Last week was a very exciting week and we managed it: we’ve moved back in. Hooray! It’s great to be back although it would have been easier if everything had been completed before we moved back in. To be frank, though, if we’d waited for everything to be finished we’d probably be moving back in time for Eloise’s 6th birthday rather than her 5th in two weeks time. The looming deadline of us moving back in definitely got the tradesmen working with a increased sense of urgency.
The crucial things were finished just in time: the boiler controls were set up on the Monday. The carpet also arrived on Monday and the carpet fitters were convinced by our plumber not to give up: they were about to leave without getting the carpet for Spencer’s room up the stairs but with an extra body pushing/pulling the gigantic roll of carpet, they made it. Apparently this was the worst job they’ve ever had. The bath, washing machine, dishwasher and kitchen sink were plumbed in on the Tuesday and we moved in on the Wednesday. There were a few nice-to-haves that we’re still waiting for: door knobs and bolts/screws for our bed for example. At the moment the ground floor doors are all a bit tricky to open; and who knows where the bolts have got to, but the mattress on the floor is so comfy the missing bolts are a non-issue.
The Sunday before we moved we managed to get a lot of painting and clearing done thanks to a last minute babysitting text offer. It didn’t seem to be too much of a hardship for the children to spend the day with Granny, Grandpa, Auntie Leonie and Emma! Thanks to all…
The rendering is ongoing which means that we still have the scaffolding surrounding us. At least it is too high for the children to brain themselves on whilst coming in and out of the house. I think it’s got everyone else at least once. Tim, winning some sort of most helpful brother ever award, took a whole week off work just so he could help us move back in and managed to walk into the scaffolding before he’d even picked up a box. (There is a slim possibility it was a fortuitous coincidence that he happened to have the week off. Whatever, it was very helpful!) The scaffolding is at head height and makes it very difficult to carry things in and out of the house. The guys who delivered the sofas were not impressed. I even had half of the back of the garage removed so that they had a route to the sliding doors at the back of the house, but were they grateful? No… I’d love to have seen their faces if we’d gone with Neil’s suggestion of taking it through next door’s garden and passing it over a 6ft fence.
To make moving day a little more hectic, the front door broke whilst we were only part way through moving things in. It was impossible to open from inside or out. It was fixed the next morning and any more problems will see us with a new door entirely, but not an entirely welcome issue on moving day. At least with our team of helpers (credit goes to Dad as well as Tim for spending the day with us. Although he didn’t last til the fish and chips in the evening he did arrive significantly earlier!) we managed to get most stuff back here as well as a full van load to the tip and the children’s rooms fully set up in time for them to go to bed in their new rooms.
Since we’ve moved back in, we’re in a state of constant chaos with boxes everywhere. There’s no point unpacking the stuff in the lounge until it’s been decorated which we can’t do yet as the plaster isn’t dry. We can’t unpack things into the storage in the family room as it hasn’t been built yet. Same for the airing cupboard and wardrobe. The decorator is back this week to finish the hall and stairs, family room, bathroom and last little bits in the en-suite. The kitchen is also being painted this week. Both of these are a little tricky when I’m here with Spencer – trying to keep him from touching wet paint has been a full time job!
So we’re back in and we’re in chaos but are we insane? It’s felt like it over the last few days but hopefully not for much longer. Despite the boxes and mess it feels like we’re home after an increasingly painful stay away. The rental place we were in was shrinking and getting damper and mouldier by the day. Ok, it wasn’t actually shrinking but the damp was becoming more of an issue. Definitely not somewhere we would have wanted to stay for the rest of the winter. The children are loving their new rooms and we feel very spoilt to have more than one bathroom. Lovely!
