We've arrived!

We're back on line!

The house move went well but was very hard work. Not something you'd want to do on a regular basis with the amount of 'stuff' we have. It's made quite a lot harder by the fact that we have an office at home and that is a nightmare dismantling and setting up but we are getting there.

They had estimated 4 hours to load the lorry at our old house but it actually took best part of 7 hours and so we didn't arrive at the new house until about 3.30 pm. I scrubbed the old place from top to bottom and we left it absolutely immaculate. It was very nice to get a phone call from the new occupants to say it was in such lovely condition that they could put their stuff straight in place. Sadly, it wasn't quite the case at our new house.

We had lots of help on the day with Leah & Jay and Mac & Dan mucking in. Jay did a brilliant job of cleaning and organsing the shed. This was vital as all the stuff we used to keep in the garage has to be stored in the shed whilst the new garage is built. Leah and Mac helped me clean the kitchen (was a tad grubby!) and Dan helped the removal guys unload the lorry with Andy. We were really grateful for all the help.

We have inherited something horrible from the last occupants who had four cats and four kittens when they left. Yep, you've guessed it - fleas! Poppy started scratching around the middle of last week and then Becky. We thought it was perhaps a grass allergy as Poppy often gets this during the summer. Then Andy had a thought about the cats perhaps having fleas and sure enough fleas were present! The worst affected is Abbey although she isn't scratching at all. I have never seen so many flea dirts on one dog. I must say I am finding it quite distressing. We've been to Jim and all the dogs have been front lined and the house sprayed so we're praying we can control things. In all the years I've had dogs I think I've had about two instances of fleas and then it was just the odd one. This is awful! Any advice from our blog friends appreciated! I hate putting chemicals of any sort on my dogs but needs must when it's this bad.

We have masses to do at the new place but have made lots of progress with the help of Al. The builders started last week and the ground workers move in on Monday to demolish the garage and outhouse. It's not much fun with builders in but we decided it was best to get the work done straight away rather than leave it. Once the new garage and utility are built we reckon it'll be more than worth all the hassle.

The dogs have all settled in remarkably well. Abbey was a little unsettled for a few days and still tends to follow me everywhere. She didn't like the hard floors to start with but is now coping really well.

This weekend we've done lots in the garden and are trying to get the office finished ready for Monday morning. The dogs absolutely love the garden and we take them out for a play several times a day which they really enjoy. It's been really good because we haven't had time to walk them every day since we moved but they're quite happy having play time in the garden in lieu. Hopefully we'll get into a better routine this coming week.

I'm missing dog shows already but am glad we pulled out of Rugby as it would have been too stressful trying to get the caravan ready. We'll be at Newlands next week but possibly just day tripping rather than with the caravan. Until the builders get the ground work finished it will be a little difficult getting the caravan in and out of the drive. At the moment it's on holiday with Songhurst Caravans who are kindly keeping it in their yard for us.

Here is a little video of Andy's dogs enjoying the new garden and Andy enjoying some mowing.

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