Three years ago today (19th January 2013)
we started a new life in our lovely old farmhouse
here in beautiful Devon.
We started moving in on Friday 18th January 2013
but the weather was like this:
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| Our Home |
Somehow our fantastic removal men from Pickfords started moving us in on the 18th. We had stayed overnight at a local hotel and I had been up since 2.30a.m looking out the window every fifteen
minutes – at first to see if it was snowing, and then to see how much it was
snowing.
One big
drawback. The village is on a high ridge, accessed via five very steep, very narrow,
lanes, most of which have very few passing places – if you can’t reverse, or
have a wide, posh car - don’t come to Chittlehamholt! The village is rural
(less than ninety houses, most of which are or have been farms). No street
lighting or bus service; no school – although there is a village hall and a
community shop.
Fortunately most of the furniture was delivered but all I can
remember of that busy and exciting moving-in day, was men carrying stuff walking in and
out. No time to explore, or get to know our new house.
When the men left Ron, my husband, and I had a chance to draw breath. My lovely,
lovely house – all mine. What a difference from our previous ground-floor flat
in the London suburb of Walthamstow.
Getting dark, it was time to go. We had made the right decision to
return to the hotel - the bed had arrived, but it had not been put together, and
we only had tea, coffee and biscuits in the new larder. We locked up, stood
outside our porch door – and it suddenly hit us that we were now living in the
middle of the countryside not London. It was pitch black dark.
Gingerly, one
foot in front of the other, we groped our way to the car.
Lesson One. Always know
where a torch is!
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| Old Rum |
The removal men brought the last of our furniture on Saturday
morning – bit of a panic when we realised the house was cold and the central
heating was off. Soon sorted. When installing the fridge in the scullery I
remembered turning off a socket (“Hmm, I wonder what this is for?”) Turns out
it was the master switch for the Range’s boiler!
Kathy (my daughter) and the horses and cats were supposed to have
come down on the Saturday, but I had phoned to say don’t come – the motorway
would be treacherous, and they would never get the horsebox safely along the
village roads, let alone down our narrow lane. So she booked into an hotel near
the livery yard and stayed there a whole week with boyfriend (now husband) Adam
looking after her. (Thanks Adam – I would have been so worried otherwise!)
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| Ron and Rum |
I started to make our house our home straight away - well, we were snowed in - but for the first time in many years I actually enjoyed the snow. Before, I had
always worried about travelling to and from the stableyard to do the horses – when
they eventually arrived they would only be at the other end of the garden. Ron
went for a walk on the Wednesday – the lane was beautiful, the orchard – our very
own orchard – enchanting. Old Rum enjoyed himself.
And when the snow melted? There were hundreds of snowdrops instead!
* * *
Paradise Found!
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| The house from the lane |
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| Siren & Mr Mischief |
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Geese and hens in the Orchard
Jan 19th 2016 |
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Happy Devonshire Family !
Me, Adam, Kathy, Ron
(Adam & Kathy's wedding 1st March 2014) |
THEN and NOW
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| January 19th 2013 |
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| January 19th 2016 |
