Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this

could get addictive!

It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward it seems. I guess tis is where the solicitors earn their money - we're all so fed up we'd be happy to exchange without all this seemingly meaningless paperwork in place. It's their job to make sure that we don't so that if there is a problem in the future we have something to go back to. I just hope all this means we have some chance of exchanging this week as time feels like its getting very short.

Abi's cupboard - not for the

fainthearted!

In the meantime I have been concentrating on trying to clear out as many rooms as possible with a mantra of never passing the skip without putting something in it - I'm doing very well on this front! I am really quite enjoying clearing through things and trying to declutter, and have evern managed to get the kids to do some of their own decluttering as well. Izzy surprisingly was pretty easy to persuade and managed to come out of her room after a hour of effort with about 5 bags of rubbish. Let's face it in her case it wasn't difficult - she just had to go under her bed and sweep the contents of the floor into bags!  Abi took a bit more persuading and every time I went in to have a look I just couldn't face the mess, but after a couple of false starts we gave it a go and also managed to come out with a good few bags of stuff she neither wears nor uses and therefore could go out. We are also making the most of Nanny Di's magpie tendencies which is proving to be very useful. Basically the deal is we box up everything and anything we don't want and take it over, she has a first rummage through and then throws open the doors to her neighbours and friends who pick over what's left. The first load that went over took about a day to clear from what I understand and there was already a waiting list for the load we took today - perfect! I love the fact that it's all going to new homes where someone else will get use out of stuff we no longer need.

One of the highlights of this weekend for the kids was a trip to Sainsbury's - oh how far we have fallen in terms of excitement through a pandemic... it's been ages since they got to go anywhere other than the odd quick trip to Tesco or the garden centre. They had seen some clothes they thought might be good but once in there we got a bit carried away and they got new underwear (about time), some jeans, jumpers and so on. They also found the baby clothes section and if I hadn't called time they'd have bought the lot - I can see Kerrie's baby is going to be well served for new outfits - so exciting!

My highlight was a quick trip to Mum and Dad's on the way through to see what (hadn't) happened this week at the Barn. It's so lovely to be seeing them regularly now and the thought of just being able to pop round at short notice (them or us) is amazing. Dad has made the most beautiful TV stand and sign for us, as well as the brilliant curtains and blinds Mum has made. I love the fact that we will have bits of their creativity in the house right from the start. Once these are in, as well as our pictures and furniture, it will look so different. I just want to get to that point now without any more anxiety - I'm finding that I'm quite snappy with Glenn and the kids and it's because I'm worrying about all the little details, even though many of them are not in my gift to control. I'm also beginning to realise that it's the penultimate time I'm doing things in many respects - like my yoga class yesterday and seeing Zsara for our weekly cup of tea. I'm going to miss my friends here but I'm sure I'll make new ones - and there is always Zoom or the M5/M4 of course!

Dad's beautiful sign - not long now!