Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

The massive kitchen island unit -  good job they didn't drop it! Having had a good rant to Mum earlier on this evening about the general lack of progress with the building work on the Barn I'm going to try not to bang on about it here. Suffice to say that the much anticipated wow factor of having the new fitted furniture and kitchen worktops was massively over shadowed by the rubbish everywhere and the inability of anyone other than Sharps to finish a task once started. This week is crunch time - I just hope everyone understands that time is running out if we have any chance of making the completion date. That's enough - I don't want to think about it anymore! So what else has been happening? The kids are completely back into the swing of school and are now very comfortable with their routine of twice weekly covid tests and, although they don't like it, wearing a mask all day. Despite all the disruption they have engaged really well and are clearly enjoying being ba...

Izzy's birthday cake for me... we are none of us sure she nailed the design!!! All I want for my birthday is planning permission... and some work surfaces in the kitchen... and a house that is registered with the council so that we can try and sort a phone line and internet services... and the list goes on (and on and on). This Saturday we did our normal trip to see how the Barn is progressing and I will admit to feeling pretty disheartened. We arrived to find that the dripping pipe we had pointed out in the utility room last weekend was still dripping, and instead of being a small leak, quickly fixed, it was now a huge damp patch all over the back wall. When Glenn touched the plaster board it disintegrated in his hands, leaving a huge hole - great! I feel like we are one step forward (this week Glenn made the surround for the bins / log stack and the block paving almost got finished) and three steps back (utility room / painting still not finished / media room plug socket still no...

Betty 1, Hoover 0 It's official, Betty is a teenager and don't we know it. Yesterday I was trying to do a rapid tidy up with the  hoover before yoga and ran out of time. I stupidly thought "I'll unplug it and leave it here until I can finish off..."  I got back to it 90 mins later to find that Betty had rearranged the plug and lead by chewing through it - great. She's also completely single minded and if she's set her mind to something (chasing a bird, playing with a pine cone while we are trying to walk, greeting another dog...), she will give it her sole attention. She has worked out that the best way of getting her way when we are out and about is to sit down very neatly and just wait until whatever it is she is interested in comes to her - it generally works! She also likes to settle herself down at road junctions and watch the world go by - she would happily sit for hours and watch passing cars / people / wildlife! This weekend Abi and I set off for S...

It's official, today we broke the law and I just don't care. We had an illegal gathering of many people at the Barn and while the doors were open and the room is massive, there were moments where I thought that one of our many new (very curious) neighbours would look at the number of cars and decide to shop us. Luckily they didn't and we got away with it - and it was definitely worth it! So we had, in order of arrival: Steve (the builder), Glenn, Abi and I (Izzy stayed at home again for a lie in and ready meal heaven), Amanda and Laurie, George (he and Glenn had planned to ride together), Muma and Dad (theoretically to do some measuring), Dave (the man from Sharps and the reason for being there), Vy (the painter, here to do a bit of work and check in on details). This was all before our new neighbours (Jim and Hilary) turned up at the door to introduce themselves, no doubt looking on in horror at the blatant bending of rules going on! It was lovely to get a sense of how it ...

Ahhhh, what to write when every day is pretty much the same? What is new this week? Well, not much! The good news (in a world where good news is in short supply) is that we have successfully made it to half term with no major mishaps.  This included Abi's parents evening (via video conference of course - 5 minute sessions interspersed with a one minute break - it all felt a bit relentless and I'm none the wiser really as to how she's doing) and another manically busy week - what week isn't these days though. While we have stayed at home, Glenn has been out all week, painting at the barn. It's a slightly strange situation currently - the barn is not finished but we have a key and therefore access to come and go as we please. Steve (the builder) reassures us that there is no more than 2 weeks work left to do, and we have at least 6 weeks before exchange / completion, but we would prefer they just get on with things. Glenn has come home every day feeling more and more ...

Massive kitchen island! This week was officially Ground Hog day and doesn't it just feel like it right now - every day pretty much the same - get up, walk dogs, eat breakfast, shower, get kids up, sit at computer on endless video meetings, check kids are paying at least some attention to online school, eat lunch, more meetings, more checking on kids, walk Betty, more meetings / checking, walk Bertie, eat, entertain the kids, sleep, repeat. I look forward to the weekend not because there are better things to do, but because I don't have to be on video calls and the kids don't have to persevere with their remote schooling. I will admit to having a bit of an emotional wobble this week. Between work, online school and lockdown, we also have the house move to add just that extra bit of stress. The blip this week was getting a letter from the mortgage company which said "Dear Mrs Drinkwater, following the valuation of Oakwood Barn unfortunately we are missing a UKFDF and hen...

I would sing along but I am so fed up of the mud - please can we just have some dry weather so at least some of it disappears and I can go for one walk without then having to go through the rigmarole of cleaning the dogs yet again. This wouldn't be such a chore except for the fact that Betty hates being washed off and unless you keep her on the lead and get to her quickly, she roars around like a mad thing doing loops of the garden and getting increasingly wound up, barking at Bertie and generally being a pain.  This week the constant rain and dark has been getting to everyone, particular as we are still living with so many restrictions. The vaccine programme is progressing as well as could be hoped but even so it feels the light at the end of the tunnel is still pretty dim. I am trying hard to remain positive and I appreciate that we are at the best end of the Covid experience, but really I'd just like it all to go away now. I'd like to see friends and family and be able t...