Officially in

Yes, we have moved.
It is stressful isn't it?

But now, here we are, sitting in our own living-room, having single-handedly brought down Northern Rock - feel free to nominate which financial institution we should go for next.
It feels good, very very good.

Cleaning the old house for the letting agency inspection was a nightmare - the worst part of it by a mile. So it's very nice to know that we shouldn't ever have to do that again. Nobody now is going to ring up and say 'we're coming to inspect the house and see what kind of state you're keeping it in', etc. No landlord is going to pop in to measure something at 5 minutes notice, prompting a fit of panicky housework on my part.

J is off all this week and we are taking it slowly with the unpacking because we worked so hard for the 5 days up to Monday. Physical work is very physical isn't it? Well, I know what I mean, anyway. My paid work takes place entirely in the virtual world, I take some data and turn it into other data and it just exists electronically. Physically moving every little thing you own from A to B is a huge physical task. We had removal men to do the furniture and some of the boxes and 'stuff'. Much giggling ensued as they used a van to move everything less than 100 yards. Apparently, according to an enjoyable gossip I had in The Parking Shop, it's 'Health and Safety'.

That was on Friday, then we spent the weekend and early Monday morning cleaning, in the hope of getting our deposit back, or at least some of it, and also just in the interests of leaving the house in good condition. Still waiting to hear on the deposit, but the agency lady was totally sniffy, snidey and snooty - wonder why so many snobby words start with 'sn'? I am a bit cross now that I spent so much time on it, as it sounds like it was to no avail. We will see. Thank you Mrs and Mr MT for helping on Sunday and bringing me wine, you are utter loves and I don't care who knows it. Also thank you D and S for not falling off the unrailinged steps and doing your heads in, cos that would have put somewhat of a blight on it.

We have a brand new cooker - gas hob, electric oven - lovely it is, cooked pasta and a herby white sauce last night and it was so efficient and shiny! Slowly getting to understand the central heating system and hot water but not quite there yet. Washing machine is not happy at all, but a man is coming on Friday who will endeavour to cheer it up or tell us to buy a new one.

F has settled in really well, she was, er, tricky last week and over the weekend, but is getting jollier now and seems to be really happy with her room and the whole moving thing. It's not such a major upheaval after all, moving 5 doors up the road! Have unpacked 2 of her boxes with her, and she has done a bit too. She loves our garage, which has a 2-part stable type door onto the patio, so she can sit in there and have picnics looking out at the rainy garden, which suits her very nicely.
Other things she has been doing:
- reading a Simpson's comic cartoon, very determinedly getting me to go through the whole thing with her, word by word, writing bits down for later reference and all sorts! She can read more than half of everything as long as she doesn't think about it too much or get cross with herself.
- going to Little Ninjas - will pay the term fees if she still likes it after the next one, wasn't sure if she was wavering last time, but she seems quite keen. Afterwards, she and Ria had each other in fits of giggles on the way home, with K and me. They were a bit lairy and shouty and we made attempts to shush them in the rather genteel residential area we were walking through, but then K and I caught each other's eyes and were in giggles too. Ria is a character - I'm so glad to see she hasn't changed that much since starting school. It gives K and I regular time to see each other too, for a good old natter, so really pleased with that.
- playing with her ponies and with soft toys. Dozy Mog accompanied us out today in a pet carrier, apparently because he was ill and had to have milk every 5 minutes or so.
- growing again and shedding a 3rd tooth - top front left - don't know where it went, guess she swallowed it!
- starting to understand ironic/sarcastic humour - on one day when it poured down, she noticed that I had said 'lovely weather' to local shop man (gee, I'm original!), and tried it out herself on someone else later.

Went to C's in town for a late long leisurely lunch today. When we first moved to this town, C still worked in the local shop with her husband quite often and was one of the first people locally to make me feel really welcome, whenever I went in there. Now she has a cafe/restaurant in the centre of town! I recommend the puris and the dahls, the jeera rice, aloo tikkie and parathas. The samosas and bhajias are really good too. F recommends cheesy naan and pistachio kulfi. She did taste some puri and bhajia too.

I will get back to paid work later in the week, it's been nice to take a break and there's no way I could have worked through the move.
I think that's it for now.