A New Chapter
It's been a while since I wrote anything, mostly because it's been a busy 12 months.
Around May 2021 I got a letter from our landlord (renting had made sense when the kids and I came to the UK for a two-year 'adventure' - five years ago!) letting me know that he was selling the house and we'd have to move. Mid-studies and with a reasonable notice period, I kept one eye on the new lettings updates and assumed something would turn up. Roll forward to September and with two weeks to move-out day we had a removal firm booked and no-where to go. I wasn't being fussy - there were literally no houses available as people from all over the country who realised they could work from anywhere suddenly all wanted to move here. Although eldest child would be safely at university and eldest daughter was moving away with a friend for a gap-year adventure, that still left me, two girls and a dog, and I honestly feared we would end up homeless and living in our car while my poor husband watched helpless from afar.
It was a seriously close call but some wonderful friends rescued us and we moved into their cosy annex. It's a beautiful well-equipped holiday rental and perfect for a few days, even a week or two, but after two months of living, cooking and working in one room and sharing a bedroom we were all beginning to feel a little claustrophobic. And then we caught covid!
I have to count our many many blessings. While middle daughter was worst hit, we all had relatively few symptoms and recovered really quickly. Not being able to taste or smell was by far the worst part because eating felt pointless, and not being able to leave the room for nearly 4 weeks (of course we couldn't all have tested positive at the same time) meant our cosy space started to feel more like prison, but friends brought food parcels, games and made us feel loved.
In November we finally found a house and were moved in and unpacked in time for Christmas. The house is comfortable, our landlords are fantastic and good at dealing with issues (the dishwasher stopped working just in time for Christmas and the back door lock jammed one cold wet Sunday night), and we really like our new neighbours. It's taken a few months for me to settle into my new surroundings, get into a routine and create some balance between work, kids and writing but finally the fog is beginning to clear and there are some great stories I'm looking forward to sharing. I'm really excited to start this new chapter...