A new home

I feel a bit like a teenager starting out. Richard and I are setting up home....the first time we have started from scratch together and it is a really interesting feeling. When we moved in together it was into his home and a blending of our two homes: this is like being 20 again and starting out. Very peculiar when you are nearer 50!

Yesterday was the big Ikea build day. We started the day packing all the stuff we had either brought from Australia or bought since arriving here and stored in our tiny B&B room. It was interesting packing it all into the Volvo (from here on known as 'Bruce') to drive from the B&B to here! I ended up nursing some stuff. At one stage I contemplated catching a bus so we could use the front seat. How much can two people accumulate in two weeks!

We picked up our keys at 9:00am and came straight to our house after the compulsory purchase of coffee, milk, a cup and loo paper - we didn't know how long the wait would be! We moved all the stuff into our flat and then came the wait for the Ikea van. Richard got the internet up and running - priorities! and then we got a call to say Ikea wouldn't be here until after 2:00pm so we went shopping for some of the pantry and household essentials. We arrived beck around 1:30 and Ikea delivered not long after. Then came the fun. The big build started!

We constructed our bed, bedside tables, lamps and side tables.


Me building our bed.


Richard putting the side of the bed and the bedhead together.


Me building one of the bedside tables.


Part the way through the construction process we decided we were starving and so wandered about two minutes down the road to our local pub for dinner. While we were trying to decide what to eat Richard ordered a beer and I ordered a cider ....but I forgot to specify the size. They arrived at our table with a half pint for him and a full pint for me....what's a girl to do but to drink it! About half way through my cider the food arrived and it was fantastic. I think we have found a place for when we don't feel like cooking!

We came home .... me feeling very relaxed... and Richard decided to put together our TV unit (after a couple of false starts) it all came together well!

Today we started the day with about an hour on Skype with Ash...gotta love it! and then we were off to the other Ikea store near us to get the table and chairs we couldn't get last week. It is huge! We got the table and chairs and also picked up heaps of storage jars. We went to Tescos to shop, but found we only had 15 minutes before they closed, so grabbed the essentials for tonight's tea and came home to reestablish our furniture construction! Our kitchen now looks like someone owns it....photos will follow and we will get there with the rest of our home soon.

Tonight we had tuna with rosemary, jacket baked potatoes, brocolli and the most beautiful green beans, all topped off by a bottle of Aussie Chardonnay...yum! It is so good to have real food again.