We have landed!

We have finally moved to our new home!

The move went less than entirely smoothly, mostly because the departing occupants of our soon-to-be new home had been let down by their volunteer shifters and only managed to leave in the late afternoon as darkness started to fall. It was Oliver's bedtime by the time we had got everything into the house - still packed up in boxes - so we stayed at our friend Jo's house for the night. We cracked open a bottle of champagne which tasted terrible so we poured it awway and opened a bottle of Chablis instead to toast the new house and our life there together.

Hayley is allergic to cats, so the next day was spent supervising cleaners as they tried to rid the place of all traces of the previous occupants' feline companion. They spent a total of 18 (wo)man hours.

Today we are still unpacking boxes but things are gradually becoming livable.

The best moment so far was when I went in to see Oliver after his first night in the new house. His room is decorated with space ships and wild animals on the walls. When I entered, he was standing up in his cot, still in his sleeping bag, looking at a leopard and pointing at it for me to see. That's one room we won't be decorating in a hurry then.