It's Here at Last - Moving Day

Like any good blogger on moving day my computer will be the last thing to be packed away, so here I am drinking coffee and tippety tapping away on the keyboard.  I thought I had done a really good job in moving everything over the course of the last week, car load by car load.  

At first glance you would think so wouldn't you!!

But then last night I lifted the sofa cushions to get to the storage area underneath where I knew the salt crystals and a big box of dehumidifier plastic thingies to put them in that we use when the Van is closed for the end of season were ... and I found a great big vacuum bag of duvets and more bedding which will make for a whole boot full for my little Fiat.

I am running to no definite timetable ... except one of my own making ... but I want to hand the keys in this afternoon, so I will be making a run to the flat to empty the car of this load and then one final return to the Van for a good clean of the floors and steam of the carpets.

Then the keys will be handed in ready for hopefully some viewings in the next few weeks.  As Alan said on the phone last night it's the end of an era.  Another chapter of our lives completed and enjoyed, time to move on to the next chapter.

Small town living here I come.

Sue xx

 

One Final Day and Night at the Van

 

Today is my last full day at the Van.

I am busy packing up virtually everything, just leaving myself enough food for my tea and one of everything I might need ... plate, cup, glass, knife, fork, spoon etc.  As I go round picking up the bits and pieces that are left and stuffing them in my usual haphazard way into bags I am giving the Van a really good clean ready for it going up for sale on Wednesday.  When it appears on the company website I'll share a link so you can see how it looks.

Alan was an amazing help over the weekend, he came through in our Mitsubishi truck with a few things from home for me.  My double bed and it's bedding, my little green 'alien' storage box, a large plastic box of kitchen items that I had packed up when I was last back in Wales, my clothes rail and a few other bits and pieces that have disappeared into the flat.

Once we had unloaded it at the flat on Saturday we went back and reloaded the truck with all the larger pieces from the Van, the bench from the garden, the tin bath ready for some Winter replanting, some large boxes and another set of filled bags.

Once we had unloaded the truck, he put up some shelves for me, assembled the bed frame and helped with a few of the heavier jobs.  Then we treated ourselves to a spot of late lunch before heading back to the Van to get on with some vital office work.  The only reason Alan was able to come out of Wales is that our company handles a type of work that gives Alan key worker status for travelling and we needed to sort out some of those work things together.  Now that has been dealt with he will be able to abide by the full Welsh lockdown and remain based in Wales until it is over or at least changes again.

Having the truck here for two days though was such a huge help.

My bedroom on Friday ...

... and then with the double bed in place and the net curtains hiding the worst of the horrible blue venetian blinds on Sunday afternoon.

Today I am doing one full car load and unpacking the bags into the spare room so I can bring them back to fill one last time tomorrow, when I will be handing in the keys of the Van.  While Alan was here we signed the contract for the caravan  park to act as agents and sell the Van for us, we have our fingers crossed it sells quicker than the house in Wales!! 

Then it will be time to head down the road into my new home town with the last of my bits and pieces.  For someone who thought she was minimal this Van sure held a lot of stuff.  Something I will be rectifying over the next few months.

Sue xx

I Was Left Unsupervised ...

Have you ever suddenly done something without even really considering the fact that you are actually doing, it or the changes it will bring.

I have ... quite a few times in my life.

A spur of the minute decision, a quick Google and life takes a whole new direction.

'You'll live to regret it!'  has been a refrain I've heard over and over, and do you know what ... I have never regretted any of my spur of the moment decisions.  They have been life changing and brought some fantastic new places and people into my life.

Last week I did it again, and I am inches away from being able to tell you all about it.  Let's just say if things go the way they seem to be going the Van will be no more and I will be truly static ... only this time without wheels.  

Can you tell I'm itching to spill the beans, can you, can you ... oooh the suspense is as bad for me as it is for you, that's why I'm sharing it the load.  😄

As soon as I know, you'll know.

Sue xx

Getting Back to Normal After a Challenge ... with a Vengeance

This week at the Van as been all about getting back into my stride, back to 'normal' after a week on really restrictive but satisfying eating.  It seems I go straight back to the basics when I'm let loose, I started with a couple of breakfasts of just toast and spread.  These are my favourites, I buy the little Seeded Warburtons loaves or their Aldi equivalent when I'm here at the Van as the toaster is just so little, large slices just don't fit in ... note to self: check the size of the next toaster you buy ... you watch, this diddy little thing will last for years now just to annoy me 🤣🤣

Either of these two spreads suit me just fine, I just buy whichever one is on offer at the time I need some.  I like it just as it is or topped with some homemade marmalade for breakfast.

