Settling In

Wow, what a week! It's taken us this long to get settled in and more or less back to normal life. The first night in the new house was spent listening to our cats having a lively dialogue and trying to get used to the new noises of the house. Eventually the cats settled onto my stomach and legs but that did little in the way of putting me to sleep. I kept waking up thinking I had left the back door open, or worrying that I had forgot to set the central heating on a timer. Restless, to say the least.

We're slowly getting there, though. Finding places for all our stuff (that's not to say we still haven't got a spare room filled with boxes and bags), getting used to the bigger space and enjoying the shorter drive to work - both of us, that is.

We're particularly loving the open fire. By Finnish standards it's not really more than a glorified camp fire seeing as I'm used to a huge fireplace with, once lit, will keep slowly releasing heat into the whole house for even a day after the fire has gone out. But I'm not complaining, it's lovely to have a fireplace. I'll give it a couple more weeks until the novelty wears out and I get sick of taking the ashes out when it's so windy the ashes blow straight back into my face. But for the time being, we're loving how we're able to sit down and relax in front of a roaring fire with a glass of wine.

And It's Done

We have moved. Officially, completely fully moved into our new house. It took all day Wednesday but at least it's done now. The smallest bedroom in the house is full of boxes and bags, bits and pieces. But that's what doors are for, isn't it? To block out the things we don't want to see.

The fire has been tested and it truly is a luxury to have it after going so many years without one. I love a big, roaring fire. Who doesn't? Obviously there are a number of things that need our attention; pictures to be hung, curtains to be put up, furniture to rearrange. But all in good time. We'll get there one box, one picture, one table at a time.

The cats have been very confused, understandably so. Poor kitties, they spent the first night wandering around the house. Lily eventually set up camp under our bed and Tom stayed in the hall, not entirely sure what it was that he was supposed to do.

They seem much more at ease today. Lily is sat beside me as I'm typing and Tom has stretched out in front of the fire. We'll get settled soon enough. Cats and people alike.

Boxed up

I thought I'd better remind you of my existence here. I've been spending my days packing things into boxes and have made a great new friend in a tape gun. Who knew there's be so much stuff? Seriously, it's only two of us in this house, yet it seems like the amount of stuff corresponds more to a family of four hoarders.

But there's no need to despair, or so I keep telling myself. I was up at the new house yesterday with the first load of boxes, armed with a tape measure and my trusty notebook. The new house is only 3km from the house we're in now, and it's on my way into work. So it's quite handy for me to drop off few bits and pieces every day so the actual move won't be too painful. Who knew I owned enough CDs and DVDs to fill five cardboard boxes?

Having tweeted several times about the move, complaining about having to pack boxes and whatnot, I'm now being followed by a couple of removal companies, too. They're in the UK, though but I'm sure they'd make the journey provided I paid them enough. I did get a legitimate offer from one of my twitter followers who, in his own words does furniture removals, office relocations, IKEA shopping & delivery service, and pretty much everything else to do with removals etc. Come the end of this week, I may well take him up on his offer...


Needless to say I'm getting quite handy with the cordless drill and assorted screwdrivers. I've been dismantling shelves and anything else that can be dismantled, putting the pieces and accompanying screws and brackets into boxes ready for the next car load going up the road. Work is proving a welcome distraction from all this packing but I'm already looking forward to our first night in the new house. Feet up, beside the fire with a nice cup of coffee of maybe even a glass of wine. Roll on, next week!