Less building site...more home!

Progress!

As of yesterday the builders left! Mark and I spent the entire day cleaning and eventually I even managed to unpack a few boxes in the kitchen. The dust and dirt upstairs was in abundance, but I am pleased to say it is now fairly liveable. We even managed our first home cooked meal last night...Mark’s favourite...Fajitas!

The house however is not quite completely finished...the carpets still need to go in (and be chosen) and the painting needs to be done. Mark has taken off the next 3 days to make a start (and hopefully a finish) with the painting. Our friends Bronwyn and Luke (who have just moved back to London from SA) have moved in for the week - Luke is currently on the job hunting circuit so has kindly agreed to help Mark with the painting in amongst his search! So hopefully by the end of this week, it shall all be done! I can’t wait! The two weeks of living in upheaval (how the builders managed it for 7 weeks I don’t know) which was 2 weeks ahead of schedule - whilst only a short time it has felt more like age and I look forward to celebrating the final completion, hopefully in time for Mark’s Birthday in just over a week.

Molly Mouse is still trying to get used to having free reign of the entire house and to date has only had a small taste of the outside in 2 weeks (she made a dash for it yesterday, but Mark grabbed her tail, before she completed her escape). Last night, was her first night of having full range to wonder and explore the house through the night and she proceeded to give us a rather disturbed night’s sleep...(practice for kids no doubt, I think she could actually be worse than a child). She took herself off downstairs a few times in the night, but since the house is larger than our last one and obviously being newly ‘finished’, it is still rather empty, I think she found herself a bit lost and lonely, as once downstairs she would let off this almighty meow, that we normally would only hear when she was in her cat box waiting to see the vet. The little princess wouldn’t let up either till we finally gave in and fetched and brought back to the comfort of our bed. Much to our dismay this pattern continued a few times in the night...however on the occasions when she did finally make her way back upstairs, she made a point of announcing herself...which was almost as bad has having to go and get her. So here’s to hoping she has customised herself today whilst Mark has been around, so that we can get a more peaceful night’s sleep tonight!! We also shall look forward to her making her ‘outside’ debut... YAY to no more litter box!! Now we just have to hold thumbs she likes the neighbourhood and manages to find her way back again in one piece.

But other than that we have settled in nicely...I will post some pics when the painting is all complete.

The Grand Drive adventures...

...of Molly Mouse!

Saturday morning the final move from Amity Grove progressed and we took our last car loads full and 2 loads in Ruby (Amy and Nick's travel wagon) off to Grand Drive. Before we had even thought through the logistics, since Amity Grove was now basically empty....Molly Mouse decided to go walkabout...clearly not very happy about having her home dismantled and empty. We hadn't quite thought about locking her inside until it was too late...and her decision to give us heart failure had already been made. After the final offload we came back to get her, in the hope she had returned from her morning adventure....but of course she hadn't! I stood on a bar stool in the garden, looking over all the neighbours fences (as she always seems to come from that way when she does reappear) calling her name for about an hour (regardless of the fact that she is rather deaf)... unsurprisingly she never appeared! I was distraught!

Mark phoned our new tenants-to-be (who are allergic to cats and not cat lovers) to let them know she had gone walkabout and to please call us when/if she returned. They were supposed to move in around 12h00 and come 14h00 we still hadn't heard a word. Closer to 5pm we finally got a call...it turns out the tenants had only arrived at Amity Grove very late with their van load, and when they opened the door there she was! I have never been so relieved and so happy!!! We of course went off straight away to fetch her and when we got there she looked a little dazed and confused... sitting near her cat flap and where her food normally was (now being close to her dinner time). The catbox came out, which she eyed out with complete and utter disgust, but before she had time to make a run for it again, Mark grabbed her and commenced the struggle of what you would swear was the most tortuous thing in the whole world! We left the tenants in peace and took Molly to her new home!

After lots of moaning and groaning, she finally started to settle down in our room in Grand Drive and as soon as our bed was made she was on it and happy as Larry! Relieved and hungry, we headed off to Nev and Jen, who had kindly offered us a sushi dinner invitation, which we readily accepted.

On Sunday, once the builders had all gone out for the day, we decided to let the Molly Mouse of out of our room, so she could explore the rest of the new house. Bearing in mind that the building works are still underway, and there are still a few floor boards up here and there, where the builders have been working on the wiring...we watched the Molly Mouse discover her new home (seeing her on the stairs is hilarious...she can’t quite decide if hopping or walking up them is easier!)