The little toaster in question with my lunch for today, a simple meal of beans on toast.   I'm just using the last of a little Quinoa loaf that I got from Booths here.  It was very tasty, especially topped with half a tin of beans ... and also fits neatly into the toaster.

Here's the 'with a Vengeance' bit of today's post title.

I went to Aldi for a good mooch about the shops, I don't go out to the shops much now, but when I do I am preferring Aldi for most things and they have the very safe 'traffic lights' system in place so it's easy to know whether the store is busy inside.  Gosh this week they had so many vegan goodies that I have never tried ... including lots of sweets and I think that after a whole week of nothing sweet at all I may have gone a bit mad!!

When I'm fancying a sweet I usually buy these Candy Kittens from Booths, but at £1 a bag and as you can see that's just 54g, they are a bit pricy.  The new Aldi version are 89p for a whopping 120g ... that's much more like it.

I transferred as many of the sweets as would fit into an empty jar ... it's much safer that way, if I open a small bag I tend to chomp my way through them all just so I can throw the wrapper away, in a jar one or two sweets should suffice ... should  😄

And while I was transferring things,., I put my new little net of garlic bulbs into the little garlic box I bought last weekend.  They look satisfying good in there.

Sue xx

Slowly Forwards

I need to slow  things myself down.

For this week at least I need to take each day as it comes and move forward more slowly, stop almost buying houses for instance!!  Easy to say, harder to do.  I'm an Aries, impulsive, decisive, always on the go and always wanting to achieve more from myself.  For the next few days I am going to wind myself down, sit still for longer, and be in nature more, walk more slowly ... Suky will approve of that one.  Slow things to a crawl.

I have an important Challenge coming up starting on Sunday and I need to conserve energy and strength for a week living on the smallest of rations.  There's no point in wearing myself to a mental frazzle this week and then being comatose on the sofa for the majority of next week.  

I remember all too well the brain fog that descended when I did the same Challenge last year.  On the Facebook group we nicknamed it 'rice brain'  ... it is a real thing.  Carb overload and extremely limited fresh stuff does that to you, but you know it's worth every minute when the money we raise helps so many people for so long after the Challenge ends.

I want to be inventive, incisive and interesting with my recipes ... not that easy when your entire larder consists of:

1.92 kg  White Rice

290g  Red Lentils

85g  Dried Chickpeas

1 400g tin of Kidney Beans

400g White Plain Flour

330mls  Vegetable Oil

... and the extras I have earnt through sponsorship levels ;

Salt

170g  Onions

12g  Peanut Butter

One 330ml  Smoothie

1  £3 in value bonus item (to be eaten in one sitting)

&

2 teaspoons of coffee

I've not mentioned it much on this blog as it's all taking place over on my Challenge Blog, which I know a lot of you read and I don't want to be repeating myself and boring you all too much  😉

But HERE IS my fundraising page, where you can see what I've raised up to now and read the messages from some of the people who have donated.  And the link to my other blog is as always on the sidebar, it's under the heading My Challenge Blog and is called Challenging Myself.  You can just click on this link or the little Ration Challenge picture to get there.

Now I'm off to make myself a cup of coffee ... I am in the process of decaffeinating myself and after a little blip over the weekend I am once again heading in the right direction.  I'm doing quite well it's almost 11am and I've only had one half normal and half decaf coffee up to now!!  By Thursday night I will be on completely decaf and then I'll start really reducing the number of coffees even more and get used to drinking plain water. a bit more  Hopefully this will mean no headaches for me this year ... just  'rice brain'  🤣🤣

Sue xx

Backing Off ... This Time

So I went to view the little house on Friday afternoon.

It was small, much smaller than it appeared on the estate agents particular ... just how do they manage to make rooms look so big in such a small space ... and although I would have needed to do quite a bit of work to it ... skimmed all the ceilings, taken down a wall, put in a new kitchen and completely redecorated and re-floored throughout, I thought it would be worth it to have such a nice little home in exactly the right place.  I loved the cuteness of it, the size of the rooms and the totality of floor space, and I loved what I could see that I could make it into.

I put in an asking price offer the next day, but not in time to be able to stop the viewing that was about to go ahead.  The young man that viewed it also put in an offer just over the asking price and after a little bit of a bidding war my offer was accepted.

