Blazing a trail

To pick up where I left off in my previous blog post,  yes we did find our new home

It certainly wasn't any of the first houses we looked at, in fact, the price had placed it out of our search criteria and finding it was a fortuitous twist of fate

We had  booked a viewing in a town called Par, the viewing went a little awry, there was a mix-up with the keys, so we had to wander around the town while the Estate agent contacted the vendor, the house smelled damp and was darker than the photographs had led us to believe, the garden was too small for our growing menagerie, in short, it wasn't 'the one'

Before heading out to our next viewing we searched out the local pub for a comfort break

As we sipped our ciders and gathered our thoughts, the landlord made polite conversation. We shared our disappointment of the viewing but also mentioned how we had found a gem in the town, we loved the area but couldn't find anything else here suitable. Matt mentioned that a friend was selling a house that he had just finished renovating, in nearby St Blazey and offered to take us there to have a look ( he actually shut the pub and took us the mile down the road )

It wasn't the kind of house we were looking for, we were looking for a bungalow, but it just had such a happy feeling. The refurb had just been finished and the whole house was immaculate from top to bottom, brand new plastering, paint, woodwork and best of all the fabulous high spec kitchen and two new bathrooms both with showers and one downstairs which was an absolute bonus.

The view from the conservatory door looks out onto an old cottage- a listed building, beyond that is a beautiful wooded area and park with a duck pond, the level crossing is just beyond the cottage, over which is a canal and a small stream

We have started tidying the garden, all the flower beds had been neglected the fences had been left unpainted, the old post box you can see on the wall in the bottom picture (filled with rocks to hold it down) has been replaced with the shiny new red one on the wall of the house in the top picture.

We have been painting and renewing fences, the dirty grey rendering on the walls has been painted white and we have refilled the flower beds with new topsoil, ready for plants and flowers, photos will be shared of the progress we make

So, by happenchance and the helpfulness of the local landlord we found a house that would have otherwise remained undiscovered in our new hometown of St Blazey.

St Blazey is a small town  on the south coast of Cornwall just 3 miles east of St Austell

St Blazey is the home of the incredible Eden project, just one mile and easily within walking distance of our house

We are home to two lovely beaches too

Par Beach, which is approximately 1.5 miles away from the house 

And Spit beach which is slightly nearer at a mile away, both fabulous places to take the dogs and the kids

Are we settled yet ???

Hell yeah !!!

And as you can see from the last photo, Sox would agree. I uploaded a photo of her to facebook last week, supposedly helping me tidy away my craft stuff. As fast as I could empty a box, she would then commandeer the box as her new home, it was suggested by a couple of my friends that maybe I should let her have her own little corner of my craft room - I think she loves her new basket - don't you ?

Love and kisses from St Blazey

Tracey

xxx

The journey begins ...

And so the adventure begins....

We made it to Cornwall  - wooohoooooooo !!!

Our relocation here did not go as smoothly as we had hoped it would

We put our bungalow on the market

Sold said bungalow within a week, full asking price, to investors with no strings or ties or conditions

We found a new house and all aimed for a mutually agreeable completion - should have been plain sailing

And there we stayed - aiming for completion for almost six months

Turns out the house we were buying contained two of the most indecisive people you could meet, cutting the story short, with three days until the mutually agreed completion date, the vendors  changed their minds and took the house off the market.

Not wanting to lose our sale and knowing our search would be much easier if we were actually living in the county we were househunting, we embarked on our 'little adventure'

We trawled the internet and discovered a little static caravan in Perranporth - a place we briefly visited last year and loved,  and booked it for five weeks, cramming all our worldly belongings into storage. We packed one bag each and all the pets in our little Honda Civic, beginning our journey brimful of uncertainty, excitement and just a tad of "what the hell are we thinking ?"

The packing was easier than I thought, limiting our belongings to the contents of a holdall each forced us to choose loved, comfortable and practical clothing

The journey was pleasant, good driving conditions, very little traffic for our term-time departure, all the pets and the kids travelled well, impeccably behaved for the full 385 miles, no mean feat when there are three kids, the dogs ( one still a puppy ) a cat and a hamster all in the car with us 

The goodbyes - heartbreakingly hard !

As we left Lincolnshire, the lump in my throat threatened to break into a sob and be my undoing, I so wanted to be positive and upbeat, transferring good vibes and energy into the precious cargo of kids and pets, I held it together - just !

And so, for five weeks, we were homeless  holidayed in the beautiful beachside town of Perranporth

The view from our caravan

Exploring the rock pools

The boys had so much fun playing on the endless sands of Perranporth beach with the dogs, carefree, all inhibitions dumped at the edge of the incoming tide along with their sea soggy t-shirts

One very happy puppy, finding her sea legs with the aid of a football

The evenings were spectacular, stunning half light bounced and dazzled from sea sodden sands

And you would be forgiven for asking  "so what is it like sharing a caravan with your hubby, three kids, the daughters boyfriend, a dog, a puppy, a cat and a hamster ?"

I am not going to lie, at times we all had the 'count to ten' moments but on the whole it was absolutely brilliant. We visited some amazing places, we met some lovely people, we enjoyed some fantastic beaches and we shared some very special moments .......

And did we find a new home ?????

To be continued ......

Love and salty kisses

Tracey 

xxx