After much adventure and exploring, we thought it safe for us to carry on with things that needed to be done, and left the Molster to do her own thing. Not 5 minutes after our backs were turned, she started performing again.... scratching and meowing as if her life depended on it...

We set off in search of her, thinking she might just be stuck behind some furniture and boxes somewhere... But of course, she wasn't...instead she had managed to find the one hole (next to the washing machine) that we weren't able to pick up any other floor boards around it....and instead of staying where we could see her she set off to roam around under the floor! Mark eventually managed to coax her back to the hole until he could see her and proceeded to pick her up by the scruff of the neck and bring her back to the surface!! Hopefully that was a lesson learnt well (for Molly that is) and one that won't be repeated again now until the new flooring has been laid...but until then I guess Molly Mouse’s adventures will continue...

As for our own Grand Drive adventures...things have come along very nicely! Most of the inside is now done (apart from the painting, which is up to Mark and I to complete) apart from the kitchen tiling and all flooring which will be done at the very end...and which the builders are hoping to finish by the end of this week! The outside has made huge progress too, with the paving out the front and the deck out the back now complete too. All that remains outside is the garage/outside room to be completed followed by the turf. It's all very exciting...and we are looking forward to seeing it all complete very soon. [pics to follow]

Good-bye Amity Grove...

...a sad day indeed!

Tomorrow our much loved, little home for over the past 4 years... will become somebody else’s. Well that’s not entirely true, as we will still be the lucky owners of such a little gem, but as of tomorrow Amity Grove will have new tenants.

Last weekend entailed the ‘BIG MOVE’, where we packed up most of our stuff...and boy do we have a lot of stuff...to move it into the new house in order to prepare for the week ahead. Neville very kindly helped Mark with the heavy stuff, as my ‘guns’ just didn't quite cut the mustard!

The rest of the week entailed a clean of what we thought was an incredibly empty house, with just the sleeper couch and some other bits and bobs we thought we might need over the next week. An entire new paint job all round - care of Mark. Lady Muck did help with a wall in the spare room...but in my defense I was catching up on some last minute readings and preparations for my assignment which was due on Thursday AM (and I’m pleased to say it was the 14th and final of a rather heavy work load this year...next up the exam...ai jai jai).

Anyway the week passed with a few hiccups along the way...our boiler which was due to be serviced before the new tenants moved in,(and which had never given us a problem in all the four and a bit years) of course decided to cause havoc. One small problem, soon followed suit with a fair few bigger problems much to ours and our pockets dismay. We were extremely lucky though to have my lovely cousins nearby (who had just moved in round the corner), who let us use their shower as we pleased...and not to mention the meals on wheels (aka Amy), who very kindly and thoughtfully kept us in check with our meat and veg quota for the week, with stews and lasagne, as opposed to take-aways we would have had...which was VERY WELCOME!

Thursday night came...Mark went to carry on painting the new place and I stayed to pack up the remaining bits and bobs, as the cleaners were coming today for the final clean. The bits and bobs turned into a massive amount...seriously I don't know where it all came from! Nevertheless we got it all packed and shall endeavour to get it all across to the new house before the tenants arrive at midday tomorrow.

The biggest move of all will be for our little Molly Mouse! We have discovered the neighbours at the new place, on one side have a lovely (although Molly might not agree) white Labrador which should make it rather interesting! I guess the test will now be to see how much she really loves us or Amity Grove... But hopefully she takes to the new house soon and continues to entertain and amuse us.

So it's Good-Bye to Amity Grove which has been an absolutely awesome home, with lots of good and happy memories!

How much can I grow...

... in 3 months? Apparently a lot!


Moms and Pops Rice sent an update of our beautiful little god daughter...if you remember the first pics of this little sausage.... look at her now?

If you can believe, Kayla is has now met the 3 month mark (soon to be 4 months) and in Shaz’s words she has found her hands and drool glands and continues gagagooeing and babbalaballing. :) If only we were there to see these growing moments...

Kayla at almost 3 months



Kayla at 3 months





It’s almost time for another update from the Rice’s which we look forward to reading and seeing some more pics! (no pressure Shaz!)