Then during the congratulatory phone call from the estate agent I found out that the young man was a first time buyer, eager to get on the property ladder.  I was working on the hillside on our smallholding in Wales putting the Veggie Patch 'to bed for the Winter' and neatening everything up ready for our next viewing during all this negotiation.  After all the excitement of bidding was over and my phone was back in my pocket, my old blue gardening gloves were back on and I continued to weed and prune, trim and dig ... my mind raced.  

Between us we already own two properties and the thought of stopping someone being able to get on the housing ladder at a good price-point, possibly the only one he could afford troubled my conscience.  I kept coming back to the same conclusion.

Yesterday I emailed the agent withdrawing my offer, and apologising for wasting her and the home owners time.  I hope the young man successfully gets this house and no-one else comes into competition with him.

I just couldn't be the one responsible for stopping someone else realising their dreams.  It might happen again in the future, and next time I'll probably be harder-hearted, because it's a funny fickle world this housing property market and there are always winners and losers.  But this time in a strange way I feel like as much of a winner as I hope the young first time buyer does.

Sue xx

Walking into Autumn ... and Trapping the Sunshine

After a weekend of not enjoying her walks, suddenly yesterday Suky found her stride again.  

We wandered along the high bank that comes between the flood defence field over the river from the caravan park, and the mixed area of skips, hardstanding and general detritus that a caravan park throws up over to our right.

It doesn't sound like a good walk does it, but it's good if you keep your eyes on the nature and greenery all around you, watch the sheep through the gap in the trees ahead and the horses in the field and stables beyond the skips, ignoring the deserted steps, fridge-freezers and various caravan parts that litter the ground waiting to be enough to be collected for scrap metal, or called into service in some unexpected way by the campsites brilliant handyman. 

Suky loves it when it's just the two of us and lots of delightful doggy smells, she runs ahead then stops and sinks her face into the long grass burying her face in the smells that she loves so much.  Dogs can pick up so much from the scents around them and to see her enjoying herself makes me smile as I catch up and then overtake.

Two minutes later she streams past me again, her little curly tail waggling away in her happy rush to find the next delicious odour on her adventure.  We took our time and as I stood and took some photos and drank in the fresh air and blue skies it was on my mind that Summer is over.  Best to enjoy any patch of blue sky that comes our way and really make the most of it.

So when we got back to the Van I watered the houseplants ... Van plants? ... and put them out on the decking for them to soak up some sunshine for a few hours.

Later in the day the regular coolness came back. 

The nights have been drawing in quickly for the past week or so, and each evening I go round the Van closing the curtains on the shady side and making sure the curtains on the side that catches the evening sun are wide open.  As soon as the sun dips low in the sky all the curtains are drawn and for a while the Van fells cosy and warm.

 I've only succumbed to the central heating a couple of times, usually in the morning and only for an hour or so even then.  Free heat is good heat so trapping any warmth from the sun is good, once again this year I have had a gas bottle that has lasted me far longer than is usual.  So each morning my shower feels like a game of Russian Roulette ... will this be the day that I get the drenching in ice cold water as the gas runs out and the boiler switches off?

I've been lucky up to now ... but how long this luck will last I have no idea.

Sue xx

John Gray - Influencer

So I read John Gray's blog post the other day, the one called  Guilty Pleasures  all about him going wild in the centre aisles in his local Aldi ... and then I made the mistake of going shopping, yes you've guessed it to Aldi 🤣🤣

There really was a plethora of new and varied goodies.  All sorts actually, there was a real mixture of random stuff not just the usual gardening, summer sports or DIY type linked specials.  I quickly spotted the pencils that John Gray bought and then I spied the notebooks 'ooh he didn't mention those' I said out loud to myself, it's okay no one can hear you chatting away to yourself when you're wearing a mask ... well that's what I tell myself these days!!

In this little stationery section there was also the cardboard tube ...

... with it's contents.

All these items were just £1.99 each, and although I didn't really need them, you all know that stationery is one of my few weak spots and they will come in handy one day.  So they all made it into my trolley.

I spotted John's little glow in the dark squidgy nightlight thingy, and although I loved it and it's little assorted friends I couldn't justify a splurge on one of them.  But then I spotted a brilliant deal on Aveeno hand creams and body lotion and treated myself to some of these.  At just £3.49 for the body lotion and just £2.99 for the hand-creams they really were a bargain worth having. 

You never know what you are going to find on the centre aisles so it's always worth a look, and when the rain is thundering down outside and people are running past the shop windows looking like drowned rats, there is really no need to rush through the shopping.

