My Year - 30th November - I love him

James is such an angel. Yesterday he painted all my craft room and tonight he has come home from work and built the cupboard units to go in there. I am getting very excited to have my very own craft room and it is going to look fab – all gloss white and black. Watch this space for more updates.

My Year - 29th November - Another New Toy

James decided that he needed a new strimmer to go with his new lawn mower, so off he went early to B&Q to get one.
He was hoping to have a play in the garden with the mower and the strimmer but it is raining so hard that he couldn’t. He was so disappointed. He did manage to have a quick go between the showers. Still I found him some other jobs to do – paint my new craft room.

Some piccies of the house

These are all photos of the first day in the house so no furniture except for one of the photos.

Kitchen:The range cooker

T'other end of kitchen - doors onto back garden
The lounge - top end

The other end of the lounge

The hallway - looking down towards the kitchen (left) and lounge (right)

Hallway - looking towards the front door with TV room on the left. The doorway on the right is my craft room (or will be soon!)

Hallway with furniture in now

The hallway looking up the stairs

The main bathroom

Back Garden

My Year - 28th November - Friend's Lunch

A couple of times a year, we get together with James’ old school friends. We all have kids now so it is nice for them together. Rock is Zoe’s godfather and this is his oldest son Ollie and Zoe playing together. It was nice to have a day off of sorting the house out.

My Year - Daddy's New Toy

James’ other Christmas present was from his mum and dad and is a new petrol lawn mower. The garden is 120 ft long at the new house and our old Flymo wouldn’t be up to the job. He has been like a kid with a new toy waiting for this to come today.

My Year - 26th November - Anthurium

Whilst sat in Haskins restaurant last week, I spotted these great plants and thought how great one would look in our hallway on the oak table – and how right I was!! Plus they look quite Christmassy.

My Year - 25th November - Christmas Present

James has been saying that he wanted a water butt as it has been raining so much and that it could be installed to come off the garage guttering. So I decided to buy him one and that he could have it as his christmas present

My Year - 24th November - Next Year's Photo Subject

Us 365’ers have been discussing what we could do next year and Barbara suggested using a teddy in each shot. This stems from the Hedgie antics which started on our retreat back in June. I have decided to use Pamela and baby Jay.

My Year - 23rd November - Bedrooms 3 & 4 done

James has had this week off and so he has been busy finishing the last 2 bedrooms. I have done the cutting in when I have got home from work. Our old bedroom furniture will go into bedroom 3 which we will use as a guest room once our new fitted furniture comes in December. Things are coming together now!

My Year - 22nd November - Sarah's 40th

It was my sister in law’s 40th birthday and so we went to the New Forest for lunch. Zoe loves spending time with Connor and Lily and Isabel. The pub had a big outside play area and so as soon as the kids had eaten we didn’t see them again.

My Year - 21st November - Family Party

James’ cousin Michael is over from the States with his wife and 2 children. We have never met Tara or the children before so a family get together was organised. The eldest boy is adopted from the Ukraine 2 years ago and then Tara fell pregnant with baby Emma – the kids all got on really well.

My Year - 20th November - Zoe's Bedroom

Today we managed to finish Zoe’s room whilst she was at pre-school. We had to build her bed again and sort all her toys out. We just need to get her en-suite bathroom tiled so that it is usable.
She wasn’t very happy with it as she wanted it painted pink like her old room. All was soon forgotten when her friends came round and trashed it!

My Year - 19th November - One Bedroom Down

We have worked so hard all week trying to get the bedrooms decorated before we put all the furniture in them. Today we finished our bedroom today – all painted, new bed and bedding. We are having fitted wardrobes but they are not being done until 22nd December but at least it is livable.

My Year - 18th November - New Washing Machine

The previous owner left all the appliances in the house but the first time I used the washing machine, it was evident that it wasn’t working. It was making funny noises and wasn’t going round. So off we went to Comets for a new washing machine. £450 later we had a lovely new one and then it took James several hours to fit it as it is an integrated one. Lots of swear words were coming out of the kitchen.

My Year - 17th November - Fire Starter

The new house has a log burner in the lounge and James really enjoys trying to get it to light each night - the trouble comes when it goes out. No matter what he does, it seems to go out after a while. It does give off a lovely heat though and makes the room so cosy!

My Year - 16th November - Oak Furniture

Haskins has started to sell a new range of oak furniture and seeing as our new house has oak floors, doors and skirting, it was an obvious choice. It was being delivered tomorrow but seeing as we still had the removals van, we decided to go and collect it! It is gorgeous!

My Year - 15th November - No Signal

Well we are in and both of our mobiles are on O2 and we have discovered that we have no signal in the new house. My contract finishes in January so I can change network but James’ doesn’t end until April, so he is stuck with his.

My Year - 14th November - Bed Un-building

This is one of the last things to do before the big move – take Zoe’s bed apart. For the next few nights, she will have to sleep in her cot bed until we get her bedroom painted and all straight. It certainly didn’t take as long to take apart as it did to put it together back in January.

My Year - 13th November - It is ours at long last

Finally we have a new house. We started this process back in March and today we completed on our dream home. Our flat has served us well for the last 11 years but we have definitely outgrown it. We went round tonight to have a quick look round and we will go back tomorrow to get it cleaned before we move in on Sunday. How exciting!!!

My Year - 12th November - More Packing

I have decided that I no longer want to move house. It is far too much like hard work. I have packed nearly everything now except for the essentials and we are surrounded by boxes. I think the flat is probably a fire hazard!!!

