Progress

Progress on the house move. Over the weekend we hired a van and emptied one attic and two garages and filled our new house, which suddenly shrunk and seemed very full. It's all chaos, of course, but we are very fortunate to be able to stay with my parents for just a few more days so that we can unpack a little before actually moving in properly. Nearly there, though, nearly!

Progress in the seasons. 

Look at this tree! It's in our garden! This made me rather excited and I spend a lot of time gazing at it from the windows at the back of the house. We think it's a cherry tree. I desperately want it to be cherry so I can make my own jam with the fruit (although it's quite high so how I'll get to the fruit is anyone's guess).

Progress with decorating. 

In the end we managed to get the dining room painted too, as well as three bedrooms, the living room (that massive high ceiling, agh!!), the spare room and the upstairs loo. I have never, ever, done so much decorating in my life.

I realise this is a really boring photo (and that wall light is going) but I can't tell you how happy I was to get our dining chairs out of storage. I love these chairs. The first four white ones were a housewarming present in our old house, nine years ago, then we saved hard and added the yellow and blue one. We have a new (to us) dining table, a round sixties G-plan one, and I can't wait to see how it all looks together.

Progress in the kitchen, which is clean, free of paintbrushes, and awaiting the arrival of a dishwasher tomorrow. As you can see it's small and for some reason the previous owners thought tiling every single wall would be a good idea, but it has a nice big window and a good amount of cupboard and worktop space.

Progress in the garage. That huge box contains a tall, dark, handsome Danish stove, which will be fitted this week. I hope we get to light it once before it gets to warm. 

This is how the garage looked after all our stuff arrived. Not so tidy, and kind of like we've been there for years. The wheelbarrow is full because my mum was itching to tackle some overgrown flowerbeds. Nothing annoys my mum like a messy garden; the satisfaction she gets from sorting something out is phenomenal, and it must all be done straight away, and yes, I certainly inherited my impatience from her. That is my dressing table sat in the middle there, because I intend to do something with it. Sand it. Paint it maybe.

And while my parents gardened, John and I assembled beds.

 Progress in the green porch, which I'm still having to justify to everyone who sees it. Mum and I built a shoe rack. 

I like the watery ripples the glass made on the wall. 

I think that's one of the things I'm most looking forward to, seeing where the light falls around the house at different times of the day. Things you only notice when you live somewhere.