So John Gray as well as being a brilliant blogger and a newish YouTuber, can now officially class himself as an up and coming Influencer 😃

Sue xx

The River Has Risen ... Again

So the rains came down thanks to storm Francis and once again the river level went shooting up.

This morning the guy from Network Rail was there photographing the bridge and checking facts and figures against some documents in his hand.  A bridge has to be safe when it carries the main line from Preston, with goods and passenger trains passing every few minutes.

It's funny but living here it doesn't take very long for you to completely zone out the sound of the trains, I had to purposely stop and listen to see if any trains were actually using the line ... they are.

Yesterday the field opposite was also under water, but now the river is back inside the riverbank, even if it is pretty near the top and flowing very fast.

The area where there is usually a good sized pebble 'beach' is completely submerged, and Suky was quite dismayed to see the path stopped so abruptly.

Further along the adult ducks were all mooching about in one of the little fishing areas near the waters edge.  

The Mummy duck with her two week-old babies was nowhere to be seen, but I know she was safe last night as I saw her settling her babies into the bushes away from the edge of the river.  Their little legs could just not cope with the fast moving water at the moment, but they are good for carrying them along the grass looking for titbits.

While I photographed ducks, Suky had a good sniff around, everything must smell so fresh to her after all that rain.

'Are we going now Mum?'

We had a nice walk along the river and then it was home to get the soaking washing out of the sink and hung on the outdoor airer.  Fingers crossed the rain stays away today, it's looking hopeful.

Sue xx

Live For the Little Things

🤍

Why We Are Friends

When I get into my darker days I wallow for a while ... there's no shame in a bit of a wallow, don't let anyone tell you otherwise ... and then start to sort out for my own peace of mind how I got there, why I got there and what I could do to stop me going there again.

It doesn't always work, nothing is perfect but understanding yourself thoroughly is better than tootling through life like a one eyed, one wheeled minion. 

I realise that this time I simply need to slow myself down.  I was rushing to someone else's timetable, and that is virtually always a recipe for disaster.

I want to be invigorated ... but I want to go slow.

If other people find the rushing to accomplish things invigorating then fine, I have absolutely no objection with that ... although I will look on in amazement and think they are mad.  Indeed not so many years ago I was like that too, but now I have changed.  

And the change feels good.

I simply need to embrace that change once and for all and stop being torn between two worlds.

"What did you do today?"  Is a question I am frequently being asked.

"I did nothing" ... will be my new reply.

The reality will most likely be: walked the dog, did the washing, hoovered the floors, got some shopping ... built a tower of stones.  But who actually needs to know that.  If saying I did nothing calms my mind, soothes my soul and lets me not dwell on  the minutiae of day to day living then 'I did nothing' sounds good to me.

Thank you for all your comments yesterday ... now I know why we are friends 💖

Sue xx

Completely Out of Sorts

I have been having a bad few days.  

Yes I know myself that these too will pass, indeed I am already coming out the other side.  But walking the Black Dog as well as the Pug is tiring, demoralising and just plain shite.

I can't talk to the one person I would love to talk to about it as he has absolutely no comprehension of depression.  It's all in your head  he says ... YES, I FUCKING WELL KNOW IT IS I retort.

Marriages can't survive this, lives barely can at times.

But it has, they have.  Hey ho the sun is shining!!

Things being up in the air with selling in Wales hasn't helped.  Alan working all the hours under the sun and then visiting the Van only to do more work, sleep and needing to be fed hasn't helped. 

I am one for action, for doing, for accomplishing things quickly.  

Decisions and action in my world have to be close bedfellows.  Talking, planning, setting off, doing a bit and stalling are the absolute opposite.  I need to pack a bag and vanish and come back when everything is done and dusted ... oh if only life was that simple.

There I've whinged at you all.  There's no sympathy required in the comments or messages telling me to pull up my big girls pants and just get on with it.  I know all that,  you'll only get my back up... 

AND THAT COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS JUST NOW   

Sue xx

❤

Here and There

Once again I am back in my Happy Place, and I should be for  at least the next couple of weeks unless something else crops up.  Suky is snoring away in her little living room bed as I type ... gosh she can snore!!

I spent most of last week having a bit of a tidy up at home in Wales and cleaning the inside of all the house windows to keep everything shipshape for viewings.   It's no good having views to die for unless you can actually see them properly!!

The land and garden has gotten away with us a bit over the last month or so, it really is too much to manage unless there are two people working on it every day of the week, so we are getting a gardener in for a couple of days work to bring calm to the chaos ready for the next round of viewings, and for our own sanity.  He came at the start of year just as we put the house on the market so he knows what to expect.

We had what could be a successful viewing earlier today with a couple from Suffolk looking around the property.  Seemingly they have a son who is a carpenter and they said he would love the fully set up woodworking workshop.  So they filmed it all to show him ... we have our fingers firmly crossed.  As a back up we have another viewing booked in for September by a guy in Surrey, at last a bit more interest.  It seems there are a lot of people from Southern England that are interested in a new life in Wales, as our last set of viewers were living down South too.

Our fingers are crossed, very firmly crossed.

Have a good weekend everyone 💚

Sue xx

So What's My Style ... and House News

I've been asked a few times about my style and what sort of things I prefer around me.  I seem to veer from wanting my 'things' around me and wanting clean lines and empty, but not sparse space ... does that even make any sense!!  

I like rustic, I like green, I like simplicity and nature, and I think left entirely to my own devices I am a good mix of the clean lines and 'things'.

  

My style shows most, and is pictorially illustrated in the things I own that will be coming with me to my next home.  In the top photo it's the row of simple hooks, just a scrap of wood from Alan's mancave and three hooks we bought on a weekend away on Anglesey, it's my Nana's old mirror and it's the little blanket box that I have just renovated.

The bed will be coming, I prefer double to king-sized any day ... but it will probably be painted.  I have owned this since I bought my first house after divorcing from my first husband and it's moved with me five times up to now.  

The green chair, and it's almost matching counterparts downstairs, which were my Nana's wedding present off her Mum will of course come, as will the bench on the left of the photo that was used a shop display area in my little Lavender shop in Ulverston.

Talking of ex-shop displays, the bookcase will of course be coming and all the books on it ... my most favourite books of all.

Also downstairs there is the Welsh Bread and Cheese Cupboard ... which will  most likely come with me.  I am not so attached to it that if the future buyers of our house wanted it I couldn't bear to part with it.  It does look good in the garden room with the almost matching table, shelves and mirror sconce, so if they like the look they can have it.

I guess my car boot sale finds of Sunday morning shout out my style.  I love paisley and ethnic colours and prints, and I'm not averse to mixing them with an almost Orla Kiely style cushion.  The white and wood of the picture frame as well as being a great match for the Van is simple and soothing to the eyes.

The little oak table sums my style up to a T.

Simple lines, old and well loved with a story to tell, well made and useful in a myriad of places.

I have never really deviated from my style, and the things that I've picked up over the years that work well get kept and I look after what I own so things tend to last and last and last.  I don't rebuy to suit a space, I will repaint something to help it fit in or use something slightly differently but my stuff is what makes my home.  This photo sums up that so perfectly, it's taken from a very old blog post on Our New Life in the Country.  We had moved from a 18th century renovated farmhouse to this 1930's bungalow on its last legs, and our things came with us ... some were adapted and some simply left as they were.

Looking at this photo we still own everything except the sofa and the chubby jug on the top of the bookshelves  The mirror was repainted, possibly it's fourth coat of paint and is on the landing back in Wales, the little chair is currently in the shed but will come with me, the wire heart basket is here at the Van on  the trellis in my little garden and is filled with little terracotta plant pots.  Even the waste bin is still in use and is back in the office at Isfryn, usually full of sensitive documents waiting to be burnt.

The heavy lined curtains had been bought for the farmhouse to keep out draughts from the old front door, they were tacked up to a new length for this window after we moved.  They are currently packed away ready to come with me to my next place, having been taken down so that in Wales once again all the curtains upstairs are matching and can be sold along with the house, but for the past few years they have been in the spare bedroom there.

So what's my style, it's fluid within boundaries, it's simplicity and history ... and it's slow.  No fast fashion in clothes or furniture or stuff.  To quote a famous Mr Morris:- 

 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful'.

That is my style.

Sue xx

*** *** *** *** ***

House News

The house is still on the market and now we have a For Sale board stood proudly by the front drive announcing this to the world.  The viewers from last week, a lovely couple from Hertford (but originally from Llandudno), although loving everything about the house, what we have done to it and it's potential, just wanted more land.

It seems sadly that we are too big for some and too small for others.

There is someone out there, and we just have to bide our time.  Although Alan was totally gutted at first as he was convinced they wanted it, he is getting over the disappointment and we are going to continue to look after things until the right people come along.

We are also now advertised on Greenshifters, which is the online smallholding sales site that we bought the house off seven years ago.

*** *** *** *** ***