Moving Story Part 2

So last I left off, we had moved into our new house and brought the cats home. I am pleased to report that they actually seem to be getting on better. Maybe it's because there's more room. Maybe it's because currently all rooms are neutral? Maybe they're still working out which territory belongs to whom. I don't know, but I'm glad about it. 

We also slept well in the new house, except for the fact that the bedroom curtains are really thin so the sun came flooding through early in the morning. We will get some blinds but haven't yet, so I've been sleeping with an eye mask on. Oh well! 

We got up and I had a shower in my new en suite bathroom, which has a step in shower which I'm very excited about. I was finding it increasingly difficult to climb over the side of the bath in the old house to get into the shower, so I'm really glad I don't have to. Lee has been using the shower almost daily, too, because we've been moving about a lot unpacking things. Anyway, after showers we headed off to Tesco. 

Penistone has a decently sized Tesco but it also isn't huge, it's perfect for me. It has a decent vegetarian section too. We needed a few bits for the house that we hadn't thought about, like loo brushes and a holder for the shower. We also wanted to get gifts for my mum, stepdad, and uncle for helping us so much. Oh and for the friends who looked after the cats! We were able to get everything and it was really useful. We got back and my mum and co were already there - my mum is thrilled to have a key of her own for the new house, haha. Anyway, we got to work on unpacking things. Lee and Neil had some stuff to mend and my mum and I got to my clothes which I was so excited to see! 

We stopped for lunch about 12.30, and then my friend Gillian turned up with her girls. Lee had got a chocolate cake for his birthday so we all had a slice of that and a cuppa, and then I showed Gillian and the girls round the house. Gillian helped me unpack a couple of boxes in the bedroom which was lovely of her. Then back in the kitchen diner she said did we think we could get to the bottom of the boxes that were piled on the dining table? That way Lee and I could sit there to eat tea that night! So we all worked hard on that and we did manage to get to the bottom of the boxes! Lee and I really don't like the tiles that are in the hallway, kitchen, diner, and both bathrooms (we think they look like a holiday villa in Tenerife - which is fine in Tenerife but maybe not in your actual house..) so we decided to put a rug that had been in the attic room under the dining table. It makes it a lot more cosy in there! 

When everyone left Lee and I did eat tea there - just fake bacon and eggs - and sat at the table before going upstairs to the living room (which we actually really like!). Lee unpacked the records into the big Kallax. That also used to be in the attic room but it's much better in the living room especially as it fits so many records on it!

On Saturday morning Lee's mam Bev and stepdad Gary came down to see us. They wanted to see the house of course and also wanted to help. Bev brought a huge chocolate cake and a quiche and some vegan sausage rolls for us for lunch which was really nice of her. They loved the house which I'm glad about. Gary started building a bookcase in what I am certain I'm going to call the library. Bev and I worked on my clothes a bit more (there's a lot of clothes!). We came across my wedding parasol which I still really love, I ought to use it one day. We put up a lot of hooks and pictures and such things, it was really good! I am grateful for so much family help! 

When Bev and Gary left late afternoon Lee and I went off to Ikea. We needed a bigger unit for the TV and some more shelving. Now we both really dislike Ikea, but I have to say at like 6pm on a Saturday it wasn't too bad. We walked round the entire thing and had some tea in the cafe. Then we had to play jenga to get everything in the car (our current car is not as big as the previous one) but we eventually managed it, even if I was very squashed into the back! When we got home we loaded things into the house and then Lee started building the TV unit. 

By this time we had our bedroom and the living room looking pretty good so that's really good, that plus the kitchen meant that we could move around where we needed to and could take other things more slowly. We had done a lot to say we had only been in it about 60 hours!

My mum on Friday morning getting herself into the cupboard under the stairs, which is where we are keeping coats and shoes and stuff

Later, Gillian and co in the cupboard on the top landing which is now full of things we don't use often

We had bought this mat for the new house just before we moved when we went to Meadowhall, I absolutely love it. Those are the offending tiles you can see, too

The garden - it's not huge but definitely big enough for us, I like it a lot

The dining area late on on Friday when we had managed to get it sorted and set up - doesn't it look lovely?

I got this sofa for free on Facebook a week or so before we moved - all it cost was a man with a van to bring it down to our old house. I really wanted a sofa in the kitchen and thought this would just put us on for a while, but it's actually really comfy and really good quality so it'll probably stay for a while. I brightened it up with a blanket I made though because I don't love the grey. Lee's mam brought us a couple of grey cushions down too to put on it though which is good

The huge chocolate cake she brought us

The plan eventually is to build a catio where the cats can be outside, but in the meantime I don't trust Katniss and Kiki to not try to escape, but I know Poppy won't, so she's been allowed into the garden with supervision. She likes to eat grass

My beautiful wedding parasol - we added the burgundy ribbon because that was one of our colours. The parasol itself came from Venice when we visited there in 2004

The living room when Bev and Gary had finished helping us. We plan on cat proofing the Juliet balcony too so that we can have the doors open, but that's a future project. It is a really warm house though, which will be great in the winter but is less helpful in the summer

Tidy, but this is where we've put the new TV unit and a shelving unit 

Lee's stepdad put these up on the wall, they were on the staircase in our old house too

These gorgeous wardrobes are all filled with my clothes, yep

Bedroom all tidy. We don't hate the green wallpaper so that's staying for now

The removal men had left a drawer unit here which meant that we had to roll across the bed to get to the bathroom, so I was pleased to get that sorted

Here I am hot and sweaty from Ikea and displeased to be squashed in!