Spooky Day!

What a strange weather experience we've had today! This morning, up at our house, the sky was clear and the sun was out. We walked ten minutes down the road to the sea-front and this is what we found:

Thick sea fog rolling in

Monkey had a little wander on the sand and a dig with her bucket and spade, there were lots of little girls and boys enjoying climbing up the sand banks. We walked back home and sat in the garden in the sun until the mist made its way up to us, at first I thought it was someone lighting a bonfire as it wafted across like thick smoke. Very apt for impending Halloween!

Beach Fun

We've had lots of beach fun this past week. Monkey is still getting used to her wellies (they fall off CONSTANTLY despite being padded out with socks and mama's handknitted babylegs!)but she loves her wet weather suit. We've been on the beach at Viking Bay and Botany Bay, the weather has been fantastic and we've been playing in the sand and having a paddle. We have an intrepid little explorer on our hands who loves to clamber over the rocks, it's a shame she is so light though, the wind almost blows her over.

Finding a new groove

Monkey models her new wet weather suit!

Wow, I am seriously tired this evening. I'm sitting at my kitchen table, a cat skulking around my feet, and my belly full with warming chicken casserole (sadly a ready-meal though, it's been one of those days). Although we are more-or-less unpacked there are still some random boxes sitting around, and in the den all of our books, CDs and LPs are waiting patiently for the delivery of some shelves from Ikea. Today I must have emptied about a dozen large boxes and stacked the contents up neatly. I finally found a GP who would register us as new patients (don't get me started on that one), and I had a stroke of good fortune at the florist, who gave us 5 extra beautiful yellow roses for free because they had opened up a bit too much for her to keep them on display. I just love having flowers around the house.

This has been my first week at home alone with the Monkey while DH goes to work. It's been much better than I had imagined, and we seem to be finding a new 'groove' here beside the seaside. The days, however, feel really long. DH has been getting up shortly after 5am to get the 6am fast train service, and the babe has been waking up early also. I am NOT a morning person and I really struggle with being up before 7.30am. Because her waking has been so unpredictable I have found it hard to get back off to sleep when DH leaves. There has been no Squirreling for me (that's how DH refers to my late-evening blogging/ Twittering activities), and we've been heading up to bed after catching up on the evening's Masterchef episode. Our bed (the same bed we had at the old house) has somehow been transformed into the most wonderfully sleep-inducing bed ever. As soon as our heads hit the pillow we are out. Perhaps it's the Feng Shui, or the sea air, or just the fact that we are both exhausted!

I've taken Monkey to a new toddler group this week and it was fantastic, far, far nicer than the one we went to last week. This one just felt right, I chatted with other mums, there were babies being breast-fed, and at least one toddler (mine!). Monkey settled in after a short while and even sat at the table with the other children at snack time. They looked so sweet! It's on a Wednesday which isn't the best day for me as I will be heading out to work in the afternoon, but we will definitely be going again.

This weekend we are busy with visitors so there will be lots of cooking, I hope. I've almost run out of chilli jam and have a new preserving pan now so there will be a new batch coming soon. I also want to get back into breadmaking and don't even ask me where my knitting needles are! Hope you all have a lovely weekend, I'm sure we will.

Cancel that Ark

Yesterday I was convinced that we would be building an ark after three days of near-constant rain. This morning dawned fair and sunny, and the Monkey and I went for an early morning stroll down to the seafront:

It was the perfect morning to appreciate our new surroundings, with the sun glinting off the sea and the beach empty except for a few dog-walkers:

Oops, posted the same photo twice!

Monkey gave us a little lie-in (well, 7am but that's a marked improvement on the last few days). She is showing off her new haircut, courtesy of Grandad, a professional barber whose skill and fearlessness with a pair of scissors and a wriggly toddler far surpassed any of my previous doomed attempts!

Our new home

I love Autumn, and I hope that wherever you are today you are enjoying this beautiful season.

We're here!

Just a very quick update to say that we are now the proud owners of our lovely new house by the sea (well, ten minutes walk from the sea!). The move on Wednesday went very well, considering we were all suffering with the 'flu. We picked up the keys at 4pm and the removal men finally finished unloading at 11pm... oh my goodness how tired were we? Yesterday was spent getting my kitchen unpacked and in order, I felt very happy when I popped out this morning to our local florist to get some flowers for my kitchen table. Monkey has been pretty unsettled and not the happiest, but I arranged her room today and she must have liked it because she has gone to sleep in her cot in her bedroom this evening, yay! We collected our cats and they are sniffing around the lounge, where they will be confined for the next week or two. And we are waiting for our dinner, Indian takeaway, mmmmmmmmm.

More soon, and photos....

Thank goodness for Mummy Milk

Poor Monkey is suffering this week with her teeth and a cough & cold. She is barely eating and as a result we are breast-feeding LOTS. Which I need to keep reminding myself of, because I do worry when she doesn't eat. And I get to eat lots of yummy things because I'm feeding both of us :-)

Almost there

We have exchanged contracts on our house and moving day is scheduled for next Wednesday! I can't possibly convey to you the stress of the last couple of weeks. At more than one point it looked like it wasn't going to happen. We had a deadline of 30th September before our mortgage offer expired. Last Friday we found out that our vendors had lost the house they were planning to buy. Thankfully they have decided to continue with their plans to move and are renting a house in the interim. Yesterday, after trying to exchange contracts for the previous two days, we were informed that our buyers had lost their buyer. Yep, they just decided not to proceed. The English system is appalling, it is a disgrace that there is no commitment until contracts are exchanged. You are relying on someone's word and planning your future lives with no guarantees whatsoever. With great relief we found out that our lenders were happy to proceed on the basis that we would be renting our house out, and even better news came when our buyers indicated that they would like to rent the house and buy it when they had secured another buyer. So now we have a week to pack our lives up and prepare for seaside life! Here's a few pics of our destination: