We did it! We moved house. A fab team of friends and family gave up their day to help us pack, drive the van, pack the van, unload the van, clean the new house, unpack boxes into the new house and even collect a gem we'd found on Freecycle from Llantwit somewhere in between! I thought I'd show you the day in pictures for now :)
Jonathan joined us very early in the day (way too early for a Saturday, bless him) to start the long process of loading up the van he would also be driving. What a star! Hayley came to get in on the packing act shortly afterward and could always be found with some bubble-wrap handy!
My star of a Dad and brother came all the way from Orpington to help us out for the day - and yes, they did drive with the car loaded up like that all the way! I won't easily forget them pulling up outside the new house with chairs on a bike rack obscuring my view of them!
I had promised Mum that Vianney would indeed "carry me over the threshold" of our new house and even though we had technically been through the door a few times before this photo... here's the proof that we did at least do it on moving day!
We were met by two more lovely friends when we got to the new house who proceeded to scrub away at all the grottiest places in need of a clean for a good few hours. Sharon particularly had to be coaxed from her permanent position lying on the bathroom floor scrubbing at the grout along the bottom of the bath, even just to have a cup of tea. We were so blessed by everyone who helped out and we are incredibly grateful, if you're reading.
At some point during the day, Dad and I managed to steal half an hour to go out in the car and have a look at some of the town. We spent most of that time at The Knap, a really peaceful beach only five minutes from us, and we caught this sunset which was rather special. We took the photo for Mum who was too unwell to be there on moving day. Pesky Swine Flu got her as well. More on that another time.
At the end of a very long moving day, somewhere around the twelve hour mark, the final four left "standing" (I put that in inverted commas because I must admit I didn't stand much of the day really!) flopped on the very awkwardly positioned sofas, which had stayed wherever they landed in the unpacking! In an unlikely twist, the piles of junk mail which had been shoved through the door in the months that the house had been empty came in very handy that Saturday night as we leafed through and found a promising looking chinese take-away menu and sat back waiting for its delivery. It was one of those meals which was just amazing because of how much we all wanted and needed some food inside us. I think it's what you'd call a well-earned meal!
Just to give you an idea, this is a shot I took from our front door one evening in our very first week around dusk. Just beyond the less attractive view of our little portion of the estate, you can see the sea and one of two very pretty islands dotted out there just beyond Cardiff Bay. And that's where we can now be found - not on the islands, on the estate!
1 comment:
Love the description of the day!Loved it and was really touched by all who helped us out that day. We're in the land of Gavin and Stacey! Looking forward to the next many years in that god appointed house ;) x x x
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