Green fingers and muddy boots

The raised flower beds surrounding our house had been sadly neglected for many years

Building rubble, odds and ends, everything except flora and fauna in fact, had been dumped unceremoniously into each one, stifling any growth other than the weedy variety

We had a local landscaper and general odd job man come by to renew some fencing, add trellis around the back and also replace all the rubble and rubbish with some brand new weed-free fertile topsoil

Neil and I, with the help of the kids, all home for the summer, then set to, with paint brushes, to transform the fencing from dull brown to coastal blue and all the masonry to pure brilliant white from the grim institutional grey that it had been previously

And then the fun began, several trips to local garden centres later we had some lush foliage and pretty petals to brighten up our beds

This one runs along the boundary to the side of the conservatory

The larger corner bed at the front of the house. My lovely boss from the hospice shop where I worked in Cleethorpes wanted to treat me to something for my new home and I have three hardy perrenials in this section from her, so thankyou Wendy xxx

This long this bed runs between the two front corner beds and as the stone is original, unrendered and traditional stone walling we have left it in it's natural state, it would have been sacrilege to paint this

Also in the larger bed is a stunning rose, sent to me by my wonderful and very thoughtful friends Anne and David. It has bloomed all summer and all my neighbours have commented on how beautiful it is, every time I leave the house or look out of my front windows it reminds me how very special Anne and David are, thankyou so much xxx

Leaving the front garden and moving around the side of the house I have another raised bed which is not far from the kitchen door, so I wanted to create a herb garden here, and thanks to the wonderful Cornish weather my herbs have run riot and been abundant all summer

The chilli pepper plant you can see in the bottom left of the photo was a gift from Amy and Ben, they bought it back from the Eden project for me and it has been resplendent this month with pops of bright red 

Most of our planters didn't survive the storage, so we have replaced the contents of those too ( and yes you can spot a gnome, I only have the one - and it needs to stay that way but for some strange reason I love the little fellow)

We have one smaller bed in the front garden that houses my cornish palm, this was here when we moved in and it will be staying as we love it. The soil beneath drains well and can get quite arid, so I have planted up with alpines which thrive in drier conditions. I had some local purple slate left over from a previous project and tipped it around these plants, I love the contrast between the various shades of green and the purple of the slate

And finally the majestic palm reaching toward Cornish cobalt skies

Love and life's little blessings

Tracey 

xxx

Thoughts on thursday

Never has this saying been on my mind more than in the recent few weeks

Neil and I have enjoyed the three 'children' being home for almost three months, our new home search and summer holiday was spent with them, altogether

The living arrangements have changed dramatically from our last home of ten plus years, to the temporary abode of the caravan for five weeks and now our new home

We have all had to make some serious adjustments and have had to literally live on top of one another, especially in the caravan 

We roughed it a little when we first moved into the empty house as none of the furniture could be delivered for three days - picnics on paper plates, borrowed chairs and old fashioned unplugged entertainment

But it was an adventure and we had some good old belly laughs and some truly heartwarming moments as we all pulled together and made it work

And I was once again made aware of just how wonderful and resilient kids can be,  grounded and content, all pitching in and helping, going with the flow and I counted my blessings

Our recent relocation reinforced the realisation that it really doesn't matter what kind of house we are living in, or indeed whether it is a house, it makes no difference where in the country we settle or what we possess materially, the true meaning of home is where our children return to be safe and loved and happy

This last couple of weeks has been a wrench after such an exciting and busy summer

Robbie was the first to head back to Liverpool, he wanted to get a head start on the job hunt, he has an interview for Anfield ( bar work not football) and is hoping to supplement his student loan with some finances of his own

Amy left for Leeds yesterday, her course starts soon and another train took one of my babies away, two empty beds and a little less noise/teenage clutter in the house

And last week AJ started his new school

I have seen a massive change in AJ over the summer, his confidence has grown, he has become chattier and healthier

The first week was a little traumatic, he got lost a couple of times, was blanked by all the girls and ignored by the boys

Friday was a turning point, with a friendly encounter on the school bus followed by a warming up from the boys in his group

They are letting him in slowly, but for a while my heart was breaking, I can only imagine how hard it must be for a 15 year old to start a new school, but he soldiered on, kept smiling and accepted the challenge

All summer I have heard parents saying they can't wait to get their kids back to school, and all I can think is that I can't wait for mine to come home

Love, wings and roots

Tracey

xxx

New Home Card

Finally !!! I have managed to find my mojo and make something

Just a quick and easy card to gently ease me back into crafting mode

I made this for my lovely new Slimming World consultant Elaine

I used some of my favourite papers out of a paper pad bought from The Works, it was an absolute bargain, my friend Jan had bought some and you know how it goes, I just 'needed' them too - so thankyou Jan xxx

The sentiment was computer generated as I wanted a modern looking font and didn't have one among my rubber stamps

I made the little bird house using my paper trimmer, just cutting basic shapes, I used a Woodware punch for the heart shaped door and the flower, and I used an EK success border punch for the roof, string, bling and lace  - all bits and bobs from my stash The inking was all done with Frayed Burlap distress ink

I hope Elaine likes her card and loves her new home

Love and feathering the nest

Tracey

xxx

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