or internet or phone line yet but for the most part it really feels like home. Leon loves the garden with it's water feature millstone. He gets completely soaked every time he plays with it but considering how hot it has been today, that was no problem. The rest of the garden looks lovely, hollyhocks growing, forget-me-nots in full bloom, bluebells everywhere. I've got loads of washing done with our shiny new second hand washing machine that weighs the washing and has a child lock! It's very snazzy, not to mention energy efficient. I'm officially a proper mum having bought a rotary drier for the garden :)
Leon's room was the easiest to sort out, it will change again soon once Newbie's room is rearranged, I want to put both a cot and toddler bed in his room and gradually get him into a toddler bed. When we moved here I took the opportunity with the change to wean him off drinking milk last thing before bed. Now he has his last drop of milk with his tea, cleans his teeth before bed and hasn't missed his bottle of milk with story yet. That's been a result. All his books have been unpacked after 3 months in storage. We got through a lot of library books! There were so many books that when I packed them back in January were way to long and advanced for him to have read to him, and now he loves them.
The place is pretty much child friendly save the frog pond in the garden. This means that he's never left alone in the garden, it's not big and he's left it alone after initial inspection but it's not worth the risk leaving him in case he drives his pushchair in to it or just trips. I've thought about various solutions, fences, filling it in, covering it over until he's bigger but having seen the birds enjoying it this evening while eating our meal looking out over the garden, I would like to keep it and put a fence round it like Ellen and Dan have for their bigger pond. If we get the same fence stuff, which is actually meant as an animal pen – I guess a about 20 inches high and sturdy enough to stay put when Leon's tried to lean on it/fall into it, it's not that expensive and would mean we don't loose the pond as a feature but would be able to step inside the house while Leon's playing in the garden for a minute without worrying about finding him face down in the pond. I prefer to keep an eye on him in the garden anyway, but to be able to grab something inside the house would be good as having to bring him back inside with you every time you need the loo is just asking for drama and histrionics.
All in all, the house is a definite thumbs up, it's spacious and cosy. Save having to sort out some shoddy plumber's short cuts, the place is in very good working order. I'm looking forward to having many friends round with their sprogs where applicable. Not to mention having the odd coffee afternoon with 10 mums and 10 children in the living room, which here, is just about doable.
Toby: What can I add to Christine's blog... let's see...
Well I'll start with selling no. 10, our old house. It was a bit of a nightmare because the buyer's solicitors kept asking for paperwork they could have asked for at the beginning of the sale. So a 'quick' sale with no chain either end and an empty house turned into a 3 month delay, and a scramble to get the right gas certificate at the last minute. We completed with just one week to go before the agreed completion date for us to buy our new house!
For the move, I borrowed the van from work. We got most of the move done on Saturday, thanks to Mike and Hans, but we left the van full overnight as we didn't have the strength left to empty it and Hans had had to go. James joined us on the Sunday and helped unload, carried a lot of boxes of books upstairs for us and helped me move a nice PC desk downstairs, that the previous owners had left. They were very generous, leaving some nice furniture, lawn mower etc.
We'd planned to go to the Picnic In The Park (PITP) on the Monday (it's a yearly gathering for Stef's birthday) but we found there was still a lot of stuff to move. It's incredible how much stuff we've accumulated in only a couple of years.
It's taken a while for me to settle into the house; partly because I don't know where anything is, partly because I've been at work so not been able to 'absorb' the house so much. But I'm settling in now. I've got used to cooking with the slightly odd grill/oven/hob, getting to know where Christine's stashed plates etc, and now I've got the PC set up, it's starting to come together.
However not having access to the internet is really odd! I hadn't realised how much we rely on it. At least I have access to my emails at work, but C is struggling a bit. And I can't do the finances or order a new tap or, well, anything!
I've made a list of all the jobs that need doing round the house. These fall into two categories – large jobs which we'll save up for (eg replacing the boiler with a combi version) and small ones that I am working though (like levelling the washing machine, installing stair gate etc). Both lists seem rather long at the moment, but we'll get there.
No regrets getting this house, it's really nice and everyone who's been round so far has been impressed with the rooms and garden. We're very lucky, thanks M&D, we wouldn't be here without you.