I must have been very, very good this year!

This was the first year darling daughter number 1 (DD1) did not spend Christmas with us, she got engaged in July and she asked if we minded if she spent Christmas day with her in laws to be. I felt it a bit strange without her, we had a lovely day with remaining 2 daughters, adopted daughter no 4 and darling daughter no 2's  (DD2) boyfriend. We chose to make Boxing Day our Christmas celebration this year, after all it's not the day but the people that you spend it with that make it special. The girls and my FSIL clubbed together to buy me something I have always wanted!!! I have always passed through the major department stores and stopped, wished and drooled longingly over the Kitchen Aids but could never afford to buy one, but I HAVE GOT ONE NOW it is my Christmas and Birthday present (very special birthday coming in January). I will display it and use it in my new kitchen when I get one, thankyou, thankyou my girlies and FSIL I love it.

Our Menu this year was

Canapes

Croustades filled with Smoked Salmon Mousse topped with Caviar

Large Prawns coated with Cashew and Panko breadcrumbs served with Aioli

Prunes stuffed with Stilton cheese and wrapped in Pancetta

Toasted Brioche squares topped with Smoked Duck Pate and a spoon of Fig Jam

Starter

Duck Carpaccio served on a Rocket, Fennel and Orange Salad drizzled with an Orange Juice and Passion fruit dressing, sprinkled with a few Toasted Pine Nuts.

Main Course

Beef Wellington with Dauphinois Potatoes, glazed Chanterey Carrots, Fine Green Beans and Red Wine Jus

Dessert

Tarte au Citron, Panacotta with Raspberry Coulis and Oreo Cheesecake. 

My new toy!!!

A van load gone

Well the Monday before Christmas we decided to take a van load of boxes up to the house to make room for us to be able to spend the festivities with our daughters and future son in law (FSIL). Thank goodness the Mr is such a great packer (I think its all the practice he's had taking the girls to and fro to uni, he used to pack that car to the rafters lol)The van was full, we arrived safely but the door is still a problem to get in and out of. It took 45 minutes to unpack the boxes into the living room but that has made a huge difference to our living room here, I can see carpet again yaaay. The FSIL liked the house but seems to think it will take a long time and lots of money to repair.....we are in no hurry. The journey back took just 2 1/2 hours which was pretty amazing as we thought we would encounter Christmas traffic. On our way out of town we picked up a sack of potatoes for Christmas, £6 for 25 kilo's seems like a good bargain to me.

The Lady from the Council she say yeah........

Yesterday was another 5 hour round trip up to the money pit. We are getting a bit laid back in our preparations, our first journey was prepared to precision with things we wanted to take carefully accumulated over several days in the middle of the dining room floor, now it's make a sandwich and shove a few things in a bag and pack the car with as many boxes as it can hold! This time we took a few more dehumidifiers, it would have helped enormously if we had of remembered the extension cables to plug them in. Can you believe that the dining room does not possess one electric socket.
I had made an appointment with the conservation officer for her to look at the house and discuss our plans for it. She walked around when we got to the bathroom I broached the possibility of dividing it into 2 so that we can have an en suite bathroom and she said.......yes, yippeee, I have always hankered for an en suite now it's going to happen. So for a meeting that I have been dreading she was very nice and I think she realises that we are going to restore the old girl sympathetically to her former splendor.
When she had left the Mr managed to fire up the central heating....we have ignition we have heat da da dahhhh............. oh no we don't, in his excitement of banging the pipes like men like to do (as if that will help in any way I ask you) he had caused a leak which meant turning the whole system off and draining it. So it's back to the thermals and socks again.
 As we were in the attic room we decided to strip the walls and ceiling which due to the dampness took us 20 minutes tops as the paper came off in strips exactly as it had gone up so that's 1 more room stripped.

Meeting the old owner

We went up to the house again but decided to drop off a small gift to the previous owner before we went there. Well what a lovely friendly man, we asked him if he could come to help start the central heating. He was at the house within half an hour, we now have hot water but the heating is still pending. Whilst at the house he talked about some of his memories and parts of the history. His Grandmother bought the house in 1923, he solved the mystery of why the ceiling height in the front hall was lower than the top of the front door frame, his Grandmother took out the original stairs and then replaced the ceiling so we probably can renovate back to it's old height. That's a poke in the eye for the surveyor as he did say the existing stairs were Georgian which is impossible if the Grandmother installed them!The kitchen has never been touched and under the floor there is an old filled in well. Unfortunately the heating still remains a mystery but we did manage to have our first log fire! This is the Mr attempting to fire up the boiler in the kitchen.

Suspected burglar

So after a while we finally rang the estate agent in desperation "help we can't get in, have you given us the right keys?" Her helpful advice was "give it a good shove." The Mr gave an almighty lunge at the door which finally opened it. Now excitingly we could explore our new home at our own leisurely pace. Well to sum it up there is so much work to do but as the saying goes 'you can eat an elephant one bite at a time'.
 Whilst at the house the Mr decided to explore the garden in depth, he discovered a petrol lawnmower in the shed to which he began gaily pulling the throttle to attempt to start it. Ding dong..... woo hoo our first visitor at the front door, it was the neighbour who looks over the back garden telling me there's a man in the garden who looks suspicious and is removing the lawn mower from the shed! After introductions she now knows that the burglar was in fact the new Mr!!

All good things come to those who wait!!

Well if that is true we have to have one amazing house considering the time we have waited!! I could never have imagined just how long our journey would take to get to this point. I originally composed my first blog post back in June but I did not want to tempt fate and publish it until we had signed the contracts.......5 months later on 27th November 2014 we exchanged, did you here my excited screams?? As luck would have it the Mr had hospital and dental appointments grrrr which meant no going to get the keys that day or the day after.Finally on Monday we drove up and got the keys.................... I gave the Mr the pleasure of being the first person to open the door to our new life but omg we couldn't get in! The house has been empty for 1 1/2 years and the frame has swollen up. We decide to try to go through the back gate but the Mr managed to break the key in the lock.....are we ever going to get in!!

So the adventure begins.............

Well who would have thought a house could find you!! Well this one did, she is a 5 bedroom grade 2 listed Georgian house that requires lots of love and attention. We are taking a life changing step, hoping to realise the dream.Come along and follow the ups and downs as we make her into our little house between the countryside and sea.