Festiveness (by sarah)

Sadly because there was basically no warning of the house sale completing we are now going to Essex for Christmas but didn't want to leave the new house undecorated so we have put a bit of tinsel and candles around the place 🙂

New Home (by sarah)

So we have finally achieved the third M = Mortgage which I suppose makes us proper grown-ups or something?

It is not what we had envisioned with the move to Gloucestershire but those plans weren't working anyway and this house seems like it was almost made with us in mind. It is everything we need.

There is a summer house a.k.a Alaric's workshop

A little patch of decking that we can have as a Toddler play area

An area for grass with allotements just round the corner

An attic room that is perfect for an art studio and storage or workshop materials etc...

A lush kitchen with a double oven of the type I've been after for an age with a 'breakfast room' off of it which is perfect for a family dinning room - there is a breakfast bar too!

The 'dining room' is going to be the Library and Music room / study. There is an area just right for having a BBQ in etc... just out side the kitchen.

It needs some work but we were more than happy with the structural reports and Alaric is still going on that we are technically now Lay Rectors. We think we are very lucky as the place cost less than my friends one bedroom flat on the edge of London. Having said that we can only afford it due to a) Alaric's new job and b) the generous loan of a hefty deposit from Alaric's family.

We picked the keys up today and rushed round there but the family was still moving out so we went and got some lunch and then went back - they had left us a lovely card saying they hope we'll be as happy as they've been there 🙂

I did some assessing of where we will be putting the washing machine etc... This feels right unlike our previous move which was all done pretty much with out me. I am hoping we can get things back on track - there is belly dancing within walking distance of the house that is affordable - this is important for my pelvis and mobility so Im very pleased with this. I am hoping to some how fit in the ducks and bees don't think goat will happen now though 🙁

We decided to leave our mark on the place - so here is our rainbow swerl rug that me and Jean made whilst living in the Mill during the flooding episode.

Christmas Poetry (by sarah)

This is a video of me reading The Little Book of Festive Poetry which I wrote a few years ago as part of the PiBoIdMo challenge. I was asked to read at The Brewery Cheltenham as part of a fund raiser for Winstons' Wish organised by Cheltenham Poetry Festival.

In the video Jean is inching her way towards me to join me on the stage - as were several other children 🙂 The coughing is because Alaric is recovering from having fluid on his lungs - not sure he should have been outside but he was bored of resting!