My Year - 11th November - Hall Lamp

We are busy making plans for what we need for the new house and are trying to buy some things now. We have ordered some lovely oak furniture for the lounge and the hallway and this little lamp will be perfect to go on the hall table for a welcoming glow.

My Year - 10th November - Puzzle Rug

Zoe saw this rug in Dunelm's Mill a couple of weeks ago and exclaimed that "It was so beautiful". As her bedroom in the new house will be very neutral in colour we decided to buy it for her. She was so excited and has had to have down in the lounge to play Snakes and Ladders on.

My Year - 9th November - New Coat

Zoe’s coat that she wears for nursery is very pale pink and she gets it so dirty so quickly. I saw this great coat in Tesco for £8 and thought it would be perfect for nursery. Pink and purple are Zoe’s favourite colours so she loves it. Such good value as inside is fleecy lined – it will keep her snuggly warm all winter and won’t show the dirt!

My Year - 8th November - Autumnal Acer

I love this Acer. I will really miss it when we move as it has always goes through such an array of beautiful colours in the Autumn. It was already in the garden when we moved in but it has doubled in size over the last 10 years or so.

My Year - 7th November - Roses in the garden

I stepped out the front door today to be greeted by this lovely pretty rose – what a surprise to see a flower like this in November. Unfortunately it is a very windy day and by the time I got home, all the petals had blown off. Luckily there is another one in bud.

My Year - 6th November - Anne's Birthday

Today is Anne's birthday and we all met up at Alice in Wonderland for the kids to play and then we went back to Anne's for birthday cake and a cup of tea as both Karen and I had bought her a birthday cake. Yummy!!!

My Year - 5 November - Ashamed

I am almost to ashamed to show this photo. Today I decided to defrost our freezer. We are leaving all the appliances in the flat and our freezer was so thick with ice. We don't tend to use it much so it didn't matter that we couldn't open any drawers. Look at how much ice I got out of it.

My Year - 4th November - School Photos

My brain is so taken up with the move that I totally forgot about Zoe’s school photos. We got them back today – she is looking so grown up. These will make nice presents for the family.

My Year - 3 November - New TV

We only bought a new TV last Christmas, but the new lounge is so much bigger that James has decided that we need a 42” plasma TV to go in there. We got a really good deal with John Lewis and got a free Blu-Ray player. Now Zoe will have a 32” LCD TV and Blu-Ray in her TV room – talk about spoilt. Mind you James will watch sport in there too.

My Year - 2nd November - Aragh BT!!!!

It is absolutely essential that I get broadband into the new house as soon as we move in as I need it for work plus I would be bereft without my daily chat with my fellow 365’ers but their customer service is absolutely dire. I have spoken to different people, been told different things and my broadband won’t be in until 27th Nov – this is not good enough – the saga continues and we will see who wins!

My Year - 1st November - Park Life

This photo is from yesterday but I just love the way all the kids play so nicely together. Even little Darcey gets to join in with whatever all the others are doing. It is lovely to watch them all. This is Ferndown park and they were all taking turns to pretend to drive the car.

My Year - 31st October - Halloween Buddies

It seems to have become an annual traditional to have a Halloween party. Unfortunately Herbie wasn't here this year, but Edith, Joshua and Zoe all had a great time dressing up and having a Halloween tea. They then went off to play and probably trashed Josh's bedroom. They all went home with a big goody bag of sweeties.

My Year - 30th October - True Love

Today we went out for a Pizza lunch for Herbie’s birthday. Zoe hasn’t seen him for a few months but it is like they have never been apart. It must be love. We all had a great time and kids loved catching up with each other.

My Year - 29th October - Posh Cat

Molly the cat is forever losing her collar and I have spent a fortune over the years on engraved tags. I don't know how she will take the move so to be on the safe side, I have bought her a new collar and tag. Zoe chose the collar - now she is all pretty in pink!

My Year - 28th October - Packing begins....

When I look around our flat there doesn't seem to be much stuff but as I have started the packing, I am beginning to change my mind about moving! We had a good clear out when we sold the flat but we still seem to have lots of stuff. The depressing thing is I know it all needs unpacking at the other end!

My Year - 27th October - New Scrapbook Trends

I am getting really excited about finally having my own craft room - no more scrapping on the dining room table and lugging all my stash from one room to another and having to tidy away each time. I have been getting this magazine since it first came out and I know it will look lovely on an Expedit shelf in my new room

My Year - 26th October - Plans

James and I have spent the evening planning exactly how and when we are going to move. We exchange on Friday 13 Nov but we have decided to move on the Sunday 15 Nov and finish off on the Monday and then have a couple of weeks off work to get ourselves straight. Well that is the plan anyway!!!

My Year - 25th October - Getting Organised

Now we have a moving date we can get more organised and arrange for a removal van and start the dreaded packing.

We are going to move ourselves with the help of my brother Joe so we need to hire a van. We exchange on a Friday but we have decided to move on the Sunday and Monday and then have a couple of weeks off work to get straight.

AWOL for a while

I have been AWOL for a while - I am taking photos but just don't have the time, or the energy, to upload and blog them. We are moving next week and so we have been manically packing and any spare time I have, I have been trying to keep up to date with my CT commitments for the Digital Scrap Cafe - plus I have got addicted to Bejewelled on FaceBook. I am desperate to beat Zoe's nursery supervisor - but just can't get near her score.
Of course once we move, I will be just as busy unpacking and getting sorted. So I may be away for a while, but I will catch up soon. Plus I am having a nightmare trying to get broadband sorted in the new house.

Be back soon.